RSPBA officials have confirmed that the Grade 1 Ensemble and Drumming results from Saturday’s Scottish Pipe Band Championship at Dumbarton were placed in the wrong columns in the summary sheets.
Drumming adjudicator Mark Wilson had placed Steven McWhirter’s Inveraray corps in first place, not L/D Gareth McLees and his Field Marshal Montgomery corps as was carried in the first summary sheet. Ensemble adjudicator Gordon Lawrie had Field Marshal first and not Inveraray.
We stress that the mix up, did not affect the overall prize, just the drumming. The overall result remains the same: 1 FMM 2 Inveraray 3 SLOT 4 Boghall 5 Shotts 6 S Power
However the Drumming list should have read: 1 Inveraray 2 Field Marshal 3 SLOT 4 Boghall 5 Police Scotland 6 Scottish Power 7 Fife Police 8 Shotts 9 Johnstone 10 Closkelt.
The Ensemble list should have read: 1 Field Marshal 2 Inveraray 3 SLOT 4 Boghall 5 Shotts 6 Fife Police 7 Johnstone 8 Scottish Power 9 Police Scotland 10 Closkelt
Colin Mulhern, RSPBA Chief Executive, later released the following: ‘The Royal Scottish Pipe Band Association (RSPBA) would like to publicly apologise to Field Marshal Montgomery and Inveraray and District Pipe Bands who have been impacted by a compiling error in determining the result of the Grade 1 Best Drumming Prize at the Scottish Pipe Band Championships 2023 at Dumbarton.
‘Investigations began on the 30th July having been notified of a problem. It was identified that the Drumming and Ensemble scores / adjudicators had been reversed during the data capture of the placing sheets.
‘The Association Chairman would like to apologise to both the Bands involved. The total of the placings awarded to each of the bands within the Grade 1 Final have not changed.
‘We understand the Membership depended on us to accurately compile the adjudicator placings and deeply regret we failed to deliver the high standard that you’ve come to expect from the RSPBA.
‘I am taking this incident seriously and looking at additional measures to be put in place to prevent this happen again in the future.’
Total disgrace if this was a business the C.O and chairman would be suspended,
I think that Shotts are not getting their fair placings. Shotts drum corps was clearly better to the pipes this season thus far. At the UK and Europeans Shotts should have been no worse than 3rd or 4th as a band or in drumming.
Perhaps turn to iPads / electronic entry, this method of data entry and handling is not new. Maybe this does call for a review of the internal processes and therefore no doubt the pipe band community will expect this to happen also. All the best,
Must feel for the Inveraray corps, there moments of glory and celebrations taken away by this error.
Well done Inveraray and district hope it feels good now
I’m beginning to think the placings are written before the bands have even played.
When you look at the history. Summary sheets, eg 1985 MSR, the judges were wide of the mark – 17 points between the two bands that would end up first and second in Grade 1. This is why if they didn’t throw these results out they shouldn’t have thrown out Nat Russell’s. I say this in no way meaning to mar the joy of lovely band such as Boghall & Bathgate. I say it because if a piping adjudicator’s points weren’t thrown out in 1985 they shouldn’t have been thrown out at last year’s Worlds. I often wonder at the knowledge of people. They say Field Marshal aren’t as good as they used to be. These are the same people who previously said you don’t judge a band against itself but against its opposition. Yes FMM’s MSR on the Friday hadn’t the tight drumming to pipes in the but they still did enough to be in the top one or two. Their Medley on the Saturday was better than anyone else. Sadly Shotts didn’t do it for me on the Saturday but the joy I got from their Friday performances had the hair standing on the back of my neck.
In this day and age, the entire process should be dealt with electronically. Is it? And in a few years, AI should replace judges for greater consistency and objectivity.
Instead of carrying registrat1on checks on players give compilers an abacus and send them to specsavers.
What about the lower grades ? Seems to me there’s some strange results there as well ??
Another complete mess by compilers. Actually walked past their hideaway on Saturday and they seemed more interested in drinking tea and eating buns. When if ever will the rspba learn from their unacceptable mistakes.