Paul Thomas

Paul Thomas Thank you Dave Robjohns for all the work you put into this

Dave Robjohns

Dave Robjohns So with another rush of new players, we're now set to exceed 80, more than double the amount the league started with a touch under two years ago. Kudos to the 18 league stalwarts still going strong into a 13th season :)

My current thoughts are to go to 8 divisions in the near future to ease the cramping (D2 14 players and may be bigger S13) and return to ~10 per division, with that working decently for 65-100 people - but is that what people want?!

Would be interested to get some opinions on this overall - do people enjoy the largish divisions currently or would they prefer to only play 8-10 games per season? Would 8 divisions put off those at the middle/bottom as progress up the tiers would take so long? etc. all thoughts appreciated! :)

[If I changed it, would likely add D7 at the bottom in S13 and announce D8 for S14, so exact placements are known in advance.]

Mike Lee

Mike Lee I actually like the slightly larger divisions. I think 2 months is more than enough time to play 12-14 games.

Dan Spinks

Dan Spinks I would prefer the larger divisions, potentially with an extra relegation/promotion spot in each. with 2 months to play we're certainly not snowed under with fixtures. those who play most games will get an extra couple in in that time and those fail to play many during a particular season are going to do that regardless of division size

Elwin Carlos

Elwin Carlos I'm happy with larger division sizes. Gives me more of a chance to avoid relegation. :D

Mark O'Regan

Mark O'Regan I also prefer larger divisions. This is a tourney where you are competing against players of a similar level to you for the duration of the “season” so I don’t think an extra couple of games is a bad thing.

Adam Latchford

Adam Latchford I'd prefer more smaller divisions but i appear to be in the minority :-). If divisions are really big, we could have a bit of fun with doing play offs to get a third person promoted (either third vs third bottom of division above, or third fourth fifth and sixth). Sounds like a logistical nightmare though

Show all comments
Steven Oldham

Steven Oldham Bigger divisions are best in my eyes, and two months is more than enough to get the vast majority of games played. Aptoleague is the most enjoyable tournament as you're paired with those of similar ability - so more games is always a plus.

Playoffs used to be an Aptoleague feature - IIRC it proved difficult to get the games done before the new leagues started.

Anthony Endsor

Anthony Endsor I would prefer the larger divisions personally. You could even consider reducing the number of divisions and increasing the league sizes, and (if thought to be necessary) increase the time allowed to 3 months. If we got to 92 players, we could do it the same as the real life football league, with 20 in the premier league, and the next 3 24.

Sam Shepherd

Sam Shepherd I'm happy with division sizes as they are, or slightly larger would also be okay. But I wouldn't go as big as 20 per division.

Dave Robjohns

Dave Robjohns Thanks for the comments chaps, much appreciated! I used to limit it to 10 (more a logistical thing before I automated games/tables) so good to hear the general consensus is happy/content with the expansion over the last few seasons!

I agree that the key to the league concept is keeping the matches pretty balanced on paper, so I reckon 5-6 divisions is around optimal looking at the range of ratings involved for now. Will try to keep it to about 16 players a tier.

Have always liked the idea of playoffs etc to give known pressure/must win games but found they just ate up a few weeks of the season and only involved a few players + never all played on time. Definitely fun if we could get them working though! The old conference system and league cups still on the mind too but needs everyone to be proactive to work really :(

Dave Robjohns

Dave Robjohns Two other things:
Due to two withdrawals from people that would be D4, Ben H is reprieved from relegation and stays D4.

I also have a "Nobody starts in the Premier League" rule that I try not to break often but to even up division sizes with 10 new players to fit in, making an exception with Ahmed. He's got the highest rating of the 81 players and current TV champ of course so seems reasonable :P

Tourney round: AptoLeague: Season 13 Signups

<< S12 Division 6 | S13 Premier League >>

Notes from the organizer: AptoLeague's 13th season will start on 2nd February!

For those unfamiliar with the format, it works as a league system, with promotions and relegations at the end of each 'season' (2 months).

Season 13 will begin on 2nd February, and is set to end on 31st March.

The 74(!) players involved in Season 12 (our biggest ever!) will automatically be entered into next season unless they tell me otherwise, provided they have played most of their games.

The provisional list of entries can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YRnHt2OBWXl19EPyIDw2IrVHr1cxenXp2tdfYmy5HRs/edit#gid=1003448877

Overall, if you're looking for some regular competitive & well-matched games, sign-up below! :D

Ran from: 19 – 31 January 2022. Format: 15 Rounder. Matches: One-off. Approved.

Organizers: Dave Robjohns.

Fixtures: 0. Completed: 0.

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