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Before
the ball got rolling in Great Britain, four countries from Europe - France,
Belgium, Germany and Italy - were showing the way, launching Jeux Sans
Frontières together. These programmes were not transmitted in Great
Britain.
Jeux Sans Frontières events took place in two locations
each week - taking their lead from Intervilles - with live events
happening simultaneously in the towns of the two competing teams. Some
competitors would travel to the rival's town to compete in games, while others
would remain at home to face their travelling opposition there. Crowds in the
two locations could watch the events in the other town on a series television
monitors erected at the scene of each event. The programmes were mixed and
broadcast live on the Eurovision Network of the European Broadcasting Union.
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Jeux
Sans Frontières 1965
Entrants
1965:
Belgium (B) • France (F) • West Germany (D) • Italy
(I)
Presenters
of International Heats:
Jean-Claude Menessier (B), Guy Lux (F),
Enzo Tortora and Giulio Marchetti (I), Unknown (D)
International
Referees: Gennaro Olivieri (and unknown)
Produced by
RTB-BRT
(B), ORTF (F),
ARD-WDR (D), RAI (I) |
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1965-01 |
Jeux
Sans Frontières 1965 |
Heat 1 |
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RTB-BRT/ORTF/ARD-WDR/RAI
Transmission: Wednesday 26th May 1965 (Live)
Not broadcast in Great Britain |
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Venues:
Dax, France and Warendorf, West Germany |
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Teams:
Dax (F) v. Warendorf (D) |
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Result: |
Team: |
Points: |
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1st
2nd |
D
• Warendorf
F • Dax |
-
- |
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Made
in B/W • This programme may exist in European archives |
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1965-02 |
Jeux
Sans Frontières 1965 |
Heat 2 |
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RTB-BRT/ORTF/ARD-WDR/RAI
Transmission: Wednesday 9th June 1965 (Live)
Not broadcast in Great Britain |
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Venues:
Orange, France and Camogli, Italy |
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Teams:
Orange (F) v. Camogli (I) |
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Result: |
Team: |
Points: |
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1st
2nd |
-
- |
-
- |
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Made
in B/W • This programme may exist in European archives |
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1965-03 |
Jeux
Sans Frontières 1965 |
Heat 3 |
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RTB-BRT/ORTF/ARD-WDR/RAI
Transmission: Wednesday 23rd June 1965 (Live)
Not broadcast in Great Britain |
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Venues:
Binche, Belgium and Siegburg, West Germany |
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Teams:
Binche (B) v. Siegburg (D) |
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Result: |
Team: |
Points: |
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1st
2nd |
-
- |
-
- |
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Made
in B/W • This programme may exist in European archives |
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1965-04 |
Jeux
Sans Frontières 1965 |
Heat 4 |
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RTB-BRT/ORTF/ARD-WDR/RAI
Transmission: Wednesday 7th July 1965 (Live)
Not broadcast in Great Britain |
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Venues:
Stavelot, Belgium and Saint-Amand-les-Eaux, France |
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Teams:
Stavelot (B) v. Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) |
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Result: |
Team: |
Points: |
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1st
2nd |
F
• Saint-Amand-les-Eaux
B • Stavelot |
-
- |
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Made
in B/W • This programme exists in European archives •
Highlights of this edition were broadcast in 1985 by the RTBF in Belgium as
part of the television programme, Il Était Une Fois La Télé: Jeux Sans
Frontières. |
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1965-05 |
Jeux
Sans Frontières 1965 |
Heat 5 |
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RTB-BRT/ORTF/ARD-WDR/RAI
Transmission: Wednesday 21st July 1965 (Live)
Not broadcast in Great Britain |
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Venues:
Lemgo, West Germany and Orvieto, Italy |
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Teams:
Lemgo (D) v. Orvieto (I) |
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Games included:
Romeo and Juliet |
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Result: |
Team: |
Points: |
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1st
2nd |
I
• Orvieto
D • Lemgo |
-
- |
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Made
in B/W • This programme may exist in European archives |
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1965-06 |
Jeux
Sans Frontières 1965 |
Heat 6 |
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RTB-BRT/ORTF/ARD-WDR/RAI
Transmission: Wednesday 4th August 1965 (Live)
Not broadcast in Great Britain |
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Venues:
Ischia, Italy and Place Monseu (Monseu Square), Ciney, Belgium |
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Teams:
Ischia (I) v. Ciney (B) |
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Team Members
included: Jean Alexandre, Robert Alexandre, Victor Alexandre, Jules
Bleret, Olivier Demeuse, Andre Even, Christian Evrard, Leonce Poncelet,
Jacques Roberfroid (B • Ciney) |
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Games included:
Water Polo, The Escaped Prisoner (in Italy), Acrobatic Motorcycling (in
Belgium) |
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Result: |
Team: |
Points: |
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1st
2nd |
B
• Ciney
I • Ischia |
8
4 |
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Did You Know?
The game, The Escaped Prisoner, involved competitors abseiling down the
sheer cliff face at Ischia to the bay. The daring team member performing this
feat for Ciney was a paratrooper, experienced in free falling and
mountaineering - which was fortunate! |
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Did You Also
Know? Ciney Mayor, Joseph Lambert, fondly known as 'Jojo', issued a
rallying call to his townsfolk ahead of this heat: "On August 4, Ciney
participate in Jeux San Frontières, which will be broadcast across Europe. We
must all strive to gain the victory. We ask you to all be present at the Place
Monseu to express your support in all ways possible: trumpets, whistles,
placards. The young must create a lively atmosphere in front of 80 million
television viewers. Ciney must be seen as the dynamic city that one speaks
of..." Later, after Ciney's victory, Lambert commented that "This bringing
together of people from different countries is perhaps the most beautiful
success of Jeux Sans Frontières... We thank the Italian athletes for
their fair play and their courtesy..." |
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Did You Also
Know? Ischia is a small island in the Gulf of Naples, part of the south
western coast of Italy. At the time of this competition, the island's
population stood at 12,000 people. |
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Made
in B/W • This programme exists in European archives •
Highlights of this edition were broadcast in 1985 by the RTBF in Belgium as
part of the television programme, Il Était Une Fois La Télé: Jeux Sans
Frontières. |
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1965-07 |
Jeux
Sans Frontières 1965 |
1st
Semi-Final |
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RTB-BRT/ORTF/ARD-WDR/RAI
Transmission: Wednesday 18th August 1965 (Live)
Not broadcast in Great Britain |
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Venues:
Warendorf, West Germany and Place Monseu (Monseu Square), Ciney, Belgium |
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Teams:
Warendorf (D) v. Ciney (B) |
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Team Members
included:
Ciney (B): Michel Lahaut and Marc Jottard (both 'Intellectuals') |
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Result: |
Team: |
Points: |
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1st
2nd |
B
• Ciney
D • Warendorf |
13*
13 |
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Did You Know?
This closely-fought semi-final had to be decided on a tie-breaker. The means
was a general knowledge quiz of the 'Intellectuals' of the two towns. The
final question, the decider, was "Zurich, Basle and Geneva are three cities of
Switzerland. Which is the fourth? You have thirty seconds to answer." The
Germans answered "Lausanne", the Belgians responded with "Bern". The jury
milked the tension and waited before announcing 'Bern' as the correct answer.
Ciney had won through to the final and the watching crowd in the town square
exploded with relief and excitement. |
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Did You Also
Know? Ischia, the Italian team that Ciney had defeated two weeks previous
to this event proved themselves good losers by sending the Ciney team a
telegram congratulating them on their success. |
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Made
in B/W • This programme may exist in European archives |
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1965-08 |
Jeux
Sans Frontières 1965 |
2nd
Semi-Final |
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RTB-BRT/ORTF/ARD-WDR/RAI
Transmission: Wednesday 1st September 1965 (Live)
Not broadcast in Great Britain |
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Venues:
Saint-Amand-les-Eaux, France and Orvieto, Italy |
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Teams:
Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) v. Orvieto (I) |
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Result: |
Team: |
Points: |
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1st
2nd |
F
• Saint-Amand-les-Eaux
I • Orvieto |
-
- |
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Made
in B/W • This programme may exist in European archives |
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1965-09 |
Jeux
Sans Frontières 1965 |
International
Final |
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RTB-BRT/ORTF/ARD-WDR/RAI
Transmission: Wednesday 15th September 1965 (Live)
Not broadcast in Great Britain |
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Venues:
Saint-Amand-les-Eaux, France and Place Monseu (Monseu Square), Ciney,
Belgium |
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Teams:
Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) v. Ciney (B) |
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Games included:
Young Cows, Attack of the Prisoner, Motorbike Rally and the Race of the Coffee
Boys |
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Result: |
Team: |
Points: |
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1st
1st |
Ciney
(B)
Saint-Amand-les-Eaux (F) |
11
11 |
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Did You Know?
This International Final was a very competitive one that was not without its
controversy. After the first two games (Young Cows and Attack of the
Prisoner), the score was level at 3-3. After the motorbike game, it is
5-5. The event concluded with the Race of the Coffee Boys game which
was held at Saint-Amand-les-Eaux. It was during this event that the Belgian
team were reputed to have been unfairly disadvantaged by the French
organisers. Belgian officials and team members were quick to note that the
French team had won the game as a consequence of cheating... So the event
ended with the scores tied at 11-11 and as in their semi-final, Ciney once
more had to rely on their 'intellectuals' to claim the win. As it transpired,
although the question and answer session commenced, and no clear winner arose,
the Mayor of Saint-Amand-les-Eaux proposed an end to the duel and for the
title to be shared between the two towns. Out of a sense of fair play, Ciney
Mayor, Joseph Lambert, agreed to the gesture. He went on record as saying:
"The proposal comes from the Mayor of Saint-Amand. I wanted to show the
millions of television viewers that we are good sports. The electrifying
atmosphere of the final influenced the incident in the final game. In any way,
Ciney is and remains the only moral winner of this first edition of Jeux
Sans Frontières." |
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Did You Also
Know? As with Iscia previously, Ciney's vanquished semi-final opponents,
Warendorf, sent messages of goodwill to the Belgian team prior to the
International Final. |
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Made
in B/W • This programme may exist in European archives |
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