Years in League: 2001-2 to date
Division 1: 2002-3 to 2004-5, 2007-8, 2009-10 to 2010-11
Division 2: 2001-2, 2005-6 to 2006-7, 2008-9, 2011-12 to 2016-17
Division 3: 2017-18
Titles: Charity Shield 2001
Telstars' origins go back to 1993 and a competition to find a team to represent London in a national quiz for BT employees.
The top four qualified, three of whom were
Bill Stratton,
Dave Turnbull and
Howard Pizzey.
The trio appeared in 1994 on The Great British Quiz on TV – we called ourselves Telstars after the communications satellite as we all worked for BT in London.
Meanwhile we had finished as runners-up in the national BT quiz. For the next one, the London heat was to be contested by teams instead of individuals, and needed a team of four - so a new team member,
Margaret Bhonsle, was added.
We went on to win the national quiz (latterly part of the BT Sports Festival) five times in a row.
BT stopped running its Sports Festival, but in 2001 we entered the QLL
Charity Quiz and won (a feat never to be repeated), as well as carrying off the trophy for Best Guest Team.
We joined the QLL the following season and won promotion to division 1. In those early days we were indebted to
Ivan Stevenage, who frequently served as reserve or QM. We also gave QLL debuts to
David Stainer and
Sunil Rao, who went on to greater things elsewhere.
For the next ten years or so we yo-yoed between divisions 1 and 2 – but we've been solid citizens of division 2 since 2011. We've been losing finalists in the
All-London Cup twice, in 2006 and 2012.
As for personnel, the BT element of the team has been heavily diluted over the years, with
Bob Bunting being the only current team member who still works for the company. Bob joined in 2002, cannily spotted by Dave and Howard in the BT staff newspaper having appeared in University Challenge Reunited.
Dave still works for BT Group, but gave up playing QLL in 2005 – he still quizzes regularly in the Milton Keynes league.
Bill retired from BT in the mid-2000s, but carried on playing QLL regularly until 2009. He has said recently he wouldn't mind an occasional run-out so we may see him return.
William Barrett - like Howard a TV quiz veteran - joined in season 2005/6 and has been one of our most regular players ever since.
Catherine Arbuthnott has been with us since 2006, more often unselfishly QMing than playing.
We strengthened our squad substantially in 2010 with signings from defunct QLL teams: ex-
Animal Josh Mandel, and former Wharfsider and pub-quiz aficionado
Colin Kidd. And
Cliff Barnes was a regular for us for two years before joining the now defunct
Mint Imperials.
John Hayes (who had previously played a few games for
Atletico and
Waterloo Sunset some years ago) joined us as an occasional player in 2014. And the 2015/16 season saw the introduction of some welcome new blood in
Alex Homersham and
Diana Lomax.
The coming 2016/17 season brings in a new era for Telstars. Having been our team secretary and regular captain from the start, Howard Pizzey has retired from regular quizzing. Many QLL people will know that Howard has battled Parkinson's disease for many years, and has found it increasingly difficult recently to travel to and from matches. Everyone involved in Telstars owes a great debt to Howard for his commitment and organisation, not to mention his consummate knowledge of English literature and 50s-80s pop music… We wish Howard all the very best for the future.
So our squad for the 2016/17 season will be Catherine Arbuthnott, William Barrett, Margaret Bhonsle, Bob Bunting, John Hayes, Alex Homersham, Colin Kidd, Diana Lomax, Josh Mandel and new recruit
Joe Docherty.
Our venue, as ever, remains the
Calthorpe Arms on the Gray's Inn Road. Shared with those
Gray Monks galacticos, it's generally recognised as one of the best venues in the league. We're grateful to Adrian and his staff for their affable service and the interest they take in the league.