British Quadball Cup


The British Quadball Cup, also British Quidditch Cup, is a quidditch tournament held in the United Kingdom that follows the rules laid out by the International Quidditch Association. It is organised by QuadballUK and is the largest UK tournament of the year.

Qualification for the tournament is based on the two regional tournaments Northern and Southern Cup and the Community League. Teams who do not qualify for the British Quadball Cup may instead participate in Development Cup.
Other regular tournaments not organised by QuadballUK also take place in the UK including the Highlander Cup held in Edinburgh, Cottonopolis held in Manchester and Scottish Cup held in St Andrews. There was also a tournament that ran for 6 years called Whiteknights held in Reading.

Results

The following table shows a list of all British Quadball Cups to date. The team that caught the snitch is denoted with an asterisk. Up until 2019 both university and community quidditch teams played in the same tournament together. From 2022 and onwards they now compete separately.

First tournament, November 2013

The first British Quidditch Cup took place in Oxford, England on 9 and 10 November 2013. Sixteen teams from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland competed over two days for the inaugural cup, playing in four groups of four with the highest placed eight going on to take part in the knock out format quarter finals, semi finals and the final.

Group stages

DNQ= Did not qualify

Knockout stage scores

indicates a snitch catch. Source
indicates a snitch catch in overtime

Final Positions

Overall, the winners were the Radcliffe Chimeras from Oxford University led by captain Ashley Cooper, with Keele Squirrels of Keele University taking the silver medals and the Bangor Broken Broomsticks from Bangor University taking the bronze medals.

Second tournament, March 2015

The second British Quidditch Cup took place on 7–8 March 2015. After five location bids were submitted in May–June 2014, the location for the tournament was narrowed down to the venues proposed by the Loughborough Longshots, Nottingham Nightmares and Norwich Nifflers. After much deliberation, site visits and further communication, the organising committee accepted the bid put forward by the Nightmares, resulting in the 23 teams competing at Wollaton Hall and Deer Park, Nottingham.

Group stage results

SeedingTeamSeedingTeam
1stRadcliffe Chimeras1stSouthampton QC Firsts
2ndBristol Brizzlepuffs2ndLondon Unspeakables
DNQNorwich NifflersDNQHolyrood Hippogriffs
DNQSt. Andrews SnidgetsWithdrewSurrey Stags
----
----
----
----
----

DNQ= Did not qualify

Final standings

At the second British Quidditch cup Southampton Quidditch Club's first team claiming gold, Oxford Radcliffe Chimeras silver and the Keele Squirrels bronze.
PositionTeamStagePositionTeamStagePositionTeamStage
1stSouthampton QC firstsFinal9thDurhamstrangR1617thHolyrood HippogriffsGroup
2ndOxford Radcliff ChimerasFinal10thOxford QuidlingsR1618thLeedsGroup
3rdKeele SquirrelsSemis11thCambridge QCR1619thNorwich NifflersGroup
4thLoughborough LongshotsSemis12thDerbyR1620thSt Andrews SnidgetsGroup
5thNottingham NightmaresQuarters13thBristol's BrizzlepuffsR1621stReading RocsGroup
6thLondon UnspeakablesQuarters14thBangorR1622ndChesterGroup
7thFalmouthQuarters15thWarwick QCR1623rdThe Flying ChaucersGroup
8thLeicesterQuarters16thSouthampton QC secondsR16WithdrewSurrey StagsN/A
---------

Third Tournament, March 2016

The third British Quidditch Cup took place at Rugeley Leisure Centre on 19 and 20 March 2016. 32 teams competed, with the first day involving 8 groups of 4 teams where the first two teams entered the upper bracket and the rest entered a lower bracket. These two brackets were then played as knock-out stages on day two.

Group stage results

SeedingTeamSeedingTeamSeedingTeamSeedingTeam
1stSouthampton QC Firsts1stLeicester Thestrals1stDurhamstrang1stNottingham Nightmares
2ndFalmouth Falcons2ndLoughborough2ndChester Centurions2ndLeeds Griffins
3rdHogYork Horntails3rdBrizzleBees3rdTaxes QC3rdSwansea
4thManchester Manticores4thThe Flying Chaucers4thKeele Krakens4thHolyrood hippogriffs seconds
--------
--------
--------
--------
--------

Knockout stage results

Upper bracket

The third place match went to overtime without a snitch catch.

Consolation bracket

The third place match went to overtime without a snitch catch.

Final standings

This tournament saw Oxford reclaiming gold, Warwick QC claiming silver, and the Durham's durhamstrang claiming bronze. The LB bracket was won by York university's HogYork Horntails with Taxes QC coming runners up.
PositionTeamStagePositionTeamStagePositionTeamStagePositionTeamStage
1stOxford ChimerasFinal9thLeicesterR1617thHogYork HorntailsLB finals25thDurham DirewolvesLB R16
2ndWarwick QCFinal10thBrizzlebearsR1618thTaxesLB Finals26thOxford QuidlingsLB R16
3rdDurhamstrangSemis11thWerewolves of LondonR1619thSwanseaLB semis27thSouthampton QC secondsLB R16
4thNottingham NightmaresSemis12thBangorR1620thBrizzlebeesLB semis28thNorwich NifflersLB R16
5thSouthampton QC firstsQuarters13thChesterR1621stReading RocsLB Quarters29thManchesterLB R16
6thKeele squirrelsQuarters14thFalmouthR1622ndSt Andrews SnidgetsLB Quarters30thThe Flying ChaucersLB R16
7thLeedsQuarters15thEdinburgh FirstsR1623rdCambridge QCLB Quarters31stKeele KrakensLB R16
8thLoughborough LongshotsQuarters16thDerbyR1624thLondon UnspeakablesLB Quarters32ndEdinburgh SecondsLB R16
------------

Fourth Tournament, March 2017

The fourth British Quidditch Cup took place at Rugeley Leisure Centre on 11–12 March 2017. the top 16 teams from the Northern and Southern regional tournaments competed, with the first day involving 8 groups of 4 teams where the top two teams entered the champions bracket and the others entered the consolation bracket. These two brackets were then played as knock-out stages on day two.

Group stage results

SeedingTeamSeedingTeamSeedingTeamSeedingTeam
1stDurhamstrang1stBrizzleBears1stLoughborough Longshots1stHolyrood Hippogriffs firsts
2ndSouthampton QC Firsts2ndBangor2ndSwansea2ndWarwick QC
3rdHogYork Horntails3rdExeter Eagles3rdDerby3rdSheffield
4thFalmouth Falcons4thManchester Manticores4thOxford Quidlings4thSouthampton QC seconds
--------
--------
--------
--------
--------

Knockout stage results

Champions bracket

indicates snitch catch
Brizzlebears vs Durhamstrang went to double overtime with no snitch catch

Final standings

This tournament saw Velociraptors QC claiming gold, Bristol's Brizzlebears claiming silver, and the Werewolves of London claiming bronze. The consolation bracket was won by Falmouth Falcons with York university's HogYork Horntails coming runners up.
PositionTeamStagePositionTeamStagePositionTeamStagePositionTeamStage
1stVelociraptors QCFinal9thLoughborough LongshotsR1617thFalmouth FalconsCons Final25thChesterCons R16
2ndBrizzlebearsFinal10thSouthampton QC 1stsR1618thHogYorkCons final26thNottingham NightmaresCons R16
3rdWerewolves of LondonSemis11thLeedsR1619thPortsmouthCons Semis27thNorwichCons R16
4thEdinburgh 1stSemis12thOxford ChimerasR1620thSheffieldCons Semis28thSouthampton QC 2ndsCons R16
5thDurhamstrangQuarters13thLondon UnspeakablesR1621stExeter EaglesCons Quarters29thOxford QuidlingsCons R16
6thTornadoes QCQuarters14thSwanseaR1622ndCambridgeCons Quarters30thBrizzlebeesCons R16
7thWarwick QCQuarters15thLeicesterR1623rdDerbyCons Quarters31stDurham DirewolvesCons R16
8thKeele squirrelsQuarters16thBangorR1624thManchesterCons quarters32ndReading RocsCons R16
------------

Fifth Tournament, March 2018

The fifth British Quidditch Cup took place on 24–25 March 2018 at Brookes Sport Park at Oxford Brooks University. 32 teams competed, with the first day involving 8 groups of 4 teams each competing in a round-robin. The second day consisted of a knockout tournament in both an upper and lower bracket of 16 teams each. Velociraptors QC won the tournament, defeating Warwick Quidditch Club in the final with a catch to take the game into overtime followed by a second winning snitch catch. Werewolves of London won against Southampton Quidditch Club in the 3rd place play-off and Chester Centurions defeated Manchester Quidditch Club to win the consolation bracket final.

Sixth Tournament, April 2019

The sixth British Quidditch Cup took place on 6–7 April 2019 at Northumbria Sport in Newcastle. 32 teams competed, with the first day involving 8 groups of 4 teams each competing in a round-robin. The second day consisted of a knockout tournament in both an upper and lower bracket with 16 teams in each. London Quidditch Club won the tournament.

Seventh Tournament, April 2022

Due to COVID-19, the planned British Quidditch Cup for 2020 was cancelled. In addition plans to host an equivalent event to BQC in April 2021 were shelved due to it being deemed unsafe and impractical. The seventh tournament took place on 9–10 April 2022 at the Sheffield Hallam Sports Centre in Sheffield. This tournament was the first to use a new format and reduced total number of teams of 24. The new format saw university and community teams competing separately, as such 12 of the slots for the tournament were available for community teams and the other 12 slots were available for university teams. 8 of the university slots were available to teams in the Northern region, with the other 4 for teams in the Southern region. The tournament was an opt-in tournament for community teams, whereas for university teams qualification was determined via the final rankings in each region after all Northern and Southern fixtures.
During the actual tournament, 22 teams competed. In each competition the teams were competed within 3 groups, two of four teams each and one of three teams, before proceeding to a knockout tournament. The structure was set-up such that each team was guaranteed at least two games each day and at least five across the whole tournament. This was done by having a three-team round robin for losing teams from the round of 16 knockout stage and a consolation bracket for losing teams from the quarter final stage on top of a 3rd place play-off.
The winner of the university tournament was Southampton QC and the winner of the community tournament was Werewolves of London Firsts, with the results of the tournament as follows.

University tournament

11 university teams competed across 3 groups before going into a knockout tournament. The university final was won by Southamptom QC against Exeter Eagles, coming down to both teams being one goal away from the set score of 130 before Southampton scored.

Group stage results

Group 1
Group 2
Group 3

Knockout stage results

Team 1ScoreTeam 2
York Horntails140* – 80Stirling Dumyat Dragons
Leeds Griffins160 – 70*Stirling Dumyat Dragons
York Horntails140* – 70Leeds Griffins

Community tournament

Werewolves of London Firsts won the community tournament, defeating London Quidditch Club in the final. After the full 45 minutes of game time in the final the teams were tied with 160 points each, both a single goal away from the winning overtime set score of 170. Under concern that the venue was already starting to kick the tournament out with the university final still yet to be played, it was decided to play two more minutes of golden goal during which Werewolves scored and won the tournament.

Group stage results

Group 1
Group 2
Group 3

Knockout stage results

Team 1ScoreTeam 2
East Midlands Vipers80* – 20West Country Rebels
Oxford Mammoths130* – 20East Midlands Vipers
Oxford Mammoths190* – 40West Country Rebels

Eighth Tournament, April 2023

The eighth tournament took place on 1–2 April 2023 and was again held in Sheffield Hallam University Sports Park. This was the first tournament held under the 'Quadball' name. It was planned that 24 teams would compete, however only 22 actually competed. The university flight was won by Warwick Quadball Club and the community flight was won by London Quadball Club.