Development Cup
The Development Cup, also known as Dev Cup is a British quidditch tournament that runs parallel to the annual British Quidditch Cup, catering for those teams that did not qualify for the latter. The tournament is organised by QuidditchUK, the sport's national governing body, and follows International Quidditch Association rules. The inaugural event, held on 29–30 April 2017, was won by the Liverpuddly Cannons from Liverpool, United Kingdom.
First tournament 29-30 April 2017
The first Development Cup took place in Oxford, UK at Horspath Athletics Ground. There were 9 teams in attendance. Four of whom, the Liverpuddly Cannons, St Andrews Snidgets, Holyrood Hippogriffs Seconds team and UCLan Quidditch entered after coming in the bottom four places at Northern Cup 2016. The only team from Southern Cup 2016 to not qualify for British Quidditch Cup 2017 in this manner was The Flying Chaucers from the University of Kent but they declined to attend Development Cup, or indeed any team event for the remainder of that season. Also amongst the teams at Dev Cup were those who had either failed to attend regionals for varying reasons or who had been created after. The newly minted seconds teams of Sheffield Quidditch Club and London Unspeakables competed as well as the Bournemouth Banshees, Glasgow Grim Reapers and Bath Quidditch Club.
The tournament consisted of a round-robin of all 9 teams, in order to give each side the maximum amount of competitive experience it could - for many sides, such as Bath and Glasgow, it was the first tournament they had competed at. Two of the teams quickly established themselves as dominant from the early stages: Liverpool and Edinburgh would go essentially unchallenged for the entire event, their match against each other being the only snitch-range game (played within 30 points) either would contest over the weekend. They went 7-0 and 6-1 respectively and won gold and silver. Bath established themselves firmly in third place with a 5-3 record, which included a dramatic double-overtime result against London.
| Bath Quidditch Club | 190* | 20 | Sheffield Steelfins | Bournemouth Banshees | 40 | 100* | Preston Poltergeists |
| Glasgow Grim Reapers | 30 | 90* | London Unbreakables | Holyrood Hippogriffs 2nds | 50 | 60* | Liverpuddly Cannons |
| St Andrews Snidgets | 110* | 40 | Sheffield Steelfins | Bath Quidditch Club | 220* | 50 | Bournemouth Banshees |
| Glasgow Grim Reapers | 10 | 130* | Holyrood Hippogriffs 2nds | London Unbreakables | 60 | 60* | Preston Poltergeists ** |
*Indicates that this score included a snitch-catch during regulation play. ^Indicates that this score included a snitch-catch during overtime play. ** London defeated Preston 100^-60 in overtime. ***Bath defeated London 100^*-70 in double overtime. ****Preston defeated Glasgow 70-60 in double overtime.
Second Tournament 14-15 April 2018
The second Development Cup, held at the University of York, did not follow the round-robin format of its predecessor, instead utilising a rotating pool structure followed by a knockout bracket. The rotating pool format, known as the 'Naftel Slide', would seed a Pod 1 team into each of four pools with two unseeded opponents. After an initial round-robin, the top team in each pool 'slid' into the pool to the left, and the bottom team similarly moved to the right.
Development Cup 2018 featured thirteen teams, most of whom having attended their respective regional tournament but not having qualified for the British Quidditch Cup. Three teams were 'mercenary' squads formed from the merger of two existing clubs who had been unable to field a full roster alone. The teams were grouped as follows.
| Pool A | Pool B | Pool C | Pool D |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glasgow Grim Reapers | St Andrews Snidgets | Bath Quidditch Club | Oxford Quidlings |
| Stirling Ridgebacks | Preston Poltergeists | Northern Wyverns - Belfast | Manchester Minotaurs |
| Northern Lights | London Unbreakables | Sheffield Sea Lions | The Flying Catapults |
| Derby Daemons |
The first round of gameplay proceeded as follows:
| Pool A | Pool B | Pool C | Pool D |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glasgow Grim Reapers 110*-40 Northern Lights | St Andrews Snidgets 30-130* London Unbreakables | Bath Quidditch Club 70*-60 Northern Wyverns Belfast | Oxford Quidlings 30-100* Derby Daemons |
| Glasgow Grim Reapers 130*-60 Stirling Ridgebacks | St Andrews Snidgers 160*-40 Preston Poltergeists | Bath Quidditch Club 100*-40 Sheffield Sea Lions | The Flying Catapults 130-60* Manchester Minotaurs |
| Northern Lights 110-120* Stirling Ridgebacks | London Unbreakables 80-40* Preston Poltergiests | Northern Wyverns Belfast 120-40* Sheffield Sea Lions | Oxford Quidlings 90*-40 The Flying Catapults |
| Derby Daemons 150*-30 Manchester Minotaurs | |||
| Oxford Quidlings 110-30* Manchester Minotaurs | |||
| Derby Daemons 130*-30 The Flying Catapults |
The teams at the top of each pool; Glasgow, London, Bath and Derby, all as-yet undefeated, moved one place to the left, whilst the bottom teams (including the bottom two teams from Pool D) moved one place to the right. The new pools thus constructed were;
| Pool A | Pool B | Pool C | Pool D |
|---|---|---|---|
| London Unbreakables | Bath Quidditch Club | Derby Daemons | Glasgow Grim Reapers |
| Stirling Ridgebacks | St Andrews Snidgets | Northern Wyverns - Belfast | Oxford Quidlings |
| The Flying Catapults | Northern Lights | Preston Poltergeists | Sheffield Sea Lions |
| Manchester Minotaurs |
This led to a second round of pool play with the following results
| Pool A | Pool B | Pool C | Pool D |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stirling Ridgebacks 80*-60 London Unbreakables | Northern Lights 60-110* St Andrews Snidgets | Preston Poltergeists 0-90* Northern Wyverns Belfast | Glasgow Grim Reapers 100-30* Sheffield Sea Lions |
| London Unbreakables 140*-10 Manchester Minotaurs | Northern Lights 20-90* Bath Quidditch Club | Preston Poltergeists 10-110* Derby Daemons | Glasgow Grim Reapers 90*-40 Oxford Quidlings |
| Stirling Ridgebacks 140-150* The Flying Catapults | St Andrews Snidgets 70*-20 Bath Quidditch Club | Northern Wyverns Belfat 100*-60 Derby Daemons | Sheffield Sea Lions 40*-100 Oxford Quidlings |
| Stirling Ridgebacks 130*-10 Manchester Minotaurs | |||
| London Unbreakables 100*-30 The Flying Catapults | |||
Following this second stage of pool play, the teams were divided between those who had played four games and those who had played five. The top four teams in each category entered a single-elimination bracket, whilst the bottom five played a consolation round comprising play-in elimination matches and a round-robin of the three surviving teams. The tournament was won in a commanding fashion by Glasgow Grim Reapers, who defeated an injury-laden Bath Quidditch Club 160*-0. St Andrews Snidgets picked up Bronze over the Oxford Quidlings.