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Although this was the first year of British interest in the programme, this
series of It's A Knockout was played out entirely by towns representing
two English counties - Lancashire and Yorkshire. Each week, two teams from one
county would meet in competition, the winner going through to a regional
final. The two winners of the regional finals then went through to the Final, where Lancashire played Yorkshire for the Tip-Top-Town Trophy.
At this stage there was no qualification from the British competition to
Jeux Sans Frontières (that would come in 1967, although 1966 winners
Bridlington featured in the 1967 JSF as a result of their success this year)
This year also saw an early appearance of future British commentator Stuart
Hall, as he joined the team as co-referee for the Final of It’s A
Knockout.
Meanwhile on the continent, the original four countries continued to compete
in weekly two-country head-to-head competitions. It was clear that lessons had
been learned from the previous season, as the show appeared to flow much more
smoothly and with less of the previous year’s chatter, but on a darker note it
was to witness the worst refereeing blunder in the programme's history!
The 17-year refereeing partnership of Gennaro Olivieri and Guido Pancaldi
began this year, and was to continue uninterrupted until the programme’s first
demise in 1982.
At the end of the year, the West Germans were successful in front of their
home crowd, by winning the first of their seven Jeux Sans Frontières
Golden Trophies at the International Final held in Eichstätt (and Jambes in
Belgium). |
