c4countdown

George Armstrong

🕛 Countdown in Worcester 2027
🎤 Presented by Tom Stevenson
📅 Saturday, 20th February 2027

Despite a great debut in 2025, we couldn't quite squeeze Worcester into the calendar in 2026, so here it is at the start of 2027! Six games of Countdown against fellow fans of the show will give you a taste of ...

George Armstrong

🕛 Countdown in Worcester 2027
🎤 Presented by Tom Stevenson
📅 Saturday, 20th February 2027

Despite a great debut in 2025, we couldn't quite squeeze Worcester into the calendar in 2026, so here it is at the start of 2027! Six games of Countdown against fellow fans of the show will give you a taste of ...

George Armstrong

FOCAL will be holding our first Annual General Meeting in November. Attendance will be open to the entire community, and it will be a chance for you to get an understanding of how things work behind the scenes, as well as put across any questions you have. The potential dates (voted upon by ...

George Armstrong

Firm details will be retroactively linked in once their webpage is live, but for now, expect a standard 7 game tournament with a higher/open division and a lower one or two based on numbers. Also you can email james@focalcountdown.com and he can give you exact details as and when they are announced ...

George Armstrong

Edinburgh is back for 2027, but with a few exciting changes…
Date: Saturday, 17th April 2027

Venue: Edinburgh Central Youth Hostel, 9 Haddington Pl, Edinburgh EH7 4AL. PLEASE NOTE – This is at a different venue to last year's event.

Admission: The standard entry fee is £14. If you are entering ...

George Armstrong

One month to go now until our end of year extravaganza! Who'll win the Open? Who'll be our new FOCAL Champion? And who'll be the most embarrassing at the karaoke? Only one way to find out! Entries just £13pp. Full details at https://focalcountdown.com/milton-keyne ... open-2026/

George Armstrong

Legend One is now booked from 6:30-9:30. I've messaged those who've signed up to get their choice, and updated the sign up form so now you can choose whether you want Legend One or the Grange (or neither) as soon as you sign up - https://forms.gle/RoV8qKdvrFGgy5z86

George Armstrong

The next FOCAL meeting will be on Monday 7th September at 8pm. Main points of discussion will include the last few events and early 2027 calendar, update on finances, and announcement of anyone wishing to stand as Chair. If that person is you and you aren't a current Committee member / Organiser ...

George Armstrong

Where do you fancy going after the event this year? In recent times we've had two separate bookings, one at https://www.legendone.co.uk/ for Japanese/Chinese food with a private karaoke room, and the other at https://www.thegrangemk.co.uk/ for a more relaxed curry. Do you like these choices? Would ...

George Armstrong

Following on from our previous meeting, it was agreed that general complaints, particularly those unrelated to Safeguarding, should be handled via a separate channel. Jeff Clayton has kindly volunteered to take on the role of Complaints Handler, and has drafted up a Complaints Policy, which has been ...

George Armstrong

Hello all,

Following on from a group meeting last night, here is a brief update as to what's going on at FOCAL:

-We're working hard to upgrade our Safeguarding policies, including creating a separate channel for complaints handling.

-There will be an election for the position of Chair later this ...

George Armstrong

Hi all,

(Posting on behalf of Andy before he forgets...)

There's no group sit down booking after the event, but Riley's Sports Bar are expecting us. They have numerous pool and snooker tables, as well as darts and some other games too. I'll link their website and their food menu down below ...

George Armstrong

All to play for in two separate tournaments! Who will be our 2026 FOCAL champion?

Date: Saturday 28th November 2026
Venue: Novotel Milton Keynes, Saxon St, Leyburn Ct, Heelands, Milton Keynes, MK13 7RA (map)
Admission: The entry fee is £13. Please fill in the entry form: https://forms.gle ...

George Armstrong

Big announcement!

Some of you who were at Lincoln may remember I mentioned some upcoming Scrabble plans. Here I am to confirm them...

So James Burley (Co:Edi 2026: Countdown in Edinburgh host if anyone has a short term memory) was wanting to bridge the gap between the Countdown and Scrabble ...

George Armstrong

Any eager COLIN attendee who'd like to write the blog for this let me know

https://focalcountdown.com/category/latest-news/

George Armstrong

Fwiw I'd always planned to use the big screen for the final in MK (mainly to avoid anyone whining that they couldn't see despite standing behind the tallest person in the room 😂 ), but on the day we let the two finalists decide how they wanted to play it, and both chose the board (had it been 1 vote ...

George Armstrong

After 7 years away, FOCAL finally returns to the eponymous York in 2026!

Date: Saturday 9th May 2026
Venue: Door 84, 84 Lowther St, York YO31 7LX
Admission: Entry to CO:York is £15. Payment can be made by PayPal with this link: https://paypal.me/GArmstrong97/15GBP
Please fill out the entry form ...

George Armstrong

Posted on behalf of the real James Burley...

Date: Saturday, 18th April 2026
Venue: The New Melville Bridge Club, 1 Pinkhill, Edinburgh, EH12 7BA
Admission: The standard entry fee is £16
Hosted by: James Burley
Doors open: 10:00
Games to be played: Eight 9-rounders followed by 15-round grand final ...

George Armstrong

MK blog post now up - thanks again everyone ❤ https://focalcountdown.com/2025/12/01/f ... winner-is/

George Armstrong

FOCAL Finals 2025

PODIUM

1st place: Dylan Taylor (Won final 62 - 30 against Thomas Cappleman)
2nd place: Thomas Cappleman (Lost final)
3rd place: Tom Carey

STANDINGS

Players are ranked by number of wins then total points scored.

1 Dylan Taylor 7 6 504 (won final)
2 Thomas Cappleman 7 5 511 ...

George Armstrong

Here is said missing link:

https://greem.uk/colive/tourney/COWORCS25

As you probably know, going to greem.co.uk/co will give you all the standings - and you can click on a player to easily see all their games rather than having to rifle through the text. Blog post is now live on the FOCAL website ...

George Armstrong

There's a poll up on the FB page for the post event meal - Asian food and private karaoke at Legend One, or curry at The Grange. If you could vote if you're planning on coming along so we can more accurately make bookings. https://www.facebook.com/share/19yiK9TzLk/

George Armstrong

Thanks to everyone who came down to Oxford yesterday, and to Lee for teaching us some important life skills - check out some highlights from our session here: https://focalcountdown.com/2025/08/17/f ... -training/

George Armstrong

Good afternoon,

Those of you who regularly frequent our FOCAL tournaments might be aware that one thing we proposed for 2025 was to organise a First Aid Training Day in light of some incidents that occurred throughout 2024, so that more organisers and attendees were equipped with vital life ...

George Armstrong

A few comments/suggestions on the above:

-FOCAL events organisers/ hosts are not paid or reimbursed for their time. FOCAL is a nonprofit organisation and no-one involved makes anything financial from it.
-Any venue deposits therefore would need to pay up front out of pockets, and you would ...

George Armstrong

https://greem.uk/colive/list - from here you can get the live results of any tournaments at which there is WiFi

George Armstrong

Good afternoon,

Those of you who regularly frequent our FOCAL tournaments might be aware that one thing we proposed for 2025 was to organise a First Aid Training Day in light of some incidents that occurred throughout 2024, so that more organisers and attendees were equipped with vital life skills ...

George Armstrong

Scheduled it for 3pm. Finished by 4 so didn't clash <3

A brief rundown:

Overview of current FOCAL budget.
Discussion on safeguarding, including physical and mental First Aid training.
Adam had designed a new concept website. Will look to take pages from that and incorporate them. Also ...

George Armstrong

We'll be getting some custom pens and notepads on the day. Comparing to last year, the venue price has gone up, and well as just about everything else in life, so the extra money coming in has stopped either the entry fee going up, or the quality of the event going down (whichever way you choose to ...

George Armstrong

I'm proud to announce that this year's FOCAL Finals/Open will be sponsored by Crest IT

Crest IT offer a flexible range of IT Support packages to suit your business needs.

This can include access to full-time dedicated onsite IT support, ongoing monthly packages with unlimited telephone help, or ...

George Armstrong

Proudly sponsored by CREST IT - https://crest-it.co.uk

https://crest-it.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Group-886.svg

All to play for in two separate tournaments! Who will be our 2025 FOCAL champion?

Date: Saturday 29th November 2025
Venue: Novotel Milton Keynes, Saxon St, Leyburn Ct, Heelands ...

George Armstrong

Are the results being posted here?

Seeing as no one else has yet:

1 Jack Worsley 6 5 424 W
2 Bradley Horrocks 6 5 362 L
3 MSR 6 5 359
4 Fiona Titcombe 6 5 325
5 Dan Byrom 6 4 395
6 Stephen Read 6 4 393
7 Tim Hebbes 6 4 334
8 Richard Priest 6 4 321
9 Tracey Mills 6 4 306
10 Euan Crabb 6 4 268 ...

George Armstrong

Good evening,

You may recall late last year one of the proposed ideas going forward into 2025 was to arrange some first aid training courses in order to give more members of the community vital experience in being able to handle any physical or mental health incidents or issues that may occur at a ...

George Armstrong

Final standings & results:
Finals Played Wins Points
1 Dylan Taylor W 8 8 518
2 Jack Worsley L 8 7 551
3 Dan Byrom 8 6 492
4 Stephen Read 8 6 485
5 Tim Down 8 6 462
6 Tim Hebbes 8 5 475
7 Richard Priest 8 5 468
8 Tom Carey 8 5 461
9 Andy Platt 8 5 452
10 Gabriel Thallon 8 5 438
11 Jonathan de Souza ...

George Armstrong

This is a me problem but I found the screen to be too small for my dodgy eyes when I was at the rear tables but maybe next time I can bring 2 pairs of specs

The text is normally limited to being at the top of the screen so that if you're sat behind people their heads aren't in the way. You're ...

George Armstrong

As of today we're officially half full

. If you wanna secure your place at CO:Sheffield next month, £12 to www.paypal.me/GArmstrong97/12 is the best way (or message me for more options). Getting exciting now

George Armstrong

Afternoon folks. I've got a provisional booking for 15 for dinner after CO:Sheffield at COSMO buffet for 7pm after it won the previous poll. If you're intending to come to it, please let me know via DM.

https://www.cosmo-restaurants.co.uk/res ... /sheffield

George Armstrong

My understanding was that it stemmed from the idea that the top 8 should get into the final event free, but given that most people are agreed that travel/accommodation costs are the main thing, I'm not sure it's necessary. Also I think the final event is generally held in a (s)wanky conference ...

George Armstrong

Blog post now on the FOCAL website, words by Maus - https://focalcountdown.com/2025/02/22/h ... -to-coliv/

George Armstrong

To be absolutely clear, I wasn't suggesting any suspected shenanigans in tournament finances and apologise if my post gave that impression.

I'm just always pro-transparency - make it clear what the money is spent on, not because I believe anyone is being dishonest, but just because transparency ...

George Armstrong

There is a glut, with a couple that are two weeks apart. Cost and dancing around other commitments is challenging with that, for me and I'm sure for others. Not for admission, but for travel and hotel costs. Given previous instances (i.e Valentine's Day, the Durham Miners' Gala, and various ...

George Armstrong

I did suggest to George that Focal could pay for and own enough of Adam's nice sets of cards to ensure everyone at a Lincoln style event is enjoying the same quality play experience (this is assuming Adam has both the capacity and will to produce them - not sure what's involved!) I think it would ...

George Armstrong

Personally, whilst I loved the first ever triple header, I have to concede that it was a pita to get to on time (even before the train issues I'd have only just made it by train so ty for the lift Callum!) and I was also absolutely shattered by the time I got home (and admittedly spending the ...

George Armstrong

Have you bought your prizes for CO:LON yet? Got a couple of random smelly bits from Xmas if you'd like some donations?

George Armstrong

Or tl;dr use an rng - https://co-host.netlify.app/ <3

George Armstrong

Calling out letters primary school style: I'm having badges made for next year that have simply 'NO' written on them in order to discourage this.

Do we get a "NO" badge if we refrain from acting like children, or if we do? :lol:

If you get the no badge, it gets stuck into your forehead ...

George Armstrong

Ben Wilson wrote: Tue Jan 28, 2025 4:46 pm Calling out letters primary school style: I'm having badges made for next year that have simply 'NO' written on them in order to discourage this.

Do we get a "NO" badge if we refrain from acting like children, or if we do?

George Armstrong

The bit where we have to stand still in silence and listen to a 15 minute exhaustive checkbox list of upcoming events is always excrutiatingly boring and kills a lot of momentum and excitement in the room.

I understand that hosts need to promote events, and this is seen as a good opportunity to ...

George Armstrong

There's no official decision on whether or not you can or can't announce sign ups yet. Before this year it was only Braintree that didn't announce sign ups. Lincoln, Liverpool, Rugby and Sheffield (as recurring events from last year) following the trend this year will help me to see what, if any ...

George Armstrong

Scheduled it for 3pm. Finished by 4 so didn't clash <3

A brief rundown:

Overview of current FOCAL budget.
Discussion on safeguarding, including physical and mental First Aid training.
Adam had designed a new concept website. Will look to take pages from that and incorporate them. Also looking ...

George Armstrong

Following on from MK, I decided to utilise this trend and wrote a few promotional ones over the weekend to help advertise CO:Sheffield next May. Shameless plug ;) :

https://www.facebook.com/events/1127161078773560/?post_id=1152051926284475&view=permalink&notif_id=1733842948780879&notif_t=feedback ...

George Armstrong

Good morning folks,

For those not at Milton Keynes, you might not be aware of the announcement, so here I am to explain. As you'll know, Darren decided to step down as Chair, and you voted for who you'd like to replace him. Thank you to all the organisers who took part in the vote, but now comes ...

George Armstrong

As Fiona says, yes please sign up as soon as you know you're definitely going. It really helps organisers know how much money they'll have spare for prizes, customs pens and paper, the sort of thing we've got to order and have delivered.

Fwiw the cap on Sheffield is the very top of what I can put ...

George Armstrong

If that's the chippy near the Ark, last time someone had lunch from there and I pinched a chip, it was so bad I didn't finish said chip. Make of that what you will.

Dunno what time people are turning up. For me, if I'm on the train, I'll just about make it to Hykeham for 17.20 and can imagine ...

George Armstrong

Yesterday there were clumsy conundrum disputes pertaining to premature buzzing and losing conundrums due to spelling errors.

I mean if you spell it wrong, it's wrong and you don't get the points. Ideally hosts of Bristol events could avoid using cons that can be easily misspelled, eg METER ...

George Armstrong

Countdown in Sheffield is back, but what can you expect from CO:SHE 2025?:

Our Venue:

We will once again be at St Bartholomews, Primrose Hill, Langsett, Sheffield, S6 2UW. Just a 15 minute drive or 20 minute tram ride from Sheffield Station. There is a small amount of parking onsite and plenty of ...

George Armstrong

TBF it would have been even worse with 8 games. The Yorkshire trains arriving late and us having to wait for people, lots of slow newbies, etc. Hopefully smoother this year and I will try and get the overhead projector working as well.

And I kept messaging to tell you to start and wait for us ...

George Armstrong

Logged it as a ticket on Apto, am assured it's all fixed now

George Armstrong

Question for the northern lot. Are there any times of the year where you feel like it's tough to get to any event because there are several in a row so very far away?

But to answer this point, yes. Luckily for myself, I finish work early enough in the day to travel on Fridays, but for ...

George Armstrong

E.g next three Blackpool/Dublin/Glasgow. Getting to any of those is quite tough.

Arguably it's easier to get to both Dublin and Glasgow from London and the surrounding areas than it is from the wilderness of the good ol' North. London has plenty of airports...

But on the whole I think this ...

Search found 136 matches