A football squares Excel template with three tabs

The file is available at football-squares-template.xlsx. It is a standard .xlsx workbook, so it opens in Microsoft Excel, LibreOffice Calc and Google Sheets. Download it once and keep a copy for the season; there is no macro, no add-in and no sign-up. If your browser saves the file with a different name, rename it to football-squares-template.xlsx so you can find it later. The workbook is intentionally small: three tabs, no hidden sheets and no external links, so it opens quickly on an older office laptop and does not trigger a security warning about macros.

The Board tab is the printable grid. It has a header for the pool title, both team names, the cost per square and the four payout amounts, followed by a 10×10 grid with light borders. The number rows and columns are blank, so you can run the draw by hand or type the digits after a randomizer produces them. The print area is set to landscape and fit-to-page, which means the board prints on one US Letter sheet without manual scaling. Fill the squares with initials or short names; the cells are sized for a name, not a paragraph. Leave the header cells in place when you print; they carry the rules that prevent an argument later.

The Payouts tab does the money math. Enter the cost per square and the number of squares sold, and the total pot appears. The four period percentages are separate cells, so you can change 25/25/25/25 to 20/20/20/40 and see the dollar amounts update. The formulas are ordinary spreadsheet formulas, not hidden scripts, so you can audit them or adapt them for a different split. If you add a reverse-winner prize, take its percentage out of the four period percentages so the total stays at 100 percent. The tab also leaves room for a note about who collected the money and when the prizes were paid.

The Payouts tab uses three kinds of cells: inputs, a total and four period amounts. The inputs are the cost per square and the number of squares sold. The total multiplies them. Each period amount multiplies the total by that period's percentage. Because the formulas reference the input cells instead of hard-coded dollar amounts, changing the buy-in updates every prize at once. If you want to check the math by hand, multiply 100 squares by $10 to get $1,000, then multiply by 0.25 for a $250 period prize. The spreadsheet does the same thing, and the formula bar shows the exact reference if you click a cell. Do not paste over a formula cell with a number unless you intend to replace the calculation.

The Instructions tab is a six-step checklist: set the teams, set the buy-in, fill the squares, draw the numbers, enter the scores and pay the winners. It also lists the house rules worth settling before kickoff: whether the final includes overtime, what happens to unsold squares and whether one person can claim several. Print this tab and keep it with the board; it answers most questions without a second conversation.

Upload the file to Google Drive and open it with Google Sheets. The grid and formulas carry over, and you can share the sheet with the person collecting money. Google Sheets is convenient for a remote pool because everyone sees the same file, but it is not a replacement for the online pool: there is no lock, no automatic number draw and no winning-square highlight. Use the spreadsheet for the record and the online pool for the live board if you need both.

The browser generator is faster for a one-off board: type the teams, choose a split, print. The Excel template is better when you want a file you can email, archive or hand to a treasurer, or when your office already lives in spreadsheets. The template is also easier to customize if you want a different header or a second sheet for a season of boards. Neither option is more official than the other; both produce the same 10×10 grid and the same payout math.

The first mistake is drawing numbers in the spreadsheet before the board is full. The second is overwriting a formula in the Payouts tab and wondering why the amounts stopped updating. The third is printing the Board tab without checking the print area, which can split the grid across two pages. The fourth is sharing an editable file with the whole group; one accidental keystroke can wipe a name or a payout cell. Keep a master copy, share a view-only version and print the board for the room.

Move online when players are remote, when you want the numbers drawn and stored automatically, or when you need a record of who claimed which square. The online pool handles those jobs without a spreadsheet, and the host can still export a CSV for the treasurer. A spreadsheet is a fine record; it is not a live board. Pick the tool that matches the size and location of the group, and keep the rules identical either way.