The knockout year when the BBC cameras came to Sunderland for European qualifier like no other
The knockout TV event which packed out a park on Sunderland
It was madcap fun but thousands of people loved it in the 1970s and 1980s.
We are talking about It’s A Knockout which came to Roker in 1980 and turned out to be a momentous day.
More than 5,000 people flocked to Cliff Park for the big occasion. A sell-out crowd packed the specially-built arena to watch a Sunderland team, captained by Richie Pitt, take on Tyneside rivals Gateshead and Newcastle.
Each was competing for a chance to win tickets to Coburg, Germany for “International Jeux Sans Frontieres.”
Precision landings by four members of the North Wings parachute team got the programme off to a spectacular start. Then the real action of the afternoon began as comic giants tussled, costume dogs raced, and the crowd laughed.
The actual recording of the event lasted less than two hours, but for the presenters and participants it was a full day of action beginning at 9am.
The event itself was the culmination of months of planning and apart from an eccentric scoreboard, which refused to work at vital moments, there was no major hitches.
In 1981, it got even more competitive when Sunderland took part in the European event. A preliminary meeting held at Bede School attracted a crop of likely athletes but the organisers were looking for more.
Any athletic person over 16 was invited to enter the selection trials, which were to be held at Ryhope Recreation Park on April 2 in 1981.
The final team was due to compete against teams from six countries in the “Jeux Sans Frontieres” contest at Washington Bowl on August 26.
Who remembers how Sunderland did. Were you on the team?
Tell us more by emailing [email protected]