By Richard de Winter @rgdewinter @TLE_Sport
Last Thursday saw TLE Sport dig out its best suit, polish the old size 11s and select its least offensive tie in preparation for the Bobby Moore Fund’s annual sports quiz. Held in London, this year’s edition took place at The Brewery in Moorgate, hugely convenient for one half of the TLE contingent who had spent the day in Liverpool Street, less so for the other half who had to rush down from Hertfordshire.
As guests of the Cancer Research UK PR team, we were determined not to let the side down, so spent the minutes before entering the venue on some last minute revision, which consisted of a cursory check of the BBC Sport page, and, bizarrely, a Wikipedia search of previous winners of the Puskas Award. None of this came in useful, but it’s best to be prepared.
Promised the presence of Clare Balding, Steve Cram, David Seaman and other luminaries from the world of sport, one of the first faces to greet us as we made our way into the drinks reception was the former England ‘keeper, sadly sporting neither ‘tache nor ponytail these days, doing a remarkable job of looking interested as a paunchy red-faced man droned on at him.
As might be expected, given the event, the room was liberally sprinkled with paunchy red-faced men, but other familiar faces were in evidence, including Dan Walker, towering over his neighbours, Danny Mills, who had the honour of emptying his bladder next to half of us, and one of Bobby Moore’s former teammates, Frank Lampard Senior.
The quiz had been set by Clive ‘that night in Barcelona’ Tyldesley (sadly absent preparing for England’s inevitable defeat in Spain) and consisted of 8 rounds before, during and after dinner. We were part of a team called Answer Wenger (not our choice), with journalists from The Daily Mirror, TalkSport and Match of the Day Magazine contributing to a fairly impressive breadth of sporting knowledge.
The task of MC-ing the quiz fell to Sunderland’s finest, Steve Cram, who did a marvellous job, despite having to act like an exasperated teacher dealing with an unruly bunch of Year 9s as the evening wore on. Other quizmasters included the aforementioned Walker, Mark Chapman and Max Rushden, with Answer Wenger showing some impressive form from the outset. Eventually we finished a creditable 6th out of 50 or so teams, definitely Premier League quality.
Obviously the purpose of the evening was more than having fun, and Bobby Moore’s widow, Stephanie, the instigator of the fund, spoke very movingly, urging those assembled to take part in the silent auction. We were also treated to addresses from Harpal Kumar, the Chief Executive of Cancer Research UK, and bowel cancer survivor Marcus Hitchens, son of former England and Inter Milan striker Gerry. Just shy of £250,000 was raised by the event, all of which will help research into treatments for bowel cancer.
All in all it was an enjoyable and well-organised event. If you would like to make a contribution to the fund, then visit www.bobbymoorefund.org, where you can take part in various fundraising initiatives including Football Shirt Friday (not every Friday thankfully), the pleasingly named Moore than a quiz, and, if you’re particularly adventurous, Football on Everest, which does exactly what it says on the tin. Cancer Research UK are also promoting their annual Dryathlon, dryathlon.org, which invites people to put their money where their New Year’s Resolutions are and give up booze for January.
