Manchester GT Winter: Rankings Preview
- Charles Gould
- Feb 17
- 4 min read
If you’ve been keeping even half an eye on the UKTC 2025/2026 season, you might already know this, the top positions are tight, and the mid-table is crowded. One big weekend can rewrite both.
And that’s why The Manchester GT: Winter is shaping up to be one of those “you’ll wish you’d been there” moments.
UKTC seasons run from the day after the LGT to the following LGT, and your season score is built from the points you earn at UKTC-registered events. All registered events can add points to your standing as it is just your top 6 results that contribute, with bigger events having bigger points.
The current standings
At the very top, the front-runners have built some separation, but not enough separation to feel safe:
#1 Stephen Box - 877.6
#2 Byron Sidhu - 858.9
#3 Scott Morris - 827.8
#4 Theo Hayat - 818.4
#5 Tom Godfrey - 808.8
That’s less than 70 points covering the entire Top 5.
In other words: a single high-scoring Super-Major weekend can absolutely reorder the podium.
Manchester GT: Winter by the numbers
Manchester is sitting at:
306 players
29 factions represented
88 different clubs/groups represented
168 players already on the UKTC rankings
138 players currently unranked (who will enter the ladder off the back of this event)
That last point is a big deal, because a huge field doesn’t just move the people at the top; it adds mass to the entire rankings ecosystem.
UKTC points follow the Best Coast Pairings scoring system, which is driven by how you place, your wins, and how many players attended, meaning event size directly matters.
And Manchester isn’t just “big.” It’s firmly in Super-Major territory. Well clear of the Major bracket, and one of the biggest events in the north-west.
Who’s in the room
Here’s the spicy bit: Manchester isn’t a “local GT with a few sharks.” It’s a proper national crossroads.
From the current roster:
1 player in the UKTC Top 10
6 players in the UKTC Top 25
12 players in the UKTC Top 50
20 players in the UKTC Top 100
68 players in the UKTC Top 500
And headlining that list is UKTC Rank #3: Scott Morris is on the ground in Manchester and has a real shot at turning a great weekend into a season-defining swing.
A few more names to keep an eye on (UKTC rank → faction):
That’s not just “good players.” That’s world class calibre.
why not attending can cost you places
Here’s the part that isn't so obvious:
You don’t need to “lose points” to lose ranks.
We took a look at this after the Nottingham 40K Super-Major (355 players) and the numbers were brutal:
Players who didn’t attend fell by about 101 places on average (median 107)… even though their points mostly didn’t change.
Meanwhile, already-ranked players who did attend moved up by +410 places on average (median +272).
That’s the rankings reality in a living circuit: other people are adding results, and on big weekends they add them in bulk.
So if you’re thinking “I’ll skip this one and go to the next”… the ladder doesn’t pause. Someone else just takes your space.
Why big events?
Two reasons:
1) Points mean prizes
The raking scoring is tied to performance + placing + field size. So a 300+ player weekend is simply a bigger opportunity than a smaller event; more players, more separation, more points available.
2) Scale creates displacement
Nottingham’s recap called it a “rankings gravity well”. It pulled attendees up and pushed non-attendees down. Manchester is the same kind of weekend: large field, lots of ranked players, and a big wave of unranked players who can appear on the ladder immediately.
The club battles are going to be loud
If you like your Warhammer with a side of team chat and friendly rivalry, Manchester is stacked. The biggest groups in the roster include:
Team Stonehammer - 26 players
Carnage - 10 players
[L7] - 10 players
Ordo Idiotus - 8
Black Tower Wargaming - 8
Manchester Hive Wargaming - 7
That’s a lot of coordinated prep, practice reps, and bragging rights.
Format reminder
UKTC 40K weekends are built around 2,000pt matched play, with 5 rounds of regular play, 3 games Saturday / 2 Sunday and a 2-round top cut for final placings.
So yes: it’s a tournament, but it’s also a test of stamina, list depth, and consistency.
If you care about your UKTC position, Manchester GT: Winter is the kind of weekend that:
can catapult you hundreds of places with a strong finish, and
can slide you down the ladder if you sit it out and everyone else banks points.
And if you’re currently unranked? Big UKTC weekends are where huge numbers of players enter the rankings in a single update.
Don't miss the call
Manchester GT: Winter is a massive field, packed with ranked players, stacked clubs, and enough ladder pressure to make every win matter.
And it sold out.
If you missed out, you are not alone - the event sold out in record time! Because of this and the outstanding demand, we are running a second Manchester GT - the Summer counterpart later this year. You can get your tickets to it here.
Save the date: THE LGT 2026
Last year the community rallied to help make The London Grand Tournament 2025 the biggest Warhammer event ever. Not just in the UK but in the world. And we want to do it again.
The LGT 2026 is our 10-year anniversary, and we want to celebrate it with you, so mark your calendars and get ready, when tickets launch on Friday, 27th February @ 2PM.
We are making some big changes this year to improve on last year. You can find out more information in our previous blog post about it: here.
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