Band continues to lead the field

Their reputation precedes them. Some have described the band as a “machine” that “just starts up and goes.”

And their outstanding record in reality means their biggest competitors are themselves, and they are also their biggest critics.

“Because sometimes people don’t judge us against the competition - they judge us against us, plus it is not uncommon no matter how the well band plays, that the biggest critics of the performances are the band members,” says Earl Glasgow, Chairman, who joined the band in 1994 as a drummer.

They have won 23 Ulster Championship titles and 22 All Irelands, and since 1990, when they first broke into the exclusive top six in grade 1, the RSPBA five major championships - the Worlds, the Cowal, the European, the British and the Scottish - they have never finished out of that top six. And they have won all five titles - known as the grand slam - a monumental three times, plus winning the grade 1 world championships nine times to date

With 26 pipers, under the leadership of pipe major Richard Parkes MBE and pipe sergeant Alastair Dunn, nine drummers, plus Drum Sergeant Keith Orr, and a talented bass section, it’s also “probably the biggest band in the world”.

It also boasts several members from overseas, such as pipers Richard Crozier, who lives in Melbourne, Australia, Graham Drummond, who hails from Bathgate in Scotland, and Donald MacPhee, who’s originally from Detroit in the USA, as well as tenor drummers Andrew Elliott and Kyle Heaney from Ontario, Canada.

Becoming a member of Field Marshal Montgomery is no easy feat. Given the superbly high standard of the musicians who are in it, only the most skilled pipers and drummers will be deemed good enough to make the grade. He explains that potential members “will be approached, or an approach will be made to them, and then the procedure is they are assessed, so that they can actually demonstrate that they have the required skill and professionalism.”

Once a player has become a member of the band, an exceptional level of commitment and dedication is expected. Earl says: “If this was Formula 1, none of us would work. There is a certain professionalism and a huge commitment needed. All our players practise a minimum of one hour every day. That’s the key - it’s not the commitment to what you do on a Saturday, it’s the commitment to what you do at home, to make sure you are in shape both physically and mentally.

“I’m a big believer in natural selection. I don’t think you can nurture that much. I think that at our level, there has to be a natural ability and what Richard can do very well is polish it and bring out the best in his people. I think what you can do is take any piper or drummer and if you teach them properly, from the start, you can make them very good. But I think for top class pipers and drummers, there’s a certain natural ability that they always have had, and you just need to spot it in them, and that’s what you want at this level.”