Southport FC

Southport Grasshopper

(formerly Southport Football Club)

Home Venue: The Grasshopper, 70 Sandon Road, Southport, PR8 4QD Tel: 01704 569794
Click here for location map of Grasshopper
Secretary Mike Taylor	Home Match Night: Monday

Pictured (left to right) are the late Geoff Wilde, John Hill, Mike Hopkins and the late Don Lee Photograph by Ron Ellis	Mike Hopkins and the late Don Lee receive the 2002 Runners-up trophy in the Maurice Jefferies Plate from Vice-Chair Wendy Cunningham Photograph by Henri Cartier-Bresson

LEAGUE TROPHIES

Year	League
1985 1986 2015 2018	Southport Division 2 Southport Division 2 Southport Division 2 Handicap League	Runners-up Champions Runners-up Champions

CUP TROPHIES

Year	Cup
1984 1986 1988 1989 1996 2002 2009 2010 2013 2015	Handicap Cup Handicap Cup Maurice Jefferies Plate Handicap Cup Maurice Jefferies Plate Maurice Jefferies Plate Maurice Jefferies Plate Maurice Jefferies Plate Maurice Jefferies Plate Handicap Cup	Runners-up Winners Winners Runners-up Winners Runners-up Runners-up Winners Runners-up Runners-up

TEAM HISTORY

Southport Football Club Quiz Team was originally formed in 1983 by the then Secretary of Southport Football Club, one Peter Humphrey Williams (of whom it has been said) and whose current whereabouts are a complete mystery to all with the possible exception of Lord Lucan.

The team initially comprised four nonentities (one of them the current captain Geoff Wilde, of whom less later). During that first 1983-84 season John Watson also made his first appearance (Match 6) while one C.E.J.Hill appeared in the final four matches, his late arrival setting a precedent he has adhered to ever since. Mike Hopkins arrived in the fourth season (1986-87) when St.Teresa's Quiz Team folded.

Bolstered for much of the Club's history by the formidable presence of the late Don Lee, this basic line-up has become one of the most stable in the whole of the Southport and Formby League. The five forementioned players account for 2,331 appearances out of the team's total of 2,676 to the end of the 2009-10 season.

Back in 2001 the team created - quite inadvertently - something of a record when, without any prior arrangement, they arrived at a Handicap Cup final at Formby Lighthouse by four different means of transport! Geoff Wilde travelled from Crosby by car, John Hill cycled all the way from Southport, Mike Hopkins took the train while Don Lee, mistakenly awaiting a lift, had to charter a taxi!

Late in 2009-10 the team equalled their already twice registered highest total of 56; this was doubly frustrating since the record would have been surpassed had "Bonea" been correctly identified on the Question Sheet as "Bohea"!

Since promotion in 1986 the team have maintained a presence in the top division of the league to this day. On 27th January 2003, SFC played their 500th league match and scored their 18,000th point. Whilst the points scored total over a season compares favourably with the teams they play the points conceded total is regularly amongst the highest in the division. This suggests that, whilst scoring consistently, the team is defensively one of the weakest in the League!

CURRENT PLAYERS

Mike Hopkins - By far the youngest player in the squad (no great achievement!) , Mike can be relied on to mop up anything that has happened since 1970 (the year the rest of the team died). Besides possessing a comprehensive knowledge of the pop charts from 1952 up to the late 1980's, he is also looked to when other matters relating to popular culture arise. The most disciplined member of the squad, he did, however, once give a wrong answer in 1988.

Tony Adams - Tony "auditioned" for a place in the quiz team in 1986-87, impressing sufficiently to be recruited to make his League debut as early as February 2011. Since then this refugee from the now defunct Sports Quiz League (which occasionally still stands him in good stead) has vied for the number 2 spot with Mike Taylor, q.v. His top score of 14 dates from his seventh appearance for the team. Tony and Mick Hopkins go back a long way but perhaps not often enough.

Mike Taylor - Mike made his debut as far back as January 2009 but appeared only sporadically until December 2010 when John Watson's illness secured him a regular place. He achieved his top score of 11 (since equalled) in only his third game but annoyingly tends to score more twos than ones, suggesting unfulfilled potential. On the football front he currently serves as Chairman of the Craven Minor League and Southport Junior League whose Monday night meetings now mysteriously conclude around 8.45 p.m. on a fairly regular basis …

FORMER PLAYERS

The late Geoff Wilde - Former team captain by popular demand (well, it was popular with him) and an acknowledged expert on radio comedy 1939-59, Southport FC 1921-78 and the 1950's U.S. Doo-Wop scene. Not quite the lowest scorer in the history of Radio Four's "Counterpoint". A founder member of the team, he previously (1978-83) represented various outfits run by Lord Braham of Birkdale, the recently restored Southport peer. Committed champion of the headed round (if anyone remembers such a thing), he ,recorded the team's highest individual score of 32 in somewhat bizarre circumstances (well it WAS at the Blue Anchor!). Also an Eddie Conway Cup finalist three times in succession (1999-2001 - his golden years....)

John Hill - A prolific scorer from Round Three onwards (when WILL he arrive on time'?) Hill (as he is affectionately known) is the resident classical music and literary expert and fitness fanatic. The only player in the league to boast the name of an obscure early English king (955-959) amongst his nomenclature, he used for many years to sponsor the Eddie Conway Cup competition by forwarding his entry fee and forgetting to turn up to the event itself. More recently he has not remembered to overlook this competition. Previous long term holder of the team's record individual score (27).

Ron Ellis - The man who originally filled the shoes of stroke victim Bill Morton (though quite what he filled them with is difficult to identify). A legend in Southport (Haig Avenue's original Da-Doo-RON-RON) he discovered he still had a couple of hours a week to fill after all his multifarious daytime careers (and nighttime proclivities) such as DJ, broadcaster, star of "Coronation Street" (he still regards his best role - often reprised - as "Man in Corridor") etc - not to mention his successes as a writer of crime fiction, into which genre fall his football reports on S.F.C. in "The Champion".

The late John Watson - a chartered accountant by profession, he debuted for the quiz team in only our sixth match in October 1983. He soon became a regular and, barring a mid-career break (2002-04), assumed a permanent spot at No: 2 where his knowledge of several areas beyond the ken of the rest of us - photography, car marques and Greek cuisine being especial favourites - stood him in good stead. Never a prolific scorer he nonetheless consistently provided steady and consistent contributions, eventually clocking up 427 league appearances with a top score of 16 by the end of November 2010. His life was tragically cut short by a brain tumour.

The late Don Lee - used to be the resident expert on current affairs - astonishing for someone who never owned a television (or a car or anything else for that matter) and read no newspaper other than the Grauniad. Yet this latter often enabled him to contribute amazing answers on contemporary pop groups such as All Stains and Pests. Originally recruited from Lloyd George (the Prime Minister, not the Quiz Team) Salford-born Don was always the oldest member of the side. He died in tragic circumstances immediately after completing the 2005-06 season.

QUESTION MASTER

Alan Scarisbrick - A quiet, unassuming presence, he was discovered during a "Trust in Yellow" fund raising quiz at Haig Avenue, though what he was discovered doing is best left to the imagination. Never quite able to live up to his sensational debut at Formby Pavilion he has since found his niche as the team's capable (should that be incapable?) Question Master, a position not occupied by any one individual since Peter Williams last exposed himself. Better known to "Port Chatters" as "Baron" he is currently Chairman of S.F.C.'s "Trust in Yellow" movement. A guitarist of some note (believed in certain quarters to be C Sharp).

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