Merseyside Quiz Leagues

 

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MQL MEETINGS 2025-2026

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COUNCIL

Sun 10th August 2025 (online)

Sun 7th September 2025 (online)

Sun 7th December 2025 (online)

Sun 15th March 2026 (online) 

Sun 28th June 2025 (online)

AGM

Sun 12th April 2026 (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

Minutes of the Council meeting of the Merseyside Quiz Leagues held online on Sunday 7th September 2025 at 7.30pm

1.    In Attendance: were Bill Morris, Colin Foster, Derek Moody, David Hodgson, Danny Grimes, Roy Smith, Paul Davitt, Frances Mason, Pam Baker and Brian Thompson.

Apologies: Steve Lomas, Bill Thomas, Jim Eccleson, Angela Doyle, Dag Griffiths
 
2.    Minutes of previous meeting:  These were accepted as a true record of the meeting. 

3.    Matters Arising:  The Ormskirk Secretary, David Hodgson queried the meaning of the fourth point in item four, Once Royal Assent is given, a consultation period will be in place, and any interested party can ask to be involved in this.  It is at this point that IF we have our own policies, procedures and corresponding documentation in place we can have greatest effect.  Warrington Secretary, Derek Moody, explained that in this period interested parties may have an input into the creation of the regulations that will determine how the Act is applied.
David quoted Rule 1 The purpose of the Merseyside Quiz Leagues (MQL) is to organise league and other quiz-based competitions to be played in public premises on Merseyside and the immediate surrounding area.  In getting involved in the creation of regulations for a new Act of Parliament, he said that he thought that the MQL was operating outside of its remit.

The issue of voting rules having been possibly misapplied during the item on the Disciplinary Procedure at the 29 June meeting was raised.  This had been held over from the last meeting.  After discussion it was proposed that the outcome of the vote should stand.  This was carried (8 for, 1 against and 1 abs)*.  However, David suggested that a Rule should be added in order to direct members to the Policy should it ever be required.  Liverpool Secretary, Paul Davitt, supported this.  David was asked to bring a proposal to this effect to the December meeting.

4.    Chairman’s report: Chairman, Danny Grimes, spoke briefly about the late Sarah Trevarthen.  He also reported that he had met with Dept Chairman, Cliff Houghton, General Secretary, Brian Thompson, Derek Moody and Wirral Secretary, Jim Eccleson, to help compose the Consultation statement and questions to teams regarding the use of Friendly sets.

5.    General Secretary’s report:  Brian Thompson, thanked question distributors, Cliff Houghton and Frances Mason and League Secretaries for getting everything ready for the start of the new season.  He asked for a copy of League handbooks or a link to their online versions when available.  He had sent out the Set Writing Requirements for Competitions other than the League and hoped all was OK with that.  He asked League Secs to get the message to all teams to support our venues, spend some money while they were there and help keep them going.
Brian thanked Wirral for booking New Brighton CC for the MQL Heats of the Mimir in March.  There would be a £50 charge.  He noted that it was Ormskirk’s turn to host the Presentation Evening next May.  David would investigate the Stanley Arms in Aughton. 
A message from Jim reported that he’d enquired about Insurance cover and the most competitive received so far was (£123.00 annually) with liability Insurer, Markel.  It provides Public Liability cover of £5 million but more importantly Directors and Officers cover of £250 000.  The quotation covers the MQL and its Officers.  If individual leagues require cover, then they will have to have their own policy.  However, if all Leagues take out a policy with Markel then the premium would be £95 per area. He is waiting for another Insurer to get back with a quote.  When this information is received, all of this will be shared with Council for their consideration.

6.    Treasurer’s report: Treasurer, Dag Griffiths, was absent but had sent the accounts and a few comments.  There had been a significant increase in the cost of envelopes from two years ago when last purchased.  He noted that for the first time MQL has dropped below 80 teams (79).  He reminded the meeting that MQL no longer pay for typing of sets. He thanked MQL for making the presentation to mark 30 years of service as Treasurer. It was unexpected but very much appreciated.

7.    Assistant General Secretary’s report: Assistant General Secretary, Cliff Houghton, was absent.  Frances reported that all distribution was underway with sets being sent out almost two weeks before they were needed.  She repeated previous warnings that postal charges were continuing to rise, a switch to first-class delivery was far too expensive and second-class delivery was increasingly unreliable.  She urged for the reconsideration of electronic distribution.

8.    Area reports:
Liverpool
Liverpool Secretary, Paul Davitt, reported that they would follow the same structure as last season and would again have 24 teams.  He also said teams are already asking for postponements and anticipated that many others will struggle to field full sides.

Ormskirk
Ormskirk Secretary, David Hodgson, reported that the 12 teams will follow a similar structure to last year.  They had one entry for the MCC.

Southport and Formby
S&F Secretary, Dag Griffiths, was absent.  Bill Morris reported that there would be 14 teams in two divisions of 7.

Warrington
Warrington Secretary, Derek Moody, reported that the deaths of Glenys Hopkins (Six Pack) a long-standing member of the League and likewise Tony Elbra (Ex Men).  The latter’s passing had caused Ex Men to fold.  Derek had attended Sarah Trevathan’s funeral.  He reiterated that in the short time she had played in the League she had made a great impression as a quizzer and as a warm personality.
He reported that WQL had discussed and adopted policies and documentation to make them compliant with the forthcoming Employment Rights Bill.  Once the Bill receives Royal Assent, they would also to start approaching parent organisations of venues about the position of quiz leagues on their premises.  
Derek said they also have 12 teams in the coming season.

Wirral
Wirral Secretary, Jim Eccleson, was absent.  Pam Baker reported WQL will have 17 teams. Their Presentation and Pairs Evening is on 28 September and Wirral had entered one team for the Buzzer Tournament in February.

All areas echoed the problem of falling numbers and teams being unable to field full sides.

9.    Competitions
•    MCC and Plate
12 teams** will compete in a Swiss-system tournament.  This would initially entail five rounds of matches and then either a sixth round or a Final in May.  Use of the Plate is yet to be decided.  A decision will be made in December.  Brian thanked Bill Thomas for his years as Competition Secretary and asked if anyone would consider taking on the job or at least assisting Brian and Cliff.
•    Jubilee Pairs
Brian apologised that due to venue problems (the venue used for the past three years had quadrupled their charge) but mainly time constraints, the Jubilee Pairs scheduled for Wed 24 September 2025 has been postponed.  Wed 28 January 2026 was suggested as a provisional date and Brian asked for suggestions for a venue.  David commented that given more notice an alternative venue might have been found for the original date.
•    Jubilee Buzzer Tournament 
This is scheduled for Sat 21 February 2026.  20 teams have registered (5 MQL).  

Brian said that any help in writing question for the latter two competitions would be much appreciated.

10.    Employment Rights Bill:
Jim Eccleson asked that it be made known to Council that he had taken professional advice from an experienced Training Officer of a large Pub chain who advised that in her opinion there were no ramifications to the MQL of the forthcoming Employment Bill.  As she quoted “it’s main thrust is addressing zero-hour contracts, sexual harassment and exploitation in the workplace by Employers”.  This view was endorsed by the stewardess of Oxton Conservative Club, who took advice from her National Association. They both supported the enhanced MQL Rules and Policy measures to be posted online, as did he.

Recap:  At the meeting on 10th August, Council agreed to the proposed change to 2 rules and the addition of 2 rules.  They also agreed to adopt the Policy on Sensitivity and Discriminatory Behaviour and the rewording of the Guidance for the Writing of Question Sets.

When it came to applying these new rules and policies to existing sets, so that they could be used as friendlies there was disagreement.  What was decided was that we would prepare a consultation statement to be sent out to all teams to canvas their opinions.  The first version of this was composed after the meeting mentioned in the Chairman’s report.  This was circulated to the remaining League Secretaries for their comments.  There is now a second version that will be circulated to Area Secretaries and tonight’s attendees for their comments and suggestions.  Once finalised this would be sent to teams. 

It was conceded that the inclusion of a Friendly set in the envelopes for the first two weeks of the season should have had more explanation.  It was made clear by Danny and Brian that the use of the Friendly was entirely optional.

11.    AOB:
There was no AOB.

The meeting closed at 8.45pm

Next Council meeting:      Sunday 7 December 2025 at 7.30pm online 

* Voters
BM    BT    CF
DG    DH    DM
FM    PD    PB
RS        

** MCC Teams
Aardvarks
Aigburth People
Bishop Eton
Casablanca
Colly Wobblers
Cricketers
Exiles
Oxton
Ringers
St Francis of Assisi
Soapsuds
Wings
 

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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 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