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Quiz Whizz

He’s started so he’ll finish: a maths teacher describes what happened when he went on Mastermind to answer questions about the Champions League

INTERVIEW Seb Powell

Name? Mark Eaden. Occupation? Maths teacher. Specialist subject? UEFA Champions League finals. And then what should have been the next question: “What’s a Portsmouth fan doing answering questions about Champions League finals?”

Fortunately, this contestant’s knowledge of the competition extends beyond Pompey’s efforts on the European stage – “The closest we’ve got is a UEFA Cup game against AC Milan back in 2008,” he says. That titbit alone is indicative of his ability to retain facts and figures, something he further proved on UK quiz show Mastermind by answering 11 of the 12 questions he was asked on his chosen topic. Which club beat AC Milan 1-0 in May 1993? Marseille. Which club reached their second Champions League final in 2013? Dortmund. And so on.

The prep work was informed by Eaden’s day job. “I used quite a lot of techniques that I use with the kids at school when I’m teaching them how to revise, like making flashcards,” he says. “I also got a PDF from the UEFA website, about 20 pages, that had all the data you could want. Then I made a notebook of all the finals and tested myself.”

To be fair, it wasn’t like he was learning from scratch. “I had a fairly good base of knowledge,” he says. “Before the show I could’ve named all the winners of the Champions League and the scorelines. But I did quite a lot of research on things like red cards and making sure I knew all the notable substitutions – one of them being Harry Kewell coming off in the first half of the 2005 final and being replaced by Vladimír Šmicer, which ended up being a question on the show.”

Then there’s the question of how he dealt with the pressure. “I did feel like I was lining up for a Champions League game; the nerves in the build-up were the main issue,” he says. “But I suppose it’s like when you play football: once I was out there, I felt fine.”

Name? Mark Eaden. Occupation? Maths teacher. Specialist subject? UEFA Champions League finals. And then what should have been the next question: “What’s a Portsmouth fan doing answering questions about Champions League finals?”

Fortunately, this contestant’s knowledge of the competition extends beyond Pompey’s efforts on the European stage – “The closest we’ve got is a UEFA Cup game against AC Milan back in 2008,” he says. That titbit alone is indicative of his ability to retain facts and figures, something he further proved on UK quiz show Mastermind by answering 11 of the 12 questions he was asked on his chosen topic. Which club beat AC Milan 1-0 in May 1993? Marseille. Which club reached their second Champions League final in 2013? Dortmund. And so on.

The prep work was informed by Eaden’s day job. “I used quite a lot of techniques that I use with the kids at school when I’m teaching them how to revise, like making flashcards,” he says. “I also got a PDF from the UEFA website, about 20 pages, that had all the data you could want. Then I made a notebook of all the finals and tested myself.”

To be fair, it wasn’t like he was learning from scratch. “I had a fairly good base of knowledge,” he says. “Before the show I could’ve named all the winners of the Champions League and the scorelines. But I did quite a lot of research on things like red cards and making sure I knew all the notable substitutions – one of them being Harry Kewell coming off in the first half of the 2005 final and being replaced by Vladimír Šmicer, which ended up being a question on the show.”

Then there’s the question of how he dealt with the pressure. “I did feel like I was lining up for a Champions League game; the nerves in the build-up were the main issue,” he says. “But I suppose it’s like when you play football: once I was out there, I felt fine.”

Read the full story
Sign up now to get access to this and every premium feature on Champions Journal. You will also get access to member-only competitions and offers. And you get all of that completely free!

Name? Mark Eaden. Occupation? Maths teacher. Specialist subject? UEFA Champions League finals. And then what should have been the next question: “What’s a Portsmouth fan doing answering questions about Champions League finals?”

Fortunately, this contestant’s knowledge of the competition extends beyond Pompey’s efforts on the European stage – “The closest we’ve got is a UEFA Cup game against AC Milan back in 2008,” he says. That titbit alone is indicative of his ability to retain facts and figures, something he further proved on UK quiz show Mastermind by answering 11 of the 12 questions he was asked on his chosen topic. Which club beat AC Milan 1-0 in May 1993? Marseille. Which club reached their second Champions League final in 2013? Dortmund. And so on.

The prep work was informed by Eaden’s day job. “I used quite a lot of techniques that I use with the kids at school when I’m teaching them how to revise, like making flashcards,” he says. “I also got a PDF from the UEFA website, about 20 pages, that had all the data you could want. Then I made a notebook of all the finals and tested myself.”

To be fair, it wasn’t like he was learning from scratch. “I had a fairly good base of knowledge,” he says. “Before the show I could’ve named all the winners of the Champions League and the scorelines. But I did quite a lot of research on things like red cards and making sure I knew all the notable substitutions – one of them being Harry Kewell coming off in the first half of the 2005 final and being replaced by Vladimír Šmicer, which ended up being a question on the show.”

Then there’s the question of how he dealt with the pressure. “I did feel like I was lining up for a Champions League game; the nerves in the build-up were the main issue,” he says. “But I suppose it’s like when you play football: once I was out there, I felt fine.”

Quiz Whizz
Fans

Quiz Whizz

He’s started so he’ll finish: a maths teacher describes what happened when he went on Mastermind to answer questions about the Champions League

INTERVIEW Seb Powell

Name? Mark Eaden. Occupation? Maths teacher. Specialist subject? UEFA Champions League finals. And then what should have been the next question: “What’s a Portsmouth fan doing answering questions about Champions League finals?”

Fortunately, this contestant’s knowledge of the competition extends beyond Pompey’s efforts on the European stage – “The closest we’ve got is a UEFA Cup game against AC Milan back in 2008,” he says. That titbit alone is indicative of his ability to retain facts and figures, something he further proved on UK quiz show Mastermind by answering 11 of the 12 questions he was asked on his chosen topic. Which club beat AC Milan 1-0 in May 1993? Marseille. Which club reached their second Champions League final in 2013? Dortmund. And so on.

The prep work was informed by Eaden’s day job. “I used quite a lot of techniques that I use with the kids at school when I’m teaching them how to revise, like making flashcards,” he says. “I also got a PDF from the UEFA website, about 20 pages, that had all the data you could want. Then I made a notebook of all the finals and tested myself.”

To be fair, it wasn’t like he was learning from scratch. “I had a fairly good base of knowledge,” he says. “Before the show I could’ve named all the winners of the Champions League and the scorelines. But I did quite a lot of research on things like red cards and making sure I knew all the notable substitutions – one of them being Harry Kewell coming off in the first half of the 2005 final and being replaced by Vladimír Šmicer, which ended up being a question on the show.”

Then there’s the question of how he dealt with the pressure. “I did feel like I was lining up for a Champions League game; the nerves in the build-up were the main issue,” he says. “But I suppose it’s like when you play football: once I was out there, I felt fine.”

Penalty Pedigree

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Name? Mark Eaden. Occupation? Maths teacher. Specialist subject? UEFA Champions League finals. And then what should have been the next question: “What’s a Portsmouth fan doing answering questions about Champions League finals?”

Fortunately, this contestant’s knowledge of the competition extends beyond Pompey’s efforts on the European stage – “The closest we’ve got is a UEFA Cup game against AC Milan back in 2008,” he says. That titbit alone is indicative of his ability to retain facts and figures, something he further proved on UK quiz show Mastermind by answering 11 of the 12 questions he was asked on his chosen topic. Which club beat AC Milan 1-0 in May 1993? Marseille. Which club reached their second Champions League final in 2013? Dortmund. And so on.

The prep work was informed by Eaden’s day job. “I used quite a lot of techniques that I use with the kids at school when I’m teaching them how to revise, like making flashcards,” he says. “I also got a PDF from the UEFA website, about 20 pages, that had all the data you could want. Then I made a notebook of all the finals and tested myself.”

To be fair, it wasn’t like he was learning from scratch. “I had a fairly good base of knowledge,” he says. “Before the show I could’ve named all the winners of the Champions League and the scorelines. But I did quite a lot of research on things like red cards and making sure I knew all the notable substitutions – one of them being Harry Kewell coming off in the first half of the 2005 final and being replaced by Vladimír Šmicer, which ended up being a question on the show.”

Then there’s the question of how he dealt with the pressure. “I did feel like I was lining up for a Champions League game; the nerves in the build-up were the main issue,” he says. “But I suppose it’s like when you play football: once I was out there, I felt fine.”

Read the full story
Sign up now to get access to this and every premium feature on Champions Journal. You will also get access to member-only competitions and offers. And you get all of that completely free!

Name? Mark Eaden. Occupation? Maths teacher. Specialist subject? UEFA Champions League finals. And then what should have been the next question: “What’s a Portsmouth fan doing answering questions about Champions League finals?”

Fortunately, this contestant’s knowledge of the competition extends beyond Pompey’s efforts on the European stage – “The closest we’ve got is a UEFA Cup game against AC Milan back in 2008,” he says. That titbit alone is indicative of his ability to retain facts and figures, something he further proved on UK quiz show Mastermind by answering 11 of the 12 questions he was asked on his chosen topic. Which club beat AC Milan 1-0 in May 1993? Marseille. Which club reached their second Champions League final in 2013? Dortmund. And so on.

The prep work was informed by Eaden’s day job. “I used quite a lot of techniques that I use with the kids at school when I’m teaching them how to revise, like making flashcards,” he says. “I also got a PDF from the UEFA website, about 20 pages, that had all the data you could want. Then I made a notebook of all the finals and tested myself.”

To be fair, it wasn’t like he was learning from scratch. “I had a fairly good base of knowledge,” he says. “Before the show I could’ve named all the winners of the Champions League and the scorelines. But I did quite a lot of research on things like red cards and making sure I knew all the notable substitutions – one of them being Harry Kewell coming off in the first half of the 2005 final and being replaced by Vladimír Šmicer, which ended up being a question on the show.”

Then there’s the question of how he dealt with the pressure. “I did feel like I was lining up for a Champions League game; the nerves in the build-up were the main issue,” he says. “But I suppose it’s like when you play football: once I was out there, I felt fine.”

Penalty Pedigree

Etiam erat velit scelerisque in dictum non. Dictum non consectetur a erat nam at. Scelerisque felis imperdiet proin fermentum leo. Nibh tortor id aliquet lectus proin nibh nisl. Nulla at volutpat diam ut venenatis. At urna condimentum mattis pellentesque id nibh tortor id aliquet. Leo a diam sollicitudin tempor id eu nisl nunc mi. Dui vivamus arcu felis bibendum ut. Pharetra convallis posuere morbi leo urna molestie. Adipiscing at in tellus integer feugiat scelerisque. In arcu cursus euismod quis. Dictum non consectetur a erat nam at lectus urna duis. Facilisi nullam vehicula ipsum a arcu cursus. At tempor commodo ullamcorper a lacus vestibulum sed arcu non. Ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing elit pellentesque habitant. Vitae sapien pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus. Eget nullam non nisi est sit amet facilisis. Ipsum consequat nisl vel pretium lectus quam. Elit sed vulputate mi sit amet mauris commodo quis. Pretium fusce id velit ut tortor pretium viverra suspendisse potenti.

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