A mum and son were left gobsmacked after being told they were barred from a pub quiz, not for “winning too much” as they believed, but due to their “offensive” team name. John Cullen, 30, a civil servant, and his mum Valerie, 73, a retired secretary, were regulars at the weekly quizzes held by Sphinx UK at Lanigan’s Irish Bar on Ranelagh Street.
The Wallasey pair had been attending every Monday night since September and often took home the top prize, reports the Manchester Evening News. But on their last visit on November 11, they were informed by a staff member they were no longer welcome at the quiz.
John, who had won four out of seven quizzes, thought their exclusion was down to their success. However, Lanigan’s told the ECHO the real reason was their “derogatory and offensive” team names, which made references to Madeleine McCann and Prince Andrew.
John insists they were never directly told their team names were problematic when they were banned from the quiz. He expressed they would have changed the name if asked, acknowledging: “I can see how people could find it offensive, but we aren’t the first team to use these names in jest in quizzes.
“We are regular quizzers who compete every week for fun. I find it outrageous and ridiculous that anyone would attempt to limit or stop someone from winning a quiz when the aim itself is to try to win.”
Andrew Carey, from the venue, told the ECHO: “John and his mother, Valerie are two very smart individuals, the problem being that every time they won a round or were the fastest team to answer the question, their team’s name would appear on the big screen in our pub and be announced over the house system by the host.
“In the end, with the number of complaints raised, we chose to ask the mother and son couple to leave the venue as they were causing offence. We have the right to admission in our own venue, and we will not tolerate such behaviour.”
Despite this, other teams have said they have also been turned away for, what they believe to be, the same reason as John and Valerie’s. Andrew denied this and added: “As far as management are aware they are the only team to be asked to leave the venue to date. I’ve never even heard of the other teams till your phone call.”
Liam Canning, originally from Bootle and now residing in Old Swan, shared his experience of being barred from Lanigan’s quiz night due to his team’s winning streak. The 31-year-old academic editor, who competed under the name International Frustration, recounted: “We were told we weren’t allowed to play at all because of our high-win rate.
“We were just like, ‘What is happening?’. I asked for a refund on my drink and I didn’t even get that. It was just a particularly funny situation to be in.”
“We were banned from there because they said it was ‘unfair to the students in the quiz’. We left and have never gone back. We’ve gone elsewhere since.”
Another quizzer, competing solo under the name Here For The Beer, claimed he was also asked not to return. He stated he attended five times and won twice consecutively. After his last win, he alleged he was handed the prize money and then told “not to return to the venue out of fairness to other teams and to keep the student vibe”.
He told the ECHO: “I have never had this treatment anywhere else. I feel discriminated against for two reasons. One, and most importantly, for being unable to return just for achieving two wins – it makes me feel that for being good at something – the entire purpose of a quiz – then I am unable to continue to do so.
“Secondly, for them stating that it is a student vibe. I am in my early thirties and still very willing to join in with the overall vibe, but I feel that because I’m no longer a student, I am not welcome. This was not stated anywhere within the venue or at any point during the quiz.”
Andrew claimed he had not heard of the two latter teams. Sphinx UK, the company behind the quiz, said: “The decision to remove John and Val from the event on Monday was solely down to the venue management team.
“At Sphinx, we pride ourselves on running events which are engaging for everyone regardless of ability. John and Val always have been – and continue to be – welcome at our events. We are unable to comment on any venue’s admission policy.
“Any decision to remove people from Lanigan’s will have been made by the venue management team. Sphinx welcomes all players of any ability to play our events. We are unable to comment on individual venue’s admission policies”.
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