Pub games TV series from 1970s to be rerun

Presented by the legendary cricketer Fred Trueman, the show follows games of table skittles, shove ha’penny, table football, bar billiards and Yorkshire darts.

The first series will be broadcast this Monday (December 26) to 19m homes through free-to-air sports channel Front Runner.

The show will be available on Sky channel 468, Freesat channel 250, Freeview channel 91 and Talk Talk/BT channel 91, from 11.30am-2pm and again between 5pm and 7pm.

Ryan Scarratt, from Front Runner, said: “The Indoor League features traditional pub games that have been played in hostelries all over Britain for many centuries. Many enjoyed watching this show together in the 1970s and we’re delighted to be bringing it back to television screens this festive season.

“It offers 1970s nostalgia that everyone can reminisce about: from the late Fred Trueman presenting the show with a beer in his hand to watching players compete in pub games that were popular years ago. The Indoor League really is a blast from the past.” 

John Fairley, who was executive producer on the series, said: “I remember how amazed we all were at the skills our players produced. You really had to be very expert to get into any of the final rounds.

“The best people ranged from a school headmaster to the Ukranian landlady of a Yorkshire pub. They often looked as though they had put in a lifetime of practice.”

The Indoor League was a pub games competition series that was produced by Yorkshire Television and aired from 1972 to 1977. It featured many indoor games, the majority of which were pub games, and the winners received a prize of £100.