Quiz Liverpool

We are sad to announce the death of John Fennell of Christ the King. 

In the early 1970’s John with his brother Jim and two friends started playing in an internal quiz team competition at Christ the King Club. This prompted them to join the MQL as Christ the King.  We think that this may have been in 1972 or 1973, as our records on file show that by the 1974-75 season there were two teams, CTK A in Liverpool East and CTK B in Liverpool West.   The Liverpool League took its current form in 1977. 

By the 1980s, as interest in quizzing grew, there were four CTK teams in the Liverpool League and John’s team had become CTK Ikthos.   During this time, he also organised various internal quizzes at the Club, including a popular ‘Mastermind’ competition.  When the CTK Ikthos team folded after the 2001-02 season, John joined Wanderers for a number of years and he also played for the Liverpool President’s Shield teams.   John had to give up quizzing for a time, but happily returned and was playing for CTK Cavaliers when the League was suspended due to the pandemic. 

For several years John was also responsible for organising a Summer League for Liverpool teams and certainly in one of those years he wrote all the questions himself.  Not an easy feat!   His only regret was that it meant he could not play! 

John died of cancer on 6th April 2021.

May he Rest in Peace.

We are very sad to announce that former MQL player, Janet Barker died suddenly on 26th February.  Janet started playing in 1960’s with Kirkdale Royals of North Liverpool League and played in the Liverpool and Merseyside Leagues until 2002. 
She became a member of the Liverpool Quiz League Council from season 1982-3, Public Relations Officer from 1985-6 season until the role was abolished 1988-9 and she returned to being just a council member.  From 1993 to1998 she was Liverpool Quiz League Chairman.
A leading player in the Poste House / Excelsior team that dominated the Liverpool League in the 80s and 90s also winning the Merseyside Challenge Cup 8 times and the Feeny Cup 15 times.  In that period Janet was also part of the Liverpool team that won the President’s Trophy on 8 occasions.  She was a multiple Liverpool Mimir Champion, winning the Arthur Evans Shield 8 times, a feat so-far unrivalled and was Merseyside Mimir Champion in both 1990 and in 1993.
Before becoming a professional setter Janet enjoyed success on TV in Ask the Family, Winner Takes All and Jeopardy.  She was a Mastermind semi-finalist and also appeared on Brain of Britain and Counterpoint.  Her friend, colleague and long-time team-mate Neville Cohen has written a fine tribute which you can read here.
Older members of the Leagues will remember Janet as an exceptional player and a formidable opponent. We offer her family and friends our sincere condolences. Her funeral took place at Springwood on 15 March. 

At the MQL Council meeting held last Sunday night it was agreed to hold an individual competition, on line in early 2021, in a similar format to the Mimir.

I have sent this message to team secretaries asking them to please pass it message on to the members of their team.

I've asked secretaries to pass names back to me by 31^st January 2021, however, feel free to contact me direct if you are interested in taking part.

If you have any questions or require further information, please get in touch.

Dear Liverpool Quiz League players,

Happy New Year to you all. As we are now in our Third Lockdown I trust that you are all well and keeping safe.

The second season of MQL Online will be starting a week on Monday, 18^th January 2021, and there is still an opportunity for players to take part.

Given that we are in our third lockdown and unable to venture out, except for very specific purposes, this is an opportunity to carry on quizzing from the comfort of your own home and join in the MQL Online competition.

Games are played on a Monday night starting at 8pm, they are conducted on Zoom, which can be used on a desktop computer, laptop, tablet or even on a smart phone. It costs nothing to use Zoom or to enter the competition.

If you would like to join in, please let me know as soon as possible and in any event by Thursday 14^th January 2021.

 

Paul Davitt

 

Details of the second season of MQL Online can be found on the MQL website at MQL Online - Merseyside Quiz Leagues

The first fixture will be played on 18th January.

It is my sad duty to inform you that John McCabe of J.C. and the Jets quiz team passed away a couple of days ago.

John will be sadly missed by the members of the team that he has been part of since the early 1970’s. They started as Alfred Hotel, moving to The Turk’s Head, followed by The Westfield Taverners and latterly became J C and the Jets.

Our thoughts go out to his family and friends at this sad time.

May he rest in peace,

Dear Liverpool Quiz League Players, As you are aware MQL has been monitoring Government guidelines in the hope that we would be able to start conventional face to face quizzing in January 2021, they agreed to make a decision at the November 2020 meeting. Council decided that all League quizzing for the ‪2020 2021‬ season should be cancelled and it was agreed that the following statement would be sent to all current Members of the Leagues; It is with regret that MQL announce the cancellation of the ‪2020-21‬ Leagues season. This was a unanimous decision made at Sunday’s meeting of the MQL Council. It means that there will be no face to face quizzing in the Liverpool, Ormskirk, Southport & Formby, Warrington or Wirral Leagues. Any question sets and membership fees that may have been submitted will be carried over to the ‪2021-22‬ season, which we hope will begin as normal in September. As you are aware, three online league competitions are currently being operated by Southport & Formby, Ormskirk and by MQL. If any teams or individuals would like to get involved with these, please contact your league Secretary. The President’s Trophy competition is being played online and it is hoped that the Merseyside Challenge Cup and possibly the Mimir Individual competitions may run in some form of online version in the Spring. The President’s Shield, Feeny Cup and Rendon Cup competitions will not take place. The decision to cancel was made very reluctantly after months of uncertainty. However we had reached the stage that even when circumstances may have allowed venues to open and host, there would be insufficient time to complete a league programme. We hope that all players and their families stay safe and look forward to meeting up again in September.

It is our sad duty to inform you that Jim Irvine of Bootle YMCA quiz team died on Saturday 7th November 2020.

Jim will be sadly missed by his friends in Bootle YMCA quiz team, members of the Liverpool Quiz League and former members of Northern Quiz League of which Jim was Treasurer for many years. 

Our thoughts go out to his family and friends at this sad time.

Graham Barker of The Cricketers appeared in the final of this year's Brain of Britain competition on BBC Radio 4.  You can hear how he got on by clicking below:

Following regular monthly meetings of the MQL Council it has been agreed that conditions permitting, the Leagues will recommence in January 2021. It is anticipated that this will be a shortened season and, as usual, individual Leagues will make their own arrangements and aim to finish in March / April. The President's Shield and the Merseyside Challenge Cup will also take place in this period but the latter may revert to a straight KO tournament for this season.

If the January start date is viable, then during the late autumn teams may be encouraged to play a friendly or two with each other in order to test out the arrangements in their venues. The MQL would aim to play its two outstanding 19-20 Finals and perhaps the 2020 Mimir at that time too. The teams involved in the President's Trophy have agreed to play online and so this competition will begin in September as usual.

The MQL Council will continue to meet regularly to review the situation and is confident that if and when it becomes possible to play, fixtures and distribution could be finalised and with the cooperation of teams, the Leagues' season could be underway within a month.

In the meantime after consulting with their teams about attitudes to the current situation, each Area has made the following provisions for quizzing this autumn.

Ormskirk and S&F will each run their own online league starting in early September (S&F is already running theirs).

Liverpool and Warrington will meet to agree on a possible joint online league which could also be open to Wirral teams.

Plans for Wirral teams will be announced following their AGM on 20 August.

All of these plans are of course subject to change as the situation regarding the pandemic evolves. The MQL repeats that the health and well-being of its players (and their families) is paramount in any decisions that are made.

 

Other dates

Wed 3 February / Thu 4 February                Area heats of 2021 Mimir

Sat 13 February                MQL 3rd Buzzer Tournament

Dates for President's Shield, President's Challenge and Presentation Evening are to be confirmed.