Teamer has closed: a new home for your five-a-side

If your weekly five-a-side ran on Teamer, you'll know by now that it's gone. Teamer closed on Monday 5 October 2026. So who's in on Tuesday, who's paid and who's on which team now sits in a group chat, or in the organiser's head.

This guide covers what happened, your options, and how to get your weekly game going again on 5asider in about ten minutes.

What happened to Teamer

According to Teamer's own shutdown FAQs, the company was "unable to make the level of long-term investment required to continue operating Teamer sustainably", so it closed the service on 5 October 2026.

There are no export tools, so your team's events and member list can't be moved to another app. If you're starting again, you'll need your players' names and email addresses from somewhere else.

That's a shame. Teamer looked after a lot of grassroots and five-a-side teams for a long time, and plenty of organisers will miss it.

Your options

Pitchero

Teamer recommends Pitchero, which is part of the same group. Pitchero is built for grassroots clubs: club websites, fixtures and results, members and more. Its free plan doesn't take payments online, and its Standard plan is £38 a month (as of October 2026).

If you run a proper club, with several teams, a website and subs to collect, Pitchero is a good fit and worth a look.

Spond

Spond is another free app built for clubs and teams: events, availability, reminders, group posts and payments (2.5% + 20p each in the UK, as of October 2026). We've compared it with 5asider in a Spond alternative for casual five-a-side.

5asider

If what you actually run is a weekly kickabout, a club platform may be more than you need. 5asider is built for that weekly game with your mates, and nothing else. It's free and it's been running since 2009.

• One-tap replies. When you add a game, everyone in the squad gets an email with I'm in and I'm out buttons. No login needed to reply.
• Who's in at a glance. The game page shows who's in, who's out and who hasn't replied yet.
• Fair teams. Auto-pick splits whoever is playing into two even teams using the squad's own results. More in how to pick fair five-a-side teams.
• The league table keeps itself. Add the score after the game and the season, form and all-time tables update.

One thing to know up front: 5asider doesn't collect money. If you collected match fees through an app, you'll need another way. Most casual groups use bank transfers or a payment link, ideally for a block of weeks up front.

Get your game going again in ten minutes

1. Gather your players' details (2 minutes)

As Teamer can't export your member list, you'll need to put it together again. Good places to look:

• your WhatsApp group's member list, for names;
• an old email thread with the squad, for email addresses (the To line is perfect);
• your phone's contacts.

You only need a name for each player. An email address lets you invite them, so they get the game emails themselves.

2. Create your squad (1 minute)

Go to create your squad, sign in with Google and give the squad a name. Your new squad gets a short getting-started checklist to walk you through the rest.

3. Add everyone at once (3 minutes)

Paste a list of names or email addresses, for example straight from an email's To line. 5asider splits it into players for you to check, then adds them all in one go. Anyone with an email address gets an invitation.

Each player accepts the invitation and signs in with Google once. From then on they get an email for every game. Players who don't want to sign up can stay in the squad, and you can mark them in or out yourself.

4. Add your first game (1 minute)

Add a game with the kick-off and the team names ("Bibs and Non-bibs" works). Everyone who has signed up gets the "Can you play?" email. Next time you add a game, the date is filled in for the same slot next week.

5. Tell the group (1 minute)

Share the game's link in your WhatsApp group. The preview shows when the game is and how many are in, out and yet to reply, so people know where to reply from now on.

6. After the game

Pick the teams by hand or with auto-pick, then add the score. The tables start filling in from your first result. Your old Teamer results won't come with you, but by the end of your first twelve-game season you'll have a proper table again.

Pitchero or 5asider?

In short: a club with fixtures, a website and subs suits Pitchero. A group of mates who book a pitch every week suits 5asider.

If you're also thinking about running the game on WhatsApp alone, see running your five-a-side on WhatsApp vs 5asider.

Questions people ask

When did Teamer close?

On Monday 5 October 2026.

Can I move my Teamer data to 5asider?

Not directly. Teamer has no export tools, so events and member lists can't be moved. You can add your players to 5asider quickly by pasting a list of names or email addresses.

Is 5asider free?

Yes. Squads, game emails, team picking, scores and tables are all free.

Does 5asider collect match fees?

No. 5asider doesn't handle money. Most casual groups collect by bank transfer or a payment link.

Do my players need to download an app?

No. 5asider runs in the browser on any phone or computer, and they can add it to their home screen. Replying from the game email needs no login.