The band was established in September 2007 under the leadership of Pipe Major James Murray and now includes almost 40 members. Performing regularly throughout Scotland at highland games and competitions, community and police events, the band proudly wears the specifically designed Fife Constabulary, Carnegie of Fife tartan.
Competing in Grade 1 for the first time in 2008, Police Scotland Fife won the Grade 1 competitions at Dunbar and Markinch and qualified for the finals of the World Championships, finishing 12th.
In 2014 the band saw a change of leadership when James’s brother Douglas took over as Pipe Major. Since then the band have worked extremely hard to become a regular prize winner at the Major Pipe Band Championships. The band have finished in the top six at the Worlds twice now, in 2016 and again in 2018.
Mick O’Neill
The Police Scotland Fife Pipe Band drum corps is led by Mick O’Neill who joined at the end of the 2008 season. The corps has grown in stature, regularly featuring in the prize list at Majors, including a third place at the 2016 World Championships. Mick was born in Leicester, England and started drumming at the age of ten with his local pipe band. In 1985 he joined the Scots Guards where he was posted to the 1st Battalion Scots Guards. He took over as leading drummer of the Battalion after two years and competed with the band for 5 years in Grade 1. Mick left the Army in 1993 and joined Drambuie Kirkliston pipe band.
In 1999 Mick became the leading drummer of Newtongrange pipe band. In his first season as Lead Tip the drum corps was crowned Champion of Champions in Grade 3 and the band were promoted to Grade 2 for the following season. Mick played with Newtongrange until 2002 when he was asked to join the newly formed Clan Gregor Society where he played until September 2008. During that time he led the drum corps to two successive Champion of Champions awards in Grade 2 in 2002 and 2003, the second being a Grand Slam of all five major championship drumming prizes.
Mick is also the full-time drumming instructor at George Watson’s College. The drum corps at the school have won the Champion of Champions trophy in the Novice and Juvenile grades on numerous occasions under his tutelage, also winning the World Drum Corps prize on several occasions.
Mick has been a world solo drumming finalist once and a semi finalist on several occasions. In 2002 he won the Lothian and Borders branch solos and was runner up in the army solo drumming twice. He holds the RSPBAAdvanced and Instructors certificates and is also a qualified RSPBAadjudicator.