Feathers fly in pigeon coup

Pigeons are going posh – and it's causing feathers to fly at grassroots clubs across the Black Country as traditional fanciers complain they are being priced out of the sport.

They are angry at attempts to dump the sport's cloth-cap image and force it upmarket. But the Royal Pigeon Racing Association say that getting young, middle-class professionals involved is the sport's best chance of survival. The governing body has introduced one-loft racing where owners pay a fee to have their birds housed, trained and fed by someone else.

Fancier Albert Reynolds, secretary of the Wolverhampton Tumblers Club, complains: "It's no longer a working man's game."

The association, of which the Queen is a patron, has seen membership fall by a third in 10 years to 32,000 and has lost around £65,000 in the past two years.

A lack of younger recruits has seen the average age of fanciers rise to well over 60.

The association and other clubs are promoting the one-loft format where owners pay a £100 fee to keep birds in a huge loft where they are cared for and trained by a manager. The owners just show up on race days.

Mr Reynolds, aged 73, of Colley Avenue, Wolverhampton, has kept pigeons since he was aged seven but says the sport is becoming too modern and too dear.

Many club members are now having to partner up with others to share the cost of feed, transport to races and competition entry fees.

New technology is another step in the wrong direction according to traditionalists, with fanciers having to pay £250-plus for computerised equipment to clock in birds on race days.

Great Barr breeder Dennis Sanders argues that one-loft racing eliminates the need to even be present for a bird's return as plastic foot rings trigger an electronic sensor at the loft, recording the birds' times.

Peter Bryant, general manager of the association, said: "The cloth-cap brigade will moan the sport's got too expensive while quaffing their fifth pint of beer – but the sport is haemorrhaging.

"We have to appeal to people outside the sport. Using new technology is the best way to attract the young and taking care of the pigeons' upkeep is the best way to attract busy professionals." He said fanciers were also giving talks in local schools.