A WARRINGTON Wolves fan has chosen the Wire as his specialist subject for his appearance on Mastermind this weekend.

Cliff Houghton will make his second appearance on the popular BBC quiz show at the semi-final stage in an episode screened at 8pm on Friday.

Chairman of the town’s quiz team, Cliff played as a scrum half in his younger days and names Parry Gordon as his favourite Warrington Wolves player over the years.

Speaking to the club website, he said: “I was at a quiz event in Warrington and Mastermind just happened to be there.

“They handed out question sheets to everyone so I filled it in, they marked it and came to me for a little interview and a photograph.

“I suggested a couple of specialist subjects and nominated a few books for them to set questions from.

“They then let me know it was all approved and I was on.

“I’ve been a Warrington supporter since I was very small – I watched Brian Bevan play, that’s how long it’s been.

“I was born in Warrington, so I automatically followed them with my dad who brought me to my first match.”

Cliff selected Everton FC as his specialist subject during his first appearance on the show, but will now tackle questions on the Wire.

He added: “Once Warrington RLFC was named as my chosen subject I came in to speak to Neil Dowson at the club, just after his book had been published.

“I bought it and got an awful lot out of that – I spoke to Neil Kelly too and got some books from their archive.

“I then wrote about 200 of my own questions that I thought were likely to come up – luckily I covered the majority.

“You don’t really know what to expect once you get there – you get taken into the green room and then paraded off to makeup before lining up to take you in at the back of the studio.

“You then see the black chair in front of you, the audience and spotlight – that’s where you think ‘what have I done?’, that’s when it hits you.

“John Humphrys comes in and it’s time for name, occupation and specialist subject.”