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 8th December 2024 at 7.30pm

1.    In Attendance: were Bill Thomas, Bill Morris, Derek Moody, David Hodgson, Danny Grimes, Dave Tilley, Dag Griffiths, Angela Doyle, Paul Davitt, Colin Foster, Frances Mason, Roy Smith, Cliff Houghton, Jim Eccleson, Pam Baker and Brian Thompson.

Apologies: Angela Houghton, Steve Lomas
 
2.    Minutes of previous meeting:  These were accepted as a true record of the meeting. 

3.    Matters Arising:  General Secretary, Brian Thompson reported he could not find any reason why the Treasurer’s resolution passed in Item 6 needed to go to the AGM.

4.    Chairman’s report: Chairman, Danny Grimes reiterated the importance of everyone taking the opportunity to promote the Quiz Leagues whenever possible.  He described some things that he had done in Liverpool including using Community Noticeboards and a promising response to quiz questions he’d uploaded on a community social media site.  He announced a Table Quiz for quiz teams at the CTK Social Club in Liverpool on Friday 28 March in aid of the Lord Mayor’s Charities.  In addition to supporting the charities it will hopefully help promote the MQL.  Danny also reported that he wished to seek Public Liability Insurance for the Leagues and explained that occasionally organisations such as ours are being subject to litigation over a wide range of issues.  PLI would afford some protection should a case ever arise.  The meeting did not object to him doing this.  The meeting congratulated Alan Gibbs on having reached the final of Radio Four’s Brain of Britain 2024.

5.    General Secretary’s report:  Brian reported that since the last meeting the Jubilee Pairs Competition had been held on 25th September at Prescot Cables Football Club Social Club.  There were 30 participants by the time the competition started at 8:00pm. Congratulations to Dag Griffiths (S&F) & Lee Whitehead (Orm) who won a very closely contested Final with Graham Barker (Liv) & Alan Thompson (Orm) and Angela Doyle (Liv) & David Hodgson (Orm).  In the Plate Final, Bill Gerrard (Orm) & Tony Gannon (Liv) were worthy winners.  It was Bill's second consecutive Plate title!  Thank you again to Ormskirk and Mike Flaherty for organising the venue.  The venue (hire cost £50) is ideal for this event.

6.    Treasurer’s report: Treasurer, Dag Griffiths, presented the balance sheet and pointed out the balance is currently healthy due to MQL Buzzer Quiz entry fees.  That event should at worst break even.  He explained that Honoraria and typing expenses were yet to be paid (Ormskirk and S&F had waived their typing claims).  Pam Baker asked why the MQLBQ doesn’t make a profit.  The response was that it generally does, but last year had additional Trophy expenses that caused a slight loss.  It was pointed out in Item 9 that of the 8 question writers only 4 are MQL (who work for free), the others will require payment. 

7.    Assistant General Secretary’s report: Assistant General Secretary, Cliff Houghton reported that he and Frances were sending out sets often 13 days in advance of their play dates in order to avoid problems with postal delays.  Frances reported that Warrington spare sets are being sent electronically, but as yet have not been required.

8.    Area reports:
Liverpool
Liverpool Secretary, Paul Davitt, reported that there had been 14 postponements making the league tables rather meaningless.  There had been a few postal problems, some with teams who’d not had trouble before.  The League season would end in February and be followed by a handicap KO tournament.  Local Mimir will be held on Monday 17 Feb.  He said that he had two 2025-26 sets in already.

Ormskirk
Ormskirk Secretary, David Hodgson, was back in sound and vision!  He reported that Newburgh Lions had won the League phase of their season, and the KO competition had been started.  Ormskirk had instituted a half time check on the scoresheet in all matches, which was being accepted as normal by teams.  David had received sets for next season from 10 out of 12 teams.  Each were being asked to supply the equivalent of a set and a half, to compensate for the decreasing number of teams submitting sets.  He commented on the increased number of unanswered questions in sets played in League matches so far this season.   This was supported by Frances and by Angela Doyle (Liverpool Results Sec) who reported that on 06 October the average number of unanswered questions in Liverpool (in 10 matches) was 21.  She added that in the whole of last season there were only 6 instances where a particular question was unanswered across all matches, but this has occurred 17 times already this season. 

Warrington Secretary, Derek Moody, added that the sets used in Liverpool were scoring about 10 points lower than when those same sets had been test played in Warrington.  He advocated once again that Leagues need to track how their sets score when played in matches in other areas. 

Southport and Formby
S&F Secretary, Dag Griffiths, reported that the League matches were completed and that a handicap competition will follow.  He also added that the number of unanswered questions seemed to be on the rise.  Dag also reported the death of Ian Wainwright of E Street Band sadly at a young age.

Warrington
Derek reported that the League had been won by Ringers and that a very close handicap League had been won by the Boffins.  He commented on the success of a handicapping system based on player performance which meant six teams were in contention for the title until the last matches.  There had been no major problems with post although sets, obviously posted together, were arriving up to five days apart.  There are some issues in password protecting PDF files but there were plenty of possible solutions suggested.  Derek also mentioned that there had been only one week this season when all teams playing fielded a full side.  He added that of the 13 teams in the WQL up to 8 could fold worryingly easily if their circumstances changed very slightly.  He reported the death of Brian Repton a founder member of Nematodes.

Wirral
Wirral Secretary, Jim Eccleson, reported that they had had no postal problems. They would hold their Mimir on Monday 17 Feb.  He reported the death of Mike Dunn, player and former captain of Bebington Hockey and a very long-standing member of the WQL.

9.    Competitions
• There have been 3 rounds of matches in the President’s Trophy with Ormskirk leading the table at the moment.  This is being played online with each area writing two sets of questions

• There have also been 3 rounds of matches in the President’s Shield with Liverpool 2B leading the table at the moment.  This is being played face to face with each area writing one set and MQL/Dag providing 5 sets.

• The MCC got underway and due to late withdrawals and misunderstandings (giving teams the benefit of the doubt) we have had to reorganise the competition for the remaining 11* teams.  Arrangements have been made to play rescheduled fixtures.  When completed this will provide 8 quarter finalists for the cup and two teams for the plate.  One set is being provided from each League.  Many thanks to Bill Thomas for looking after this.
[* two days after the meeting this reduced to 10 teams]

• MQL Buzzer quiz for 2025 will take place on Saturday 15th February at the same venue as the 2023 and 2024 events which is Hoylake Parade.  We have 25 teams registered each paying £100 although we gave 25% discount and priority booking to MQL teams.  Teams are guaranteed eight matches, and most will play 9.  It is a long but enjoyable day.  Several members of the Leagues help on the day, but It would be great to see any other members coming along to see what is quite an impressive display of quizzing.  Jon Stitcher is managing the event, and Dan Lawson is question coordinator.  Jon, Dan, Dag and Brian are writing questions, and we have employed 4 other writers.

• I am confident that we will be able to accommodate the Feeny and Rendon competitions in free Mon and Tues at the end of the season.  Each area will need to provide a set

10.    Area secretaries are urged to communicate this reminder to all teams (adjusting the message if your question deadline has already passed).

As we begin the preparation of sets for next season it is perhaps an opportunity to emphasise two important points.  Firstly, MQL Rule No 50 which states
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. MQL has the right to impose appropriate sanctions on teams or individuals who contravene these rules.
It then should go without saying that no Question written and asked in the MQL should be capable of causing offence or embarrassment to fellow players, other customers and employees of the venue.  This should also extend to comments arising from questions or the answers given.

The second point is to urge you to read the Guidance to Question Setters on the MQL Website.  This restates MQL Rule No 2 and gives advice on what to bear in mind when writing questions.  The site also has a downloadable template that can be used to submit your set.

11.    AOB:
Brian raised the following point.  Although thankfully we have not had the need to, it has been suggested that we have a procedure in place to direct the formation of a Disciplinary Panel for the MQL should it be required. 
The following was proposed for discussion
MQL Disciplinary Panel

Purpose
To help resolve issues regarding the conduct of players, officials and those attending events organised by the MQL.  It should also deal with appeals that arise from the outcome of Disciplinary Panel meetings convened by constituent Leagues.

Membership
The MQL Disciplinary Panel should be appointed by the MQL Council and should consist of three members of the Council drawn from
•    the Elected Officers (Chair, Dept Chair, Gen Sec, Asst Gen Sec, Treasurer)
•    the ex-officio members (President, two Question Distributors)
•    the Area Secretaries (or elected officers of their League as their representative)
who are not directly involved or connected to the League or to the issue in question.

In the case of a referral from a constituent League, one of the three members of the MQL Disciplinary Panel should be an elected officer of that League who has not been involved directly in the issue nor been part of their Disciplinary Panel meetings.

Action
The Disciplinary Panel should 
•    collect all possible evidence and statements regarding the incident
•    arrange meetings or interviews with persons concerned if necessary
•    consider the evidence and come to a decision as soon as is reasonably possible
•    present their findings and recommendations to the Chairman or the Council of the MQL 

The Disciplinary Panel should also be able to recommend to the Chairman or Council a temporary suspension of players or the postponement of matches or events to allow time for the above actions to be carried out.

The Chairman should call a Council meeting to rule on the matter.

Appeal on an MQL Ruling
In order to hear an appeal, then a second MQL Disciplinary Panel may be formed composed of members of the MQL Council who have not been involved in any previous Disciplinary Panel regarding the issue in question.

Sanctions
Sanctions that could be applied include
•    Verbal Warning, 
•    Letter of Censure/First Warning, 
•    Letter of Temporary Suspension, 
•    Letter of Permanent Suspension from the Leagues
 
A discussion followed.  In general, the meeting had no objection to the wording and if any amendments were necessary these could be clarified at the next meeting.  In the meantime, this provisional statement of the procedure for forming a Disciplinary Panel would be in place.

The meeting ended at 8.55pm.  The Chairman thanked everyone and wished them a Happy Christmas.

Next Council meeting:      Sunday 30 March 2025 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.