Eighteen clubs in the competition

FS-01Catalogue name: Eighteen clubs

What it means

The competition has eighteen clubs.

Why it exists

Everything else about the season's shape (how many games, rounds and byeA round in which a club does not play.Read more in the glossary) follows from the number of clubs.

For example

With eighteen clubs, nine games fill a full round. A nineteenth club in 2028 would change the whole shape.

How strictly it applies

Must-follow The fixture must obey this rule. A separate checker tests the finished fixture afterwards.

Must-follow. The club list is loaded from the season settings and checked independently from the 15 September release.

Where to see it

How the fixture is made shows how this plays out across the season.

How it played out across versions

One cell per release, oldest first. Each shows the verdict that release recorded for this rule; a release with no row for the rule says so.

13 Sep13 Sep 2026Preview 13 September2027 · Generated
Off, switched off by these settings
no checker yet
13 Sep13 Sep 2026Preview 14 September (seed 42)2027 · Generated
Off, switched off by these settings
no checker yet
14 Sep14 Sep 2026Repeat-qualified (seed 42)2027 · Generated
Off, switched off by these settings
no checker yet
14 Sep14 Sep 2026Corrected (seed 43)2027 · Generated
Off, switched off by these settings
no checker yet
14 Sep14 Sep 2026Rules release (seed 43)2027 · Generated
Off, switched off by these settings
no checker yet
15 Sep15 Sep 2026B009 nominal (seed 43)2027 · Generated
Met, met
18 Sep18 Sep 2026B010 nominal (weight 0.10)2027 · Generated
Met, met
19 Sep19 Sep 2026B011 nominal2027 · Generated
Met, met
30 Sep30 Sep 2026B012 Wednesday opening2027 · Generated
Met, met
20252025 season as played2025 · As played
Off, switched off by these settings
rule source not recorded

First checked independently in Two start dates compared, 15 Sep 2026.

For analysts: catalogue text and codes

Rule id: FS-01
Catalogue text: 18 teams in the competition.
Catalogue type: Hard
Catalogue family: Fixture Structure
Class: hard · The fixture must never break it.
Step: S2 · Step 2: rounds
Recorded status: met · source row evaluated
Catalogue reason: The season's shape follows from the club count: how many games, how many rounds, how many byes.