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Clay Shooting Classic and Sporting Gun Clubman return
Two long-dormant clay shooting competitions, the Clay Shooting Classic and the Sporting Gun Clubman Championship, return to Eaton Hall Shooting Ground in Derbyshire this October, with shooters able to enter both across one four-day window
The Sporting Gun Clubman Championship has not been shot since 2012. The Clay Shooting Classic has been dark since 2022. This October, both return to Eaton Hall Shooting Ground in Derbyshire.
Fourteen years is a long time to wait. Long enough for novice shooters who were cutting their teeth on the Clubman circuit in 2012 to have become seasoned competitors. Long enough for the competition to have passed into the kind of folklore that gets talked about at grounds up and down the country – the scores, the shoot-offs, the teams that came within a clay of taking the prize home. Long enough, frankly, for its absence to have started feeling permanent.
But it is back. And alongside it, the Clay Shooting Classic – dormant since Phil Gray claimed the title in 2022. His performance that year was comprehensive: he topped the Sporting podium, claimed the Blaser F16 prize, and then won the Pool Shoot for good measure. The trophy has been in his keeping ever since.
If you shoot clays competitively, you already know what both of these mean. The Classic has a roll of honour worth being on. The Clubman has a team trophy worth winning. Both have been absent for too long, and both are back with something to prove.
Eaton Hall Shooting Ground, Derbyshire
The venue needs no introduction to anyone who shoots competitively in this country. The shooting ground at Doveridge has hosted numerous serious clay shooting competitions – it is a CPSA Premier Plus ground and was named Clay Ground of the Year at the Great British Shooting Awards 2026 – and it is exactly the right stage for what is being asked of it here. The topography gives course designers genuine options – the kind of ground where you can show targets that demand real reading, real execution, and no margin for lazy technique. It does not flatter poor form. It does not offer easy stands to compensate for hard ones. What it offers is an honest test, set by people who know what one looks like.
Clay Shooting Classic 2026: 1–4 October
- Open to all. 125 targets. 15 stands.
- 3 x qualifying days
- 1 x final day (shooters that have qualified in Lettered Class or Category – over 100 shooters), with a top-six super final at the end
Finals day on Sunday.
The Classic’s format has always rewarded the shooter who can maintain output across a full card without leaking targets in the middle. 15 stands over 125 birds means there is nowhere to hide a bad patch and nothing to bail you out if your concentration drops at the wrong moment. The shooters who have won it previously will tell you the same thing: the margins at the top are small, and they are decided by the stands you almost took for granted.
Phil Gray, the reigning champion, will be the man to beat. Whether you are coming to take his crown or to put your own name on the trophy for the first time, the field is open.
The prize list is currently being secured, but based on the 2022 benchmark – £4,000 in cash and £4,000 in product – it will be substantial. High Gun is anticipated to carry a top-end gun from one of the major manufacturers, with Ladies and Junior category prizes alongside. Full details will be published once sponsorship is finalised.
To find out more about Phil’s victory and the competition itself, read our full report on the Clay Shooting Classic 2022.
Sporting Gun Clubman Championship 2026: 3–4 October
- Open to individuals and teams who are B Class and below, or non-CPSA registered
- 100 targets: 25 single-barrel DTL, 25 English Skeet, 50 English Sporting
- Teams – 5 person (2 x SNR, 1 x LDY, 1 x JNR, 1 x VET); 2 person team (any category)
This one needs to be said clearly: the Clubman has been gone since 2012. That is not a brief hiatus. That is 14 years without one of grassroots clay shooting’s most distinctive competitions – a championship with its own identity, its own history, and a prize structure built specifically to reward club shooters rather than the elite. That changes this autumn.
The format is 100 targets: 25 single-barrel DTL, 25 English Skeet, 50 English Sporting. B Class and below, or non-CPSA registered. A Class need not apply – this is not their competition. The Clubman was always about finding the best club shooter operating below the elite tier, and the best team any club can put on the line. That brief has not changed.
The discipline mix is unforgiving in the way that all-round formats are unforgiving. You cannot carry a weakness into this competition and expect it to stay hidden. Solid DTL, composed skeet, and the ability to read and execute on English Sporting targets – that is what the winner will have. That is what the winning team will have.
Team prizes: a Laporte trap for the winners, a pallet of clays for the runners-up. Individual prizes across High Gun, Ladies, Junior and Veterans. If entries come in fast enough, the competition may open from Friday 2 October – so do not leave your entry late and find yourself squeezed on squad times.
Enter both – the Classic and the Clubman
The overlap is obvious and deliberate. Classic shooters who are eligible for the Clubman – B Class and below – can shoot Thursday and Friday in the Classic before moving straight into the Clubman on Saturday and Sunday. Four competition days, two titles, one venue. For the shooter with the form and the stamina to back it up, the double is there to be done.
The Clubman has been gone 14 years. The Classic for three. Both are back, the ground is booked, and the only question that remains is who is going to step up and get their name on these trophies.
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where are the Clay Shooting Classic and Clubman Championship taking place?
Both are held at Eaton Hall Shooting Ground at Doveridge, Derbyshire. The Clay Shooting Classic runs from 1 to 4 October 2026 and the Sporting Gun Clubman Championship on 3 and 4 October 2026, with the Clubman potentially opening from Friday 2 October if entries fill quickly.
Who can enter the Sporting Gun Clubman Championship?
The Clubman is open to individuals and teams who are B Class and below, or non-CPSA registered. A Class shooters are not eligible. Teams are either five-person (two seniors, one lady, one junior, one veteran) or two-person in any category.
What is the format of the Clay Shooting Classic?
The Classic is 125 targets shot over 15 stands and is open to all. It runs across three qualifying days and a final day for those who qualify in a lettered class or category, finishing with a top-six super final.
Can I shoot both competitions in the same week?
Yes. Classic shooters who are B Class and below can shoot the Classic on Thursday and Friday, then move straight into the Clubman on Saturday and Sunday – four competition days and two titles at a single venue.
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