Start a manual game
This is a simple local board for two teams, players, classrooms, practices, tabletop games, or informal events. It deliberately does not choose a sport, enforce its rules, fetch a league score, synchronize devices, keep an account, or declare a winner. The person operating the board decides when a point counts and when the clock should run.
- Type short left and right team names. The large board updates while you type. If a name is empty, the familiar Home or Away label is used so the display never becomes ambiguous.
- Set whole minutes and seconds. Seconds must be between 00 and 59. Select Set timer before play; this pauses an already running clock and adopts the entered duration.
- Use +1 and −1 below either score. Scores stop at zero so an accidental extra subtraction does not create a negative game score. The board supports values up to 9,999.
- Set the exact starting time, then operate in the normal view or enter Full screen for a tablet display. Small −/+ controls beside the clock make one-minute corrections. Below it, one icon swaps from Play to Pause while running, and the circular arrow resets the timer to the last exact time set above. These controls work in either view. Use Exit full screen or press Escape to return.
- Use Clear only when you intend to begin again. It restores Home, Away, 0–0, and 10:00, and pauses the clock.
Keyboard and mobile operation
When focus is not inside an input, Q adds one to the left team and A subtracts one. P adds one to the right team and L subtracts one. Space starts or pauses the timer, and F requests full screen. These separated keys reduce the chance that one hand changes the wrong side. The visible buttons remain the primary control on touch screens and are fully usable without remembering shortcuts.
Shortcuts are ignored while you edit a team name or time field. That keeps ordinary typing—especially the letters A, P, Q, L, F and spaces—from changing the game. Tab moves through names, time fields, and buttons in document order. Each control has a visible keyboard focus outline and an accessible label that includes the affected side.
How the timer avoids background drift
A browser cannot promise that a repeating callback fires every exact second, especially when a tab is hidden or a device saves power. The board therefore does not reduce the clock by one on every callback. When started, it records the remaining duration and the current clock time. Each refresh subtracts actual elapsed milliseconds from that anchor. Returning to a backgrounded tab immediately recalculates from elapsed time rather than pretending no time passed.
The display rounds a positive partial second upward, so 60.001 seconds appears as 01:01 and exactly 60 seconds appears as 01:00. At zero the clock stops and the Start button cannot make a finished countdown run into negative time. Set a new duration or Clear before the next game. Pausing first updates the remaining time from the same anchor, which prevents the interval schedule from deciding the stored result.
Examples you can reproduce
For a 10-minute practice, leave 10 and 00, choose Set timer, then Start timer. Add points manually. Pause at a break; the displayed remaining time is retained until Start timer is selected again.
For a board game without a clock, leave the timer paused and use only names and +1/−1. Full screen shows the large timer and both scores, but the clock does not start merely because the display entered full screen.
Scope and recovery
This board stays in the current page only. It does not persist a season, save a game file, broadcast to another screen, or merge changes from multiple operators. Full screen is the same local page, not a separate synchronized spectator link. If the page reloads or closes, the current state may be lost; write down an important official score elsewhere.
The board makes no automatic foul, possession, period, inning, set, serve, overtime, shot-clock, mercy-rule, or scoring judgment. Those elements differ by sport and competition. Adding hidden rule automation would make a generic board less predictable, so this page keeps the familiar minimum: two names, two manual scores, one countdown, reset, full screen, and keyboard access.
Frequently asked questions
Does the timer continue when the tab is in the background?
Elapsed real time is applied when the browser wakes the page, although a sleeping or suspended device cannot visually update until it resumes.
Can I type a score directly?
No. Use +1 and −1 so changes are deliberate and easy to operate at a distance.
Why can’t a score go below zero?
A generic game score normally starts at zero; clamping prevents an accidental extra subtraction. This is not a sport-rule judgment.
Which controls appear in full screen?
The full-screen board keeps score buttons, small minute corrections, Start, Pause, Reset timer, and a visible exit button. Setup fields and the Full screen entry button stay outside.
Are games saved or synchronized?
No. There is no account, server, live league feed, or multi-device synchronization.
Does Clear mean pause?
Clear is a full reset. The Start/Pause button changes only timer playback and preserves names and scores.