Merseyside Quiz Leagues

 

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MQL MEETINGS 2024-2025

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COUNCIL

Sun 8th September 2024 (online)

Sun 8th December 2024 (online)

Sun 30th March 2025 (online) 

Sun 22nd June 2025 (online)

AGM

Sun 13th April 2025 (online)  

All online meetings commence at 7.30 pm

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AGENDA FOR most recent/next mEETING

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minutes of most recent council meeting

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Minutes of the Council Meeting of the Merseyside Quiz Leagues held online on Sunday 23rd June 2024

 
1.    In Attendance: were Bill Thomas, Bill Morris, Derek Moody, David Hodgson, Danny Grimes, Frances Mason, Angela Houghton, Colin Foster, Cliff Houghton, Jim Eccleson, Pam Baker and Brian Thompson.

Apologies: Dag Griffiths, Angela Doyle, Paul Davitt and Steve Lomas
 
2.    Minutes of previous meeting:  These were accepted as a true record of the meeting. 

3.    Matters Arising:  There were no matters arising that were not on the Agenda for this meeting.

4.    Chairman’s report: Chairman, Danny Grimes explained his absence from the end of season events but thanked everyone for their involvement and hard work. 

5.    General Secretary’s report:  General Secretary, Brian Thompson reported that we had had the AGM which was held over for two weeks due to his not getting information out in time, for which he apologised once more.  The AGM went smoothly.  The proposed increase in fees was passed, as was a change to rule 50 that MQL questions should not be discussed online or in social media.  Brian asked if League Secretaries could emphasise this rule in their handbooks and in any communications with their teams about the new season.  He also urged them to get their teams to read the Notes For The Guidance Of Question Setters on the Advice and Guidance tab on the website, reprint it in your handbooks or just send it as a reminder to all your teams.

Brian asked if at some point before next AGM, that we clarify the rules on Amendments to Proposals.  What we did at this year’s AGM was correct in that an amendment was put forward and then voted on.  In this instance the voting went against the amendment, so discussion continued on the original motion.  However, his concern was, what is considered to be an amendment?  If the amendment is so far from the original proposal as to actually be a new proposal, then there is the potential in future for a group to arrive in numbers at the AGM with an ‘amendment’ that could be then voted in.  It is perhaps not something that needs discussing today, but it is something that of which we must be aware.

We completed the playing of the Feeny and Rendon (more later) and had our Finals and Presentation Evening in Warrington which went well.  

 Congratulations to
•    Ringers, Feeny Cup Winners
•    Turks Head Saints, Rendon Cup Winners
•    Aigburth People, MCC Plate Winners
•    Colin Foster, Mimir Champion
•    Oxton, MCC Winners

ACTION:  In their Handbooks and communication to teams ahead of the new season, League Secretaries are asked to emphasise the change to Rule 50.  Also to ensure that teams read Notes For The Guidance Of Question Setters (available on the Advice and Guidance tab on the website) before they start preparing their question sets.

6.    Treasurer’s report: Treasurer, Dag Griffiths, was not present but had sent the financial statement which was displayed.  Frances Mason explained that she had purchased sufficient stamps for the coming season before the price rise and making a considerable saving.  It was pointed out that although we appear to be moving into a time when we will need to pay for the hire of event venues, this would be partially offset by not providing refreshments at these events.

7.    Assistant General Secretary’s report: Assistant General Secretary, Cliff Houghton had circulated a proposed Wednesday night schedule and the dates of the MQL season.  He now awaited fixtures from Leagues to complete the distribution schedule.

8.    Area reports:
Liverpool
Liverpool Secretary, Paul Davitt, was not present but it was reported that as expected there would only be 24 teams next season, arranged in 2 leagues of 12. 

Ormskirk
Ormskirk Secretary, David Hodgson, reported that OQL would operate on Mondays only (good news for question distribution) and have 1 returning team to make 12 teams.  Fees had been increased by £6 to cover the MQL rise, and costs incurred by fewer teams than expected registering last season.
He reported that the fixture format, borrowed from Warrington, had run very successfully and had been especially good in keeping lower division teams competitive throughout the season.

Southport and Formby
S&F Secretary, Dag Griffiths, was not present but it was reported that there would once again be 14 teams in 2 leagues of 7.  Fixtures were ready to go to Cliff.  

Warrington
Warrington Secretary, Derek Moody, reported that they had decided not to employ EQD for league sets next season but to ease the system in by using it for the spare sets.  This would give a chance for any problems to be ironed out before perhaps going to full EQD the following year.  It also represented a considerable saving in postage costs.  Derek urged other Leagues to do the same.
After many years Cliff Houghton had stood down as Chairman, to be replaced by Roy Smith.  Also, Dave Tilley had taken over as Division 1 Secretary and Colin Foster as Treasurer.
WQL continue with 13 teams and with a new format handicap competition until Christmas.

Wirral
Wirral Secretary, Jim Eccleson, reported that they had lost two teams and would have 18 teams in 2 leagues of 9.  They would hold their Mimir on a Monday evening and had decided to reinstate refreshments in League matches.  A further 4 or 5 teams would resign if EQD were to be introduced.  Jim also mentioned that their AGM had raised the question of a change to the format of MQL quizzing in order to arrest the decline in numbers.  Perhaps this is something that they could propose for discussion at a future meeting?

9.    Competitions
Mimir, President’s Trophy and Shield would continue in their existing format.  In spite of disappointing numbers (14 teams), the MCC and Plate would also remain unchanged.  Bill Thomas has agreed to remain as MCC Secretary for another season.
MQL Pairs has been reasonably successful, but it was decided that it should be held a little later in the Autumn, in the hope of attracting even more participants.  Dates in September, October and November were suggested.
Between them the Feeny and Rendon Competitions had attracted only 15 teams and had required the preparation of five sets of questions. After discussion it was decided that two changes were to be made.  They would be moved to a Monday evening at the end of the MQL season and would take the form of a Table quiz.  This was an experiment to see if it will attract more interest.  If it is not successful it is likely that these two competitions will be dropped in future.

ACTION:  Decide upon a date for the Pairs Competition.  Then enquire about Prescot Cables FC availability.  Brian, Cliff and David.

10.    ITEM POSTPONED

11.    ANALYSIS OF QUSTION SETS:
S&F and Wirral had not been able to do any work on this.
Liverpool and Ormskirk had conducted an analysis of how sets that they prepared had played in 2023-24.  They used only what data was available on the Results pages of the other Leagues.  This enabled comparison of Aggregate Scores and sometimes balance.  This data could be used to inform teams how their sets played.  It would be even more useful if all Leagues included who went in first, the number of two-point answers and the number of answered questions on their results pages.
Warrington (Derek) displayed a rigorous analysis that they had made on sets played in Warrington.  This analysis looked in depth at the way that specific questions were answered and trends in setting by the leagues responsible.  Although appreciating that not all Leagues would be in a position to conduct such analysis, he nonetheless believes that this is necessary to improve and inform our question writing.  He and Brian would discuss this further.

12.    Venues for MQL Events in Season 2024-25:
Brian welcomed any suggestions for venues that could be used for MQL events.  In particular he invited S&F to propose a location for the MQL Mimir or Presentation Evening in 2025.  Jim added that, unlike other Areas, Wirral still had at least two venues that did not charge for use.

13.    AOB:
There was no AOB

The meeting closed at 8.55pm 

Next Council meeting:      Sunday 08 September 2024 at 7.30pm online 

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minutes of most recent AGM

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Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Merseyside Quiz Leagues held online on Sunday 21st April 2024 (commenced at 7.30pm)

Attendees:  Bill Morris, Dave Tilley, Colin Foster, Cliff Houghton, Angela Doyle, Derek Moody, Bill Thomas, David Hodgson, Dag Griffiths, Frances Mason, Jim Eccleson, Angela Houghton, Danny Grimes, Paul Davitt, Steve Lomas, Pam Baker, Peter Deakin and Brian Thompson representing fifteen teams and all five areas.

1. Apologies for absence.  None received.

2. The minutes of the previous AGM.  The minutes, having been circulated to all teams, were accepted as a true and fair record of the meeting.

3. Matters Arising.  There were no matters arising not covered by the Agenda.

4. Chairman’s Report.  Chairman, Danny Grimes, asked for a moment’s silence for the following members and associates of the MQL who had passed away in the last year.

Liverpool  Keith Spencer, Jeff Dunn, Bryan Leech 
Ormskirk  Andrew Sackville, Paul Prior
Southport & Formby   Gary Buxton, Leo Tobin
Warrington   Geoff Weston, Brian Bates 
 

He then reported that in order to meet as many teams and players as possible, he had, as in previous years, been spending his free weeks watching LQL Div.2 matches and also testing out sets for submission.  He had been QP, scorer and observer in the various MQL competitions, played in the Jubilee Pairs Competition and represented Liverpool in the President’s Trophy. Once again, these events showed the MQL at its best, setting the bar in respect of competitive quizzing and organisation.

Finally, he thanked the MQL Council who undertake all of their roles voluntarily and diligently to ensure that we can all enjoy our quizzing throughout the year. A number of those officials also hold positions with their own leagues and therefore undertake even more duties.

5. General Secretary’s Report.  General Secretary, Brian Thompson, reported that since last year’s AGM we completed the Feeny and Rendon Competitions for the first time since the pandemic.  11 teams took part in the Feeny and 5 in the Rendon.  The finals night was held at the Griffin Inn in Warrington where Aardvarks defeated St Patrick’s to win the Rendon and then in a very close Feeny final Wings defeated Oxton Cons with Dag Griffiths scoring a full house.

That event was followed a few weeks later by our first Finals and Presentation evening for 4 years.  Aigburth People won the MCC Plate with a win over Aardvarks.  The Mimir Individual competition was won for the third time by Dag Griffiths, who became the oldest player to have won the trophy. The runners-up were Jim Eccleson, Colin Foster and John Hall.  In a close Challenge Cup final Cricketers defeated Colly Wobblers to win the trophy for the 5th time.  Thanks to the Liverpool League for hosting the event.

Another person retaining a Trophy was Neil Wright of Wirral who recorded a second successive win in the Jubilee Pairs tournament.  32 players took part in the competition which was hosted once again by Ormskirk at the Prescot Cables FC Club.  Neil won this year partnered by Ben Vincent of Warrington, with Mark Kerr and Bill Gerrard winning the Plate.

Once again, the Challenge Cup attracted very few entrants and a late withdrawal meant that there were only 14 teams taking part when the competition started in October.  Questions this season have been set by each of the Leagues with an additional set by MQL council.  Despite illness Dave Tilley who has set all the questions for this competition for several years, has still been able to provide a set for the Final. We wish him well in his treatment.   The Final will be between Ringers and Oxton, while Aigburth People and Fisherman’s Rest will contest the Plate.  Again, many thanks to Bill Thomas for his administration and I am glad to report his willingness to continue for another year in the role!

Thank you to Cliff and Frances for their continued hard work in distributing questions.  With reliability and sustainability now being factors in addition to cost, we continue on our path towards electronic distribution and hope that one League at least will be using EQD for their League sets next season.

The 5th Jubilee Buzzer Tournament took place at the Parade Hoylake in February and this year attracted twenty-five teams from all over the country.  Many thanks to members of the MQL who were part of the writing team and who read and scored on the day.  The event was won by a team representing Yorkshire while the team from Wirral won the newly inaugurated Bowl competition.  Special thanks to Jon Stitcher who administers the whole event and to Dan Lawson who coordinated and edited the questions.

The two President’s competitions both resulted in very close finishes with the outcomes not being resolved until the last set of matches.  The Trophy continued online and was won this season by Liverpool bringing an end to Ormskirk’s five-year run.  Thanks, as usual, to Dag for looking after this competition.  The Shield was played face to face and was won by Liverpool 2a.  Again, thanks to Dag for providing half the sets.  The Presidential Challenge was not played this season.

The Merseyside Heats of the Mimir competition were held at a new venue Winmarleigh House in Warrington.  It proved to be welcoming and very suited to our needs, and although at least one player fell foul of the parking technology, we intend to return there for next month’s Finals and Presentation Evening.  In a very close competition on the night Colin Foster, Dag Griffiths, John Wilson and Angela Doyle qualified for the Final.

Away from Merseyside, MQL were unable to defend the Don Bissett Cup at the QLL Open Tournament in June but recovered to win the Plate.  Details of this year’s event have just been received so if anyone is interested, please let me know.  In September, Pat Gibson retained his title as British Quizzing Champion and he also retained the British Pairs title earlier this month.  Pat finished sixth out of over 1600 players in the World Quizzing Championships last June.

A group is working on a standard Specification for Questions should we wish to invite an external party prepare sets for use in the MQL.  We are also working on ways of getting meaningful feedback back to Leagues and Teams to help them see how their sets play when used in League matches.

In conclusion, just a few personal opinions.  It continues to be the responsibility of all players to promote team quizzing and the Leagues whenever the opportunity arises.  This could include anything from advertising the fact that matches are held at your venue, to welcoming anyone and especially younger people who show any interest in quiz activities.  Secondly, I repeat what I said at a recent council meeting that we have to encourage and retain our venues too, so once again it is the responsibility of everyone who plays to support and spend a bit of money in these venues because without them, we will not have a quiz league.

As usual I would like to thank fellow officers and council members for their hard work throughout the year in supporting me and in helping the leagues run smoothly.

6. Treasurer’s Report.  Treasurer, Dag Griffiths, presented the balance sheet and pointed out that there had been some significant expenditure over the last 12 months and a loss of income with the number of teams falling to 84.  A slight loss on the Buzzer Quiz, purchase of a new printer, advance purchase of stamps and the return of trophy purchase had all contributed to the situation whereby if all commitments needed to be cleared immediately then the balance would be about £30.  For this reason, Dag with the Council’s agreement was going to propose an increase of fees for the coming year.

Auditors (appointed):     Paul Davitt and David Hodgson.

7. Assistant General Secretary’s Report.  Assistant General Secretary, Cliff Houghton, reported that thanks to early posting to counter the effects of reduced reliability, the majority of sets had arrived on time although one or two areas are being affected more than others.  He thanked fellow distributor Frances Mason for her hard work and also Derek Moody for assisting when Cliff had been absent earlier in the year.

8. Election of Officers.  President, Jim Eccleson, took the chair for the election of the officers.  All officers had expressed a wish to continue in their roles and with no other nominations having been received Jim proposed that the Officers be re-appointed en bloc. This was carried nem con. 

None of the three-year terms of the current Vice Presidents needed renewing this year.

Therefore, the current (April 2024) Council comprises the following Elected and Ex Officio members:

Chairman:             Danny Grimes        
Deputy Chairman:         Cliff Houghton    
General Secretary:         Brian Thompson    
Treasurer:             Dag Griffiths            
Deputy General Secretary:     Cliff Houghton     

Ex officio members are:
President:            Jim Eccleson
Question Distributor:        Cliff Houghton
Question Distributor:        Frances Mason

The Council has 24 voting members  (although currently reduced to 21 due to a person being unable to vote twice)

9. Proposals.  
No 1

‘The proposal is that the annual fee for entry into the MQL for each team be raised by £5 to £30.’
Proposed by Dag Griffiths.    Seconded by Danny Grimes, MQL Chairman (on behalf of MQL Council).

Dag supported the proposal with some suggestions as to how savings could be made.  Transferring the burden of paying for the production of sets back to the individual Leagues, only using event venues that did not make a hire charge and the use of EQD.  Discussion followed that dwelt upon the first and third points.  As a result, there was no consensus to alter the current payment to Leagues to produce questions, but a strong point was made that although there was a continued reluctance to adopt EQD, each League has to make an effort to encourage and demonstrate that it can work.  The discussion resulted in this proposed amendment that

‘Leagues who used EQD should receive a 50% discount on their annual MQL fees.’ 
Proposed by Bull’s Head (Derek Moody).   Seconded by Dave Tilley (WSC Woodworms).
Figures discussed showed that savings under EQD would indeed cover the reduction.  This amendment was voted upon with 15 eligible votes.  
In favour 6 against 7 abstentions 2.  The amendment was rejected.  However, it was felt that the issue warranted further consideration next year.

The meeting then voted on the original proposal with 15 eligible voters.  13 were in favour and there were 2 abstentions.  The proposal was adopted.

No 2

‘Rule 50 currently reads 
Any published matters, including press, radio, and social media, concerning quiz teams and individual members must not contain any comment or statement capable of causing offence or embarrassment. Questions must not be discussed on social media until at least four weeks after they are played. MQL has the right to impose appropriate sanctions on teams or individuals who contravene these rules.

The proposal is that the section underlined is removed.   This will allow for postponed matches to use the original questions with confidence.’
Proposed by Rugby Hounds (Ormskirk).  Seconded by Wings (S&F)

David and Dag spoke in favour of the proposal.  It soon became clear that the main issue was how postings on the MQL Facebook site rarely portrayed the MQL or its players in a good light.  These postings had never been reported to Council and so it had never been called upon to invoke Rule 50.   However, the proposal remained unamended.
The meeting voted with 15 eligible voters.  All 15 were in favour.  The proposal was adopted.

The date for the 2025 AGM is Sunday 13th April.  The dates for the four required Council Meetings for the new season are:

Sunday 08 September 2024
Sunday 08 December 2024
Sunday 30 March 2025 
Sunday 22 June 2025

The Chairman thanked everyone for their attendance and their support.  The meeting closed at 8.36pm.