Every mates’ league needs a forfeit. The winner gets a season of bragging rights. The one at the bottom gets something to remember it by. Here are ideas for both, sorted by type, with a few for Last Man Standing.
Agree the forfeit before the first match, not after the last one. It is much harder to wriggle out of.
Something to wear
- The winner’s choice of shirt to the next match or the next night out, rival club included.
- A wooden spoon on a lanyard at every match night until next season.
- Your club’s worst ever away kit, chosen by the group, for the end-of-season get-together.
- A hat or scarf of the winner’s choosing for a week of video calls.
Something to say
- The winner chooses your profile picture for a week.
- Your name in the group chat is whatever the winner says, until the first match of next season.
- A written apology to the group for your predictions, read out at the end-of-season night.
- Admit, in writing, that the winner knows more about football than you do.
- Call the winner “gaffer” for a month.
Something to do
- Write the season review for the group chat, including a full account of your own worst predictions.
- Cook the end-of-season dinner, or bake something in the winner’s colours.
- Make the tea for everyone for a week (a good one for workplace leagues).
- Wash the winner’s car.
- Organise next season’s league, including chasing everyone to join.
Something to perform
- Record a chant about the winner and send it to the group chat.
- Karaoke of the group’s choice at the end-of-season night.
- Give a two-minute team talk before the first match of next season.
- Present the winner’s trophy, with a speech the group gets to rate.
Something to keep
- A trophy of shame on your shelf until next season, with a photo to prove it.
- The wooden spoon, with your name and the season written on it, to hand on next year.
- Your lowest-scoring prediction, printed and framed by the winner.
For a Last Man Standing
- Everyone out in round one makes the tea, or brings the snacks, at the next match night.
- The last few out pick the name for the next game, which everyone else then gets to mock.
- The runner-up presents the trophy to the last one standing, with a speech.
And for the winner
The other half of it: being the hero of the group for a season.
- Choose next season’s forfeit.
- Name the group chat for the season.
- Pick the venue for the end-of-season night.
- A trophy of your own, however tacky, passed on to next year’s winner.
Keep it fun
- Agree it before the season starts, and make sure everyone has said yes.
- Nothing dangerous, no drinking challenges, and nothing anyone can’t afford.
- Nothing that drags in people outside the group, or that could cause trouble at work.
- Let anyone swap for something else if a forfeit doesn’t suit them.
- Make it a season thing, not a punishment for one bad weekend.
Forfeits are for fun. Terrace Tally is nothing to do with betting: no odds, no bets and no money through the app.
How Terrace Tally helps
- Name the bottom place. In a Predictions League, the person running it can name the bottom place whatever your group likes, a “wooden spoon” for example. The name sits on the table all season, and on the table you share to the group chat. It is a season thing only, so nobody is branded after one bad week.
- A winner every month. Manager of the Month gives everyone something to play for, even when the top of the table has gone.
- Who went out, and when. In Last Man Standing, every round’s result shows who went out and why, so there is nothing to argue about.
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