Present perfect/Past simple - 2 structures which work differently?

I´ve got a problem to understand how work present perfect/past simple in these two strucures. I will be really grateful for any kind of help.

1.structure

I played in two finals this season.

I have played in two finals this season.

Here present perfect opens a possibility for more finals in the season. The season hasn´t finished yet. I may play in more finals.

However the opinion of native speakers differs when it comes to sentences with "every time". Some of them say that present perfect does have the same function here as in the two sentences above. Unfortunately there are a few of them who disagree with those natives and see it perfectly ok to use past simple + every time even though the season is still running and I still can play in more finals. I would personally use present perfect in this structure as well if I didn´t consider the season to be finished.

2.structure

Every time this season I played in a final I won the trophy.

Every time this season I have played in a final I have won the trophy.

I wonder why present perfect doesn´t have the same function in both of these structures. I would not wonder if there were difference in American/British English but in this case all the help I was given comes from people using British English. Therefore it surprises me that one part of them says that:

If you want to emphasise that the activity is over and finished, you use the past. If you want to suggest that there is a continuity into the present, you use the present perfect.

On the other hand there are people saying otherwise:

The phrase "Every time in my life/career/season" is an expression of a specific past time (in fact of several specific times considered one by one), so the simple past is perfectly normal.

Thank you very much.

The choice of tense reflects the speakers attitude towards the temporal aspect of the thing described. Competent native speakers would use the word "played" there when speaking of a season which is over and done with, and "have played" when the season is not yet over or is felt to be not yet over.

If the speaker is speaking of seasons in the plural, and understands that there may be future seasons, the present perfect would be a natural choice. If an old retired athlete were speaking of his career long ago, it would be natural for him to choose the simple past.

That said, especially if there are other temporal markers in the statement which do some of the work of the present perfect, the simple past will sometimes be used by native speakers when the present perfect would have been an apter choice.

The following sentence is grammatically/semantically discordant because there is only one final per season -- there would have to be some extenuating context to explain it, such as the final having to be played over because the referee had been found to be taking a bribe:

^{not OK}Every time this season I have played in a final I have won the trophy.

But this would not have such discord:

Every time I've played in a game this season I've scored a goal.

I've scored a goal in every game I've played this season.

Your confusion mainly lies in three important points.

1. You can never know whether there is any season left if there are only those two sentences. It depends on context, i.e. if the season ends in December and you are saying those 2 sentences in September, people would know that there is 3-month season left. If you say them at one point next year, people would know the season is finished. Using "present perfect tense" doesn't make any difference.

I have played two finals.

This usually means either you (currently) have an experience of playing two finals or you have just finished playing them.

2. This season clearly indicates a past time. The same rule applies to this morning, this afternoon, this evening, this January, this Spring, this year, etc. unless you use a future tense for all of them.

I will call you this afternoon. I called her this afternoon.

3. "Every time" is used as a conjunction and doesn't affect tense at all. If you change "every time" to "whenever", it becomes clearer. This season affect tense, not "every time".

You should use simple "past tense" especially with "this season". There is no reason to use "past perfect" tense for things that happened in the past which doesn't have any influence on the present.

If you want to suggest that there is a continuity into the present, you use the present perfect.

This quote means something completely different from your examples. You can't continue playing and winning. You play for a certain period of time, i.e. 3 to 4 hours for baseball, 2 hours for association football and the play and winning should end after the time passes. They are past events which have nothing to do with the present.