2023 UKFL Championships
We didn't think it was possible to top off last year's results but this year we took home 7 division wins plus a dog syncing who won their division!!
Within those results we also made UKFL history a number of times becoming the first team to be crowned as Triple Champions. First team to hold Indoor and Outdoor Champion titles within the same year and the first team to successfully defend and retain their titles. Outdoor League We had five teams hitting the lanes this year. Watson's Firebolt - Div 1 - The team were flawless and didn't loose one leg to retain their title and stay as the OUTDOOR CHAMPIONS. Watson's Patronus were a mixed line up and we saw two dogs make their league debuts plus a third make their Watson's debut - they placed 4th in Div 1. Watsons and the Muggles - Div 2 - This was an incredibly close division of racing but the team were consistent throughout to take the Division win! Watsons and the Deathly Hallows - Div 3 - Unfortunately this team suffered with a number of problems after an injury left them short handed. They finished 4th. Watsons Escape from Azkaban - Div 5 - Things did not go to plan at all for this line up and they managed a 3rd. Indoor League Outside of our cup team we had a further 5 teams hitting the mats at this years Championships. Watson's Firebolt - Div 1 - Another outstanding days racing against some of the best teams in the league and they only lost 2 legs all day. This crowned them INDOOR CHAMPIONS! Watson's Patronus - Div 4 - The same line up who competed outdoors and again a really tough division. They only went and did it again to become Indoor division winners aswell!! Watsons Time Turner - Div 6 - Again this team just couldn't gel and placed 4th. Watsons and the Deathly Hallows - Div 9 - For some reason this team were way off the pace we usually see and as such placed 5th. Watsons Escape from Azkaban - Div 13 - This team were a little all over the place, sometimes way off the pace and others simply too fast. They eventually broke out placing them 6th. We also saw Minion syncing with Antics, they placed 6th in Div 12. |
Multibreed
This year Ruby was on loan to Storm Chasers who won Indoor Div 4! We had two teams competing in Outdoor Multibreed both were in Division 1. Both teams did amazingly and we took 1st and 2nd in Div 1!! Watsons Fantastic Beasts retain their title and stay as MULTIBREED CHAMPIONS. Watsons Every Flavour Beans were only beaten by our own team and place 2nd. Little League Singles We had 5 dogs competing in Little League singles, all doing brilliantly. Rydal - Little League Singles CHAMPION - Winning Div 1 Sage - Div 2 Winner Jake - Div 3 - Joint 1st on points and placed 2nd on time Mollie - Div 5 - 4th place Jacob - Div 7 - Joint 1st on points and placed 2nd on time Championship Cup This was our first time taking part in the Cup and it was certainly an experience. We entered our second all border collie line up of Watsons Daily Prophet. We knew we would be outclassed on speed and were aiming to make the Bronze Cup. After a dodgy start the team did well in the remaining races on Saturday which placed them as 3rd seed in the Silver Cup, way above what we expected. On Sunday we went into the Double Elimination showdown. They had some really good racing and went on to finish 4th in the Silver Cup. |
2023 BFA Championships
Outdoor Championships
We had 6 teams competing at the Outdoor Champs. Racing wasn't the smoothest for the top 2 teams and with delays they didnt start racing till 1pm and were still racing as the sunset.
Watsons fought hard and with some unlucky races finished in 3rd place in Div 1.
Watsons Express were missing the speedy paws of Chess as their height dog so Tigger stepped in. Despite a difference of nearly half a second the team still placed well in speed trials to put them in Div 2 where they eventually finished in 4th place.
Watsons Turn Back Time now missing Tigger raced well in speed trials and were incredible unlucky to finish on the exact time as another team which saw us as bottom seed in Div 5 and the other team as top seed in Div 6. Despite this the team raced consistently throughout the day and in the division decider just didnt have enough in their paws and took 2nd place in Div 5.
Watsons Prime Time had some incredible racing seeing draws, breakouts and legs won/lost by 0.01 second. Finishing in a three way tie for 1st on wins the team placed 2nd overall on times in Div 8.
Watsons On Time were down to a four dog team of Benji, Logic, Pea and Costa. These experienced paws ran consistently all day and were deserved winners in Div 12.
Watsons Stop Time had a horrendous time in speed trials and struggled to run any clean legs and as such were placed in the wrong division. Not unsurprisingly the team broke out and as such placed 6th in Div 23.
We had 6 teams competing at the Outdoor Champs. Racing wasn't the smoothest for the top 2 teams and with delays they didnt start racing till 1pm and were still racing as the sunset.
Watsons fought hard and with some unlucky races finished in 3rd place in Div 1.
Watsons Express were missing the speedy paws of Chess as their height dog so Tigger stepped in. Despite a difference of nearly half a second the team still placed well in speed trials to put them in Div 2 where they eventually finished in 4th place.
Watsons Turn Back Time now missing Tigger raced well in speed trials and were incredible unlucky to finish on the exact time as another team which saw us as bottom seed in Div 5 and the other team as top seed in Div 6. Despite this the team raced consistently throughout the day and in the division decider just didnt have enough in their paws and took 2nd place in Div 5.
Watsons Prime Time had some incredible racing seeing draws, breakouts and legs won/lost by 0.01 second. Finishing in a three way tie for 1st on wins the team placed 2nd overall on times in Div 8.
Watsons On Time were down to a four dog team of Benji, Logic, Pea and Costa. These experienced paws ran consistently all day and were deserved winners in Div 12.
Watsons Stop Time had a horrendous time in speed trials and struggled to run any clean legs and as such were placed in the wrong division. Not unsurprisingly the team broke out and as such placed 6th in Div 23.
Indoor Championships
In October we took 6 teams to the Indoor BFA Championships. The top three divisions were again run under a different format which saw 8 teams in a Double Elimination knockout format with the other divisions running standard round robin.
Watsons were missing Autumn as the height dog and with Chess returning post season and not herself the team struggled on speed. They did still manage to place 5th in Div 1.
Watsons Express were again with Tigger as the stand in height dog. They posted some excellent 15 second times as a full team of border collies - Comet, Aoife, Zander, Tigger. These times also gave them an additional award for the fastest same breed team. Unfortunately Aoife pulled up lame and meant we were unable to continue racing which saw us finish 3rd in Div 2.
Watsons Turn Back Time ran lovely in speed trials to put themselves into Div 3. However something wasn't quite right and the team were well off pace in the double elimination stages were they placed 8th.
Watsons Prime Time had some super racing throughout just loosing one race. Alas it looked like that race could cost them however with some good results going their way they emerged as the division 5 winners!
Watsons On Time raced amazingly with some super smart plays on line ups. They had lost one race all day and going into the last race needed to win but with a faster time otherwise they faced finishing in 2nd. So with a 200IQ play we took out the height dog and banked on no warm up in the hope Bebe would carry for just that one leg. Boom, plans paid off and we set a faster time! Turned out in the end we didnt need that time as other results went in our favour but it truly was a great division of racing to see On Time as the Div 6 Winners.
Watsons Stop Time had a great start but unfortunately just couldn't get it together from starts/passes which ultimately saw them in 5th place in Div 10.
In October we took 6 teams to the Indoor BFA Championships. The top three divisions were again run under a different format which saw 8 teams in a Double Elimination knockout format with the other divisions running standard round robin.
Watsons were missing Autumn as the height dog and with Chess returning post season and not herself the team struggled on speed. They did still manage to place 5th in Div 1.
Watsons Express were again with Tigger as the stand in height dog. They posted some excellent 15 second times as a full team of border collies - Comet, Aoife, Zander, Tigger. These times also gave them an additional award for the fastest same breed team. Unfortunately Aoife pulled up lame and meant we were unable to continue racing which saw us finish 3rd in Div 2.
Watsons Turn Back Time ran lovely in speed trials to put themselves into Div 3. However something wasn't quite right and the team were well off pace in the double elimination stages were they placed 8th.
Watsons Prime Time had some super racing throughout just loosing one race. Alas it looked like that race could cost them however with some good results going their way they emerged as the division 5 winners!
Watsons On Time raced amazingly with some super smart plays on line ups. They had lost one race all day and going into the last race needed to win but with a faster time otherwise they faced finishing in 2nd. So with a 200IQ play we took out the height dog and banked on no warm up in the hope Bebe would carry for just that one leg. Boom, plans paid off and we set a faster time! Turned out in the end we didnt need that time as other results went in our favour but it truly was a great division of racing to see On Time as the Div 6 Winners.
Watsons Stop Time had a great start but unfortunately just couldn't get it together from starts/passes which ultimately saw them in 5th place in Div 10.
2022 UKFL Championships
The club had an amazing time at the UKFL Championships bringing home 5 divisional wins!! This was certainly a hard year with the temperatures soaring up to 40 degrees seeing outdoor racing starting at 6am, finishing mid morning and then recommencing in the evening indoors!
We were incredibly proud to come home as double UKFL Champions, this is the first time it has happened in UKFL history. Little League We had one team competing in Little League, Watson's Academy. This was a mix of breeds and ages from the babies through to the older paws of Flyte at 12 years old. League Unfortunately we had to withdraw one team due to injuries so this left us with 4 competing league teams. Watson's Firebolt competing in Division 1 had a flawless day not dropping a single heat to become OUTDOOR CHAMPIONS! Watson's and the Muggles were in Division 3. This was a bit of a mixed line up which threw a few curve balls however they raced well to secure 2nd place. Watson's and the Deathly Hallows competing in Division 4 raced superbly to become divisional WINNERS! Watson's Escape from Azkaban our usually solid team struggled in the heat with the wide variety of breeds and managed a solid 4th place. |
Multibreed
We had three teams competing in Multibreed across two divisions. Watson's Fantastic Beasts fighting hard in Division 1 to become OUTDOOR MULTBREED CHAMPIONS! Watson's Magical Creatures had a tough time competing in Division 1 but still did well to secure 3rd place. The last of our multibreed teams was Watson's Every Flavour Beans who competed in Division 2. They had very close racing and returned as divisional WINNERS! Interestingly we won this title last year so have retained the shield... first time this has been done! |
2022 BFA Championships
Unfortunately this year the BFA Indoor Championships coincided with the UKFL Championships so we were unable to attend. We did however manage to go the the BFA Outdoor Championships which was just 2 days after the UKFL Champs.
It was extremely tough going due to a heatwave and combined with a new 10 division format being trialled we came away without any wins. The 10 division format effectively combined 2 normal divisions into one making the odds of winning significantly lower than usual. We had brilliant results in speed trials with 4 out of the 5 teams winning their divisions and the 5th team taking 2nd place. This also saw Watson's take 2nd place for the fastest overall time posted. Our results were still very credible despite all the odds! 3rd in Division 1, 4th in Division 2, 4th in Division 4, 2nd in Division 5 and 3rd in Division 10. |
2019 BFA Championships
The club was lucky enough to qualify for both the Indoor and Outdoor Championships with four teams.
Outdoor The outdoor curse struck again! Watsons Express had qualified for the top 18 speed trials for the first time Outdoors. Unfortunately after loosing some key dogs to injury the team had to be pulled. However, the club pulled together and made it an Outdoor Champs to remember with their best performance yet! Watsons Prime Time had a superb days racing coming home as Division 10 Winners! Watsons On Time were very unlucky loosing just one race however this gave them a well earned 2nd place in Division 18. Watsons Stop Time were unbeaten and after a stonking days racing took home the Division 24 win! Indoor Watson's Express made the top 18 again this time with a different line up. After a shaky start in the speed trials they got it together in the double elimination and had a great days racing taking 2nd in Division 3 for the 2nd year in a row. Watsons Prime Time had a superb days racing coming home as Division 6 Runners up after loosing their final race of the day. Watsons On Time were very unlucky loosing just the first race however this gave them a well earned 2nd place in Division 10. Watsons Stop Time had a hard division and did extremely well to come home with 3rd place in Division 11. |
2019 UKFL Championships
For the second UKFL Championships the club took the most teams we ever have to a tournament... 4 league teams, 3 little league teams, 2 multi breed teams and 2 dogs competing in singles. The club had some great results at the UKFL Championships and did incredibly well coming home as 4x Divisional Winners!!
League Watsons Firebolt didn't have a great event loosing some of the team to injury, despite this they managed a time of 16.77 (0.02 off the club record) and a 2nd place in Div 2. Watsons and the Muggles raced hard and were pipped to the top spot by 1 leg which gave them a 2nd place in Div 8. Watsons Escape from Azkaban were very unlucky and also lost out by 1 leg giving them 2nd place in Div 14. Watsons Daily Prophet had a great days racing and took home the win in Div 18. Multibreed This was the first ever Multibreed Championships in the UK and we were lucky enough to take two teams! Watsons Fantastic Beasts competed indoor and were super unlucky just missing out on the top spot by 1 leg. This gave them 2nd place in Div 3. Watsons Every Flavour Beans went outdoors and after some very close racing they took the division to become the first ever winner of Div 2. |
Little League
We ran a special team called Summer's Legacy in LL1 which was all of our homebred pups related to one of the clubs founding dogs. The smashed it! Running a time of 16.99 with almost a second in changes and taking home the division win. Watsons Academy were in LL2 and consisted of our brand new dogs and handlers. They ran brilliantly and finished in a hard fought 2nd place loosing out to a faster team on the day. Watsons Cadets finished off the weekend in LL3 and after another great division of racing with the team hitting low 18 seconds they also finished on top as division winners. |
2018 UKFL Championships
This was the first ever UKFL Championships and the club was lucky enough to be able to take 3 League teams who competed Indoors and 1 Little League team who competed Outdoors.
League and Little League The club had an amazing time at the first UKFL Championships and did incredibly well coming home as Double Divisional Winners!! Watsons Firebolt won Div 5 indoors and Watsons and the Muggles won Div 9 Indoors. Not to be outdone Watsons Escape from Azkaban were very unlucky after being pipped to the post and finished 2nd in Indoor Div 13. Last but not least was our Little League team at only their second competition who did superbly coming away with 4th place in LL2 outdoors. |
2018 BFA Championships
The club was lucky enough to qualify for both the Indoor and Outdoor Championships with three teams.
Indoor
The club certainly had mixed results this time round. Stop Time finished a very credible 3rd in a hard fought Div 9. On Time had a terrible day and despite having the fastest time on the division finished 6th in Div 8. The club also saw its first time out in the top 18 which was certainly a new experience. After a terrible day in speed trials Express were seeded 6th in Div 3. The double elimination went much better and the team finished as division runners up in Div 3.
Outdoor
The outdoor curse struck again! Watsons Express in Div 7 ended up NFC after two races when one of the dogs had to be taken to the vets so finished in 6th. Watsons On Time continued the bad streak finishing 6th in Div 26. Finally Watsons Stop Time after loosing a dog to a collision in the first race battled well and finished in a very credible 4th place.
Indoor
The club certainly had mixed results this time round. Stop Time finished a very credible 3rd in a hard fought Div 9. On Time had a terrible day and despite having the fastest time on the division finished 6th in Div 8. The club also saw its first time out in the top 18 which was certainly a new experience. After a terrible day in speed trials Express were seeded 6th in Div 3. The double elimination went much better and the team finished as division runners up in Div 3.
Outdoor
The outdoor curse struck again! Watsons Express in Div 7 ended up NFC after two races when one of the dogs had to be taken to the vets so finished in 6th. Watsons On Time continued the bad streak finishing 6th in Div 26. Finally Watsons Stop Time after loosing a dog to a collision in the first race battled well and finished in a very credible 4th place.
2017 BFA Championships
This was the club's second year at the Championships, we qualified for both the outdoor Championships and Indoor Championships with three teams.
Outdoor The club didn't have great results this time out and none of the teams seemed to quite 'work'. They came away with a 4th in Div 6, 6th in Div 21 and 3rd in Div 33. Indoor Determined to make up for the results in the outdoor champs, all the dogs and handlers went away and trained hard. The hard work paid off and the results came to fruition... They walked away as double winners! Winners of Division 5, Winners of Division 12 and also taking a well earned 3rd place in Division 14. |
2016 BFA Championships
This was the club's first year at the Championships, we qualified for both the outdoor Championships and the first ever Indoor Championships.
Outdoor The team was VERY unlucky at their first championships however they put in a sterling effort with both teams to take Division Runners Up in both Div 4 and Div 25. Indoor The club did brilliantly just to qualify for the first ever Indoor Championships, where they again competed with two teams. This time they went one better and became Divisional Winners in Div 8. After loosing their fastest dog the other team were a little out matched however still managed 5th in Div 4. |