Ticked off: England’s Grade 3A City of Newcastle denied entry to World’s

The Grade 3A City of Newcastle is a well-established band that competes regularly on the UK circuit, but it isn’t being permitted to show its stuff at the 2025 World Pipe Band Championships because the band’s secretary didn’t tick a box on the entry form.

According to Pipe-Major Andy Clark, a lecturer in Scottish History at Stirling University, “The band secretary didn’t tick the box for the World’s on the online form, something that was caused by an eye condition that he provided evidence for as mitigation. The receipt from the RSPBA for our entries came from webmaster[at]2890444.brevosend.com, which, of course, went into the spam folder as any half-decent inbox filter would do.

“Despite informing the RSPBA that this was due to a medical issue afflicting our secretary, and asking for due consideration given the myriad errors the association has made, they have not budged in the slightest. Indeed, they’ve been completely evasive when I’ve asked them fair and open questions.”

As always, pipes|drums asked the RSPBA for the association’s side of the story, but Chief Executive Colin Mulhern has not responded. We will be pleased to add a statement if we receive one.

City of Newcastle is one of a handful of competing bands from England. The group travels regularly to contests in Scotland. This year, the band has competed at four competitions north of the border: the UK and Scottish Championships, where they placed eleventh and fifteenth, respectively, and two smaller events at Edinburgh and Annan, finishing first in Grade 3 at both.

“The RSPBA exists for ‘the promotion and development of pipe band music internationally,'” Clark added. “Preventing a member band from participating in our flagship competition due to a documented, good-faith error is not only disproportionate, but damaging to the credibility of the association itself.

“It appears that the RSPBA expects greater understanding from its member bands than is afforded in the opposite direction. For a member-based organization, this is an unsustainable position.” – City of Newcastle Pipe-Major Andy Clark

“It takes an incredible amount of time, effort, and drive to keep a competitive band functioning. Our members travel across the length of mainland Britain for practice and competition, at great expense, to make band contests the spectacles that they are. We accept when the association makes mistakes because we realize that errors occur and that the association does its best to support piping and drumming from the grassroots to the highest levels. That we are not afforded any leeway when honest errors are made at our end is unfathomable and unjust. It appears that the RSPBA expects greater understanding from its member bands than is afforded in the opposite direction. For a member[-based] organization, this is an unsustainable position.”

The RSPBA is by far the largest association in the world by membership, with more than 400 bands from Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, and England registered to compete at its sanctioned events. Like other associations, the RSPBA deals with thousands of entries annually and has been known to take a hard line on discrepancies. Thirty Grade 3A bands have had their entry accepted for the World Championships.

The organization has been at the centre of recent controversies in the last 12 months, including grading confusion with the Commonwealth Pipes & Drums of Massachusetts, a 2025 season comprising only four championships, having to re-draw for the Grade 1 competition at the European Championships, and a mistaken final Novice Juvenile B result announced at the 2024 World Championships.

“The main issue is that the association allows zero margin for error from volunteer band folk, ultimately leading to bands missing out on events such as this at a time when the scene continues to struggle post-COVID,” Clark said. “It’s a level of unfairness I can’t fathom.”