The TV cameras will be highlighting Banbury United Football Club this weekend with live coverage of The Emirates F A Cup First Round clash with Barrow AFC at The Banbury Plant Hire Community Stadium.

This supreme event will undoubtedly be the biggest TV spectacular and spotlight on the market town of Banbury for nearly 50 years!

We have to go back to 1972 for this sort of exposure when Banbury competed in the mega popular and fun filled “It’s A Knockout Competition“ screened on BBC 1 which attracted millions of viewers each week! The Banbury contingent had to travel to Congleton, Cheshire to challenge a team captained by Ann & Robbie Brightwell , both medal winning Olympian athletes. In an interview Ann Brightwell ( nee Packer ) stated people think as Olympians we will be great in competition but running across a plank of wood with a tray of wobbly jellies is not quite an Olympic event!

Banbury were triumphant and qualified for the European show “ Jeux Sans Frontieres “in Bern Switzerland for another hilarious and memorable night.

Interestingly, Banbury’s It’s A Knockout Team Manager, Mike Swann and Team Coach, Brian Stone both have connections with Banbury United and Brian Stone was the football team manager a year later in 1973 when United reached the F A Cup First Round against Northampton Town.

Another connection with the two events is present Banbury United Club Ambassador, Ronnie Johnson who trained with the It’s a Knockout squad and attended pre show presentations. "Mike Swann advised me that at the tender age of 16, I was deemed too young to compete In the televised event but I travelled to Congleton and had a great day watching our team’s success, could be a good omen for Saturday!" stated Johnson.

So let the cameras roll and put Banbury on the map once again. The magic of the FA Cup is on its way!

Picture below shows Ann Brightwell (right) in the ‘Don’t Run… But Get the Water’ game
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