Blackpool did Britain proud in the International Final this year and the BBC staged the first of many FA Cup Final Knockout specials. The equivalent of the 'marathon' game in the international competitions, called the ‘Jeu Intermédiaire’ (intermediary game) in previous years, was renamed the 'Fil Rouge' from 1971. This name would become familiar and was henceforth a permanent fixture in Jeux Sans Frontières.

This year also saw a one-off experiment with the master scoreboard. Instead of the teams being placed in order of the country’s alphabetical order, they were placed on the scoreboard in the order of their participation in the Fil Rouge. This resulted in every country, appearing in every position on the scoreboard.

For one year only, countries in JSF did not miss out games in their alphabetical order. All countries missed a different numbered game spread out over the series instead of the normal sequence of the country alphabetically first after the home team. There was a draw before the start of the series determining which teams would miss what games in the heats. All home teams were guaranteed to go last in their heats but all countries would miss out Games 1-7 once only in all heats. e.g. in the French heat, the order of missing out games was NL, I, B, GB, D, CH, F. This meant that in NO other International Heat would NL miss the 1st game again, Italy the 2nd, Belgium the 3rd, etc.

It's A Knockout 1971
including FA Cup Final Knockout

Presenters: David Vine and Eddie Waring / Referee: Arthur Ellis
Scoregirls: Glynne Geldart, Jennifer Lowe and Sue Gresham
Designer: Stuart Furber / Producer: Barney Colehan / Director: Ian Smith
A BBC North West Production

1971-01

It's A Knockout 1971

Heat 1

BBC1 Transmission: Wednesday 21st April 1971, 7.10-8.00pm
Recorded: Sunday 18th April 1971

Venue: Eirias Park, Colwyn Bay, Denbighshire

Teams: Colwyn Bay v. Blackpool

Team Members included:
Colwyn Bay - David Mitchell
Blackpool - Tony Smith

Result:

 Team:

Points:

1st
2nd

 Colwyn Bay
 Blackpool

12
9

Colwyn Bay qualified for Jeux Sans Frontières in Italy: transmitted on 30th July 1971. Blackpool also qualified as hosts of the British Jeux Sans Frontières, transmitted on 10th September 1971.

Made in Colour • This programme exists in the BBC Archives

1971-02

It's A Knockout 1971

Heat 2

BBC1 Transmission: Wednesday 28th April 1971, 7.10-8.00pm
Recorded: Sunday 25th April 1971

Venue: Hawcoat Park, Barrow-in-Furness, Lancashire

Teams: Barrow-in-Furness v. Kendal

Result:

 Team:

Points:

1st
2nd

 Kendal
 Barrow-in-Furness

13
6

Exmouth qualified for Jeux Sans Frontières in Switzerland: transmitted on 6th August 1971

Made in Colour • This programme does not exist in the BBC Archives

1971-03

It's A Knockout 1971

Heat 3

BBC1 Transmission: Wednesday 5th May 1971, 7.10-8.00pm (Pre-recorded)

Venue: Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire

Teams: Tewkesbury v. Hereford

Team Members included: Ian Rodger (Tewkesbury)

Result:

 Team:

Points:

1st
2nd

 Tewkesbury
 Hereford

-
-

Tewkesbury qualified for Jeux Sans Frontières in Netherlands: transmitted on 13th August 1971

Did You Know? Although now located in the county of Cumbria following the complete redistribution of county boundaries under the Local Government Act 1972 (which took effect in April 1974), Barrow-in Furness was, at the time of this recording, part of the county of Lancashire!

Made in Colour • This programme does not exist in the BBC Archives

1971-04

It's A Cup Final Knockout 1971

FA Cup Final Special

BBC1 Transmission: Saturday 8th May 1971, 12.55-1.40pm
(Shown as part of Cup Final Grandstand)
Recorded: Sunday 18th April 1971

Venue: The Boating Lake, Eirias Park, Colwyn Bay, North Wales

Teams: Arsenal F.C. Supporters' Club v. Liverpool F.C. Supporters' Club

Team Members included: Pete Murray (Arsenal) and Anthony Booth (Liverpool) and personalities from the 1950 FA Cup Final between Arsenal and Liverpool: Joe Mercer, Reg Lewis and Walley Barnes of Arsenal; Phil Taylor, Billy Liddell and Albert Stubbins of Liverpool. Dave Cochrane, a Liverpool fan (sensible man!), was one of the supporters representing his club.

Result:

 Team:

Points:

1st
2nd

 Liverpool F.C. Supporters' Club
 Arsenal F.C. Supporters' Club

-
-

Did You Know? This edition of It’s a Cup Final Knockout was recorded on the morning of the main It’s a Knockout programme at the same venue (Heat 1), which took place in the afternoon.

Made in Colour • This programme exists in the BBC Archives

1971-05

It's A Knockout 1971

Heat 4

BBC1 Transmission: Wednesday 12th May 1971, 7.10-8.00pm
Recorded: Sunday 16th May 1971

Venue: Prestwick, Ayrshire, Scotland

Teams: Prestwick v. Falkirk

Result:

 Team:

Points:

1st
2nd

 Prestwick
 Falkirk

14
5

Prestwick qualified for Jeux Sans Frontières in France: transmitted on 27th August 1971

Made in Colour • This programme does not exist in the BBC Archives

1971-06

It's A Knockout 1971

Heat 5

BBC1 Transmission: Wednesday 19th May 1971, 7.10-8.00pm (Pre-recorded)

Venue: Arbourthorne Playing Fields, Sheffield, Yorkshire

Teams: Sheffield v. Scunthorpe

Result:

 Team:

Points:

1st
2nd

 Scunthorpe
 Sheffield

13
8

Scunthorpe qualified for Jeux Sans Frontières in Germany: transmitted on 3rd September 1971

Did You Know? This edition was reported as being attended by 50,000 people by the Scunthorpe Evening Telegraph, the second highest attendance at that point for IAK. Part of the appeal was that Sheffield were out for revenge following Sheffield Wednesday's exit from the 1970 FA Cup competition at Scunthorpe's hands. After the first two games, Sheffield lead 6-0, but Scunthorpe pulled things back to 10-8 and scooped the victory by winning the all-important mini marathon.

Made in Colour • This programme does not exist in the BBC Archives

1971-07

It's A Knockout 1971

Heat 6

BBC1 Transmission: Wednesday 26th May 1971, 7.10-8.00pm (Pre-recorded)

Venue: Southampton, Hampshire

Teams: Southampton v. Bournemouth

Result:

 Team:

Points:

1st
2nd

 Bournemouth
 Southampton

-
-

Bournemouth qualified for Jeux Sans Frontières in Belgium: transmitted on 17th September 1971

Made in Colour • This programme does not exist in the BBC Archives

Jeux Sans Frontières 1971

Entrants 1971: Belgium (B) • France (F) • West Germany (D) • Great Britain (GB)
Netherlands (NL) • Italy (I) • Switzerland (CH) 

Presenters of International Heats: Paule Herreman and Jan Theys (B), Guy Lux and Simone Garnier (F), Camillo Felgen (D), David Vine and Eddie Waring (GB), Barend Barendse and Dick Passchier (NL), Giulio Marchetti and Rosanna Vaudetti (I), Jan Hiermeyer and Dorothea Furrer (CH)

Commentators (BBC): David Vine and Eddie Waring / International Referees: Gennaro Olivieri, Guido Pancaldi / Referee (BBC): Arthur Ellis

Designer (BBC): Stuart Furber
Producer (BBC): Barney Colehan / Director: Ian Smith
Produced by RTB-BRT (B), ORTF (F), ARD-WDR (D), 
BBC North West (GB), NCRV (NL), RAI (I), SSR (CH)

 

Key: International Heats  l = Qualified for International Final / l = Heat Winner (Silver Trophy) International Final l = Gold Trophy   l = Silver Trophy   l = Bronze Trophy

1971-08

Jeux Sans Frontières 1971

Heat 1

BBC1 Transmission: Friday 30th July 1971, 9.20-10.35pm
Recorded: Wednesday 9th June 1971

Venue: Riccione, Italy

Theme: The Cube

Teams: Ougrée (B) v. Alès (F) v. Idar-Oberstein (D) v. Colwyn Bay (GB) v. Linne (NL) v. Riccione (I) v. Courrendlin (CH)

Team Members included:
Colwyn Bay (GB) - David Mitchell
Riccione (I) - Antonietta Bologna, Patrizia Bombardieri, Leopoldi Carlini, Davide Casadei, Clara degli Espositi, Paolo Fabbri, Margherita Dasparini, Franco Geminiani, Giorgio Gentile, Minea Giavolucci, Maria Mancinelli, Olinto di Mario, Graziella Minuzzoli, Gabriella Moretto, Tiziano Mulazzoni, Gianluigi Sciboni, Maurizio Sorci, Santo Rossi, Lidia Tonti

Games: ‘All on the Cube’, ‘The Cubed Footbridge’, ‘Balance and Speed’, ‘Take a Chance’, ‘Cubes in the Air’, ‘The Circle’, ‘The Magic Cube’, ‘The Kangaroo’ (Fil Rouge) and ‘The Cube Race’

Result:

 Team:

Points:

1st
2nd
3rd
4th
4th
6th
7th

 I • Riccione l l
 D • Idar-Oberstein
 NL • Linne
 GB • Colwyn Bay
 CH • Courrendlin
 B • Ougrée
 F • Alès

48
42
40
31
31
21
20

Did You Know? For this year, there was a change to the format of the Fil Rouge. Until this year the Fil Rouge had been played on seven separate occasions after each of the first seven games. However, 1971 saw two Fil Rouges being played consecutively (but not together) after Games 2, 4 and 6 and the home team of each heat played its Fil Rouge separately after Game 7.

Did You Also Know? Italian team members Franco Geminiani, Gabriella Moretto, Santo Rossi and Maurizio Sorci all participated again for Riccione in 1975.

Made in Colour • This programme does not exist in the BBC Archives

1971-09

Jeux Sans Frontières 1971

Heat 2

BBC1 Transmission: Friday 6th August 1971, 9.20-10.35pm
Recorded: Wednesday 23rd June 1971

Venue: Solothurn, Switzerland

Theme: The Legends and Attractions of Switzerland

Teams: Sint-Niklaas (B) v. Mulhouse (F) v. Schwabach (D) v. Kendal (GB) v. Drachten (NL) v. Melfi (I) v. Willisau (CH)

Team Members included:
Mulhouse (F) - Nicole Bringel, Daniel Bruder, Claire Centlivre, Edith Foucal, Marc Gimenez, Francine Grzelak, André Heinrich, Charles Herrmann, Daniel Himbert, Jean-Jacques Horny, Serge Kaczala, Gabrielle Klinzing, Pierre Knopf, Jacques Lakermance (Team Captain), Daniel Maeder, Roland Metzger, Régine Oser, René Schirmeyer, Mireille Tischmacher, Miles Michèle Ulrich

Games: ‘The Propelled Watch’, ‘Edelweiss’, ‘The Wood Cutter’, ‘William Tell and his Son’, ‘The Bells’, ‘The North Wind Blows’, ‘The Solothurn Buffoon’, ‘The Imprisoned Damsels’ (Fil Rouge) and ‘The Snowmen’

Result:

 Team:

Points:

1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th

 D • Schwabach l
 CH • Willisau l
 NL • Drachten
 I • Melfi
 F • Mulhouse
 GB • Kendal
 B • Sint-Niklaas

47
44
41
35
30
28
24

Made in Colour • This programme does not exist in the BBC Archives

1971-10

Jeux Sans Frontières 1971

Heat 3

BBC1 Transmission: Friday 13th August 1971, 9.20-10.35pm
Recorded: Wednesday 7th July 1971

Venue: Ahoy Stadion (Ahoy Stadium), Zuidwijk, Rotterdam, Netherlands

Theme: Means of Transport

Teams: Watermael-Boitsfort (B) v. Le Mans (F) v. Rheinbach (D) v. Tewkesbury (GB) v. Alphen aan den Rijn (NL) v. L’Aquila (I) v. Biasca (CH)

Team Members included:
Tewkesbury (GB) - Ian Rodger

Games: ‘The Flying Dolphins’, ‘The Case Race’, ‘The Life-Savers’, ‘Miss Jeux Sans Frontières’, ‘The Knight and the Damsel’, ‘The Dog and Cat’, ‘The Sphere’, ‘Canoeing’ (Fil Rouge) and ‘The Launch’

Result:

 Team:

Points:

1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th

 NL • Alphen aan den Rijn l l
 GB • Tewkesbury
 F • Le Mans l
 I • L'Aquila
 CH • Biasca
 B • Watermael-Boitsfort
 D • Rheinbach

44
37
36
35
32
31
28

Did You Know? The team from the host town of Rotterdam was beaten by Alphen aan den Rijn in the Dutch Domestic series Zeskamp and failed to earn the right to participate in its home heat.

Made in Colour • This programme does not exist in the BBC Archives

1971-11

Jeux Sans Frontières 1971

Heat 4

BBC1 Transmission: Friday 27th August 1971, 9.20-10.35pm
Recorded: Wednesday 21st July 1971

Venue: Lac d'Allier (Allier Lake), Vichy, France
Weather Conditions: Dry and Warm

Theme: The Cartoon Characters of Walt Disney

Teams: Tournai (B) v. Vichy (F) v. Bockum-Hövel (D) v. Prestwick (GB) v. Zoetermeer (NL) v. Forio d’Ischia (I) v. Brig (CH)

Games: ‘Baloo and Mowgli’, ‘The Dwarves in Love’, ‘Pluto’s Bone’, ‘Aquatic Metronomes’, ‘The Flying Lancers, ‘Peter Pan’, ‘Mickey and Minnie Mouse’, ‘The Water Skiers’ (Fil Rouge) and ‘The Poisoned Apples’
Jokers: Joker Playing Cards

Result:

 Team:

Points:

1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th

 B • Tournai l
 NL • Zoetermeer
 D • Bockum-Hövel
 CH • Brig
 F • Vichy
 GB • Prestwick
 I • Forio d'Ischia

42
37
35
33
32
31
29

Did You Know? The Fil Rouge featured 3 water-skiers from each team being towed along by a speed boat. They had to ‘jump’ a ramp and toss a ball into one of three nets which were angled at 45° towards the oncoming skiers. Each net had a different value - top net (5pts), middle net (3pts), bottom net (1pt). However, when French team Vichy participated, the nets were set at a 90° angle, because the team wanted to show the rest how easy it was to score. But the French team had to eat humble pie when each of their three skiers failed to score!

Did You Also Know? Due to a craft erroneously encroaching into area of the River Allier where the games were being held, the final Fil Rouge was delayed and (as some of the participating countries were still transmitting ‘live’ broadcasts) it was decided to play the last game beforehand. This meant that the Fil Rouge result was given as the last scores of the contest.

Made in Colour • This programme does not exist in the BBC Archives

1971-12

Jeux Sans Frontières 1971

Heat 5

BBC1 Transmission: Friday 3rd September 1971, 9.20-10.35pm
Recorded: Wednesday 4th August 1971

Venue: Park und Küste de See Gifiz (Park and Waterside of Lake Gifiz), Offenburg, West Germany

Theme: Holidays in the Black Forest

Teams: Namur (B) v. Nancy (F) v. Offenburg (D) v. Scunthorpe (GB) v. Winschoten (NL) v. Jésolo (I) v. Colombier (CH)

Team Members included:
Jésolo (I) - Micaela Bariani, Ausilio Basso, Sergio Biaisin, Adriano Bigioni, Miriam Caputo, Bertillo Casagrande, Mario Coster, Giorgio Crema, Virgilio Crema, Giuseppe Cussellato. Luciana Facchin, Stefano Faggiano, Wilma Fontana, Giuseppe Giacobbo, Claudio Gianese, Maria Mazzariol, Sandra Milani, Renzo Neri, Paolo Pasqualetto, Luisa Razzetti, Giorgio Rossi, Paolo Scagnetto (Team Captain), Ruggero Stragliotto, Roberto Venzo, Marina Venzo

Games: ‘Crossing the River’, ‘Winter Bobsleigh’, ‘The Long Jump’, ‘The Sailing Boat’, ‘The Downpour of Rain’, ‘German Horse Race’, ‘The Bath Tub’, ‘Heading Footballs’ (Fil Rouge) and ‘The Giant Balls’

Result:

 Team:

Points:

1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
5th
7th

 D • Offenburg l l
 I • Jésolo
 B • Namur
 GB • Scunthorpe
 CH • Colombier
 F • Nancy
 NL • Winschoten

47
43
39
30
29
29
25

Did You Know? The German team of Offenburg qualified for the 1971 International Final by virtue of their having won five games compared to the four wins achieved by fellow West German team, Schwabach, who had also won their international heat with 47pts. Incidentally, after finishing in 6th place on the first game, Offenburg almost did not make it to the Final. The team had to pull out all the stops to win 5 out of the next 7 games they played!

Did You Also Know? Eight members of Italian team Jésolo in this heat had previously participated in Jeux Sans Frontières - Virgilio Crema, Maria Mazzariol, Paolo Scagnetto and Ruggero Stragliotto had been team members of both Adria (1969) and Bassano del Grappa (1970), whilst Micaela Bariani, Ausilio Basso, Wilma Fontana and Sandra Milani had represented Bassano del Grappa in 1970. Giorgio Crema and Paolo Scagnetto returned to feature in the Jésolo team of 1976.

Did You Also Know? Two members of the Scunthorpe team were slightly injured in this event.

Made in Colour • This programme does not exist in the BBC Archives

1971-13

Jeux Sans Frontières 1971

Heat 6

BBC1 Transmission: Friday 10th September 1971, 9.20-10.35pm
Recorded: Wednesday 18th August 1971

Venue: South Promenade and Bathing Pool, Blackpool, Great Britain

Theme: Games at the Castle

Teams: Tielt (B) v. Saint-Malo (F) v. Wetter (D) v. Blackpool (GB) v. Rolde (NL) v. Canelli (I) v. Ascona (CH)

Team Members included:
Blackpool (GB) - Tony Smith

Games: ‘Balloons and Skates’, ‘The Floating Balance’, ‘Pushing the Balloon’, ‘Mattress Race’, ‘A Watery Trapeze’, ‘Steeplechase and Shoes’, ‘Rings in the Water’, ‘Football’ (Fil Rouge) and ‘The Castle Siege’

Result:

 Team:

Points:

1st
2nd
2nd
4th
5th
6th
7th

 GB • Blackpool l l
 CH • Ascona
 NL • Rolde
 D • Wetter
 F • Saint-Malo
 B • Tielt
 I • Canelli

42
37
37
35
34
30
26

Made in Colour • This programme does not exist in the BBC Archives

1971-14

Jeux Sans Frontières 1971

Heat 7

BBC1 Transmission: Friday 17th September 1971, 9.20-10.35pm
Recorded: Wednesday 1st September 1971

Venue: Leopoldpark (Leopold’s Park), Oostende, Belgium

Theme: The Sea

Teams: Oostende (B) v. Béthune (F) v. Leck (D) v. Bournemouth (GB) v. Doetinchem (NL) v. Pesaro (I) v. Einsielden (CH)

Games: ‘One Against All’, ‘Fishing’, ‘The Sirens’, ‘Water, Water, Water’, ‘The Pirates’, ‘The Gastronomes’, ‘Striking Oil’, ‘The Sea Giants’ (Fil Rouge) and 'S.O.S.!’

Result:

 Team:

Points:

1st
2nd
3rd
3rd
3rd
6th
7th

 B • Oostende l l
 NL • Doetinchem
 CH • Einsielden
 D • Leck
 GB • Bournemouth
 F • Béthune
 I • Pesaro

44
39
35
35
35
31
24

Made in Colour • This programme does not exist in the BBC Archives

1971-15

Jeux Sans Frontières 1971

International Final

BBC1 Transmission: Friday 24th September 1971, 9.20-10.35pm
Recorded: Wednesday 15th September 1971

Venue: Kennedyplatz (Kennedy Square), Essen, West Germany

Theme: A Final Festival

Teams: Oostende (B) v. Le Mans (F) v. Offenburg (D) v. Blackpool (GB) v. Alphen aan den Rijn (NL) v. Riccione (I) v. Willisau (CH)

Team Members included:

Blackpool (GB) - Tony Smith

Riccione (I) - Antonietta Bologna, Patrizia Bombardieri, Leopoldi Carlini, Davide Casadei, Clara degli Espositi, Paolo Fabbri, Margherita Dasparini, Franco Geminiani, Giorgio Gentile, Minea Giavolucci, Maria Mancinelli, Olinto di Mario, Graziella Minuzzoli, Gabriella Moretto, Tiziano Mulazzoni, Gianluigi Sciboni, Maurizio Sorci, Santo Rossi, Lidia Tonti

Games: ‘The Mini-Cars’, ‘The Limbo Dancers’, ‘The Bears and the Grapes’, ‘The Regatta’, ‘Adam and Eve’, ‘The Knife and the Ox’, ‘Collecting Stamps’, ‘‘Jeux Sans Frontières’’ (Fil Rouge) and ‘The Cage of Balloons’

Result:

 Team:

Points:

1st
2nd
3rd
4th
4th
6th
7th

 GB • Blackpool l
 NL • Alphen aan den Rijn l
 CH • Willisau l
 I • Riccione
 D • Offenburg
 B • Oostende
 F • Le Mans

45
38
36
35
35
28
27

Did You Know? Eight colour TV cameras were wrecked when the Essen crowd got out of control following Blackpool's win. The German team from Offenburg won by a country mile in the dress rehearsal, but this was in part due to a master stroke from the British coach. He decided that for the warm-up, he would not put team members in the events they would contest in the real event. For instance, this meant a 15 stone fireman competed in the limbo game in the dress rehearsal. This gambit gave the other teams a false picture of Blackpool's abilities.

Did You Also Know? Another masterstroke by the Blackpool coach was later recalled by It's A Knockout producer, Barney Colehan. "Blackpool realised that one of the events needed a limbo dancer, so they phoned round all the theatrical agents and, at the last minute, located a professional limbo dancer. As the game was announced, they raised their Joker card - which would give them double points if they won - and had no trouble in winning the maximum twelve points," said Colehan when interviewed for the 1977 It's A Knockout Annual. He went on to point out that, in later years, this would not have been possible as team members would be chosen for the events by drawing lots.

Made in Colour • This programme does not exist in the BBC Archives

It's A Christmas Knockout 1971

Commentators: David Vine and Eddie Waring (GB),
commentators for NL, B, I are unknown

Referee: Gennaro Olivieri

Designer: Stuart Furber
Producer: Barney Colehan / Director: Ian Smith
Produced by BBC North West (GB), NCRV (NL), RTB-BRT (B), RAI (I)

1970-15

It's A Christmas Knockout 1971

Christmas Special

BBC1 Transmission: Monday 27th December 1971 (Boxing Day), 2.30-3.20pm
Recorded: Tuesday 14th and Wednesday 15th December 1971

Venue: Aviemore Centre, Aviemore, Scotland, Great Britain

Teams: Blackpool (GB) v. Aalten (NL) v. Tournai (B) v. Jésolo (I)

Team Members included: Tony Smith (Blackpool)

Result:

 Team:

Points:

1st
2nd
3rd
4th

 NL • Aalten
 I • Jésolo
 B • Tournai
 GB • Blackpool

24
22
16
15

Made in Colour • This programme does not exist in the BBC Archives

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