With contributions from Abby Whiteley, Ashara Peiris, Fraser Posford, Joel Davis, and Jackie Woodburn.
As a follow-up to our writers’ rankings released a few weeks ago, we are delighted to reveal our pre-season analyses of the top 14 teams in the UK. We take a look at their performances throughout last season; which players are leaving and who they are gaining; and what we expect of them in the upcoming months. We hope that you find this insightful, and look out for our previews of the rest of the teams very soon!
1. Radcliffe Chimeras
Last season
As the most successful team in the UK in previous years – seeing that last season they were the defending champions of British Quidditch Cup (BQC) and European Quidditch Cup (EQC), alongside other wins – the Chimeras were fully expected to continue their winning ways last season. The team exhibited a strong start to the season with a victory over Southampton Quidditch Club 1 (SQC1) to become champions of the first ever Southern Cup, while also boasting arguably the best club team lineup the UK has ever seen. The Chimeras followed this performance with a very strong showing at BQC2 where, after some rocky moments – especially against the Nottingham Nightmares – they eventually made it to the finals before losing by a snitch grab in overtime to SQC1. This game was enough to shake the Chimeras back into gear, as they followed the loss with an incredibly dominant performance at EQC3, where they won every game on their route to the finals – including avenging their BQC2 loss to SQC1 with a 90*-0 shutout – before losing to Titans Paris in another thrilling snitch-range game. The Chimeras were led by TeamUK keeper Luke Twist, who was one of four Chimeras to make the TeamUK squad this year.
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Next season
What’s changed?
One of the biggest losses to the Chimeras lineup this season is with TeamUK chaser and seeker David Goswell, who is now playing for the Nottingham Nightmares. This loss will be balanced by relatively little turnover with the rest of the team’s lineup. And with former Bangor Broken Broomsticks and TeamUK behemoth Andrew Hull joining the Oxford Quidlings, it is likely he will be promoted to the Chimeras early in the season. Hull would bring added physicality and an incredibly good longshot to the team’s already deep lineup. Other additions to the Chimera’s quaffle lineup are recent promotions from the Quidlings: Travis Manuel and Robert Brignull. The area where the Chimeras are likely to feel the biggest damage is their beating lineup, where they are losing former TeamUK beater Matty “Panda” Murrell. They have tried to plug this gap with the promotions of Rian Harris and Jamie Cash, and potentially with Twist playing beater more often. However, none of these players have reached the standard where they can have as significant an impact as the departing players – with the possible exception of Twist, whom the Chimeras may be loath to take out of the quaffle game.
What needs to improve?
Whilst the Chimeras undoubtedly still have one of the strongest, if not the best, quaffle player lineups in the country, their beater lineup is looking somewhat deficient. If the Chimeras are able to find suitable replacements for their departing beaters, whether this be through training existing players or discovering some talented freshers, they have a solid shot at retaining their Southern Cup title and regaining the EQC and BQC titles. However, an inability to find adequate replacements will mean further disappointment and possibly some painful losses to teams in the top five this season.
Prediction
Top three at BQC
2. Southampton Quidditch Club 1
Last season
Southampton Quidditch Club 1 came into last season as a team with massive potential. Coming off of a fourth place finish at BQC1 and a win at Whiteknights 2, SQC1 hoped to shine last season – and shine they did. Following an incredibly successful recruitment period, Southampton Quidditch Club formed two teams and bolstered its already talented roster with some incredible new talent. The team’s new roster – including TeamUK players Imy Gregg, Ollie Craig and Aaron Veale – stormed its way to a second place finish at Southern Cup and a joint third place finish at EQC, in both cases only suffering losses to the teams ranked directly above them – Radcliffe Chimeras and Paris Titans.
However, the absolute highlight of the season was when SQC1 defeated the Radcliffe Chimeras in an incredibly tense and exciting final at BQC2 following two excellent catches by Robbie “Dugald” Young, thus making them – at the time – only the third team to defeat the Chimeras and the second ever British champions. Following this, they were able to triumph at the Lightning Cup, beating out Warwick Quidditch Club and the Leicester Thestrals on the team’s way to the trophy.
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Next season
What’s changed?
SQC1 had some significant turnover this season with Craig, Simon Bidwell, and Ben Lawrence among those who have left the team, as well as Young rumoured to be retiring – or at the very least out for part of the season due to injury. Also gone is Brazilian beater and powerhouse Vinicius Costa and TeamUK chaser Lydia Calder. Potentially offsetting these losses is the addition of former TeamUK and Keele Squirrels player Alex Greenhalgh. Furthermore, the surely inevitable promotion of a number of former Southampton Quidditch Club 2 players such as Anjit Aulakh will help to greatly improve the ranks of the team.
What needs to improve?
The losses of Craig, Lawrence, and Young left SQC1 with an enormous gap in its seeking lineup, with Alex Carpenter and Vincent Fouré being the team’s only remaining primary seekers from last season. And with Fouré taking over as primary keeper, he will be even less likely to fill the gap. This means that it is imperative for SQC1 to train up one of its many talented players to take over this role, or else the team may face problems during SWIM situations.
Similarly, the team will undoubtedly be looking for replacements to its keeping lineup as Fouré is the only returning member of SQC1’s keeping team. However, SQC1’s excellent training regimen will surely be able to produce another talented seeker and keeper to back up the remainder of its incredibly talented squad, meaning that if the team can continue to keep its head in high pressure games, it has a decent chance at performing well during the season. With a number of other top teams facing some potentially severe deficiencies, SQC1 definitely has a chance at another brilliant season.
Prediction
Top three at BQC
3. Keele Squirrels
Last season
Each time the Keele Squirrels were told they had lost it, they came back stronger and hit harder than before. Following a respectable second place finish at the East Midlands Cup – including losses to eventual champions Loughborough Longshots and a surprisingly strong Derby Union Quidditch – the team went on to win its first ever trophy at Kuffdon, beating both the Bristol Brizzlepuffs and London Unspeakables out of range in each of the four games played. The team followed this with a strong performance at BQC, eventually finishing in third place, and only losing to the eventual champions SQC1 and avenging its losses to Derby Union and Loughborough. The Keele Squirrels were able to play well at the European Quidditch Cup, where they once again lost to Southampton. The team has received significant recognition this season with three of its members making the TeamUK squad for the European Games, including TeamUK captain Tom Norton.
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Next season
What’s changed?
Despite high retention amongst their male quaffle players, the Keele Squirrels are losing other key players. With confirmed losses of Alex Greenhalgh to Southampton Quidditch Club and Bex McLaughlin to the Barcelona Eagles, the Keele Squirrels are losing two excellent players. Furthermore, due to various recurring injuries, it is possible Judith Ballinger will be retiring, and TeamUK beater Alice Nightingale will be on a study abroad program in Germany for the first half of the season. However, despite these losses, the team is likely to keep a strong core team. The team will also be gaining former Leeds Griffins coach Dave Goddin, who will likely be adding additional depth to Keele’s already extensive male beater line.
What needs to improve?
Whilst the Keele Squirrels have an incredibly talented female quaffle player lineup, including Hannah Watts, Jen Mccallum and Elise Amoah, they currently have a non-existent female and non-binary beater lineup due to the aforementioned losses of McLaughlin, Ballinger, and Nightingale. If the team is unable to fill this hole, it may struggle with maintaining gender balance. Other than this deficiency, however, the Keele Squirrels are set up incredibly well for the season ahead, and it is likely that they will be an even stronger team this season, particularly if they can make the most of a strong fresher intake.
Prediction
Top three at BQC
4. Nottingham Nightmares
Last Season
The Nottingham Nightmares were the ultimate dark horse of last season. Although this suggests that the team was underestimated at the start of the season – which is not entirely the case, as it does do justice to its losses at East Midlands to Keele, Derby, Leicester, and Loughborough – its meteoric rise to a third place finish at EQC surprised at the end of the season. Some dismissed Nottingham for the 2014-15 season after the team failed to win a single match at the East Midlands Cup in October 2014. However, captained by Lucy Q – who places amongst the tactically-minded elite of QuidditchUK – the team reestablished itself with a solid second place finish at its home affair, a Nightmarish Tournament. Not content with this improvement, and with only one set of friendlies between tournaments, Nottingham showed a superior training regime and tactical know-how when it went on to place fifth at BQC in March 2015. To make such a jump in a mere five months is credit to the commitment of both the players and the leadership of the team. The Nottingham Nightmares’ work was again reflected when, one month later, they went on to tie for third at EQC3. This result – from a team that was recognised with the appointment of only one player to TeamUK – showed the strength and depth of their roster and highlighted the outstanding team play on display every time the Nottingham Nightmares took to the pitch.
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Next Season
What’s changed?
The team goes into the new season with the loss of only three players: Kat Jack, Evelyn Goodall, and Matthew Klimuszka. With Jack and Goodall, the team loses two strong finishers around the hoops, but the aforementioned depth of Nottingham’s roster will surely be able to compensate for this. The addition of TeamUK chaser and seeker David Goswell to the squad is the most notable addition for this upcoming season. The old Nottingham team occasionally found itself lacking an established quaffle driver. This was well compensated for by a strong passing game, but all the more evident when chasers like Adam Jasko were taken off the pitch to seek. Goswell’s ability to fill the role of quaffle driver, wing chaser, or seeker with ease will be a huge asset to the Nightmares, and cement them an already assured place in the top four at the Northern Cup.
What needs to improve?
With so few losses from their old guard, the Nottingham Nightmares have little they need to improve upon. Training freshers to ensure no weaknesses in the team roster will be essential to its success. But the same is true of any team, and if last year is anything to go by, this should not prove a struggle to the Nightmares. The team’s main challenge will be in maintaining the momentum it had built up throughout the previous season. This process was already underway when the team attended a string of mini-tournaments this past summer, as well as playing against top teams like Keele and SQC1 at the I Ship It tournament and Lightning Cup, respectively. However, with the Northern Cup so close to the start of the season, this year the Nightmares cannot afford any East Midlands-esque hiccups as it could cost them a place at EQC and do irreparable damage to their season rankings.
Prediction
Top four at BQC
5. Loughborough Longshots
Last season
Loughborough maintained a spot amongst some of the strongest teams in the UK last season, which is even more impressive considering that it was the team’s first full competitive season. The team finished fourth at BQC and 13th at EQC, and sending beater Bill Orridge to TeamUK, with chaser Franky Kempster making the reserves. Throughout last season, Loughborough comfortably competed amongst the top teams, although the team never quite threatened the Chimeras or Southampton – mirrored in the team’s qualitative ranking at fifth. This ranking might seem slightly harsh, especially since the team kept up with the third-ranked Keele Squirrels in the third-place playoff at BQC. However, Keele outperformed the Longshots at EQC by seven places, which demonstrates greater consistency and justifies the Keele Squirrels higher placement.
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Next season
What’s changed?
At this stage, Loughborough has somewhat of a Schrödinger’s squad; the status of several players remains unclear at this point in the season, and it is difficult to predict with accuracy the fate of the squad before knowing for certain whether these players will be present. Certain losses, however, are those of chaser Alex Gill, and beaters Alex Daily and Anna Rees. Their losses, particularly in the beater game, will narrow down Loughborough’s substitution options, but should not rock the lineup too severely. The biggest names in the beater lineup, Orridge and Holly Kerslake, are being retained, and under their guidance the replacements for the beaters should flourish. Daniel Mitchell, a central player for the Loughborough quaffle offence, is moving to Durham for the season for a placement year – another blow to the lineup that Loughborough will have to remedy.
What needs to improve?
In this upcoming season, Loughborough mostly need to work on its depth in the quaffle game. Dan Bridges and Kempster are a hugely talented pair of chasers, but many quaffle players were underutilised last season, and for Loughborough to maintain its position amongst the top teams, the team will need to unlock the potential in the rest of its lineup. With a strong recruitment drive at this notable sporting university, it is not unreasonable to expect that Loughborough will be able to attract the kind of talent the team needs to maintain its current rank. However, it would be unsurprising to see a rather sloppy show at the Northern Cup with an untested quaffle lineup.
Prediction
Top six at BQC
6. Durhamstrang
Last season
The 2014-15 season proved to be a successful one for Durhamstrang. The team won the Highlander Cup, Winter Classic, and “I Ship It” tournaments, and reached the final 16 of both EQC and BQC whilst becoming one of the most exciting teams to watch on the UK scene due to its quick and agile quaffle play and athletic beater corps. This success did not go unnoticed by the TeamUK selectors, with two players being included in the national squad, and three on the list of reserves. This included new Durhamstrang captain Jackie Woodburn and club coach Robbie Gawne, both of whom played their part in the UK’s second place finish at July’s European Games in Sarteano, Italy. The club can now be considered a powerhouse of quidditch in the north of England and this status was cemented when the team hosted its first fantasy tournament, the Summer Cup, in June 2015.
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Next season
What’s changed?
Durhamstrang is in a relatively strong position going into next season as the team will retain the majority of its players who competed in the 2014-15 season. These players will be experienced and battle-hardened going into the new season, which gives the club a good base to found themselves on – especially with the creation of a second team, the Durham Direwolves. However, the key absentee player for Durhamstrang will be TeamUK Chaser Bex Lowe, a player with incredible on-pitch awareness and determination who will be spending a year abroad in Germany this upcoming season, although she will return to compete for Durhamstrang at certain tournaments. The club looks set to also gain the services of powerful Loughborough Longshots keeper and chaser Daniel Mitchell, who will be spending time up north on a placement year.
What needs to improve?
As mentioned above, Durhamstrang’s squad retention is a massive boost going forward as experience, due to the nature of the sport, tends to be a valuable quality for a quidditch player to possess. A shocking loss to the Leicester Thestrals at BQC and drawing Titans Paris in the knockout stages at EQC hurt the team, but the players will have learnt from that and will therefore be stronger for it. It is undeniable that many of Durhamstrang’s players have the right athleticism for quidditch at the highest level, but one thing that proved to be the team’s undoing in both BQC and EQC was a lack of tactical knowledge and game management that teams above Durhamstrang have. Durhamstrang has a great offensive side, but defensively relied too greatly on Gawne as a point chaser last season to make those crunching tackles. If Durhamstrang could produce another similar player, then this may solve that problem. All in all, this is a team on the up-and-up who can mount a reasonable charge towards the top four at BQC this coming season, and all those who face the purple-clad northerners over the coming months will need to prepare themselves for a tough match ahead.
Prediction
Top six at BQC
7. Falmouth Falcons
Last season
QUK’s most southern team, the Falmouth Falcons, really raised their game during the 2014-15 season. The Falcons were perennial underdogs on the UK scene but now they have the ability to defeat whichever opposition they face, bar the likes of Southampton or the Radcliffe Chimeras – though be sure they could make these teams work for it. The Falcons play an exciting brand of quidditch involving hard running and counter-attacking from their chasers and keepers that is a joy to watch, as well as a beater lineup anchored by TeamUK’s Alex Brown that can more than hold its own. Semifinal appearances at Highlander Cup and Southern Cup impressed onlookers and was followed by a BQC campaign where the team successfully negotiated the tricky Group B –containing Oxford Quidlings, Leicester Thestrals, and Leeds Griffins – before eventually losing out to the Loughborough Longshots in overtime 120^-90* in the quarterfinals, finishing a respectable seventh overall. This performance booked the Falcons a place at EQC in which they advanced to the upper bracket round of 16 before being defeated by OSI Quidditch (formerly UiO Quidditch). The Falcons finished the season strongly with a third place title at Whiteknights the Third, a gutsy effort after two defeats on the opening day of the tournament. The team may not have won any silverware, but this was the season that the Falmouth Falcons truly announced themselves to the rest of the UK. Other teams who underestimate the Cornwall outfit will do so at their own peril.
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Next season
What’s changed?
The most notable departure from the Falcons is captain Nathan Jones. The diminutive chaser, whose performances earned him a call up to the TeamUK reserves, returns to his Welsh homeland following graduation and is likely to link up with new community team, the Werewolves of London. With the likes of Oscar Lozada, Liam Parr, and Conor Watson, Falmouth will have plenty of players with similar capabilities to make up for the departure of Jones. But what the team will miss is his exemplary leadership on and off the pitch, as well as his willingness to put everything on the line – even his own well-being – for the Cornish side. Falmouth will also be losing the services of beaters Yani Clovers and Ragnhild Jaatun, which leaves the team a bit short in that department.
What needs to improve?
It is clear when looking at the Falmouth roster that the team’s biggest weakness going forward is a lack of female players, an issue that is certainly not helped by Clovers’ and Jaatun’s departures. Position-wise – in spite of Brown’s stellar season in the black headband – beating was an area in which the Falcons struggled to gain supremacy over their opponents, especially once the snitch entered play and Brown was required as the team’s primary seeker. In matches such as the Falcons loss to the London Unspeakables in the third-place playoff at the Southern Cup and the agonising Whiteknights the Third semifinal loss to Bangor, the Falcons appeared to be controlling the scoreboard fairly well, but a lack of bludger control after the 18-minute mark cost the team victory. New joint captains Alex Brown and Conor Watson will have big shoes to fill in replacing Jones as captain. A tough season may be in store for the Falmouth Falcons in 2015-16, but if they have a good recruitment drive in the next few months then they are definitely capable of continuing last season’s good work.
Prediction
Quarterfinals at BQC
8. Warwick Quidditch Club
Last season
Warwick was one of several new teams to make a significant impact last season. The team took third-ranked Keele to overtime at BQC, and was ahead on-pitch before a snitch grab with only eight seconds remaining on the clock gave Keele the victory. An unlucky draw against the Radcliffe Chimeras on Day Two put down Warwick’s hopes of attending EQC, but the team nevertheless impressed. Two members of Warwick represented TeamUK in July, a hugely impressive feat for such a new team, and it has generally been acknowledged that the team’s rank at 16th at BQC does not do justice to the team’s talent or potential.
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| Warwick Quidditch Club | Photo credit: Seb Waters |
Next season
What’s changed?
Warwick’s most significant blow is the loss of TeamUK chaser Chris Noble, who will be in the US this season. An excellent playmaker and driver, Noble will be the player that Warwick will be scrambling to replace in the early season, either by training a current player or through recruitment. The most obvious candidate as an early-season replacement is captain Seb Waters, a TeamUK reserve and outstanding player in his own right, but Waters is a fantastic wing chaser who would not be fully utilised as a driver, so ideally this would only be a temporary solution. Warwick is also losing two of its best support chasers in Alan Wills and Claudio Svaluto, so the team will experience a significant narrowing of depth in the quaffle game for the early season. The loss of coach Priya Shah, and the experience she brought to the table, is also a problem for Warwick – although the acquisition of James “Jesus” Burnett, former Chimeras player and TeamUK beater, should help with this.
What needs to improve?
Mostly, Warwick needs to focus on growth. The team has a solid set of experienced players, especially in the beater game with TeamUK’s Jacopo Sartori, Hannah Dignum, and Burnett, but will need a good recruitment drive and a step up in its current play to really make its mark. Warwick was plagued by yellow cards last season, especially at BQC where the team received the most yellow cards per minute played, mostly due to ignorance of the rules. This should reduce drastically this season, allowing Warwick to play to its full potential more consistently. Last season the team managed to find its footing amongst much more experienced teams, but the team will need to evolve with the times, as well as gain the players it needs in the autumn, to remain a legitimate threat.
Prediction
Top 10 at BQC
9. Leicester Thestrals
Last season
As the team that played the most official matches last season with 36 games under their belts, the Thestrals attracted a significant disparity in our analysts’ assessment of them. The team was ranked between 7th and 12th, one of the larger ranges we saw. This mirrors the variable performances the team tends to bring; when on form, the Thestrals perform to an excellent standard. The team beat up-and-coming stars the METU Unicorns in the lower bracket final of EQC, a feat that should not be underestimated, and finished eighth at BQC. However, the Thestrals have also lost wins to teams that should have been well within their grasp, including a loss to Leeds at BQC. It is a tale typical of the middle-ranking teams in the UK: flashes of brilliance interspersed with baffling losses, and a genuine unpredictability as to which of the two they will next produce.
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Next season
What’s changed?
The Leicester Thestrals are losing very few players. In the chasing lineup, the only loss is former captain Elliot Gray, and the team will also lose Alastair Titchmarsh and Olivia Denvir-Parry as beaters. Although none of these individuals are weak players, the retention of bigger names in both the quaffle and beater game will work to Leicester’s advantage. One of Leicester’s biggest names, Callum Humphreys, currently remains with the team, although this could change if his career takes him elsewhere. This would be a huge blow to Leicester, and it is tricky to assess the team’s progress for this season without knowing what is happening to him, although the fact that the Thestrals are keeping Warren McFadyen will help to mitigate this loss should it come to pass.
What needs to improve?
With limited player losses expected in the upcoming season, the Thestrals need to work on honing the talent they have. A tighter passing game and smarter beating would give the team a more consistent record against its closest competitors. Like many teams in the UK, the Thestrals simply need to clean up their play; they need to make fewer mistakes, work on the basics, and keep their squad tight on the defence before they can hope to challenge the teams that have remained outside their grasp. A best-case scenario for the Leicester Thestrals this upcoming season would see them with a berth in the quarterfinals of BQC and, with the talent they have, this is not out of reach.
Prediction
Top 12 at BQC
10. Oxford Quidlings
Last season
The Quidlings managed to secure themselves comfortably amongst the mid-tier teams of last season, going toe-to-toe with the Leicester Thestrals and similar mid-ranked teams. The team won a Nightmarish Tournament early in the season, even beating the Nottingham Nightmares in a SWIM-range final. The Quidlings BQC ranking suffered at the hands of a SWIM loss to Falmouth, a sadly common occurrence for the Quidlings, and they lost by a single goal in overtime to the METU Unicorns at EQC. Their wins are rarely glorious, but last season the Quidlings managed to maintain a fairly consistent standard amongst the middle-ranked teams. Despite statistics released that reflected a 61 percent win rate, some analysts ranked the Quidlings as low as 13th, and none placed them higher than ninth. This is entirely understandable; it is difficult to trust what performance the Quidlings will bring, as the end of every season leaves their squad depleted in order to refill the Chimeras’ lineup. They exist in a state of flux, as the Chimeras tend to take the best of the team prior to major tournaments, leaving the Quidlings as an unstable bet as they are always trying to patch up these holes during their toughest games.
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Next season
What’s changed?
The Quidlings have suffered on two fronts since EQC, losing players to both graduation and to the Radcliffe Chimeras. To the former, the Quidlings lost some excellent chasers with Sarah Melville, Claire Evans, and Sigurður Skúli Sigurgeirsson. These players brought a much-needed drive to the offence that next season’s Quidlings will need to emulate. Two of the team’s best quaffle players have been promoted to the Chimeras: chasers Robert Brignull and Travis Manuel. Although the Quidlings will retain Michael Holloway, their primary keeper of last season, the loss of other players will leave him somewhat high and dry, especially in the early season. With captain Emily Hayes and players David Dlaka and Shati Patel carrying over from last season, the Quidlings retain many of their central beaters – although the move of Jamie Cash and Rian Harris to the Chimeras does narrow down their options.
What needs to improve?
As is often the case for this team, there are few fronts on which the Quidlings do not need improvement. The team has retained a good beating core, but the freshers in the beater lineup will need to improve rapidly to be able to stand up to the players they will meet on home turf at Southern Cup. Mark “Sid” Richardson demonstrated promise as a seeker last season, but the Quidlings have often struggled in SWIM situations, and Richardson will have to step up his game in order to help the Quidlings take home those SWIM wins. The chasing lineup, despite its depletion, is where the Quidlings can be most confident: new players take to chasing very quickly, especially if they have an athletic background, and in every season so far the Quidlings have gained several athletic freshers to give the lineup some power for their early fixtures. The Quidlings, as always, are having to build from the ground up. It is a daunting task, but the team has always risen to the occasion thus far.
Prediction
Top 12 at BQC
11. London Unspeakables Quidditch
Last season
Formerly the only team in London, the Unspeakables had a strong early season, finishing third at the Southern Cup. With a chaser lineup made for speed, built off players like Nat Thomas and captain Jacob Vogts, strong beaters in Ben Pooley and Katya Veleva, and a skilled seeking game with TeamUK reserve Fiona Howat and Team Norway’s Ellie Aaen, the Unspeakables saw success at BQC. The team finished in a respectable sixth position after being knocked out in the quarterfinals by SQC1. However, an unlucky group draw at EQC saw the Unspeakables playing against former British champions Radcliffe Chimeras on Day One. Having also lost to Green-Tauros Quidditch Torino, the Unspeakables finished third in their group. Despite a strong showing in the lower brackets on the second day of the tournament, the Unspeakables were beaten by Unisport-Zentrum Darmstadt Quidditch, finishing EQC in the 27th spot: the lowest-ranking British team at the tournament.
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Next season
What’s changed?
There are a number of losses from the Unspeakables lineup this season. The most noticeable is the absence of former captain Vogts, who is returning to the US and whose strong drives and accurate passing led to their podium finish at the Southern Cup. Another notable change is the loss of chaser and seeker Aaen, a player with a wealth of experience and talent. Both of these players will be sorely missed, and the Unspeakables will require strong replacements to make up for their losses. However, the addition of former Brizzlepuffs chaser Sam Senior may just be the replacement the team needs to keep performing at a high level. However, the London Unspeakables are no longer the only London team, with newly formed community teams Taxes Quidditch and the Werewolves of London beginning this season. Taxes will be drawing heavily from the talent pool in the south, and the Werewolves are specifically based in London. This is likely to affect the number of new members the Unspeakables receive.
What needs to improve?
The Unspeakables squad is technically and tactically brilliant. A large number of the team’s players have experience refereeing on all levels, and many of them are head referees. Point-for-point, the Unspeakables are probably one of the most knowledgeable teams in the country. However, it is their lack of physicality that lets the Unspeakables down, with players often hesitating before making last ditch tackles. Also, the team’s hesitancy often means that its runs on offence often look a little disarrayed and ineffective against stronger teams. If they work on their timing and tackling, the Unspeakables will become a more threatening side over the course of this upcoming season.
Prediction
Top 16 at BQC
12. Bangor Broken Broomsticks
Last season
The 2014-15 season was mixed for Bangor. The team brought its best play to BQC against the Loughborough Longshots, beating the team on the pitch but missing the snitch, unfortunately resulting in a 80*-70 loss and relegating Bangor to 14th at the tournament. Bangor also won Whiteknights the Third, a mid-tier summer tournament, which was a fantastic way to end the season – although this did come after a loss to the Bristol Brizzlepuffs, a new team that season who have tended to hover in the middle of the rankings. In general, Bangor had some excellent moments last season, but the team never quite managed to shake off the weight of expectation following its powerhouse 2013-14 season, and suffered in the eyes of the community as a result.
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Next season
What’s changed?
It would perhaps be faster to summarise which of Bangor’s key players the team is keeping. Many of the founding players who were with the team last season are now leaving, including the majority of players who have ever been chosen for TeamUK or its reserves. The most obvious loss is Andrew Hull, Bangor’s primary keeper since the team’s inception and the only Bangor player to be chosen for 2015’s iteration of TeamUK. This severe loss is not mitigated by retention in any other position. In the chasing game, Will Johnson, a double threat as a powerful chaser and clever seeker, will be leaving for Taxes Quidditch, and the dependable and nimble wing chaser Gabriel Napper is set to depart as well. The cornerstones of Bangor’s beating for some years, Sam Davies and Jade Saunders, are also leaving, and Bangor will need to train its beater lineup strictly and swiftly in order to remedy their departures. Ben Honey, a powerful utility player who added flair to the beater game when needed, as well as being an adept quaffle handler and seeker, is no small loss either.
What needs to improve?
Bangor will need an excellent recruitment drive to be able to compete at the level it hopes to. The team is retaining some members who will help ease the path in the early season; Liam Vernon has been growing as a keeper over the past season, and new quaffle players should develop well under his direction. New captain Jay Holmes, alongside fellow chasers Fabian Brunt and Emily Oughtibridge, should be able to stabilise the chasing lineup somewhat. It is difficult to assess any specific weaknesses in the team’s game before we see new recruits, who could easily turn out to be adequate replacements for the departing players. It is therefore with optimism for Bangor’s recruitment drive that we leave you with Holmes’ edict: “People are expecting mediocrity, Bangor are [sic] going to show them greatness.”
Prediction
Top 16 at BQC
13. Bristol Brizzlepuffs
Last season
Thanks to an incredible recruitment drive and social media campaign from founder and captain Tom Ower, plus a Hooch initiative from the Oxford Quidlings, the Brizzlepuffs quickly came into being just in time for the November 2014 Southern Cup. Despite a winless performance in the mud and rain of Southampton that weekend, the team went from strength to strength with a 13th place finish at BQC and a 100 percent win record on Day One of Whiteknights the Third – including a shock defeat of eventual champions Bangor Broken Broomsticks. These later performances enabled the Brizzlepuffs to find their place firmly in the middle ground of UK quidditch. The Puffs may not have had the best of fortunes competitively but their real impact cannot just be measured by their performances on the quidditch pitch. Team chants, face paint, camaraderie, and mascot Dave the Unicorn are just a few of the things that have made the Puffs one of the most loveable and friendly clubs in the QuidditchUK community.
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Next season
What’s changed?
The Bristol club will have a slight turnover of personnel going into the new campaign. Lively chaser and keeper Sam Senior leaves the Puffs for a year-long placement in London and chaser Beth Hodgson’s graduation signals her departure – but the biggest loss to the Puffs is Eamonn Harrison. The towering head referee – who took charge of the April 2015 EQC final – voted Puff of the year, brought a great deal of experience to the Puffs’ beater lineup and formed a formidable partnership with ex-Southampton player William Buss. He will instead be plying his trade with new community team Taxes Quidditch in 2015-16. On the other hand, the acquisition of Matty “Panda” Murrell and Rix Dishington from the Radcliffe Chimeras, as well as the rise of Luke Stevens and Aaron Kerr, may reduce the blow of Harrison’s departure. Keeper Lantz White is also returning, having spent the last six months away from Bristol in Hong Kong.
What needs to improve?
The most obvious thing the Puffs need to address is their attitude. Last season, the Puffs often traded a shot at victory for the pure enjoyment of the sport – which is not necessarily a bad thing – and the off-pitch party lifestyle they are known for. The Brizzlepuffs also showed a lot of attacking endeavour with the quaffle, but ultimately suffered against the bigger teams with their missing defensive structure and tackling ability. If the Puffs can take themselves a bit more seriously and realise the true potential of some of their players – such as Dominic Ayre, Stephen Fung, and Sofia Schiavo – they can challenge for a place in the top 10. However, this is a massive ‘if.
Prediction
Top 16 at BQC
14. Derby Union Quidditch
Last season
Having famously endured the 2013-14 season with only a handful of players, a good recruitment drive in September 2014 enabled Derby to blossom into a fully fledged team. The team acted as the agent for one of the biggest upsets this season, when Derby beat third-ranked Keele Squirrels at the East Midlands Cup in November 2014 on a SWIM catch. A repeated instance of this matchup at BQC finished in the Squirrels’ favour, with Derby cold-catching to preserve its players, but the team otherwise had a good showing at BQC. Derby beat Warwick Quidditch Club and the Reading Rocs to give Derby a reasonably favourable seed in bracket play, and the team held the Nottingham Nightmares to 50-40 before Nottingham’s snitch catch eliminated Derby. A 12th-place finish at BQC was an eminently respectable result for Derby, and represented a huge step up in its game from the previous season.
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Next season
What’s changed?
It can be confirmed that Andy Cooke will not be playing this season due to injury. The majority of Derby’s losses are in the quaffle game: chasers not returning to Derby this year are Rickesh Patel, Matt Payne, Lauren Matheson, and Derby veteran Zilvinas Cesulis; keepers Jacob Millen and Matthew Wood will also not be returning. Derby does not have a huge amount of choice in the keeper game, as its strongest quaffle players outside of Sam Pursey are all best deployed as chasers, so this narrowing of options will be irritating. Patel is a particularly painful loss in the quaffle game, as he is a solid chaser with good responsiveness to his team and bags of potential. In the beater game, El Hull is a significant loss as one of Derby’s strongest beaters – especially given intelligent beating is hard to come by in new players. They will be the player Derby are most looking to replace in the autumn.
What needs to improve?
This upcoming season Derby will undoubtedly be looking to challenge other teams in the mid-tier, probably hoping for a best-case scenario of wins against teams such as Warwick and Falmouth. In order to do so, Derby will need to clean up its game in some of the aspects that plague the majority of mid-tier teams: two-handed catching, which still eludes many lineups; an increased dependency on passing rather than hero-balling; and better athleticism. New captain Charlie Schofield comes from an athletic background, and can be relied upon to instill similar values in the team. This alone would raise Derby’s game and, if employed with the other improvements mentioned, could enable the team to take another step up this season. Derby is losing few key players, retaining Phil Brown in the beater game and Pursey as a promising keeper, so the team should do well if it manages to flesh out its squad with some talented freshers.
Prediction
Top 16 at BQC
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