Harry Potter inspired quidditch championships come to the Meadows in Edinburgh

Quidditch Premier League at the Meadows, Edinburgh

Quidditch is a magical sport played on broomsticks popularised by JK Rowling’s Harry Potter books and films.

A team consists of seven players; a keeper, two beaters, three chasers and a seeker, each with a broom between their legs.

Since the game was first created in 1997 it has developed a passionate league of players across the country who compete every summer to be named national champions.

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The championship has 17 teams all of whom are hoping to make it to the final at Manchester’s AJ Bell Stadium on August 24 and get their hands on the 6ft trophy prize.

Keiran Newton, 23, from Corstorphine is a cybersecurity and forensics student at Napier University and plays on the Scottish national team.

The Scottish Thistles have just returned from Germany where they made their international debut at the European Quidditch

Championships.

Scotland finished 14th at the IQA European Games, held at Bamberg and hosted every two years for the top quidditch players in Europe.

Discussing how he first got involved in the unusual sport, he said: “I have played rugby since I was three and started playing quidditch three years ago. To be honest when one of my university friends asked if I wanted to come along to quidditch I laughed in his face, I didn’t believe it was something real. But I went along and tried it and it was really good fun and I met some great people. Now I’ve been playing for three years.”

With an impressive three-match win on Saturday the Scottish Thistles are on track for a winning season.