SportsPress Pro

It is not a website plugin: it is a competition's database

That is the right way to look at it, and it explains why SportsPress resembles nothing else you install in WordPress.

A normal plugin adds a feature to your site. This one adds a whole data model: teams, players, seasons, rounds, matches, in-match events and statistics. You enter the results, and from there the system calculates the rest.

And that is what you are genuinely buying. Not that it shows you a handsome table: that the table calculates itself with the rules you define. Three points for a win and one for a draw, or two and one, or ties broken on goal difference, or on head-to-head. That arithmetic, done by hand in a spreadsheet, is where the mistakes get made that people will correct you on in the comments.

What it manages

• Teams and squads, with each player's record.
• Fixtures and results by round and by season.
• Calculated tables, following your competition's rules.
• Player statistics, derived from what you record in each match.
• Leagues and clubs, for managing either one team or a whole competition.

What genuinely costs is entering the data

Worth saying before deciding the project's scope, because it is what sinks half of these sites.

Results do not arrive on their own. Unless you build a bespoke integration with the governing body, which almost never exists, somebody has to enter every round: the scores, the scorers, the cards, the line-ups. With twelve teams and six weekly matches that is a fixed Monday task for nine months.

The practical rule is starting with the minimum that stands up: results and the table. That already covers the site's most visited page. Player statistics, minutes and cards get added afterwards, if the weekly work turns out to be manageable.

An up-to-date table with basic data is worth far more than an exhaustive record that stopped in November.

It works for the club, not only for the publication

It is a use that gets overlooked and that often fits better than the journalistic one.

A neighbourhood club, a sports school or a local league has a very concrete problem: the parents, the players and the opposition ask the same things every week, and somebody answers by messaging over and over. When do we play, where is it, how did it finish, how is the table looking.

A website with that data kept current answers on its own. It is one of the cases where a small site saves the most real work, and it needs neither spectacular design nor traffic.

Requirements

It needs WordPress. It works with normal themes, although sports themes present the data better because they are built for it.

Alternatives in the catalogue

On the design side, the one built for this is The League, a sports news theme compatible with this plugin and with its own scoreboard. It is the natural combination if as well as data you publish match reports.

If your project is mainly a publication and sport is one section among several, a general portal fits better: Herald organises the homepage by section and JNews is the sector's most complete.

If you publish results the same day, Yoast News SEO is what makes Google treat you as a current affairs publication.

And if yours is not a competition but a sports facility with classes and bookings, the problem is a different one and gets solved with a diary: MotoPress Appointment Booking or Amelia.

Frequently asked questions

Does it calculate the table by itself?
Yes, from the results and the scoring rules you define.

Do results import from the governing body?
No. Barring a bespoke integration, they have to be entered every round.

Does it work for any sport?
It is designed for managing teams, players and competitions generally.

Do I need a sports theme?
No, it works with normal themes, but sports ones present the data far better.

Is it useful for a small club?
Yes, and it is usually where it shows most: it answers the weekly questions on its own.

Where do I start?
With results and the table. Player statistics get added once you see you can maintain them.