Quiz Pro Quo

Bath City did not play Saturday. This was due to an early exit from the FA Trophy and a dispute with the board of Braintree Town. Whatever the cause, Saturday was a difficult day for hard core Bath City fans to get through. Imagine if you had a friend who was a chain-smoker and you decided to hide all of his cigarettes for the day to see what would happen. Got a mental picture? Okay, now imagine it being twice that bad.

Perhaps I exaggerate slightly. Not a lot, though.

I spent Saturday afternoon listening to the Premiership commentary on Radio 5 Live, but this was as unsatisfying as a nicotine patch. What I really wanted was a long drag of the real thing. Even going to another local match would not have been a good substitute. The best part of following Bath City is being part of the community of supporters that surround the club, and you can't get that at some other club's match.

Luckily, some farsighted member of the Bath City Supporters Club committee decided to schedule a quiz night for Sunday night. A quiz night is not as good as a football match, but it gave me an opportunity to enjoy a bit of camaraderie in a friendly atmosphere. Like I said, this is one of the best parts of supporting Bath City.

I should take a moment to explain what a 'quiz night' is for my overseas readers. Also known as a 'pub quiz,' this is one of the great institutions of British life. Groups of people, usually about five, gather themselves together in teams and compete to answer trivia questions. It is a simple concept, but like the bacon sandwich, a simple concept that has failed to establish itself on the other side of the Atlantic. Answering trivia as a communal activity did not take off in America until it was packaged and commercialised with Trivia Pursuit in the 1980s. Despite the millions of board games sold, that version is much inferior to the simple pub quiz.

I took a punt and decided to invite Mrs Nedved to come with me. She has up to now resisted coming to Twerton Park, but knowing that she enjoys a good quiz I figured this would be a good introduction. She also has a good knowledge of poetry, food and beverages, and 1980s pop-music. To my surprise, she agreed to come, and I managed to finagle an invitation for us to join the team of notable Bath City supporter 'Lord Bear.'

The quiz was held in the club bar, 'Charlie's.' About fifty people turned out. This was not as many as usually attend, but more than was expected so close to Christmas. I got us some drinks from the bar, introduced Mrs Nedved to various people, and then we settled in for the quiz. In my honour Lord Bear decided to name our team 'Robert E. Lee.'

The quiz consisted of nine rounds of ten questions each. Each team was randomly allocated a round to receive double points (we were dealt a cruel blow when our double points round turned out to be about Chirstmas music). I was pleased to be able to fill in a few gaps in the team's knowledge (it was Bing Crosby that starred alongside Fred Astaire in Holiday Inn - not Ginger Rogers, and the American football team that plays in Candlestick Park is the San Francisco 49ers), but I dropped a few clangers as well. I have a bad habit at quizzes of being overconfident when I only have a hunch. We managed to stay in the hunt, however. Much to our surprise, the scoreboard after the ninth and final round showed 'Robert E. Lee' in a very respectable Third Place. Being a quiz night of the better sort, Third Place entitled us to a box of mince pies each.

Although this was a good night out for those of us suffering from football withdrawal, it was also a fundraiser for the Supporters Club. With only a £2 entry fee the evening probably raised no more than £150 all told, but any addition to the club funds is appreciated. Unlike clubs at higher levels, the Supporters Club pays for many of the vital functions that keep the club going. Most notably, it is the Supporters Club that pays for the players' coach for away matches. This one fact will tell you pretty much everything you need to know about how non-league football works.

The evening was a success in one further way. Mrs Nedved had a good time. She said she might even come to an actual match soon. Well, she might. It's progress.