Aside from the rare ‘Starter for 10’, West Ham United does feature too often on the BBC’s academy quiz University Challenge.
However, the success of the brilliantly-talented and brilliantly-named Hammers fan Bobby Seagull has brought the unlikely pair together regularly in recent months.
The 32-year-old postgraduate student, maths teacher and mentor is also captain of the Emmanuel College, Cambridge, team which has passed three stern tests to reach the semi-finals of the 2016-17 series.
Born in East Ham to Indian immigrant parents, Seagull is no stranger to attention, having been subject of a story in the Daily Telegraph on earning a scholarship to prestigious Eton College as a teenager.
However, his eye-catching appearances on University Challenge have captured the imagination of print and digital journalists alike, while also attracting something of a cult following on social media.
#TeamEmma, as Seagull’s team have been christened, have impressed viewers with their deep, wide-ranging knowledge, while their enthusiastic captain has gone viral with his fist-clenching celebrations, enthusiasm and dapper outfits.
Seagull, who combines his studies with a teaching job at East London Science School in Bromley-By-Bow, is enjoying the attention his achievements have brought him, and wants to use his new-found stardom to benefit youngsters with similar backgrounds to his own.
whufc.com invited Seagull to London Stadium to talk West Ham United, University Challenge and his future ambitions…
Bobby, we know you as the captain of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and the star of University Challenge, but what can you tell us about your background and why you are a Hammer?
“My parents are from south India, and my siblings and cousins were all born in east London and that’s what my identity is. Since a young age, my passions have been reading and football, so every time I was not reading I would be going to play football with my friends and cousins.
“My Dad always said ‘Make sure that you get your reading done’ so, on Saturdays, we would head down to the library and pore over lots of books and then I’d listen to West Ham on the radio or play football in the park. Football is a huge passion of mine but reading has been important to me from a young age.
“My love of football is what spurred my love of numbers. When I was young and you see the league tables and points per game, points scored, goals conceded and all this led to a number-crunching instinct.
“When I was young, my Dad bought a database package and I bought one of those Panini sticker books and inputted every single bit of information about every player in the Premier League and tried to crunch out stats, like who the most efficient midfielder was etcetera. So football played a huge role in me getting into numbers!
“Football is played on the pitch and there are eleven players who decide how the game goes, but behind that, there are so many things – how many kilometres a player runs, how many interceptions are made, how many times the ‘keeper clears the ball – all these bits of information support and help the manager make the best decisions for the club.
“I am someone who loves numbers, loves West Ham and loves football, so it’s something that I can imagine myself getting into actually.”
You are now 32, so not your typical student! A look at your biography shows you have been an equities trader and founded a company, OxFizz, to encourage young people from similar backgrounds to your own to apply to the top universities. And now you’re combining your studies with being a maths teacher…
“I am graduating from a Masters in Education, specialising in Maths, from July, so then I want to do a PhD (a doctoral degree) in the same thing. At the same time, I’ll be teaching maths in secondary schools, probably in Cambridge, because that’s where my PhD will be.
“But I’ve always believed in the ability of young people to do well. You’re a blank canvas when you’re young, and it’s the same with young footballers as it is with young children at school – they just need the right guidance and confidence in them. I love to think that I can contribute back towards the development of young people.
“I think society is developed when we look after our young. We need to make sure in the UK that our youngsters like maths, and then they can go on to do other subjects and go to university and do whatever they need to do and be good citizens who can contribute and add to this country.”
So, how did you become captain of Emmanuel College, Cambridge’s, University Challenge team?
“Every university and college runs an independent trial to select their top four [for University Challenge]. So, my college did a couple of written tests and whittled down a couple of hundred to 30 or 40. Then we had the buzzer test where lots of questions were fired and then they selected the top four.
“From there, the BBC go round and select the top 28 teams to go on national television. They look for a combination of personality, knowledge…they don’t want you to crack in front of the glare of Paxman!”
Well, you have certainly got that combination…
“With my team, I have taken a sort of Bobby Moore, captain-leadership style. A captain’s job is to mould the team.
“With my team, we sat down and looked at everyone’s strengths and weaknesses. I set everyone targets and homework, and we even did this Facebook group where we posted three facts per week about an interesting area, and we had discussions, we went to pub quizzes…
“We got to know each other. I think that’s why people love it on TV, because we come across as people who are clever but also who really know each other. Not just people who have rocked up on the day. We’re friends who are enjoying ourselves and that comes across.”
What are your favourite subjects?
“Maths obviously [is a strength], and actually sports does sometimes come up. One of our quarter-final matches, we had a set of questions on UK football grounds. We managed to work out an answer being Goodison Park. My football knowledge came in useful there.
“I’m also keen on history. If I wasn’t a mathematician I’d have liked to be a historian. I love my dates and again there’s a number connections there.
“Geography; I like to travel, I like meeting those from different cultures. The area I’m not so good at is probably my biology. That’s something being a sports person I should take a greater interest in but that’s an area I’ve not been superb on.”
How did you develop your love and interest in West Ham United?
“My family love sport and we grew up in quite a diverse area. We had students of white British origin at school, Indian origin, black African origin and also Philippine origin, so that melting pot meant you got exposed to different cultures.
“Out of my first pay packet, during a gap year before university, I went and bought a West Ham Season Ticket and I used to be in the East Stand. I could leave my house at 2.44pm and be there for the first chorus of Bubbles at 2.57! We haven’t got a new Season Ticket yet but our plan is to get one once everyone is settled in.”
What are your favourite Hammers memories?
“The earliest memories I have are from cup games, because we weren’t season ticket holders back then so we got tickets for those instead. The renditions of Bubbles always stick in my mind. Where I live in East Ham, on matchday, we could hear the chorus of that. To go along to my first ever game and hear and take part in that was amazing. For me, my church is West Ham. There’s nothing that makes me feel more me than singing Bubbles with West Ham fans.”
And your favourite players?
“Paolo Di Canio was the first player when I grew up who loved the game and the fans. That goal he scored against Wimbledon still sticks in my mind.
“London is diverse and it’s great to have that mix but it’s great to have those people from here who are rooted and you can see people like Mark Noble and he’s such a role model. I think he’s the sort of lad who we need in this area, someone who’s proud of his roots. He is a great ambassador for Newham, for east London, for West Ham. I’d like to be as aspirational as that, albeit in a different field.
The Club moved from Upton Park to Stratford last summer, so what do you make of our new home?
“I’ve twice had tickets for the games here but I’ve been too ill to come! I’m massively overdue to come to a game here! Whenever a club moves away from their original ground there is sadness, but for us as a Club to move forward, I hope that we can get in the Champions League and win that in my lifetime.
“We have great aspirations here, we are modern and forward thinking and looking forward and there is that culture and tradition. We want to embrace the 21st century and become a world-leading club and I don’t see why West Ham can’t have those ambitions.”
What about your own ambitions for the future?
“I want to stay in education. I want to help other students in London to have aspirations. But I’d love to combine my teaching career perhaps with something that has a wider profile, maths or education programmes that are on BBC or something. Perhaps I can come to TV programmes or something like that.”
*Bobby Seagull and Emmanuel College, Cambridge’s University Challenge semi-final will be screened on BBC Two on Monday 27 March.