MIDLANDS NATIONAL FLYING CLUB

 The Reasons Why the Nationals Should Be Embraced

There is little doubt that the National clubs like the MNFC and NFC are looked upon with great suspicion by many of our local organisations. The way the current system works then I fully understand their thoughts. That said just because I understand them doesn’t mean that I agree with them, in fact I totally disagree with their stance in regard to racing from French race points.

Let’s look at the situation more closely and explain why I support the heading to this article. At this point can I explain that my involvement with the Midlands National Flying Club is not behind this piece and in support of my statement I point to the fact that the first article that I ever wrote way back in the late 1970’s when I was in my youth and had a brown beard not the white one that I now possess was asking the question of why English pigeon racing didn’t follow the way the Scots largely used the Scottish National races as the way the domestic clubs  competed from the French races? Since that time the Scottish way has degenerated and fragmented and like their forebears the Scottish Clans flew in the face of the belief that ‘united we stand divided we fall’. I’m sure that now the vast majority will concur that this was a big mistake.

Surely now is the time for federations and other domestic organisations to align themselves to one of the National organisations. In support of my opinion I ask readers is your federation making a profit from cross channel racing. The plain truth is that nearly all are actually losing money and having to charge high prices to provide even a meagre amount of prize money. A friend of mine told me that he has to stump up £2.50p to send a bird to short cross channel races in his club and the winner is lucky if he receives £10 for winning the race with often pathetically low birdages. Is this the way in which fanciers wish to race their birds in the future and is this the limit to their ambitions? Personally I would never subject any bird of mine to fly 300 to 600 miles for such a piddling reward.

If I still involved with a federation today I would definitely be doing my best to persuade the ‘top table’ to allow one of the Nationals to take all of the financial pressures off their shoulders. In this way most federations would be more profitable and would allow them to hold inland races every week for the fanciers who have no wish to race from the longer events. When a few years ago I had a nice team of sprinters I hated it when from the middle of May I had no race every other week until the end of July. I had waited so long then it was a stop start end to the old bird season for the last two and a half months of the old bird season.

What other advantages would be gained from such a move? First of all the National clubs offer  transportation that is often light years better than many of the smaller organisations. This means the birds travel better and are well prepared to perform better. Secondly though it is a little more expensive the financial rewards are significantly greater than what the feds can offer. That said for a small charge the birds could be duplicated back to the domestic clubs and all of this money would be able to be offered in prizes as there would be no expenses for the club to pay and another bonus would be that there would be no result to work out as the National would do this for us all.

For my money it is a no brainer but what disadvantages are there? Well the only one that I can think of is that initially loses would be greater because regardless of what some may have you believe to have birds that achieve better at National levels you need birds of superior intelligence or homing ability. I well remember asking a good friend of mine who had moved on to the rarefied atmosphere of National racing and I think that his opinion was very accurate when he told me ‘’that for fed racing you need fast Pigeons but for National racing you must have straight pigeons’’. Then he laughed and added ‘‘If you have fast and straight birds you could well win a National’’. In truth though don’t we all want to own better birds.

The Liverpool Classic Club is one organisation that has chosen to embrace the National arena and I have been told that another society is on the verge of joining the MNFC. This club which has provisionally been accepted by the Western region providing that there are no objections is the Wirral Greater Distance Club and if you think that you would like to take up the challenge you can contact Paul Clements by either e-mail or phone. His e-mail is This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  and his land line is 0151 342 5985   his mobile number is 075344380921. I wish them every success and believe that these two clubs are the ‘blueprint’ to the future with similar clubs being formed all over the country. Which will ensure good racing even when the wind dictates that the area isn’t favoured on a particular race day. Forward thinking federations could also achieve this goal if they follow the heading to this piece and ‘embrace’ National racing.

Well that’s me off my soap box for now I can only offer my opinion but it is for you to decide whether or not it will happen before the smaller clubs collapse due to lack of support and finance.

Mike Lakin