Huddersfield Town fan James Robinson will test his knowledge of the club – when he appears on Mastermind this week.
James, 25, of Mirfield, auditioned for the iconic TV quiz show with Town as his specialist subject.
Producers invited him to undergo a grilling from host John Humphreys and fellow supporters can see how he got on when the show airs on Friday.
James, who works as an admin assistant at Marshalls Mono in Southowram, has been going to games since he was seven.
“I have read all the books and watched all the DVDs and think I know a lot about Town,” said James.
“The club has always intrigued me and it has a fascinating history, right from the triple Championship wins in the 1920s, to famous managers like Herbert Chapman and players like Denis Law.
“I started supporting the club in 1995 but the club’s recent history, even in the lower divisions, is interesting.”
James is a seasoned TV quiz show contestant having appeared on Countdown twice, Pointless and Breakaway.
His first taste of quizzing came aged just 14 when he appeared on Channel 4’s Countdown with legendary host Richard Whiteley.
That experience had him hooked and Countdown is his favourite game show.
He went on the show again in 2009 with Jeff Stelling as the presenter and lost out at the conundrum stage.
He also reached the final of Pointless – with a Leeds fan as his partner!
James auditioned for Mastermind in May, choosing four specialist subjects.
Three were ruled out because they had been used in the last two years and when two other applicants dropped out, James was asked to appear.
Filming took place in July at the BBC’s Media City HQ in Salford.
“It was an interesting experience,” said James.
“Speaking to one of the other contestants he had been on the show before and his specialist subject was Chelsea Football Club.
“When he went back on this time his subject was the Russian Revolution. Given Roman Abramovich’s takeover of Chelsea that’s quite appropriate.”
James got into football after seeing Town top the table on TV.
He badgered mum and dad John and Carole to take him to a Town game.
John took him to his first game against Leicester in 1995 and James was addicted.
James, who now attends games with John, 58, and sister Stephanie, 19, has been a season ticket holder since 1997-98.
James denied he was a pub bore when it comes to Town but admitted: “Friends say I am Town mad.
“Having said that I have some friends who are bus watchers and they talk about seeing the 213 and that it has had a change of colour and that turns me off.
“Football is a common language. Everyone speaks about football though maybe not Huddersfield Town.”
James is a member of a Countdown online forum and brought his two passions together when he hosted a Countdown special at the John Smith’s Stadium in July.
James keeps on top of Town’s progress to such as extent he updates the club’s Wikipedia entry on the web.
Mastermind airs on BBC2 on Friday at 8pm.
James has devised 15 questions to test Examiner readers. The questions are split into easy, medium and hard. How did you score?
Five or less: Relegation beckons. Sure you don’t support Leeds? Six to 10: Could do better. More swotting needed. Eleven plus: A Town genius. Are you Statto in disguise?
EASY:
1. Who has been Town’s top scorer for three consecutive seasons in the 21st century?
2. Which team did Town beat in the 1922 FA Cup Final?
3. Which player who started his career at Town, won a World Cup Winners’ medal in 1966?
4. Who was Town’s manager when they won two of their three First Division titles in the 1920s?
5. In which year did Town beat Mansfield Town in the 3rd Division play-off final in Cardiff?
MEDIUM:
6. Who was Town’s manager when they won promotion to the 1st Division in 1970?
7. Who did Town lose to in the Autoglass Trophy final in 1994?
8. Who was manager of Town between 1929-1942, and was a player for the Terriers for the previous nine years?
9. Against which team did Town win their only Charity Shield in 1922?
10. Who is the only player to have played for Town to have won international caps for Greece?
HARD:
11. As of 2013, who has been Town’s only player-manager?
12. Which defender was the only Town player not to score in the play-off semi-final penalty shoot-out win over Brentford in 1995?
13. Who was top of the 1st Division goalscoring charts in 1954, the only Town player ever to do that?
14. In the 1990s, which defender became the first player to win the Player of the Year award (or Hargreaves Memorial Trophy) in two consecutive seasons?
15. What was the name of Town’s first player to receive an England cap, achieved in 1919?
