London hosted a Quidditch Premier League Fixture at the weekend, the first of six to be held in the capital.

The event, which took place on Clapham Common on June 17, was attended by the local London Monarchs, the Eastern Mermaids, the Southwest Broadside, and Southeast Knights.

The Quidditch Premier League (QPL) is an elite quidditch league that represents the sport in the United Kingdom. The league is composed of eight teams - four in the North Division and four in the South Division.

Wandsworth Times:

The QPL season runs from June to August, with each team playing three divisional fixtures in the regular season.

The playoffs include all eight teams competing in the QPL Championship fixture in late August, with the winning team being named as the QPL Champions for that season.

Inspired by J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, quidditch has developed into its own sport, with 20,000 competing international players, 25 competing countries, and an international rulebook.

A team consists of 21 athletes with 7 players per team on the field at any one time. Each player has a broom between their legs.

The four maximum rule of quidditch states that at most there can be four players of the same gender on pitch at one time.

This ensures that the game is mixed gender and inclusive to all. Quidditch has also been labelled as the ‘world’s most progressive sport’ by VICE for the same reason.

The results of the fixture left the Southeast Knights at the top of the league table.

Wandsworth Times:

Results from the fixture: (* denotes the snitch catch)

Southeast Knights 120* - 40 London Monarchs

Southwest Broadside 130* - 40 Eastern Mermaids

London Monarchs 220* - 40 Eastern Mermaids

Southeast Knights 220*-20 Southwest Broadside

London Monarchs 130 - 50* Southwest Broadside

Southeast Knights 160* - 30 Eastern Mermaids