Quickfire
Quickfire is the pub quiz speed round, played with football careers. Every round deals you a question at random: either two clubs, where you name players who turned out for both, or one club and one country, where you name everyone of that nationality who played there. Then the clock starts and you have sixty seconds to get as many as you can.
There is nothing to set up and nothing to spend. Wrong names cost you nothing, so you can throw in every half-remembered loanee, and there are no hints to weigh up, because there is no time for them. The board shows how many players there are to find, labelled by position and era, and whatever is left when the clock hits zero is revealed on the result screen.
How to play
- You’re dealt two clubs, or one club and one country. Name every player who fits.
- Sixty seconds on the clock, and it starts on your first letter. Wrong names are free and there are no hints.
- Your score is how many you named. At a table the phone goes round one name at a time, and the clock keeps running.
From the coachDon’t wait for names to come to you. Pick a season, picture the squad and fire them off.
Where to start
Just press Start. The first deal is drawn from the league you follow, and you can deal again as many times as you like before the round begins, so if the first pairing means nothing to you, roll another. Read the question, take a breath and only then type, because the clock does not start until your first letter.
Expect your first round to feel short. Most people name three or four players in the first twenty seconds and then stall while they search for the next one. That stall is what the game is about, and it shrinks quickly: by your third or fourth round you will have a way of working through a squad, and the totals start to climb.
How to get better at Quickfire
Have a sweep ready before the clock starts. The slots on the board are labelled with a position and the decade a player first turned up, so glance at them while you read the deal: if most of them say 2010s, start there. Then go through one era at a time, goalkeeper to striker, rather than waiting for a famous face to arrive. A structured sweep beats inspiration every time the clock is running.
Think about how players moved between the clubs you have been dealt. Pairs of clubs share players for reasons: a manager who took his favourites with him, a loan relationship, a selling club and its regular buyer. Once you have one name, ask who else made the same journey in the same couple of seasons. For a club and a country, think about which managers and scouts kept going back to that market.
Keep typing. Wrong names are free and the input clears straight away, so a half-remembered surname costs you a second at most. If the suggestion tray shows the player you meant, take it and move on. At a table the phone moves on after every guess, right or wrong, so the same rule applies: say something, because passing is the only way to waste your turn.
Where rounds get lost
- Waiting for the famous names — The stars come in the first ten seconds and then the round goes quiet. Most of the board is squad players, loanees and short spells, and the round is won by the person who goes looking for them.
- Reading the clock instead of the slots — The position and era labels tell you where the missing names are. Watching the countdown tells you nothing you can use.
- Forgetting the second spell — A player only needs to have turned out for the club at some point. Comebacks late in a career and short loans count just as much as a long first spell.
Common questions
- Can I choose the clubs?
- No, every round is dealt at random, which is the point: nobody gets to pick the club they know best. You can deal again as often as you like before you press Start. The deals come from the league you follow, so the clubs are ones you are likely to know.
- When does the clock start?
- On your first letter, not when the board opens, so you always get to read the question first. It pauses while the rules sheet is open and ends the round the moment it reaches zero.
- How is it scored if a deal has dozens of players?
- By how many you named. Nobody clears a big deal in a minute, so the stars are measured against a sensible target rather than the full list, and a small deal is scored against all of it. Whatever you missed is shown at the end.
- Can a group play it on one phone?
- Yes. You share one clock and pass the phone after every guess, right or wrong. Each correct name is a point to whoever said it, and when the time is up the most points wins.
It’s you if you are the one who shouts the answers before the quizmaster has finished the question.