First and foremost, FOCAL is a series of tournaments run by hard-working volunteers. It is these event hosts that form the spine of FOCAL, as without them we would have no events to attend or organise! Each one of these organisers gives up an awful lot of their own time, and often money, to put on a great community event for our benefit, and we are immensely grateful for them.

At the organisational level, FOCAL is now run by a small committee of volunteers, who make decisions regarding FOCAL’s policy and organisation. The committee members are:

George Armstrong – Chair

Elected as our newest Chair in late 2024, George has been attending FOCAL events since 2018 and organising since 2019 in York, London and currently Sheffield.

George has been a part of the ZoomDown presenting team, and was a contestant in the 2020 Countdown Christmas Specials hosted by Colin Murray.

Chris Marshall – Treasurer

Chris Marshall has been attending co-events since 2013. As a professional ACCA accountant, Chris was a natural fit for the role of treasurer for FOCAL, and has served diligently in that role since FOCAL was founded in 2016. As treasurer, Chris maintains FOCAL’s accounts to make sure that we can pay for the year end Finals event and support event organisers with resources.

Chris was a Countdown quarter-finalist in 2012 and supports Huddersfield Town.

Adam Beach – Social Media

Adam Beach, aka Beachy, has been attending events since Newcastle in May 2022. A wizard with the graphics, Beachy has already put his stamp on the FOCAL social media gig, and his beautiful handmade board can be seen gracing co-events across the country. While George left huge shoes to fill in this role, Beachy has already proven that he’s capable of rising to the challenge.

Beachy will be running his own event this year in Durham.

Matthew S Rutherford – Safeguarding

Matthew S Rutherford (or ‘MSR’ as we like to call him!) attended his first FOCAL event in Manchester 2020, and has since competed at many more and organised a few of his own. He took over as the organiser of Birmingham in August 2022, then cohosted Rugby with Adam Latchford in March 2023. Both locations have continued as annual events and have become double-headers, with a mini Friday night tournament preceding Saturday’s main tournament.

MSR joined the FOCAL committee in 2023 to aid with the development of safeguarding policies.

Darren Godfrey

Having joined the committee in 2023, Darren (Daz) was selected to be the new FOCAL chair for 2024, leading us through another successful year before stepping down at the end of a year, which included his maiden attempt at hosting an event in Oxford of June that year.

Jeff Clayton

Like Darren, Jeff has also brings vast experience to the committee as both a former Chair and seasoned event host. He’s a veteran Countdowner, making his debut on the scene at the first-ever Countdown tournament — the first of many COLINs all the way back in 2005. Jeff has never been afraid to try new things, and previously introduced The Big Weekend Quiz to FOCAL in 2023.

Rachel Perkins

Rachel has been attending events since 2019, and has been involved in cohosting our Braintree tournaments alongside Jeff. She joined the committee in late 2024, and has been able to provide invaluable experience from her HR background.