MQL MEETINGS 2025-2026
COUNCIL
Sun 6th September 2026 (online)
Sun 6th December 2026 (online)
Sun 14th March 2027 (online)
Sun 20th June 2027 (online)
AGM
Sun 11th April 2027 (online)
All online meetings commence at 7.30 pm
AGENDA of most RECENT MEETING
Agenda for the Council meeting of the Merseyside Quiz Leagues to be held online on Sunday 6th September 2026 at 7.30pm
1 Apologies
2 Minutes of the last Meeting
3 Matters Arising
4 Chair’s Report
5 General Secretary’s Report
6 Treasurer’s Report
7 Assistant General Secretary’s Report
8 Area Reports
9 Competitions
MCC
Pairs
10 Insurance
11 Any Other Business
minutes of most recent COUNCIL MEETING
Minutes of the Council meeting of the Merseyside Quiz Leagues held online on Sunday 28th June 2026 at 7.30pm
1. In Attendance: Bill Morris, Bill Thomas, Angela Doyle, Frances Mason, Colin Foster, Derek Moody, David Hodgson, Roy Smith, Paul Davitt, Dag Griffiths and Brian Thompson.
Apologies: Jim Eccleson, Steve Lomas, Pam Baker, Jon Stitcher, Cliff Houghton and Danny Grimes
2. Minutes of previous meeting: These were accepted as a true record of the meeting.
3. Matters Arising: There were no matters arising
4. Chair’s report: Chair, Frances Mason, thanked the organisers of the Presentation Evening, Alan Thompson, David Hodgson and the Ormskirk QL
5. General Secretary’s report: General Secretary, Brian Thompson, reported that since our last Council Meeting, we had our AGM at which Frances replaced Danny as Chair and Dag succeeded Jim as President. All the MQL competitions were completed and the Finals of the Mimir and the Feeny Cup were held at the Presentation Evening in May in the pleasant surroundings of the Stanley Arms in Aughton. At this event the Leagues were pleased to make a small presentation to Cliff Houghton to mark over 40 years of ongoing service to the MQL that included a year as Chair, 10 years as Deputy Chair, 11 years as Assistant General Secretary and 15 years as General Secretary. He has also been the co-question distributor for over 10 years.
In the rotation it would be Wirral’s turn to host the Finals and Presentation Evening in 2027, although as they are kind enough to be able to provide the only suitable venue for the Mimir Heats, it would be reasonable to let them off this should they wish to defer. In which case it would be Liverpool’s turn. Wirral would be consulted.
Merseyside entered a team into the QLL’s inaugural National Team Quiz Championship. This was played for the Don Bissett Trophy. Although 16 teams took part only 5 or 6 represented Leagues or areas of the country, the rest being scratch teams mostly made up of QLL players. Merseyside players Pat Gibson, Cliff Houghton, Neil Macaskil, Derek Moody and Brian Thompson took part but were unsuccessful, winning just one of their three matches. The competition was won by London. However, Pat Gibson had success in winning the Individual Rally Quiz ahead of many of the country’s top quizzers.
6. Treasurer’s report: Treasurer, Dag Griffiths, reported that expenses for the Presentation Evening had been paid and that he had received subs from Ormskirk.
7. Assistant General Secretary’s report: Assistant General Secretary, Cliff Houghton, was not present.
8. Area reports:
Liverpool
Liverpool Secretary, Paul Davitt, reported that the end of season handicap had been won by CTK Cavaliers and the Plate, for the second year, by Tramway. The Riley Cup had been won by Bishop Eton who beat CTK Wanderers in the Final. At the Presentation and Finals Evening the Mimir had been won by Brian Thompson and the Pairs by John Davies and Jim Eccleson. Paul said that there was to be a new team bringing the number in 2026-27 to 25. The handbook preparation was in progress.
Ormskirk
Ormskirk Secretary, David Hodgson, reported the death of a long-standing player Sue Perks of Delph Tavern. All 12 teams had registered and paid for the new season.
Southport and Formby
S&F Secretary, Dag Griffiths, reported that the Semifinals and Final of the KO had been played at the Presentation Evening. It was won by MPs who had also secured the Div 2 title. The Pairs had been won by Neil Williams and Nick Philpott. Formby Sports and Casablanca had amalgamated so the number of teams for next season would be 13. They will start with one division and then split into two after having played each other once. Promises of work on the S&F website had fallen through and so a commercial web designer would have to be sought.
Warrington
Warrington Secretary, Derek Moody, reported that the Semifinals and Final of the KO had been played at the Presentation Evening. It was won by Ringers and the Plate by Bulls Head. Two teams have withdrawn leaving Warrington with just 10 teams for next season. The teams will play home and away before splitting into two divisions.
Wirral
Wirral Secretary, Jim Eccleson, was absent but had sent the following report. In April, our Wirral only handicap tournament, the Absent Friends Trophy, saw the final being contested at the Lever Club where Holy Joes beat Aardvarks.
At the same venue, the Riley Cup’s later stages took place in May. 4 Liverpool teams took part with Bishop Eton beating CTK Wanderers in a closely fought 9 round final. Thanks go to Jon Stitcher for running the competition this year and to Lever Club for hosting the finals night.
I can now confirm that we have received an application form and payment for a new Wirral team, the Black Horse, Heswall. Assuming all other teams register, this will mean 18 teams in the Wirral League.
Jim is also sad to report the death of Joyce Maycox of Plasterers, who was the oldest player in the Wirral League. She suffered a stroke and passed away yesterday. Only recently she played on a team with Morgan Bush and they noted a 67-year difference in their ages! Our thoughts are with her and her family.
At tonight’s Wirral AGM, a motion is being proposed that for the coming season a “hybrid” question distribution system will be adopted with teams being able to opt for EQD or postal methods. Thanks go to Cliff and Frances who have both agreed to administer the new system if the proposal is adopted.
9. Competitions
2025-26
Of the MQL tournaments, the Mimir and the two President’s competitions ran as normal or at least as they have done in recent seasons. With further reduction in teams, there is to be a discussion (with the team secretaries) about player eligibility for President’s Shield ensuring that this competition continues and is fair for all.
MCC was played by 10 teams (3 Liv, 1 Orm, 2 S&F, 1 War and 3 Wir) using a Swiss Tournament method.
5 rounds of 5 matches were played with 24/25 completed. Some teams were a little unhappy with the system and with the absence of a Final and a Plate.
Eight teams played in the Feeny Cup. It was a straight KO, three question sets were used. Dates of matches was made flexible in attempt to enable teams to take part however at least one team didn’t compete because of the lack of precise dates for the competition. The winners were Newburgh Lions.
Five teams played in the Rendon. It was a byed KO and the same three question sets were used as in the Feeny. The competition was played at a single venue on one evening. The winners were Rugby Hounds.
Warrington and S&F were excused F&R set writing duties.
2026-27
MCC it was suggested that regular participants in the MCC be canvassed for their opinion on the structure of the competition. This structure should be announced so that teams know what they are entering. Brian would do this.
A suggestion that for 2027-28 season gaps be left in Leagues Mon/Tue schedules to allow teams to take part in MQL competitions drew no response. There was an expression of regret that the MQL wide competitions were not being supported.
10. Insurance
This had not been followed up, and so Chair/Gen Sec would contact Danny Grimes and circulate information to Council.
11. EQD
Council has offered teams a period of a couple of seasons to try out EQD in order to hopefully help them make a move towards this method of distribution.
For season 2026-27 the take up is as follows
Liverpool 10/25 teams (it is hoped more might try it during the season).
Ormskirk 0/12
S&F Teams were still be asked. 9/13 (figures received after the Meeting)
Warrington 10/10
Wirral 7/21 (figures received after the Meeting)
Appreciation was again expressed to distributors Cliff and Frances for their efforts in accommodating this.
12. Unanswered Questions
Ormskirk Secretary, David Hodgson, presented a spreadsheet of the unanswered questions in sets played in the Ormskirk League last season. A discussion followed
• More than 10 unanswered questions in a match are probably too many
• Unanswered questions are just one way of assessing how a set played
• Playing sets with too many unanswered questions will eventually cause teams to drop out of the League
• The ability to write a broad, balanced and answerable set is beyond the ability and willingness of the majority of teams, even though they have a year to do it
• No League sets out to produce a set that is deliberately too hard
• Sets with fewer unanswered questions are generally more enjoyable
• Warrington sets are prepared in order to avoid repeated questions
• Repeated questions are inevitable
With no real conclusions drawn, Leagues were advised that sets, if anything, should err towards the “easier” side of the range of difficulty.
13. AOB:
There were no items of AOB
The meeting closed at 8.30pm. The new Chair was congratulated on having chaired her first meeting.
Next Council meeting: Sunday 6th September 2026 at 7.30pm online
Note made following circulation of draft Minutes. With reference to Item 12. Please note that the aggregate scores of Warrington sets all lie within the range set in Guidance to the Writers of Question Sets.
minutes of most recent AGM
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Merseyside Quiz Leagues held online on Sunday 12th April 2026 (commencing at 7.30pm)
Attendees: Bill Morris, Cliff Houghton, Derek Moody, Bill Thomas, David Hodgson, Clive Leech, Dag Griffiths, Frances Mason, Jim Eccleson, Angela Houghton, Danny Grimes, Paul Davitt, Pam Baker, Roy Smith and Brian Thompson, representing thirteen teams and all five areas.
1. Apologies for absence. Angela Doyle, Steve Lomas, Colin Foster
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. Chair’s Report. Chair, 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 Malcolm Bowsted, Aidan ‘Danny’ Quinn
Ormskirk Colin Shaw, Colin Pickthall, Joe Keegan
Southport & Formby Mollie West
Warrington Glenys Hopkins, Tony Elbra, Sarah Trevarthan, Ken Barlow
He reported that he had chaired MQL Council meetings, attended and officiated in various competitions. He had participated the MQL Mimir competition and assisted in the running of the MQL Buzzer Quiz for which he created and organised name badges for the officials with the purpose of promoting the MQL. He had participated in numerous policy development sessions on the Employment Rights Bill.
Although, it has not been included in the AGM, he said that he had previously proposed the adoption of an insurance policy for the MQL, its officers and members, and trusted that the details will be circulated among the members for discussion at the next MQL council meeting.
The challenges facing the MQL remain the same as ever and include retaining and attracting players and teams and preserving venues. He urged everyone to do whatever they could, whenever they could to help in these matters.
As he stepped down as Chair, Danny paid tribute to the manner and organisation of the Leagues and the time and effort spent in making it the success that it is. He commented that although convenient, chairing meetings on Zoom is not always as straightforward as doing so face to face! He added that he hoped to be able to continue to serve the Leagues in whatever ways he could in the coming years. Danny thanked his fellow officials and Council members for their hard work and support over the past four years.
5. General Secretary’s Report. General Secretary, Brian Thompson, reported that since last year’s AGM we completed the 2025 Feeny and Rendon Competitions. 8 teams took part in the Feeny although one withdrew after the draw was made. The quarter and semifinals were played both face to face and online and Kluggers beat Wings in the Final played at the Presentation Evening in May. The Rendon Cup attracted five teams and the whole competition was played to a conclusion in one evening at Aigburth Peoples Hall where Turks Head Saints beat CTK Wanderers. In a playoff for the Merseyside Challenge Plate, Aigburth People beat Aardvarks to retain the trophy.
The Finals and Presentation Evening was held in the pleasant surroundings of Formby Cricket Club. Appropriately, Cricketers beat Ringers in a very close match to win the Challenge Cup and Pat Gibson convincingly won his eighth Mimir title beating Jim Eccleson, Ray Oakes and John Hall in the Final. Thanks again to Bill Morris and the S&F League for providing and arranging the venue.
Unusually, an extra Council Meeting took place in August, to discuss responses to the Employment Rights Bill.
September saw the number of teams in the MQL drop below eighty for the first time with 79 teams starting the 2025-26 season, two teams down on the previous year. The Liverpool League had 24 teams, Ormskirk 12, Southport and Formby 14, Warrington 12 and Wirral 17.
Time spent working on the Employment Rights Bill meant that the sixth Jubilee Pairs Competition, scheduled for September, was postponed until January. It was held at the Burtonwood Community Centre where a total of 26 players took part. The winners were Joan Peacock and Graham Barker of Liverpool QL, who defeated Roy Smith (War) and Rob Cruise (Liv) and Karen Leahy (Liv) and Neil Wright (Wir) in the Final. David Smith (War) and Sam Roberts (Wir) were the winners of the Plate.
The Merseyside Challenge Cup this year attracted only ten teams, and it was decided to run it using a Swiss Tournament method. The competition remained online and produced a very close finish that saw Ringers as the eventual winners.
It was noted that including the 2026 Feeny and Rendon Cups, only 19 different teams took part in the MCC, Feeny and Rendon competitions.
This season’s two President’s competitions were both won by Liverpool. Liverpool 2A won the Shield by a comfortable margin, but the Trophy 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 Presidential Challenge was not played.
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 hopefully continue on our path towards electronic distribution.
The 7th 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 representing Yorkshire and the Plate was won by a team called Misfits who defeated the holders Warrington Vikings (Alan Gibbs, Jamie Hall, Derek Moody, Colin Foster, Katie Stoyle and Oli Hanson). A team from the Derbyshire QL retained the Bowl. Thanks to Tournament Organiser, Jon Stitcher and Question Coordinator and Editor, Dan Lawson for their enormous amount of hard work in bringing the event together. The event drew many compliments from participants and a comment was made that although it was not set up as a promotion of the MQL, we have perhaps not utilised the event’s potential to do so. However, with a possible further reduction of input from MQL, the future status of the tournament will need to be considered.
The Merseyside Heats of the 2026 Mimir competition were held at New Brighton Cricket Club where, as usual, we were made most welcome. Thanks again to Jim Eccleson and to Rod Watkins for their organisation. In a close competition on the night Jim Eccleson, Pat Gibson, Angela Doyle and Alan Gibbs have reached the Final that will be played next month.
The Feeny and Rendon Cup Competitions have once again been conducted allowing some flexibility in when the matches could be played. 8 teams are taking part in the Feeny and 5 in the Rendon. The Feeny QFs are being played in the next week, followed by the SFs in May and the Final at the Presentation Evening. The Rendon will be played to a conclusion on 6 May at Aigburth Peoples Hall.
The Finals and Presentation Evening will be held on 20 May at the Stanley Arms in Aughton. Many thanks to David Hodgson and the Ormskirk League for arranging this for us.
Away from Merseyside, MQL fielded two teams in the Don Bissett Cup at the QLL Open Festival last June but were both defeated in the opening round. The team of Dag Griffiths, Jim Eccleson, Pat Gibson and the late Sarah Trevarthen went on to win the Plate competition. All being well we will be providing a team in a revamped competition at this year’s event on 13 June.
In September, Pat Gibson once again retained his title as British Quizzing Champion and finished seventh out of nearly 1900 players in the World Quizzing Championships last June. Recently Pat won the Ormskirk Mimir for the 11th time!
As usual I would like to thank fellow officers and council members for their hard work and support, and in particular Danny as he steps down as Chair tonight.
Finally, I would echo Danny’s comments about taking every opportunity to promote the Leagues. Also, I would repeat what I have said before about supporting and spending money in our venues. I know fewer people drink alcohol than in previous times, but soft and non-alcoholic drinks are available. I think that asking for a glass of tap water or even taking your own bottled water is not in the right spirit. With many venues now becoming eateries and closing when the last diner leaves, Leagues are reminded that the option to begin matches as early as 8pm is available under MQL Rule 21. Without our venues we have no quiz league.
6. Treasurer’s Report. Treasurer, Dag Griffiths, presented the balance sheet and pointed out that the Buzzer Tournament made a loss this year. Over the seven tournaments since 2018 the loss was about £30. No charge was made for the use of Burtonwood Community Centre and £50 for New Brighton CC. A new printer was purchased for Frances; her previous one having given good service for several years. 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.
A copy of the balance sheet is attached.
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 this season. He added that additional cost of postage and reduction in the second-class mail service would increase the need to consider EQD seriously in the near future. He thanked fellow distributor Frances Mason for her hard work.
8. Election of Officers. President, Jim Eccleson, took the chair for the election of the officers.
One nomination for Chair had been received, Frances Mason was proposed by Paul Davitt and seconded by Dag Griffiths. Frances was duly elected nem con. All other officers had expressed a wish to continue in their roles and with no other nominations having been received each in turn was elected nem con.
Frances was having difficulties with her Zoom connection and so the chair was taken by Cliff Houghton
The three-year terms of the current Vice Presidents needed renewing. Namely
Jim McGrath Angela Houghton Angela Doyle
Brian Thompson proposed that they be reappointed. This was seconded by Paul Davitt and carried nem com.
Therefore, the current (April 2026) Council comprises the following Elected and Ex Officio members:
Chair: Frances Mason
Deputy Chair: Cliff Houghton
General Secretary: Brian Thompson
Treasurer: Dag Griffiths
Assistant General Secretary: Cliff Houghton
Ex officio members are:
President: Dag Griffiths
Question Distributor: Cliff Houghton
Question Distributor: Frances Mason
The Council has 24 voting members (although currently reduced to 19 due to persons being unable to vote twice)
9. Proposals. Four proposals had been received
a)
A proposal that Dag Griffiths be appointed as the next MQL President has been received from Ormskirk Secretary, David Hodgson and seconded by Wirral Secretary, Jim Eccleson.
Carried nem con.
b)
A proposal that outgoing President Jim Eccleson be appointed as a Vice President of the MQL has been received from General Secretary, Brian Thompson and seconded by Liverpool Secretary, Paul Davitt.
Carried nem con.
c)
At the meeting on 10 August 2025, MQL Council agreed to the following amendments and additions to the Rules. The proposal is therefore that these amendments and additions to the Rules be adopted and is made by Chairman, Danny Grimes and seconded by General Secretary, Brian Thompson on behalf of the Council.
Rule 2 should be changed from
2. MQL operates a non-discriminatory policy with respect to age, gender, disability, race or nationality, ethnic origin, creed, colour, social status and sexual orientation.
to
2. MQL operates a non-discriminatory policy. This applies to all people attending MQL sanctioned events. MQL has the right to impose appropriate sanctions on teams or individuals who contravene this rule.
Rule 50 should be changed from
50. 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.
to
50. Any item published by the MQL must not contain material capable of causing offence or embarrassment. This includes Question Sets and the making of statements in any media outlets concerning teams, individual members of the MQL or any persons associated with venues used by the MQL. 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 was agreed that the following Rules should be added.
Ccc Conduct. While the MQL cannot take responsibility for the conduct of persons involved at any MQL event, it has definite expectations that those persons behave in an appropriate and considerate manner and comply with the rules and regulations of the venue.
Ccc In preparing a set for use in the MQL, it is the responsibility of a League to endeavour to ensure that the content of any question or answer is factual in nature and is not capable of causing offence or embarrassment to any member of the Leagues or any member of the public who may hear the question.
It is proposed that these two new Rules be added as Rules 51 and 52 with the existing Rules 51 to 59 becoming Rules 53 to 61.
All carried nem con.
d)
A proposal has been received from the Warrington council that the MQL should adopt EQD (Electronic Question Distribution) for the next season. The proposal was made by Paul Coffey (Dr’s Orders) and seconded by Cliff Houghton (Yarboroughs).
It was questioned whether this was in fact a matter for AGM discussion and if it was, should the proposer be present? The Warrington League took responsibility and were willing to withdraw the proposal.
It has been pointed out to me that as proposal d was withdrawn, then that should have been the end of AGM business. This procedure was not followed and has been noted. However, the proposal did instigate a lengthy discussion, the content of which was meaningful. After consulting with the Chair, the record of this discussion is included in the Minutes.
• It seemed that we accepted that the introduction of EQD was inevitable.
• Problems with second class mail including costs, reliability and its actual future were all commented upon.
• There seemed to be agreement that each individual League should be encouraging their teams and trying to win over those who are sceptical. This needed to be done in a supportive way and over the course of a perhaps a couple of seasons.
• Solutions needed to be found for those teams unable to provide or use the technology required.
• Using their experience, Warrington could help other Leagues. They also suggested that it be made known that, in the meantime, EQD was available as a backup should there be an instance of postal problems.
• It was suggested that the MQL issue a statement of intent about the move EQD that would give teams plenty of notice about what is going on.
• It was also suggested that a ‘crib’ sheet be developed covering FAQs, common technical issues and some user-friendly instructions on how EQD works.
• There seemed no objection to there being a reduction in fees from Season 2027-28 to teams adopting EQD.
The date for the 2027 AGM is Sunday 11th April. The Deputy Chair thanked everyone for their attendance. The meeting closed at 8.25pm
For consideration, the dates for the four required Council Meetings for the 2026-27 season are:
Sunday 06 September 2026 Sunday 06 December 2026
Sunday 14 March 2027 Sunday 27 June 2027