text: Each participating broadcaster hosted one heat of the games in its country, with a rotation as to which of them hosted the grand final. The winner of the grand final would receive a gold trophy, with the runner-up receiving silver and the third-placed team bronze. It was not uncommon for countries to win the grand final with a team that had not won their heat or indeed for countries to win that had not won any heats at all. The Swiss won the grand final in both 1972 and 1974, the Germans in 1977, the Italians in 1978, the Portuguese in 1980 and the British in 1981, all with teams that had finished second in their heats and with none of their teams winning any heats at all. Portugal won the 1980 series trophy without ever having previously won any heats at all in either of their two series to date. The Swiss were twice series winners in 1972 and 1974 despite not winning a single heat in any series for four consecutive series from 1971 to 1974.
  Only Belgium and Italy competed in the original series from start to finish (1965–1982). France participated in the 1968 series, but due to industrial action with French television, they were unable to broadcast any of the series domestically and had to cancel hosting their designated heat. West Germany hosted two heats that season in place of the French edition. With the strike action continuing, no French teams participated in the 1969 series. Liechtenstein participated in the series once, replacing the Swiss for the seventh and final heat in the 1976 series, designated as FL rather than CH for the episode. It had been agreed that, should the team from Liechtenstein win their heat, they would be allowed to compete in the Grand Final alongside the best Swiss team. This proved immaterial when Liechtenstein finished fourth of the seven teams in the heat. A team from Derry represented the UK in the German heat of the 1978 series and were designated as NI rather than GB for that episode.