Some of the original players have retired or moved away from London, where we play, while others still play alongside their sons and daughters, with new friends joining the squad each year. We now have a large group of players, making it increasingly difficult to pick fair and evenly balanced teams.

For several years, from 2019 to 2022, our players took turns picking the teams and recording the match results. A close game, such as 5-4, was considered a success, while a one-sided match like 7-1 was considered a failure. We recorded every match, the team picker and the final score, creating a league table that ranked each team picker according to their ability to produce balanced games.

After three years it became obvious that some players consistently picked better-balanced teams than others. We started inviting those players to pick teams more often, which helped reduce the number of one-sided matches.

But we wondered if we could do even better.

Football MatchMaker wasn't built in a weekend. It evolved over many years while managing a real football team. After every match we reviewed the result and asked a simple question: Did the algorithm produce a fair game? A score of 7-1 suggested the team selection needed improving, while a close result like 4-4 or 5-4 suggested it had worked well. Over hundreds of real matches we refined the algorithms using goals per game, player age, peer reviews of defensive ability and the results of previous matches. Every season taught us something new.

By 2022 I began developing these ideas into a software algorithm, which eventually became the www.FootballMatchMaker.com app for iPhone and Android. Today, MatchMaker almost always pick better balanced teams than even our best human team pickers. It also records match results, goalscorers, player statistics (like goals per game, games played, win per-centage, overall ability) and much more, using that information to improve future team selection.

Everything in MatchMaker has been developed and tested in real football and soccer matches over many years. It isn't based on theory alone—it's based on hundreds of games played by real people trying to make every Wednesday night as competitive and enjoyable as possible.

Have fun, and kind regards,

Phil