Excel, get string value on cell

Question

How do I get the cell from a string? I'm counting the number of times a specific string occurs on another worksheet. I have this formula:

=COUNTIF('Season 1'!$D$2:$F$1768,"*Player 1*")

Instead of having to do this manually with all other players, how do I reference the cell containing the string "Player 1" without having to manually type the string into the formula?

Answer 1

If your list of players starts in cell A1 then try

=COUNTIF('Season 1'!$D$2:$F$1768,"*" & A1 & "*")

then copy down

Answer 2

So you don't want to type player 1, 2, 3 etc. into each formula? - in which case type player 1, 2, 3 in cells and then reference them. Like:

=COUNTIF('Season 1'!$D$2:$F$1768,"A1") - assuming A1 contains player 1 for example.

Is that what you mean? If you could upload the data that would help!