Quiz Ball

Synopsis

Two teams consisting of players from a top flight football club and a celebrity supporter have a football match in the form of a general knowledge quiz. Teams chose whether to take four easy questions, three medium questions, two hard questions or one tough question to score a goal. (The one-question route was known as "Route One" - a description which soon found its way into real-life football terminology, giving the show a surprisingly long-lasting cultural legacy.) The opposition can opt to take a tackle question a limited number of times in order to block the run, but a wrong answer meant conceding a goal. Whoever had the most goals at the end of the show was the winner.

Champions

1966-67	Arsenal
1967-68	West Bromwich Albion
1970	Celtic
1970-71	Derby County
1971	Dunfermline Athletic

We do not know the winner of two "Home Nations" series shown in 1972.

Champions' Quiz Ball

Celtic

Inventor

George Woolley

Theme music

Tony Hatch

Trivia

The first three series of Quiz Ball were straight knockout tournaments contested by 16 clubs. The next three series were contested by 8 clubs. A group phase between England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland confused everyone in series 7; series 8 was a straight knockout between these sides.

TV Brain tells us that nearly all of the episodes have been wiped from the archives with only 6 of them surviving. These are the episodes that survived:

Series 1: Episode 1 (which can be viewed on the BBC iPlayer)
Series 2: Episode 11
Series 3: Episode 6
The 1970 Challenge Match
Series 5: Episode 5
Series 8: Episode 4

Web links

BBC programme page, which includes a 1966 episode as part of a game show collection.

Fan page giving every show result via archive.org

See also

Weaver's Week review of the very first episode

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