Withington Pub Quiz League - quizbiz 25/11/15

"A good evening in good company, although the Shrimps brought so many with them, and used so many substitutes that, at times, it was like playing the Chinese Army."

The Opsimaths beat Ethel Rodin in a tense top of the table affair at the Albert Club. Roddy started the evening by calling the toss correctly and choosing to go first. With Ethel ultimately getting by far the greater proportion of 'unanswerables' (11 to 5, I think) this was a good toss for me to lose though it did not seem so at first. Last Sunday James had been QM and question-setter at an excellent Labour Party fund-raising quiz at the very same Albert Club and had set a question on the Bois be Boulogne. Sure enough the Round 1 question on the same subject fell to him. As the evening unfolded however the score gap mounted at a regular pace leaving the Opsimaths ahead by a flattering 17 points at the final - late - whistle. Other Club users had long since dribbled home disappointed at City's failure to wrest back the one goal difference inflicted early on by Juventus. Lifetime Notts County fan and Ethel Rodin's long term central defender Geoff, however, was none too sad at City's defeat since Juventus and Notts County have had an age old love affair going on. This Wikipedia extract explains:

"The Italian football club Juventus FC derived its famous black-and-white striped kit from Notts County. Juventus have played in black and white striped shirts, with white shorts, sometimes black shorts, since 1903. Originally, they played in pink shirts with a black tie made by the father of one of the players. Continual washing, however, faded the pink colour so much that the club sought to replace their kit. One of their team members, Englishman John Savage, was asked if he had any contacts in England who could supply new shirts in a colour that would better withstand the elements. Sure enough he had a friend who lived in Nottingham, who being a Notts County supporter, shipped the black and white striped shirts to Turin. Juve have worn the shirts ever since, considering the colours to be aggressive and powerful.

On 8 September 2011 to mark the opening of the new stadium in Turin, Juventus invited Notts County for an historic exhibition match. The game ended 1–1 with goals from Luca Toni and Lee Hughes coming in the second half."

Aggressive and powerful? Juve have gone on to win the European Champions competition twice; Notts County were summarily dismissed from the FA Cup last season by Accrington Stanley (whose ground, incidentally, is currently known as the Wham Stadium not the Crown Ground - ref Round 7).