Retro League using LOGacta

I’ve just completed the next season of the Retro League using LOGacta, i.e. by being faithful to the original rules (apart from a couple of variations). I have converted the league to a 16-team super league and carried out the league and cups according to the original rules. I will post the results on the relevant page on this site as soon as I get a chance to create the tables etc.

In the meantime, I thought I would post about the experience. This was an exercise in nostalgia as I have not played LOGacta in its original format for probably over 40 years. I have created charts in Excel and printed them off, and did all the results using pen and paper, and I have to say it was really good fun.

The rules were as per LOGacta but I have always been troubled by the use of the Blue v red dice for the first four match sets, so this is where I have improvised a bit. As I am wishing to simulate real life leagues I need some way of at least starting with initial ratings based on the standings in those original leagues. So, I split the 16 teams in to four groups, rated 1-4, and made sure that on the Fixtures and Results chart that there was one of each rating in section of four teams on the chart. This would ensure all teams got a reasonably similar schedule at the start of the season.

I actually used these ratings for the first 8 match sets, in order to give enough of a head start to the better teams as possible, plus of course, the previous champions (Tottenham Hotspur) had the form die for the first 8 match sets as well.

From match set 9 onwards I used the usual form rules and points for ratings, and it worked out pretty well. Preston North End (a club famous for being the original winners of the Football league in 1889) won the title, and this is not as unlikely as it may seem, as in the 1957-58 season (the one being simulated) they actually finished second in the table. Also, this was the time of the great Tom Finney, and prolific forward who played his entire professional career at the club from Lancashire.

Anyway, the league charts, which should be of interest to LOGacta buffs, are shown below.

Fixtures and Results Chart
Points Recorder
League Positions Chart

29 thoughts on “Retro League using LOGacta”

    1. Thank you. It’s progressing nicely too, updated tables now posted. Next is the 3rd round of the F.A. Cup.

      By the way, have you seen “The English Game” on Netflix? It’s a nice little historical drama about the origins of professional football and the F.A. Cup. It’s an interesting watch, if not entirely accurate.

      1. Yes, I watched some episodes though couldn’t quite get into it. Sunderland til’ I Die is good though. Even my wife is watching it!

          1. I like the Retro League even though I wasn’t born until 1980. I have quite a lot of football programmes that date back to the late 50’s so through that I have an interest in those days gone by.

            Are you using the initial ratings for each club based on how they performed in the previous seasons in real life, or how they did in your game?

            Keep on rolling the dice!

            David

          2. Hi David, thanks for the comments.

            The ratings are based on how the teams performed in the season being played, so that, hopefully, the final positions should reflect what happened in reality. However, of course, due to the way the dice fall and the form of each club there are sometimes some considerable differences, for example Fulham, Leeds and Everton all did a fair bit better than they did in reality that season.

            Alex

    2. Hi I use actual scores from each team. It adds a bit of interest scouring the various divisions for the results.
      I base these on Saturday matches only.

      My league is made up of the 16 Teams at the top of the old first division for the season 1975/1976.

      I also give a bonus point for any team that does a double. Ie wins home and away?

      Just a little adjustment adding to how teams would finish if implemented by the football league

  1. I am looking forward to seeing how season six plays out then. I support Sheffield Wednesday and we finished second in 60/61 to the double winning Tottenham side.

    Wednesday were in fact the first team to beat Spurs that season, although by that time they had already racked up a record breaking start to the season.

    David

  2. Hi Alex
    It will be interesting to see if Wolves will make it three in a row in the Retro League!
    I looked through your A-F-L records and I think Leeds and Man United are the only clubs to manage a “three-peat”?
    Kevin

    PS In Season 6 now of my North American league -having fun!

    1. That’s great Kevin, what’s your Roll of Honour for the six seasons so far?

      That’s right about the three-peats. Leeds, who were one of the AFL’s early successful teams (before it was even called the AFL) and won it in seasons 52-54 and Manchester United in seasons 114-116. That was a successful period for United as they won the league 8 times in 17 seasons, and performed well in Europe too.

      All the best.

      Alex

  3. Hi Alex

    Ha! “Roll of Honor”, I like that!

    LAFC have won the Super League twice (2,4) and runners up twice so I guess they are the most successful team so far. They’ve also appeared in 2 Memorial Cup finals though yet to win it.
    Sporting Kansas City who won the 2nd tier Championship in season 4 won the Super League in Season 5 so that was unexpected!
    DC United have one the S.L. once and runners up twice though they did win the Champions League to go one better than their now bitter rivals LAFC!

    Cheers!
    Kevin

    1. OK, thanks for that Kevin. It’s interesting to see how it has gone.

      Yeah, I suppose we would normally call it an “honours list”, but “roll of honour” just came to mind, lol.

      Alex

  4. Hi Alex
    So Wolves were pipped at the post by Spurs so no “Three-peat”for them though how the league finished up was really close to reality. Another 9 seasons to go before sparking any memories for me so I have some waiting to do!
    A quick question if I may? Have you ever done World Cups or European Championships?

    Cheers
    Kevin

    1. Hi Kevin

      Yes, it was almost a three-in-a-row for Wolves, they’ve done very well, but Spurs proved too strong in the end.

      Yes, I do a European Championship after every fourth league season, the details are on the EFU section of the website. The history is quite interesting as I used to do the finals on a league basis and Scotland finished third in the first season. 🙂

      I haven’t really ever done a World Cup as the qualification is more complex, but I may start doing one if I can get a system that will be reasonably easy to manage.

      Alex

  5. Hi Alex

    Thanks for the direction…..it was staring right at me but some how I didn’t see it in the EFU section 🙂
    That is an interesting and extensive history especially seeing some of the old “Eastern Bloc”countries again that have now changed names. Too bad Scotland only make the one appearance…..so far! Germany seemed to do much better as West Germany and have featured less than expected in the modern format. Do you have your own formula for ranking (seeding) the teams or use UEFA coefficients?

    Cheers
    Kevin

    1. I use the UEFA/FIFA coefficients. I will use them also if I decide to do a World Cup at some point. I do find with LOGacta dice that ratings have to be quite “aggressive” if you want the top teams to have the best chance of winning, as teams rated 2 and 3 can do quite well and get shock wins, especially in the knockout rounds. So, I will porbably only have one or two rated 1, another couple rated 2 and so on.

      Alex

  6. I started by having 4 divisions of 16 teams and a FA Cup (starting from the third round). Teams in the divisions were based on standings in 1958-59 season. (I picked those dates as it was the first season of Division 4). It was standard Locacta rules that season using pen and paper. 2 teams promoted and 2 teams related.

    Season 2 I got much more ambitious (i’m on game 13 of the season at the moment). I’m playing this on Excel using historical kits from 1959-60 season. For each game i use a photo of the home team’s ground
    from that era. The photo’s for grounds are divided into four types depending on time of year. Sunny photos, muddy/rain, snow pictures and night photo’s (if FA Cup replays. as midweek games, no league games played midweek). For each picture of a ground i would place a historical kit for the home team and one for the away team. The score would have numbers (in italics style used for that era next to the home or away team)

    The season was devised differently to the previous one. With each divsion being divided into 3 ratings. (Based on real placings for 1959-60) this was on the first 10 games of the season. Obviously teams in divisions were based on promotion and relegation from 1958-59. Two teams Coventry and Shrewsbury Town (highest placed teams in real life for 1959-60 not featured in 1958-59) replaced relegated division 4 teams Southend and Chesterfield.

    3 ratings:

    Div one: top 4, next 6, bottom 6 (only top 4 as wanted to emphasize how difficult to win division one)
    Div two: top 5, next 6, bottom 5 (top 5 and bottom 5 to make promotion and relegation less predictable)
    Div three: top 5, next 6, bottom 5
    Div Four: top 5, next 6, bottom 5

    Only one form team for first 10 games which was Wolves (winner of my 1958-59 divion one)

    Thereadter tradional Logacta rules. in place.

    I will attach pictures of the ground shots with historical kits to emphasize)

    1. Hi Dan (I assume that is your name from the title, if not I apologise)

      That sounds very impressive, and I’m eager to see your images. Sounds like a great way to “bring it all to life”. I’ve tried something similar in the past as the bare results can sometimes be a bit lifeless.

      It’s great reliving the old seasons though, isn’t it? There’s a lot of great history out there and the history of football has always fascinated me. I have some old books called “The Big Book of Football Champions” from that era, and they are brilliant to read and see football in a different era.

      Anyway, post the pictures when you get a chance, it’ll be really great to see those. If possible, I’d love to see the final tables of your first season too.

      Alex

  7. Hi all,

    Great to hear from people who enjoyed the original Logacta.
    I had an email from a guy called Greig yesterday who is bringing out a boxed version of the game like the original. He’s hoping to have it for sale before Christmas.

    1. Yup, I got that email too, and also heard of it via the Old Logacta Players’ group on Facebook. The game is not suited to the leagues I play but I might go for a set of dice if possible.

    1. No worries. I’m Alex btw. 🙂

      OK, I’ll look at sending my email address, but there may be a better way. Are you on the Facebook group, The Old Logacta Players’ Association? If not, have a look as it is a great place to share your stuff amongst an enthusiastic Logacta group. I persuaded Kevin (another regular poster here) to join it and he has been very prolific in posting details of his competitions, and it’s good stuff too.

      Anyway, maybe have a look at that but if you are not keen I’ll send you my email addy.

      All the best.

      Alex

      1. Hi Alex, excellent i’ll try to join.

        Regarding the nosalgia element, yes, thats my passion for it. I’m quite dispondent about modern football, so i love reliving the kits, grounds (with the fantastic terracing) of an older era.

        By the way if you join the facebook group are the posts only seen by that group?

        Cheers, Dan

        1. Yes, it’s a private group, so only the members get to see the posts. Kevin had the same worry, which I can understand (there was another group previously that was open and I posted on it and everyone at my workplace knew about it 😲) but I reassured him about it. As I say, it’s a brilliant place to post and share stuff about this game we love. I’m with you on dissatisfaction with the modern game, and our game is a great way of getting back some of the excitement of past seasons. 🙂

          Alex

  8. Cheers Alex, i’ve applied to join the Facebook group. Fantastic that there is a group for geeks like myself, lol.

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