Organiser guide
You run the group. This guide walks through what MatchTime does for you each week, and what you can check or fix from the dashboard. MatchTime costs up to £9.99 a month per group, and you only pay for the weeks you play. Your first two months are free. See Club fee below.
1. Getting started
Sign up and create your club
Sign up and hit Create organisation. Give it the same name as your WhatsApp group so it's obvious when MatchTime posts there. If you have a WhatsApp chat export, the setup wizard can read it and suggest your player list and schedule.
We'll help you add MatchTime to your WhatsApp group
Sign up and we'll get your group connected, usually within a day. Nothing else changes for your players: they keep saying In and Out as they always have. Once your club is approved, MatchTime shows you how it has read your group and waits for you to say GO before it speaks in the group. Once you have said GO, MatchTime:
- Reads messages in your group, and only acts on In, Out and messages that tag @Match Time
- Reacts ✅ (in the squad), 🪑 (bench) or 👋 (dropped) to attendance messages
- Posts updates and sends DMs around each match
Don't like it? Remove it from the group. You can also switch individual features off in Settings.
Club fee
Your first two months are free, counted from the day MatchTime goes live in your group. No card is needed to start.
After that you only pay for the weeks you play: up to £9.99 a month per WhatsApp group, VAT included, for the whole group rather than each player. After each month MatchTime counts the games your group played out of the games it had scheduled, and the card on file is charged for those only, the morning after the month ends. Play 3 weeks out of 4 and it's £7.49. Play none, or take a summer break, and nothing is charged.
The money collector (the person who collects the match fees, set in Settings) adds a card. If no money collector is set, the club owner is asked instead. Nothing is taken when the card is added.
Nine days before your free period ends, MatchTime sends a reminder by WhatsApp with a link to your billing page, and another two days before the end if there is still no card. If the free period ends without a card, MatchTime keeps running for a week. After that week it goes quiet in your group until a card is added: no posts, no replies, and nothing is said in the group. Your players, matches and stats are all kept, and MatchTime starts again within a few minutes of a card being added.
Each month, its games and its charge are on your billing page. There is no contract: to stop, press Stop paying there. Billing ends when the current month ends, and that month is charged only for the games played, as usual. Removing MatchTime from the group stops it straight away; the games already played that month are charged when the month ends.
Tip:a game played costs the club at most £2.50 (£9.99 over four weeks), so with 10 players it's at most about 25p a player per game. Add that to each player's match fee and the club fee is covered; a week you don't play costs nothing. Match fees are separate: collecting them through MatchTime is optional (see Payments).
2. Your weekly match
Each regular game is an activity, for example "Tuesday 7-a-side". For each one you set:
- The sport and format (football 5, 7 or 11-a-side, futsal, basketball and more), which sets the squad size
- Day, kickoff time and venue
- How many hours before kickoff sign-ups close, and how long the match lasts
Upcoming matches are created for you automatically, so there's always a next match for players to say In to.
A smaller format for short weeks
If you usually play 7-a-side but drop to 5-a-side when numbers are short, set up both as activities. MatchTime will suggest the switch in its call for players, and DM you the day before if you're short (see below). You book the smaller pitch and switch the match yourself (see the next section).
3. Changing the schedule
Schedule changes are made on the dashboard, not by messaging MatchTime. Open Admin in the menu; the tabs along the top take you to each screen.
Add or change your weekly game
- Go to Admin, then the Activities tab.
- For a new game, press Create activity, fill in the name, sport, day, time, venue, sign-up deadline and match length, then press Create.
- To change a game, press Edit next to it, change the name, day, time or venue, then press Save changes.
As you type a venue, MatchTime suggests real places. Pick yours from the list, or keep what you typed if your pitch is not listed. Venue names you type into the venue box are sent to Google to suggest places.
What the group is told: Nothing is posted. A new day or time applies to matches created from then on; matches already created keep their date and time.
Book a run of weeks
- On the Block bookings tab, press New block booking.
- Pick the activity and the start date. The kickoff time defaults to the activity's; change it only if this booking is different.
- Under Block length, choose an end date or a number of matches (up to 60). Cost per match and notes are optional, for your own records.
- Press Preview dates and check the list. A date that already has a match is added to the block, not duplicated.
- Press Create block.
What the group is told:Nothing is posted. MatchTime carries on announcing only the next match that's on.
Cancel or restore a range of dates
For a holiday, or weeks when the pitch isn't available. It works for any match, booked in a block or not.
- On the Block bookings tab, press Bulk cancel / restore.
- Set From and To (both dates included), choose Cancel matches or Restore cancelled matches under Action, then press Find matches.
- Untick any match you want to leave alone. Matches that already have players in show how many.
- When cancelling, tick Announce to the group if you want players told. Then press the button at the bottom to confirm.
What the group is told:Nothing, unless you ticked Announce to the group. Then MatchTime posts one "❌ Schedule update" message listing the dates that are off. Restoring is always silent.
Each block on the Block bookings tab also has Cancel remaining (every future match in that block, silently) and Restore cancelled.
Cancel one match
- Open Matches in the menu and pick the match.
- Press Manage teams, or Generate teams if sign-ups have closed and the teams aren't made yet.
- Press Cancel match, check the details, then press Cancel match again to confirm.
What the group is told:MatchTime posts "❌ Match cancelled" with the date and time, saying there aren't enough players this week. Reminders and DMs for that match stop, and there are no ratings or Man of the Match that week.
Before sign-ups close, the match page has no teams button. To cancel then, use Bulk cancel / restore with the same date in From and To.
Switch one match to a smaller format
The smaller format needs its own activity first (see above).
- Open Matches in the menu and pick the match.
- Press Switch format.
- Under Switch to, pick the smaller activity. The page shows how many players stay in and how many move to the bench (the earliest Ins keep their places).
- Press Confirm switch.
What the group is told:MatchTime posts "🔁 Match switched" with the new format, who's playing and who's on the bench. If the smaller format kicks off at a different time, the match moves to that time and the post says so.
4. Players
Adding players
- Add them yourself under Players: a name, and a phone number so they get DMs.
- They post in the group.Someone MatchTime doesn't know yet is added straight away (so their In isn't lost) and flagged NEW for you to check.
- Someone brings them("my brother Dan is in too"). Same as above: added and flagged for you.
Checking new players
New players show with a NEW badge and a banner at the top of the Players page. Press Confirmonce you're happy, or Removeif they shouldn't be there. Removing someone keeps their past games and ratings but takes them off future matches. While anyone is waiting, you get one DM a day reminding you.
If the same person ends up on the list twice under different names, use Merge. You can also add nicknames, so "Danny" and "Dan" always mean the same player.
Starting ratings
Give each player a starting rating from 1 to 10 so the first teams are fair:
- 9: carries a team
- 7 or 8: strong regular
- 5 or 6: steady contributor
- 3 or 4: still learning
As team-mates rate each other after games, their ratings take over from yours. Players never see the starting rating you gave them; they only see what team-mates have said.
Positions and phones
Set each player's positions per activity under Players, or players can set their own on their profile. A phone number is what lets MatchTime DM someone their rating link, bench offers and reminders. Without one they can still say In and Out in the group.
More admins
Change anyone's role from Player to Admin on the Players page. Admins can use the dashboard and get the organiser DMs.
5. What happens each week
The steps follow your match day, so this works the same whether you play on a Tuesday night or a Sunday morning. Anything tagged @Match Time is answered straight away, whenever it comes in.
In the days before
- Players say In or Out. When the squad is full, late Ins go on the bench.
- Every day at 17:00MatchTime posts the squad so far, with a call for players if you're short.
- If a confirmed player drops and there's a bench, the bench is offered the spot in the group and by DM. The first to claim it plays.
- Anyone who said maybe gets a DM a day before kickoff asking if they're in or out.
- Short of players? As an admin, ask it:
@Match Time we need 2 more, invite the recent players. It DMs people who played in your last few matches but haven't replied yet, and follows up once if they don't answer.
The day before
- Around 10:00, if you're short and you have a smaller format set up, you get a DM suggesting the switch.
- Around 18:00, if you're below the minimum to play at all, you get a DM suggesting you cancel.
Match day
- If you're still short, more calls for players go out on match morning and in the last few hours before kickoff. They stop the moment the squad is full.
- Teams are made when anyone asks:
@Match Time generate the teams. You can also generate them from the dashboard. - About 2 hours before kickoff (football), a reminder to bring goalie gloves, a ball and spare bibs.
After the match
- About an hour after the end, MatchTime asks for the score. Anyone who played, or an admin, can post it (
7-3,we won 5-4). - From 08:00 the next morning, everyone who played gets a personal rating link by DM, then a reminder at 18:00 each day for up to 5 days until they've rated.
- Man of the Match is announced in the group as soon as everyone has voted (between 09:00 and 21:00), or from day 5 at the latest.
- Want to know who hasn't rated yet? It's on your dashboard, or ask
@Match Time who hasn't rated?
6. How teams are picked
MatchTime uses each player's rating at your club: your starting rating at first, then more and more the ratings team-mates give after each game. It also takes a quick look at the week's chat for anything that matters tonight (someone carrying a knock, say) and nudges ratings a little. Then it splits the squad into two sides with the closest total rating, keeping positions like goalkeepers spread evenly where it can.
Only confirmed players are included. To count in someone who has already replied for this match, ask @Match Time generate the teams including Dan.
Changing the teams
From the match page, choose Manage teams to swap two players, move someone to the other side, swap colours, add or remove players, or bring someone up from the bench. In the group, @Match Time swap Dan with Leo and @Match Time swap the colours work too.
If someone drops after the teams are out, whoever replaces them (a bench player who claims the spot, or "Sam is replacing Joe") goes straight into the same team, so you don't have to redo them.
7. Scores, ratings and Man of the Match
- Each player rates everyone else who played, from 1 to 10, and picks one Man of the Match.
- Every score also moves a separate results-based ranking, where a big win counts for more than a narrow one. Players see it on the leaderboard; it isn't used to pick teams.
- A wrong score can be corrected from the team page for that match.
8. Payments (optional)
Switch on Collect match feesin Settings, choose who collects the money and connect their bank. After each game players get a pay link: card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or pay by bank. Players who haven't paid are reminded by DM. Players can also choose to pay the collector directly, and the collector confirms it.
Players pay the card or bank fee on top, so the collector receives the full match fee. Collecting cash instead? Just leave payments off.
9. DMs you'll get as an admin
- New players to check: once a day while anyone is waiting.
- Switch format: the day before, around 10:00, when you're short and a smaller format is set up.
- Cancel: the day before, around 18:00, when even the smallest format can't fill.
Each DM has a link that signs you straight in and opens the right page. Links are valid for 48 hours.
10. Fixing things
Someone's attendance is wrong
Open the match. You can add a player, take someone out, or move someone up from the bench.
A message wasn't understood
If someone said In or Out and MatchTime couldn't tell who they meant, it appears under Unresolved. Link it to the right player once and that name is remembered from then on.
11. FAQ
How do I get MatchTime into my group?
Sign up and create your club, and we'll help you add MatchTime to your WhatsApp group, usually within a day. Questions? Email hello@matchtime.ai.
Does MatchTime reply to everything?
No. It only acts on In, Out and messages that tag @Match Time. The rest of the chat is left alone.
Can I run two games from one group?
MatchTime handles one weekly game per WhatsApp group. If you run a second game, give it its own group.
Can players turn off DMs?
Yes. A player can DM MatchTime stop to turn off everything except payment messages, or stop ratings for just the rating links. start messages turns them back on.
How do I stop using it?
Remove MatchTime from your WhatsApp group. Your matches, ratings and stats stay on the dashboard.