Admin & Rules

1. The League shall be known as the Hoyland & District Quiz League. Member teams must represent pubs or clubs within reasonable travelling distance of Hoyland

2. All matches will be played on Thursday nights during the season, which will run from October. All matches will commence at 8.00pm, although a late start is acceptable, provided that it is no more than 15 minutes. All participating teams will play home and away fixtures against all other teams in the League Division in which they are entered. All matches played in the second half of the season will be played in the same order as the matches played in the first half of the season. Fixtures involving teams from the same public house will be played in the first week of the season and the first week of the second half of the season.

There will also be 5 other competitions per season: an opening and closing extended general knowledge quiz for invited and all participating league teams at the beginning and end of each season; a League Knockout Shield; a Handicap Knockout Cup; a Pairs competition.

3. Quiz League meetings will take place every other month, commencing in September (the AGM) at a pub or club within the Hoyland and District Quiz League. An additional meeting will take place on the third Thursday of the month before the Handicap Cup – if required.

4. Teams will consist of a maximum of 5 and a minimum of 2 players per game. If a team cannot meet the quorum of 2 players because of illness or other emergency, then the match may be rearranged. Rearrangement of matches for any other reason is permitted on condition that the game can be accommodated within the current season, and on payment of the current question setter's fee for a set of questions by the rearranging team. No player can play for two or more teams in a season, unless a team withdraws from the league before the end of the season, in which case their players may swap to (an)other team(s). There is no limit to the number of players a team may use in a season. Any supporters accompanying a team must sit separately to team members whilst the match is in progress.

5. Format

There will be 50 questions per match divided into 3 rounds. The Captains of each team will toss a coin to decide which team is to go first. The order of play will stay the same throughout the whole match.

Round 1: Twenty General knowledge questions asked alternately to each team, ten to Team A, ten to Team B. Questions are to be chosen at random by the Captains of the teams. Two points will be awarded for each correct answer, one bonus point for each correct answer that has been handed over to the opposing team. Each team has one minute to answer. If handed over, the opposition has thirty seconds to answer. There will be no questions set offering alternative answers.

Round 2: Will consist of ten General Knowledge questions, all to be answered by both teams. Questions will be printed, and a copy handed to each team. Teams will have a maximum of ten minutes to write down their answers to the questions, at the end of which they will swap papers with the opposing team for marking. Two points will be awarded for each correct answer, making a total of twenty points available to each team.

Round 3: As Round 1

All questions in rounds 1 and 3 are to be numbered 1 - 20, and 1 - 10 in round 2.

6. Each home team shall supply a questioner/timer for each game. These can be the same person. In all matters, the questioner's decision is final and binding on the night based upon the answers given by the question setter. Disputes over answers must be raised on the night of the quiz match, put in writing and signed by both team Captains. They can then be considered at the next quiz league meeting. After consideration the league members present may by general consensus, or a vote, settle the dispute. Each team will be allowed one vote. It is incumbent on teams disputing the given answer to supply information from reliable sources to support their contention.

7. All answers must be given to the questioner by the team Captain, or an individual clearly appointed by the Captain. Only the first answer given can be accepted although at his/her discretion the questioner may demand an explanation of the answer before awarding points. Specific answers will be highlighted in some way by the question setter, e.g. if first and second names are required for a correct answer they would be underlined (John Smith) and if only a second name is required it would be underlined (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)

8. The final score must be reported to the Secretary before 6pm on the Sunday following the match. This can be by telephone, text or email. Contact details will be circulated to all teams before the season starts. It is the responsibility of the home team Captain to report the score. Failure to report the score in time will lead to the team responsible having 2 points deducted from their league total.

9. All fees and prize money will be discussed and determined at the AGM, preceding each quiz season.

10. Any proposed changes to the rules will be considered at the pre-season AGM. All such proposed rule changes must be submitted in writing by a team member to the secretary at least 14 days in advance of the AGM, seconded by a member of a different team. The secretary will circulate a list of proposed changes to all teams before the AGM for their consideration.

11. The team which has acquired the most points throughout the season shall be declared the League Champions

The final league positions will be determined in the following order of criteria:

(i) The team with most points

(ii) The team with the most points scored in matches throughout the season

(iii) If this is still the same then points-difference shall settle the positions.

In the event that two teams are still tied for first and second place or second and third place, a play-off match will be organised.

12. Any other business must be raised at quiz league meetings throughout the season.

A blanket postponement of matches (for instance in the case of adverse weather conditions) can only be authorised by an Officer of the League. In the first instance this will be decided by the Secretary of the League and then by either of the two other Officers of the League if he/she is unavailable.