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Details
Ref: Mastermind (BBC quiz show)
Contestant: John Savage
Date: 2013 & 2016
Celtic’s Genius 
Amongst the Celtic Support you will find many great minds. You just need to look at this site, the Celtic Graves Forum and the article sites to see that Celtic is not simply a passing hobby for many. It is a real obsession, with academic levels of attention & analysis paid to the club’s history.
However, in 2013 one great man decided to put his knowledge on the club all to the test in the most challenging way possible.
John Savage, by trade a salesman from Polmont near Falkirk, managed to win a place on the cerebral quiz show Mastermind.
For those unaware of the program, it is a long-running BBC Show which has an austere & intimidating setting and poses questions of high academic standards. Past winners have been mostly scholars and redbrick university graduates/postgraduates (and beyond). You have to first answer questions on your chosen subject (a different topic per round) and then questions on general knowledge (which aren’t exactly very general but are at a high academic standard covering culture, history, science etc).
John Savage for his first round chose “The History of Celtic“. Not the first time a football history was the chosen subject, but the first time with Celtic there. John did brilliantly and won the whole round, scoring 11 on the Celtic questions. Some like to say the questions were generally not too taxing, but taking in they covered the whole history of Celtic and that he was under the hotseat spotlights, it’s no easy task. Apparently the researchers used this wiki site to help put together some of the questions.
To show it was no flash in the pan, he won his semi-final round as well, where his specialist subject was “Nazi Germany“. Sadly in the final, it was a step too far and he came fifth (with his specialist subject being “1970’s chart pop music“), however he still gained 20pts (5pts behind the winner) which is a great total, and so it was really tight amongst all the contestants.
We have a great respect for John, and he won great appreciation and some local fame with his appearance. This led to a wonderful LostBhoys Podcast interview I’d highly recommend for a listen.
He took the whole thing in his stride, had the bottle to take the challenge and made us all very proud of him.
If you can think you can do it and even match him then why not give it a go yourself?
He returned in 2016 later and chose “The life & times of Jock Stein“. He didn’t get as far as before, but scored well on the topic and did us all proud again.
Links
Celtic supporter makes history by choosing the Bhoys as his specialist subject on Mastermind
14 Feb 2013 00:01
Daily Record
SALESMAN John Savage will be seen on the BBC2 quizshow tomorrow night and is the first contestant ever to face a grilling on the Parkhead club.
John Savage will create history when he appears on Mastermind answering questions on Celtic John Savage will create history when he appears on Mastermind answering questions on Celtic
A CELTIC fan has made history by appearing on Mastermind to answer questions about his team.
John Savage, 52, will be seen on the long-running quiz show on BBC2 tomorrow night.
The tool salesman can’t reveal the result of the quiz, which was recorded in September.
But he has told of his delight at being the first contestant to face questions on Celtic in the programme’s 40-year history.
John, from Polmont, Falkirk, said: “When you apply, you have to give three specialist subjects up front so they know what you would do if you got through the different rounds.
“It’s also an administration thing for scheduling the programmes so that they don’t have four people on all answering questions about sport.
“The only reason I got to do Celtic as a broad subject was because it’s never been done before in 40 years of Mastermind.”
John competed against three other contestants whose specialist subjects were the singer Ian Dury, the Red Army 1941-1945 and the life and work of author and naturalist Gerald Durrell.
The married dad of one said he enjoyed being in front of the cameras and isn’t troubled knowing that millions of people will be watching him.
And he revealed he wore Celtic cufflinks on the show.
He added: “I wasn’t nervous in the slightest. I just went into it thinking, if I win, I win and if I get beat, I get beat.
“Unfortunately, I wasn’t allowed to wear the Hoops. You’re not allowed to wear any football top or anything with a logo on it.
“But I had a pair of Celtic cufflinks that my uncle left me and also a replica medal of Lisbon, which I wore on a chain under my shirt, for good luck.”
Scots Mastermind Final contestant John Savage comes fifth, losing out on title
5 Apr 2013 21:18
Daily Record
JOHN, a tools salesman from Polmont, near Falkirk, chose British pop music of the 1970s as his final specialist subject.
John Savage on Mastermind Final. John Savage on Mastermind Final.
VISHAL SHARMA
SCOTS hopeful John Savage has missed out being crowned this year’s Mastermind winner.
The 51-year-old came fifth out of six contestants taking part in the BBC show’s grand final.
John, a tools salesman from Polmont, near Falkirk, chose British pop music of the 1970s as his final specialist subject.
But, despite a brave performance, the dad of one was beaten by eventual winner Aidan McQuade, from Northern Ireland.
John – whose previous topics were Celtic and Nazi Germany – said he was surprised to have made it so far in the
competition.
His journey started last May when he first filled in questions on the Mastermind website and scored 100 per cent.
He said: “I entered thinking I wouldn’t even stand a chance of getting on the first show, never mind winning two rounds and reaching the final.”
John scored 20 points, meaning he missed out on the prize by five points.
Charity director Aidan, from South Armagh, triumphed after choosing Abraham Lincoln as his specialist subject.
He scored a solid 11 points and no passes.
He added a further 14 points and two passes during the general knowledge round to win the title.