SOUTHAMPTON has hosted many things over the years.

From England internationals, world famous rock stars to an internationally famed boat show.

However one of the more unusual events came to the city over the weekend - Quidditch, the sport made famous in the Harry Potter books.

The Southern Regional Quidditch championships saw Southampton host one of the two qualifier tournaments for the British Quidditch Cup.

Held at Millbrook Rugby Ground, 18 teams including the Southampton Quidditch Club competed to qualify for the European Quidditch Cup in Belgium in March next year.

There were dozens of games played over the two days which included the teams Warwick Quidditch Club, Werewolves of London, Norwich Nifflers, Radcliffe Chimeras, Portsmouth Horntail Strikers, Southampton Quidditch Club, Cambridge University Quidditch, Falmouth Falcons, Exeter Eagles, Swansea Seven Swans and London Unspeakables.

Quidditch is a fast growing, full contact mixed gender sport with a strong focus on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender inclusivity, attracting players of all gender identities from a wide range of backgrounds.

The game's rules state at most there can only be four players of the same gender on the pitch at one time.

A team consists of 21 athletes with seven players per team on the field, and like in the wizard story books, each player has to play with a broom between their legs.