Lesson 14
Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireland.
Part 1


The necessity for keeping the game of Quidditch a secert from Muggles means that the Department of Magical Games and Sports has had to limit the number of games played each year. While amateur games are permitted as long as the appropriate guidelines are followed, professional Quidditch teams have been limited in number since 1674. At the time, the thirteen best Quidditch teams in Britain and Ireland were selected to join the League and all others were asked to disband. The thriteen teams continue to compete each year for the League Cup.


Appleby Arrows - Team was founded in 1612. Robes are pale blue, emblazoned with a silver arrow. Arrow fans will agree that their team's most glorious hour was their 1932 defeat of the team who were then European champions, the Vratsa Vultures, in a match that lasted sixteen days, in fog and rain. The fans use to shot arrows into the air everytime the Chasers scored but this was banned by the Department of Magical Games and Sports in 1894, when the referee Nugent Potts was shot through the nose. There is a rivalry between the Arrows and the Wimbourne Wasps.


Ballycastle Bats - Northern Ireland's most celebrated Quidditch team has won the Quidditch League a total of twenty-seven times to date, making it the second most successful in the League's history. They wear black robes with a scarlet bat across the chest. Their famous mascot Barny the Fruitbat is also well-known at the bat featured in Butterbeer advertisements (Barny says: I'm just batty about Butterbeer!).


Caerphilly Catapults - The Welsh Catapults, formed in 1402, wear vertically striped robes of light green and scarlet. Their distinguished club history includes eighteen League wins and a famous triumph in the European Cup final of 1956, when they defeated the Norwegian Karasjok Kites. The tragic demis of their most famous player, "Dangerous" Dai Llewellyn, who was eaten by a Chimaera while on holiday in Mykonos, Greece, resulted in a day of national mourning for all Welsh witches and wizards. The Dangerous Dai Commemorative Medal is now awarded at the end of each season to the League player who has taken the most exciting and foolhardy risks during a game.


Chudley Cannons-

(Professor Lupin looks up from her book at Ron Weasley who is doing a sort of dance and cheering 'Mister Weasley please return to your seat!' Prof. laughs as Ron blushes and sits down)

Chudley Cannons - The Cannons' glory days may be considered by many to be over, but their devoted fans live in hope of a renaissance. The Cannons have won the League twenty-one times, but the last time was in 1892 and their performance over the last century has been lackluster. The Chudly Cannons wear robes of bright orange emblazoned with a speeding cannon ball and a double "C" in black. The club motto was changed in 1972 from "We shall conquer" to "Let's all just keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best."


Homework - Answer the following questions.
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1. Which team wears vertically striped robes of light green and scarlet.
2. Which team won the League twenty-seven times.
3. Professional Quidditch teams have been limited in number since _______.
4. Which team fan club changed their motto from "We shall conquer" to "Let's all just keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best."
5. Arrow fans will agree that their team's most glorious hour was in ______.

True and False

6. The Appleby Arrows were founded in 1613.
7. Ballycastle Bats famous mascot is Barny the Fruitbat.
8. The Caerphilly Catapults, formed in 1404
9. "Dangerous" Dai Llewellyn, who was eaten by a Hippogriff.
10. Appleby Arrows wear robes that are pale blue, emblazoned with a golden arrow.