The problem with smaller leagues in which i have played is,if you have lots of divisions and less teams in them ,is that if those players only play in that league, they are going to have lots of blank weeks and may not play for a number weeks between games ,unless like me you play in lots of different leagues then you get at least a game a week.or if that league has less divisions but more teams is the standard between the bottom team of the div and top is massive meaning that those teams go out and not have a good match because the top team win really easy.or if that league have smaller divisions but they play each other three times ,some players will get fed up playing the same players all the time .so which ever way you go its not going to please everyone.but ipswich is different becuase it a big league you should roughly be able to have 12 teams a division,which means plenty of games over the season and not weeks of not having a game,the standard in each division should be closer than smaller leagues so stops the walk overs,and the players do not have to play the same players all the time so do not get bored.so i think the ipswich format works very well due to its size.

Edited by author 06-05-2009 01:51 PM
I prefer the format the way it currently is - firstly, you get more games, secondly, you play against more different players... Braintree league play 8-team divisions where you play each team 3 times - I personally don't think its as good...

Good idea Dave, however why not play the same format the whole way through the season, having seven divisions of eight teams playing each other three times, a total of 21 matches instead of the present 26. H,A or A,H and after the second match the two teams decide or spin up as to where the third match is to be played.
With promotion of 1 up, and relegation 1 down.
best of luck to IDTTL for the forthcoming season.

When i resided in Essex ,the Southend TT League encountered the same problem. ie reducing the divisions meant too few matches whilst it was an effort to fulfill league fixtures with more than a dozen teams. What was done there was to play normal league matches with reduced numbers. This meant that the league was concluded with two thirds of the season gone. To maximise the final third of the season all teams played each other again (just once) in a fun mini league.It was luck of the draw whether this was home or away. However the format was changed to a mixture of singles and doubles (each player played two doubles matches with his/her partner. In total there were 6 singles played (two for each player) and 3 doubles (two for each player). I still have the format if required. Thanks. Dave (01473 610534)

Edited by author 05-31-2009 01:23 PM
At the 2009 AGM, it was queried whether the number of teams in each division could be reduced. This might help with fixture congestion and avoid unfulfilled matches?
If you have any comments or ideas on how the league may be formatted to ease congestion or the pro's and con's of any suggestions please feel free to post your opinion here...