MQL MEETINGS 2024-2025
COUNCIL
Sun 8th September 2024 (online)
Sun 8th December 2024 (online)
Sun 30th March 2025 (online)
Sun 29th June 2025 (online)
AGM
Sun 13th April 2025 (online)
All online meetings commence at 7.30 pm
AGENDA FOR most recent/next mEETING
Agenda for the Annual General Meeting of the Merseyside Quiz Leagues to be held online on Sunday 13th April 2025 at 7.30pm
1 Apologies for Absence
2 Minutes of the previous AGM
3 Matters Arising
4 Chairman’s Report
5 General Secretary’s Report
6 Treasurer’s Report
7 Assistant General Secretary’s Report
8 Election of Officers
Including renewal of Vice Presidents
Brian Cunningham
Peter Deakin
Dag Griffiths
Cliff Houghton
Ray Oakes
Bill Thomas
John Wilson
9 Proposals
No proposals have been received
Voting at Annual General Meetings for all matters including the Election of the Chairman
• Every team represented at the meeting has one vote.
• President has the casting vote if necessary.
No voting by proxy.
minutes of most recent council meeting
Minutes of the Council meeting of the Merseyside Quiz Leagues held online on Sunday 30th March 2025 at 7.30pm
1. In Attendance: were Bill Thomas, Colin Foster, Dag Griffiths, Derek Moody, David Hodgson, Danny Grimes, Roy Smith, Paul Davitt, Frances Mason, Jim Eccleson, Pam Baker and Brian Thompson.
Apologies: Bill Morris, Angela Doyle, Cliff Houghton, Angela Houghton, 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: Chaiman, Danny Grimes had been able to watch, officiate and take part in a wide range of matches in order to meet more players and teams. He remarked on the quality of quizzing and organisation. He has continued to post questions on a local community website and urged everyone to take whatever opportunities arise to promote the MQL. Danny reported that he had met four times with Dept Chair, General Secretary and Derek Moody regarding Item 11 and our response.
5. General Secretary’s report: General Secretary, Brian Thompson had nothing else to report that wasn’t covered in item 9. He offered all our congratulations to Sarah Trevarthen of Ringers (Warrington QL) who had recently become the 2025 BBC Radio Four Counterpoint champion.
6. Treasurer’s report: Treasurer, Dag Griffiths, reported that the MQL Buzzer Tournament had made a profit of about £100 this year. S&F and Ormskirk had waived their claims for expenses for set preparation but noted that the other Areas had yet to claim. He reminded the meeting that this was the last year where these expenses would be paid by MQL. He said that the finances were in a healthier state than last year even with an envelope order pending. A suggestion to lower the £30 fees was rejected after discussion.
7. Assistant General Secretary’s report: Assistant General Secretary, Cliff Houghton was absent. Co-question Distributor Frances Mason reported that there had been no major problems with distribution. She warned that she and Cliff are already posting out sets 10 to 14 days ahead of the play date and with Royal Mail’s continued reduction in services it is becoming increasingly difficult to guarantee arrival of sets. The use of first-class delivery was not financially viable, and the problems were making EQD look more and more the only way forward.
8. Area reports:
Liverpool
Liverpool Secretary, Paul Davitt, reported that Cricketers had won the Liverpool Div 1 with Kluggers as runners up. CTK Wanderers had won Div 2 with Leyfield Crown as runners up. The season had ended with an inaugural handicap KO competition that had been won by Cricketers and the Plate by Tramway. Moving the Area Mimir Heats to Monday had been successful with a 50% higher turnout. He also commented that of the 24 Liverpool teams there was now an even split in those willing to move to EQD. The Liverpool QL had held a successful Charity Table Quiz with over 100 people attending. The Riley Cup competition starts on 7 April but sadly with only 28 of the possible 42 teams taking part.
Ormskirk
Ormskirk Secretary, David Hodgson, reported that Newburgh Lions had won the Ormskirk league, doing so for the first time. The League had also completed its Handicap Cup and Plate. The Presentation Evening featuring the Ormskirk Pairs competition would be held on 7 April at a new venue.
Southport and Formby
S&F Secretary, Dag Griffiths, reported the sad news of the very sudden death of Steve Wilson of Aardvark Zetland. The team were understandably shocked and had withdrawn from the Handicap Cup. Wings had won the Don Standing Cup with Ex-Pats winning The Maurice Jeffries Plate. The latter was most welcomed as a new name on the trophy. Dag also reported that the S&F website would be remodelled in the coming months ready for next season. This work was being done by a member of the S&FQL.
Warrington
Warrington Secretary, Derek Moody, reported that Ringers had won Div 1 with WSC Woodworms and runners up. Grappenhall Gadlings had beaten Nematodes to the Div 2 title. 19 players had taken part in the Warrington heats of the Mimir competition, John Hall had won with Derek himself winning the Plate. Presentation Evening was on 29 April. Derek feared that Warrington QL may well lose a team at the end of this season with some doubts about two other teams.
Wirral
Wirral Secretary, Jim Eccleson, reported that their Division 1 had been won by Oxton with Zelma the Giant Hoe as runners up. Div 2 was won by Wallaseyans with Legionnaires in second place. Their handicap KO, the Absent Friends Trophy, reaches the SF and Final at Lever Club tomorrow evening at 8pm. He noted the appreciation of the Wirral QL to Kris Jones who is no longer living in the area but who writes all the questions for this competition. Jim too reported an increased turnout for the Mimir due it having moved to a Monday evening.
9. Competitions
• President’s Trophy and Shield
Ormskirk had won both the Trophy and the Shield.
• MCC
In the end, only ten teams remained in the competition at the end of the group stage. Eight of these played quarter finals and the four winners, the semifinals. Congratulations to Ringers and Cricketers who will contest the Final in May. Aigburth People and Aardvarks find themselves in the Plate final having won no games at all. It was decided that the Plate Final is not held on the Presentation evening but on a date agreed by the two teams.
• Feeny and Rendon Cups
Eight teams entered the Feeny Cup, and we drew for QF to be played in the period 31 March to 13 April at teams’ convenience. These have been scheduled although one team have had to withdraw resulting in a bye.
Five teams entered the Rendon Cup and a QF, SFs and the Final will be played on the same night on 14 April at APH in Liverpool. Thanks to Liverpool, S&F and Wirral for providing the three sets needed. (We have a reserve set if required)
It was noted that even after trying a number of different things, interest in these MQL team competitions is at its lowest ever. The main problem is that nine sets of questions (six of them with ten rounds) are required for the use of only seventeen different teams. Some decisions need to be made about the future of these competitions.
• Mimir
Thanks to all Areas for organising their local Mimir Heats. Thanks to Wirral QL and New Brighton CC for hosting the Merseyside heats. It was suggested that a donation be made to NBCC in appreciation of the fact that they are now the only venue capable of hosting this event. Congratulations to Jim Eccleson, Pat Gibson, John Hall and Ray Oakes who will contest the final in May.
• Buzzer Tournament
25 teams from all over the UK took part this year in the 6th Jubilee Buzzer Tournament held in Hoylake on Saturday 15 February. A team of 8 writers composed over one thousand questions and a team of 14 read and scored on the day. The winners were a team called The Jeneva Convention and the Plate was won by Warrington Vikings (Sarah Trevarthen Colin Foster Alan Gibbs Jamie Hall and Derek Moody). Derbyshire won the Bowl.
Thanks to Tournament Organiser, Jon Stitcher and Question Coordinator and Editor, Dan Lawson for their enormous hard work in bringing the event together.
Dag bemoaned the fact that only three regular members of the MQL write questions and more help would be appreciated on the day with reading and scoring. Colin Foster announced that he was certain that most teams attending were not aware that the Tournament was an MQL event. Brian apologised that he had been remiss in not having put up the results on the website yet and said that he would take on the comments to the next Tournament.
10. Disciplinary Procedure:
An incident during a match in December prompted the Warrington QL to ask that a disciplinary procedure be made available so that individual leagues had recourse to further adjudication on matters that they were unable to resolve themselves. This was composed and presented at the December Council meeting and appeared in the Minutes of that meeting. Brian requested that this now be accepted and put forward as a proposition the forthcoming AGM. This request was turned down by the meeting on the grounds that Areas wished to consult with their teams. Some questioned the need for such a procedure. Brian was to recirculate the proposal to Area secretaries.
11. Comments Causing Offence and Distress:
The Employment Rights Bill is currently making its way through Parliament. One of its stipulations will be the requirement for employers to protect employees from comments that cause offence or distress. This was brought to the attention of the Chairman, Deputy Chairman and General Secretary by Derek Moody. Derek made a presentation to the meeting explaining what this could mean for organisations such as the MQL.
There was a great deal to take in and members of the Council asked for time to consider the information they had received. It was suggested that an extra meeting be called, but it was decided that the scheduled June Council Meeting was soon enough. Derek was to supply a copy of his PowerPoint and the transcript of his presentation.
12. Clarification on the meaning and scope of an amendment in an AGM: As the meeting reached its 9:00 PM time guillotine this item was not discussed. As it was really included for information because it refers to the conduct of the AGM, Brian will recirculate it ahead of that meeting.
13. AOB:
There was no time for any other business.
The meeting closed at 9.00pm
Next Council meeting: Sunday 22 June 2025 at 7.30pm online
minutes of most recent AGM
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Merseyside Quiz Leagues held online on Sunday 13th April 2025 (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, Roy Smith 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 Dave Cotson Nick Mills
Southport & Formby Ian Wainwright Steve Wilson David Wright
Warrington Dave Goosey Brian Repton Liz Smith
Wirral Mike Dunn
He began by congratulating Alan Gibbs of Ringers who reached the 2024 BBC Radio Four’s Brain of Britain Final and of course to Sarah Trevarthen also of Ringers, who recently became 2025 Counterpoint champion.
He then reported that he had attended and officiated in various knockout competitions, officiated at the Buzzer Tournament and played in President's Shield matches. He had participated in numerous policy development sessions, specifically on Disciplinary Action and on the Employment Rights Bill, both of which will need re-visiting in the future.
In the absence of an official Publicity Officer, Danny had initiated a few ideas in order to boost the profile of the MQL. These included the use of Community Noticeboards and Community Social Media in his neighbourhood in South Liverpool and a successful revival of an annual Charity Table Quiz which raised £900. He reiterated his comments made previously that good publicity is important if we are to maintain the MQL and that all positive ideas for recruitment and retention would be welcomed. He urged members of all constituent leagues to do whatever they could to encourage participation in team quizzing. He added that we may be of interest to other organisations such as WI, Probus and U3A. We would be happy to present a quiz and explain how the Leagues work to any such groups should anyone have links with them. Danny finished by thanking all officers and members of the Council for their commitment and hard work throughout the season.
5. General Secretary’s Report. General Secretary, Brian Thompson, reported that since last year’s AGM we completed the 2024 Feeny and Rendon Cup Competitions. The finals night was held at Aigburth Peoples Hall in Liverpool where Turks Head Saints defeated Exiles to win the Rendon in a very close final. Ringers defeated Cricketers to win the Feeny Cup. In May, the 2024 Finals and Presentation Evening was held in the pleasant surroundings of Winmarleigh House in Warrington. Aigburth People narrowly defeated Fisherman’s Rest to retain the MCC Plate. There was a new name on the Mimir Trophy for the first time in twelve years as Colin Foster overcame Angela Doyle, John Wilson and holder Dag Griffiths to win the individual championship. In another close final Oxton defeated Ringers to win the Challenge Cup trophy for the second time in their history. Thanks to the Derek Moody and the Warrington League for hosting the event.
As we moved into the 2024-25 season a number of Leagues had sadly lost teams and we started in September with 81 teams. A few weeks in we held the fifth Jubilee Pairs Competition, hosted once again at the Prescot Cables FC Club. 30 players took part with Dag Griffiths (S&F) & Lee Whitehead (Orm) winning a very closely contested Final with Graham Barker (Liv) & Alan Thompson (Orm) and Angela Doyle (Liv) & David Hodgson (Orm). The Plate was won by Bill Gerard for a second successive year, this time partnered by Tony Gannon. Thank you to Ormskirk and Mike Flaherty for organising the venue.
Once again, the Challenge Cup suffered from lack of support. There were initially 12 entrants, but 2 withdrawals after the first set of matches meant a reorganisation of the remaining 10 teams. That put 8 teams into the Cup and 2 in the Plate and so it is uncertain if the Plate will be awarded this season. The Final will be between Ringers and Cricketers. Again, many thanks to Bill Thomas for his administration and although he will be stepping down next season, it does mean that his team will be joining the MCC!
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
The 6th Jubilee Buzzer Tournament took place at the Parade Hoylake in February and once again attracted twenty-five teams from all over the country including five from Merseyside. Many thanks to members of the MQL who read and scored on the day. The winners were a team called The Jeneva Convention and the Plate was won by Warrington Vikings (Sarah Trevarthen Colin Foster Alan Gibbs Jamie Hall and Derek Moody) with Derbyshire winning the Bowl. Thanks to Tournament Organiser, Jon Stitcher and Question Coordinator and Editor, Dan Lawson for their enormous hard work in bringing the event together. Brian reiterated Dag’s comments at the last Council Meeting that as each year goes by there is less and less involvement of MQL in the writing of questions for this Tournament, the 8-person question writing team now comprises only three regular MQL players. More involvement would be very welcome, please get in touch if you can help.
The 2024-25 season’s two President’s competitions were both won by Ormskirk. They won the Trophy by a comfortable margin, but the Shield went down to a very close finish with the outcomes not being resolved until the last set of matches. The Trophy continued online while the Shield was played face to face. Again, thanks to Dag for providing half the Shield sets and for running the Trophy competition.
The 2025 Merseyside Heats of the Mimir competition were held at New Brighton Cricket Club where we were made most welcome as usual. Thanks again to Jim Eccleson and to Rod Watkins for their organisation. In a close competition on the night Jim Eccleson, Pat Gibson, John Hall and Ray Oakes reached the Final that will be played next month.
In an attempt to attract more participation, the 2025 Feeny and Rendon Cup Competitions have been conducted allowing some flexibility in when the matches could be played. This was sadly to no avail as only 7 teams took part in the Feeny and 5 in the Rendon. The Feeny SF are being played tomorrow and the Final at the Presentation Evening. The Rendon Cup will be played to a conclusion tomorrow at Aigburth Peoples Hall.
The 2025 Finals and Presentation Evening will be held on 14th May at the Formby Cricket Club. Many thanks to S&F and Bill Morris for arranging this for us.
Away from Merseyside, MQL were only able to field a partial team in the Don Bissett Cup at the QLL Open Festival last June and were defeated in the opening round. All being well we will be providing a full team for this year’s event on 21 June. In September, Pat Gibson once again retained his title as British Quizzing Champion and finished fifth out of nearly 1900 players in the World Quizzing Championships last June. Recently Pat also won the Ormskirk Mimir for the 11th time!
As Danny mentioned, a small group met to formulate the structure of a Disciplinary Panel. This is currently being considered by the five Leagues. It will then hopefully be adopted and be in place should it ever be needed to support the individual Leagues. Again, as previously mentioned, also under consideration is the Leagues’ response to the proposed Employment Rights Bill which is working its way through Parliament. Should this Bill be ratified, the MQL would not be directly subject to its Regulations, however it is important that we can show to the management and to those with control of our venues that as far as they are concerned Quiz Leaguing is a low-risk activity and that we are a responsible and considerate organisation.
Both of these matters are being brought to the next Council Meeting in June.
As usual I would like to thank fellow officers and council members for their work and support and in particular to Dag Griffiths who has now been MQL Treasurer for 30 years.
6. Treasurer’s Report. Treasurer, Dag Griffiths, presented the balance sheet and pointed out this was the last year that MQL would be paying for sets to be typed, these costs would in future be borne by the individual Leagues. One or two claims had yet to be made, and these would be included in next year’s account. The Buzzer Tournament made a profit of about £112 which countered the loss of £45 the previous year. No charge was made for the use of New Brighton CC for which we were grateful. A major order of envelopes was about to be made and so Dag asked Secretaries to let him know their requirements. The balance of the account being healthy, Dag proposed no change to the £30 annual subscription. This was seconded by Brian Thompson and carried nem com.
Auditors (appointed): 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 seconded and carried nem con.
The three-year terms of 7 of the current Vice Presidents needed renewing. Namely
Brian Cunningham Peter Deakin Dag Griffiths Cliff Houghton
Ray Oakes Bill Thomas John Wilson
Danny proposed that they all be reappointed. This was seconded by Paul Davitt and carried nem com.
Therefore, the current (April 2025) 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.
There were no further proposals
The date for the 2026 AGM is Sunday 12th April.
The Chairman thanked everyone for their attendance. The meeting closed at 7.54pm
For consideration, the dates for the four required Council Meetings for the 2025-26 season are:
Sunday 07 September 2025
Sunday 07 December 2025
Sunday 15 March 2026 (suggested change to put four weeks between it and the AGM)
Sunday 28 June 2026