Annual General Meeting

Five Towns Quiz League – AGM 2023 Minutes

Venue: The Carleton Grange Club

Meeting opened at 20:30

Committee Present: Simon Curtis, Ian Moore, Stuart Topps, Helen Topps

1. Attendees

There was representation from the following teams:

Featherstone Phoenix, Upton Bees, Carleton Grange, The Other Team, Robin Hood, Golden Lion Dudes, Kippax British Legion, Flanagan’s Army, Old Vic, Olde Taverners, Kippax Legionnaires.

2. Apologies

Apologies from: Dave Bill (Chair), Lofthouse Lions, King’s Arms.

3. Balance Sheet

The Treasurer presented the latest balance sheet showing an income of £3,135.32 (including an opening balance of £1,142.32) and expenditure of £1,850.81 leaving a closing balance of £1,284.51. Expenditure was up as website costs were for a two year period and there was some extra expense for trophies.

It was noted that we were thankful of the continued sponsorship of £300 from Layer’s Cleaning and this was likely to continue.

There was comment that given the increase in the balance since last year, should we have reduced subscriptions however it was noted that had we reduced to £4 from £5 we would have had a loss year on year and it was agreed that £5 seemed to be the correct level of subs.

There was a comment questioning the rationale for purchasing a memento for Wanderers after they left the league, noting that this had not been done for previous long-standing teams. SC confirmed this was a unanimous Committee decision but notes this was a new thing and notes the feedback.

4. Subscriptions for 2023/24

There are at the time of meeting, no new teams so subscriptions overall will likely reduce. It was agreed to keep subs at £5 per team per match.

5. Committee 2023/24

There were no nominations or suggestions for new Committee members so the Committee will remain as 2022/23.

6. Formation of the League 2023/24 The league has lost Wanderers from Division 1 and no new teams have been confirmed (although there is a potential new team). It was agreed to keep two divisions with Division 1 containing 7 teams and Division 2 containing 6 (or 7 if the new team materialises). We would need 2 up and 1 down to achieve this and given how far ahead the top two teams were in Division 2, this seemed reasonable.

There are 2 team changes. The Robin Hood will move to the Olde Tavern, new team name to be confirmed. The Old Vic has been renamed to The Vic.

The make-up would therefore be:

Division 1: Lofthouse Lions, Olde Taverners, Upton Bees, Flanagan’s Army, Robin Hood Inn*, Kippax Legionnaires, The Vic

Division 2: Carleton Grangers, King’s Arms, Kippax British Legion, Featherstone Phoenix, Golden Lion Dudes, The Other Team

*Name TBC

7. Quiz Setter 2023/24

It was agreed to continue with the current quiz setter for the start of the new season however there are two specific pieces of feedback:

1. There were a number of repeated questions throughout the season and we ask that this be minimised.

2. Set B appears to be much harder than Set A and we ask that this is evened out where possible.

There were two other points raised:

1. It was noted that there was a mistake on Finals’ Night and we must avoid this in future. FTQL should be specific in demands from the questionsetter to avoid any possible misunderstandings.

2. HT to reach out to other potential questionsetters and feed back at the mid-season meeting.

8. Amendments to Rules 2023/24

Proposal 1: Where a team is playing with fewer than 4 players, the individual questions can be answered by a randomly chosen nominated player in that team. The question setter shall randomly draw a name at the start of the quiz and that player(s) will be able to act as if they were the missing player for individual questions. No individual credit shall be gained for that player.

Vote: 9 For, 2 Against – Passed

Proposal 2: To avoid any potential bias between A and B sets, all home teams shall be allocated A and all away teams allocated B for all matches.

Vote: 4 For, 6 Against, 1 Abstain – Rejected

Proposal 3: To avoid successful teams being penalised by being responsible for handing answer sheets to NA, the home team’s captain shall take that responsibility. This can be electronically if preferred.

Vote: For 11, Against 0 – Passed

Proposal 4: Tied handicap cup matches shall not be decided by the relative values of the handicaps but should revert to the same rules as the cup and plate tied matches.

Vote: 9 For, 1 Against, 1 Abstain – Passed

9. Format of quiz

Not discussed – unaltered.

10. Knockout Cup Final 2022/23

The Knockout Cup Final could not be held at Finals’ Night because of a mix up with the questions. It has been proposed to hold this at the Thatched House on 18/9/2024. Concerns were raised that this is quite far out for many teams and therefore attendance for people who want to watch will be affected. There was very little appetite from those in attendance to watch the match and therefore it was agreed that so long as both teams competing are happy with the arrangements, it was approved. SC and IM to attend to read and score.

11. Any Other Business

Pre-season Charity Night agreed to be held at the Featherstone Hotel on 25/9/2023 subject to the Landlord’s approval

Start of league has been agreed as 02/10/2023

It was requested that any venues with access issues for disabled players were made known – none were raised.

Handicap Cup handicaps were discussed with many players feeling the Division 2 handicap boost was insufficient this year. It was agreed that the Committee will come to the mid-season meeting with a number of options for the 2023/24 season to be voted on at that meeting.

It was reiterated that food supplied by teams is at their own (or pub’s) expense and it is not expected, nor does it form any part of the league rules.

A question was raised asking that if a team withdraws mid-season, could a player who had played with them find a new team or are they restricted by the current rules. It was agreed that in this instance the player’s registration with the disbanded team would cease and they would be free to play for another team, should they find one.

Proposal to start matches at 8:00 rather than 8:30 – Rejected without a vote after various feedback from members.

Flanagan’s requested a bye on 23/10 and Upton Bees requested a bye on 09/10 if possible. Both requests will be considered when the fixtures are produced.

SC made a plea to consider the landlord of the Featherstone Hotel for the Spirit of the Game Award at the end of the season given his continued support of the league for almost 30 years. It was agreed for the Committee to consider a separate award if deemed necessary to thank him.

Close

The meeting was closed at 22:00