Season Summary

Season Summary Picture

Tonight we held the finals' night, the final week of the season with the finals for both the Knockout Plate and Knockout Cup competitions, rounding off the 2024/25 season, and what a season it has been.

First of all, a recap of the league season. We trialled a new format this year with the season being split into two halves. The first half, where all 12 teams played each other once, determined which division each team would compete in for the second half. The benefit of this approach meant that there was more variety in the teams everyone faced as well as creating a true handicap as everyone played everyone (more on that later). I personally thought the format worked well and although it meant there were some very one-sided matches as the difference in calbre showed, it was nice (speaking as a lower division team) to pit our wits against the best and to see some faces we hadn't seen for a while. I know there has been some feedback saying that some teams didn't enjoy it as much so please do bring your team's views to the AGM in the summer to discuss.

Division 1 saw a very dominant Lofthouse Lions team come out victorious with 21 wins from 21 and take the title again. A great performance from them although a very strong Carleton Grangers did run them close. In the D1 individual competition, Diane Hallagan come out victorious with an average of 3.778, only dropping 4 points all season.

Division 2 saw Flanagan's Army come out triumphant, I think winning all their Division 2 matches. Golden Lion Dudes saw a late season charge and took second place. In the Division 2 individual competition, Neil Aspland won with an average of 3.619, only dropping 8 points.

In the Handicap Cup, the handicaps were determined from the first half of the season performace so it was a true a handicap as we could feasibly achieve and I think the results from the cup proved this. 100 points seemed to be the par score and so many games were very touch and go with the winning team coming down to the final couple of questions. Two Division 2 teams battled it out in the final and Golden Lion Dudes were too strong for Featherstone Phonenix on the night and took the crown.

That leaves us with the two knockout competitions, the Plate and the Cup, with both being D1 v D2 match ups.

In the plate, Kippax Legionnaires of D1 faced Olde Tavern Allsorts of D2 so it was a tough ask for the Allsorts to win and it was the D1 team who finally came out 81-71 winners tonight.

In the Cup, Flanagan's Army, D2 champions and only non-handicap beaters of Lofthouse Lions this season, faced Carleton Grangers, runners-up in D1. Again, we had a D1 champion with Carleton beating Flanagan's 90-82.

The final award of the season is the Spirit of the Game Award. This is awarded every year to either a person or a team who has shown the values of the FTQL and is voted for by the players and readers over the season. As collator of the responses, it really is so pleasing to see such wonderful comments about teams and players of the quiz league. We do have some great people who play in or support the quiz league in some capacity and it's lovely to read each entry. We had 57 responses this season with 12 individuals nominated and 7 teams nominated. The top three were:

3rd: Pete Askins (Golden Lion Dudes)

2nd: Featherstone Phoenix

1st: Ian Moore

Thanks to everyone who took the time to vote and well done to everyone nominated.

One final comment before this essay is finished and that's to say a massive thank you to Simon Curtis who has hung up his pencil and has stepped down as league secretary after 34 years. I've only been involved in the league for 4 seasons so I'm not the best person to sum up his tenure however it is clear the time and effort he has put in over that time is immense and the league is in a great place off the back of his efforts. Enjoy your well-earned rest, Simon, and thank you for your support.

I wish you all a very happy and enjoyable summer. The quiz league is only as good as the people in it and that means we're in a very strong position. Hopefully I'll see some of you over the summer months in various friendlies and I hope you all come back fit and strong for the 25/26 season.

Thank you

Ian Moore

Summary of Achievements

Division 1 Champions: Lofthouse Lions

Division 2 Champions: Flanagan's Army

Knockout Cup Champions: Carleton Grangers

Knockout Plate Champions: Kippax Legionnaires

Handicap Cup Champions: Golden Lion Dudes

Division 1 Individual Champion: Diane Hallagan

Division 2 Individual Champion: Neil Aspland

Spirit of the Game Award: Ian Moore