Championship National Finals 2025: Preview
- Liv Appleton
- Oct 10
- 4 min read
Everything You Need to Know About the 2025 National Finals at the Royal Albert Hall
19 bands are set to battle it out at the Championship Section National Final at the Royal Albert Hall. So, whether you’re planning on heading down to support the contest or want to know a little more about the competing bands and the test that awaits them on Saturday - here is everything you need to know.
National Finals 2025 Details
Date: Saturday 11th October 2025
Time: 10:00am (Doors: 9:15am)
Adjudicators
Dr Stephen Cobb: renowned conductor, adjudicator and music educator, best known for his work with the Salvation Army
Rob Wiffin OBE: a highly respected conductor, composer, educator and former Principal Director of Music for the RAF
Ian Bousfield: a world-renowned trombonist, former Principal Trombone of the Hallé Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra and Vienna Philharmonic, as well as celebrated conductor and pedagogue.
Championship Section National Finals Test Piece
The set work for this year’s Championship National Finals is Symphony in Two Movements, by renowned composer, Edward Gregson.
Symphony in Two Movements was commissioned in 2012 by the National Youth Brass Band of Great Britain and the National Youth Brass Band of Wales. The 19-minute work comprises of two linked movements - a bold, rhythmic Toccata followed by a second movement consisting of a theme and four variations, which draws on an 11-note row and employs contrasting textures and dynamics, as well as a range of solos around the stand, concluding with a dramatic finale.
Which Bands Are Competing at the 2025 National Finals?
The 19 bands taking to the stage at the Royal Albert Hall this weekend are:
Aldbourne
Black Dyke
Brighouse and Rastrick
City of Hull
The cooperation band
Desford Colliery
East London
Ebbw Valley
Flowers
Foden’s
Gus
Hepworth
Leyland
NASUWT Riverside
Oldham (Lees)
St Dennis
Tredegar Town Band
Whitburn
Zone One
Who is Likely to Win the 2025 National Finals?
As always, brass band contest predictions aren’t an exact science and should always be taken with a pinch of salt.
But, just for funsies, shall we have a look at the stats?
The top 5 bands heading into this competition in terms of world rankings and overall points are:
Band | Conductor | Current Place | Points |
Foden’s | Russell Gray | 3 | 968.5 |
Brighouse and Rastrick | David King | 4 | 905.99 |
Flowers | Paul Holland | 7 | 621.64 |
Black Dyke | Nicholas Childs | 8 | 535 |
Tredegar | Ian Porthouse | 10 | 405.52 |
When it comes to performance trends this is how the top 5 bands have fared over the last 5 (discounting 2020) years at the National Finals:
Band | Conductor | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2019 | Average Result |
Black Dyke | Nicholas Childs | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 |
Foden’s | Russell Gray | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 3 |
Brighouse and Rastrick | David King | 10 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 5 |
Tredegar | Ian Porthouse | 6 | 4 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 5 |
Flowers | Paul Holland | 1 | 14 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 7 |
For wider context, this is how the top 5 bands have performed in the last 5 test piece contests - excluding entertainment contests like Brass in Concert - with Contest 1 being the most recent result
Band | Conductor | Contest 1 | Contest 2 | Contest 3 | Contest 4 | Contest 5 | Average |
Flowers | Paul Holland | 9 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
Foden’s | Russell Gray | 4 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 5 |
Black Dyke | Nicholas Childs | 16 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
Tredegar | Ian Porthouse | 13 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 6 |
Brighouse and Rastrick | David King | 1 | 3 | 10 | 12 | 6 | 6 |
Flowers are the reigning National Champions heading into this contest and with an average placing of 3rd across their most recent contest performances, they’re one of the most consistent bands heading into the competition this year.
Foden’s remains one of the most reliable names in the game with steady top 5 placings across their most recent results with the exception of a rogue 12th place at the Europeans this year and they regularly featuring in the top 3 at the Nationals.
Black Dyke might have missed out at the British Open, but their formline is solid - rarely dropping out of the top 5 across their most recent results and consistently appearing in the top 5 at the Nationals.
Tredegar have been consistently competitive, with mostly top-10 results
Brighouse and Rastrick appear to be on an uphill trajectory and on impeccable form after their winning performance at the British Open that literally blew everyone away
So, looking at the figures, it’s reasonable to assume that these 5 will feature somewhere in the prizes - but that’s not how it works is it?
Contesting is an unpredictable beast, so let’s have a look at a couple of bands who could be dark horses.
The Cooperative - a strong mid-table band that has the power to push into the prizes on occasion
Aldbourne - this is a band that is certainly making its mark on the contest stage, finishing in the top 5 at the British Open and not finishing outside of the top 10 in the last 12 months
Ultimately, it’s a new day, it’s a different piece - regardless of stats and previous form, it’s all there for the taking!
Best of luck to everyone competing tomorrow!
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