Gone but not forgotten

Martin Saul - Martin played for several teams in the FTQL, starting with the Pontefract Bowling Club in 1993 and played 25 of the 27 seasons of the FTQL's existence. He made 402 league appearances, rising to second place in the all-time appearance-makers' list, only two behind the leader Steve Scott. Martin was one of the most committed and competitive quizzers I have met, was a stalwart of the Five Towns Quiz League and was one of the characters that make this social organisation what it is.

Martin had some very forthright opinions, some of which on occasion I found myself on the end of, but I know that this is because he cared. He cared about quizzing and the competitive nature of the game and how to preserve and develop the league and I have to say that that's good enough for me. His departure just after the conclusion of the league programme in 2018 was most unexpected and he will be remembered.

Martin was doing what he loved two days before he was admitted to Pinderfields Hospital. As part of the Belle Vue team in the Wakefield and Ossett Quiz League he helped them lift the Open Cup with a sharp and incisive display. Some people have observed that if he could have chosen a time to leave us, his departure came at the perfect time for him -after he had played a crucial role in a quiz league fixture. All who knew him appreciated how much he enjoyed the cut and thrust of a demanding challenge. Wherever he played he hardly missed a game, was usually the first one there, and always seemed to come up with that quiz expert's answer to some demanding question or unusual snippet of factual information.

Martin had been in hospital twelve weeks earlier with a heart problem. It was indicative of him that after the fitting of the stent he was discharged on Saturday and at the Featherstone Hotel on Monday for the Phoenix game against RAFA Bombers; a crucial relegation battle which he helped Phoenix win. This time the stroke that took him in to Intensive Care was more serious, and it was followed by two more equally devastating attacks as he battled to recover. He was not able to rally and died on the ward on Friday 20^th April aged 66 years. The Quiz League members' thoughts are with Lynn his wife, and two children.

Simon Curtis points out that Martin had been a stalwart and lynchpin of the Five Towns League since shortly after the league's inception. He was one of the longest serving players, had known most of the quizzing fraternity over the last 30 years and was always the pulse and heartbeat of the team he played for. This season at Phoenix he has certainly been the MVP. If he was knotty or occasionally feisty it stemmed from his desire to win and do well, particularly against those outstanding players and fantastic sides. Rest in peace, Martin.