• THANK you for reporting on my recent win on the BBC’s Mastermind, (Which defeated Tory won a TV quiz?, January 17).

Whilst I was delighted with the coverage, one assertion cannot go unchallenged: that my earlier preference for a specialist subject, “Aberdeen Football Club in Europe” would not generate sufficient quiz material. Far from it!

The Dons have, in fact, won two European trophies: the 1982/83 Cup Winners’ Cup (defeating Bayern Munich and Real Madrid along the way) and the 1983/84 Super Cup. That’s a European pedigree on a par with those giants of north London football.

And despite nowadays operating on a budget comparable with that of most League One clubs, we have also run English Premiership and Spanish La Liga teams close in recent seasons.

Whilst I am indeed a recent Conservative candidate, I’ll nevertheless seek to keep politics out of this response. Suffice to say that the 1980s was a phenomenal decade: between 1979 and 1990, Aberdeen were league champions on three occasions and lifted no less than seven FA and League cups.

Amazing what you can achieve with an ambitious, determined leader ready to fearlessly take on powerful opponents and win repeatedly.

SANJOY SEN
West End Lane,
West Hampstead