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Match of the Day

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Match of the Day is the BBC's principal football programme. It is shown on BBC One every Saturday night during the football season, showing highlights of Premiership (formerly Division One) matches. There are also some midweek editions, showing highlights of weekday evening games. The BBC currently own the right to show Premiership highlights though to the 2009-10 season. Match of the Day also screens FA Cup and England international matches, either live or as highlights.

A traditional feature is the "Goal of the Month" competition, the winners of which are considered for "Goal of the Season".

Contents

The Early Years 1964-65 to 1969-70

The programme started as an experiment that few people expected to carry on beyond a single season. By the end of the 1960s, it had become a national institution.

1964-65

The programme started on BBC2 at 6.30 p.m. on 22 August 1964 with highlights of Liverpool's 3-2 home win over Arsenal with Kenneth Wolstenholme as commentator and presenter. As BBC2 was available only in the London area at the time, as few as 20,000 watched. On 3 December new transmitters were opened in the midlands and over two million more people had access. Under the contract with The Football League three games had to be shown from Division Two. A single Division Four game was also covered between Oxford United and Tranmere Rovers. There wouldn't be another game covered in this division until 1978.

1965-66

Several clubs attempted to block a deal with the BBC in fear of a drop in gate attendances at matches. The delayed signing of a new contract meant that the programme did not appear until October, some two months into the football season. The show was obliged to feature not only three Division Two games as it had in the previous season but also three games from Division Three. For the first time, there were regular FA Cup highlights of one game from each round. In addition, BBC1 was able to show additional cup ties on Sunday afternoons.

1966-67

Despite England's victory in the World Cup held on home soil, some clubs still opposed a new deal with the BBC. The Saturday show was moved to BBC1 for the first time . Again the contract allowed for coverage of Division Two but now with four games being shown. There were also increased FA Cup highlights with two games from each round being featured. It was during this season that various ITV regions started to show highlights, on Sunday afternoons, of games featuring teams from their own areas.

1967-68

Once again the season by season negotiations continued this time with the BBC paying double they had the previous season. Again the number of Division Two games to be covered was increased to five plus two games from Division Three. It was a season of firsts with David Coleman presenting the show for the first time on September 30 with highlights of Sheffield Wednesday against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Three FA Cup ties from the third round where shown for the first time.

1968-69

Yet again the season by season contracts continued and the number of Division Two games increased to six with a single Division Three game. Not all FA Cup coverage was on Match of the Day with some games being shown on BBC2 on Saturday nights after Match of the Day had finished on BBC1. This was the case on 29 March when following highlights of Manchester City against Stoke City in Division One, viewers could switch over and then watch the FA Cup semi-final between Leicester City and holders West Bromwich Albion. This season also saw the introduction of London Weekend Television's The Big Match on Sunday afternoons presenting an alternative to Match of the Day on Saturday nights. David Coleman now presented most of the programmes.

1969-70

The decade ended with a radical new change for the programme. Following a payment of £100,000 for the new season and with David Coleman established as the main presenter, the show was broadcast live rather than from the ground of the featured match. As well as the main game, under the new deal a second game was shown from a region around the country. Just ten 10 minutes of action was allowed. On 15 November, the game between Liverpool and West Ham United became the first match to be transmitted in colour. FA Cup highlights now allowed for three ties shown nationally (there were no regional highlights on Cup Saturdays).

The Golden Era 1970-71 to 1979-80

This would be the decade when the programme would reach its height with over twelve million people watching each Saturday night.

1970-71

Match of the Day's second decade started with some major chnages to the show's format. For the first, time the BBC replaced the single season deal with a four year contract. The regional opt out was ended to allow for two national games per show. The new deal allowed for twelve Division Two games and four Division Three games to be shown. Also introduced was the Goal of the Month and Goal of the Season competitions. FA Cup highlights allowed for three ties per round until the quarter finals when the four ties would be shared between the BBC and ITV. The same applied to the the semi-finals with each company showing a game each.

1971-72

The show started on the last weekend of July with highlights of the pre-season's Watney Cup competition. On 9 October, John Motson made his debut on the show commentating at the Liverpool versus Chelsea game. It wouldn't be until 5 February that he would make his mark as he covered the giantkilling of Newcastle United by Hereford United in the FA Cup third round replay. A few weeks later, Match of the Day captured one of the most one-sided games ever as Leeds United beat Southampton 7-0 in a Division One game.

1972-73

This season was David Coleman's last as the show's presenter. His commentaries became less regular as John Motson and Barry Davies became the main voices of the show.

1973-74

The final season of the four year contract saw Jimmy Hill take over as presenter with Bob Wilson or Tony Gubba reading a round-up of the day's news.

1974-75

In July, the BBC and ITV signed a five year deal which allowed for an increase in Division Two coverage to fourteen games, half of which had to be shown as the main feature game. The Football League added a number of clauses into the deal which banned the announcement of games to be featured until after the second half of matches had started. Any form of shirt advertisement was also banned.

1975-76

The second season of the new deal saw the start of the appearance of celebrity judges who picked the Goal of the Month. The show was regularly combined with other major sporting events.

1976-77

A Division Three game this season provided plenty of goals as Brighton & Hove Albion defeated York City 7-2 in September. With England playing a World Cup qualifier, a whole Saturday of Division One games on 9 October were called off allowing for highlights of a Division Two and Division Three game. The games featured were a Blackpool home defeat by Plymouth Argyle and a Swindon Town 1-0 win over Shrewsbury Town.

1977-78

The first edition of the new season was the 500th show. David Coleman was back, after a season's break, along with Alan Weeks and Tony Gubba alongside the main men of John Motson and Barry Davies. For the first time since its opening season, a Division Four match was featured with the top of the table game between Watford and Southend United in April. FA Cup coverage was slightly upset in the third round when a techincal dispute prevented all but one game being shown. Although cameras had recorded Leeds United versus Manchester City and West Ham United versus Watford only Carlisle United versus Manchester United was allowed to air.

Tottenham Hotspur, in Division Two for a season, put nine goals past Bristol Rovers for to become a Match of the Day record. It would be equalled by Manchester United in 1995. At the other end of the scale, the show had its first ever goalless affair with both games broadcast on 22 April ending 0-0.

1978-79

In November, with the current deal with the Football League drawing to a close, ITV signed an exclusive three season deal worth £5 million from 1979-80 to show highlights on Saturday nights. This prevented the BBC from showing any football and was dubbed "Snatch of the Day" by the press. A ruling from the Office of Fair Trading prevented the contract from becoming a reality. Instead a four year contract was signed with both the BBC and ITV but it was agreed that Match of the Day would have to move to Sunday afternoons in 1980-81 and 1982-83. FA Cup action was cut back this season due to bad weather with many matches rescheduled for midweek rather than Saturday. Only two ties from the third and fourth rounds were covered along with a semi-final this season.

1979-80

The first season of the new deal allowed the programme to screen the highlights of three games on thirteen league Saturdays. The number of Division Two games increased this season to twenty. For the first time on an FA Cup semi-final day, a second game was also covered. Up until that point the only the semi-final had been covered. There was also a new name commentating and presenting some of the news items, that of Des Lynam.

Changing Times 1980-81 to 1989-90

It would be the decade that would see live league games for the first time and, for a while, the end of recorded highlights. For the first time shirt advertising and the annoucement of the games to be covered would be allowed.

1980-81

After sixteen years on Saturday nights, the show was now moved to late Sunday afternoons. The number of games increased with three league games being covered each week. These games were not just focused on the First Division as a massive twenty-two Division Two games, seven Division Three games and two Division Four games were covered. FA Cup coverage increased with highlights of games from the first and second rounds. David Coleman was a regular commentator this season along with the new voice of Alan Parry. Normal co-host Bob Wilson did a couple of games as a commentator during the season.

1981-82

The show was back on Saturday nights. On most weekends only two games were covered but they were allowed to show three league games on three programmes during the season. Fifteen Division Two games and five Division Three games were also featured, but three of these five ended goalless. With the single Division Four game featured, the show was a bit more lucky as Colchester United beat Sheffield United 5-2 in early February.

1982-83

It was back to Sunday afternoons for the final season of the current TV deal. Again the show covered mostly two games each week, but on four weekends three games were covered, including the two from the first and second rounds of the FA Cup. A total of seventeen Division Two games were covered with ten of these as the main match. On the final weekend of the season, Manchester City faced Luton Town in a relegation battle with the away side having to win to stay up, whilst City only needed to draw. With five minutes left Yugoslav Raddy Antic came on as a substitute and fired home the winning goal for Luton. As the final whistle went, and Grandstand cut to the Match of the Day pictures, they saw Luton manager David Pleat clapping, leaping and running across the pitch, in a brown suit, to hug his players , pausing briefly to button his jacket. It was to become one of the show's most iconic moments.

1983-84

This was the season with the new TV contract signed during the summer of 1983 that started the change of football coverage from the ideas of the 1970s towards the style we know today. Originally a new company, Telejector, offered the Football League over £8 million for the rights to games to be shown only in pubs on Monday evenings. The deal was agreed but then called off as the new company failed to overcome financial and copyright obstacles. Instead, a two season deal was signed with BBC and ITV with some important changes. First, shirt sponsors would be allowed on kits for the first time for games shown on TV. Second, companies were now allowed to announce one of the games they would be showing on the day of the game before kick-off. Finally, the biggest change was that both channels would be able to show live games for the first time. Fourteen live games were allowed with a seven-seven spilt. Match of the Day decided to show their games on Friday evenings, with ITV showing their games on Sunday afternoons. Highlights were back on Saturday nights. This deal also saw the end of ITV regional highlights, with both their live and recorded highlights going out nationally under the Big Match banner which had been used only in the London area prior to this. On November 21st 1983 The FA rejected a joint request from the BBC and ITV for each to show a FA Cup semi-final live on a Sunday afternoon. The first ever live league Match of the Day came on Friday 16 December with a Manchester United 4-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur. Twelve Division Two games were covered, with one of these being a live game between Manchester City and Chelsea. On 4 February what was to prove to be the final Division Four game to be on the programme was shown between Blackpool and York City.

1984-85

This would be a watershed season for Match of the Day. Seven league and cup ties were shown live but the BBC was becoming disappointed with the highlights format. Fourteen Division Two games were shown, with two from Division Three. The show was also screening highlights of two games. For six league Saturdays, three games were allowed, including on 9 February three games from Division Two. Alan Parry left the show in November 1984 to join ITV. His final game was from the Division Two game between Blackburn Rovers and Brighton & Hove Albion. The League Cup Final was covered live for the first time by the BBC in March. Viewers saw Norwich City beat Sunderland 1-0, even though both sides would be relegated at the end of the season.

1985-86

At the end of the previous season, the football world had been rocked with the twin diasters at Bradford and the Heysel Stadium disaster. Earlier than that on Valentines Day, the Football League offered £19 million over four seasons in return for 19 live games, all on Sundays (eight per channel), plus the Milk Cup Final and semi-finals. There was also an option for fifteen extra regionally-broadcast live games (to be shared between the ITV and the BBC regions) and a guaranteed minimum of 76 games per channel as recorded highlights. The deal was a 46% increase on the previous arrangement, and was endorsed by the Football League's TV Negotiating Committee (headed by Norwich's Sir Arthur South) and the League Management Committee, but the clubs led by Oxford United chairman Robert Maxwell rejected the deal. Maxwell called it "mad, bad and sad". The result was a TV blackout for the first half of the season. Maxwell and his colleagues tried to get the BBC and ITV to bid against each other but the two companies put up a common front. After the season started some Club Chairmen, such as Portsmouth's John Deacon, attempted to do a unilateral deal with his own ITV region TVS and the BBC and with other clubs breaking ranks with the Football League attempting to do their own TV deals eventually, in December 1985, the League negotiators (Maxwell had been forced from the Committee by then) went back to the TV companies and agreed a fresh deal for the second half of the season, for a vastly-lower sum than had originally been on offer. Live Televised football resumed with the 3rd Round FA Cup tie between Charlton Athletic and West Ham United, on Match of the Day on the first Sunday of January. ( ITV had shown highlights of three ties the night before). Only three more games were covered live by Match of the Day until the end of the season. Eight highlights programmes were also allowed with a couple of Division Two games covered. One of these games in March 1986 between Sheffield United and Norwich City not only provided seven goals, it was the first game as a BBC commentator for Gerald Sinsdadt. For the first time Match of the Day had a programme on Easter Monday with highlights of three League games.

1986-87

After the World Cup in Mexico, BBC and ITV signed a joint two season deal with the Football League for ten League and Cup ties per season. Highlights were left to each company and the BBC decided to suspend the regular weekly highlights upart from a couple of FA Cup Saturdays. Indeed for most of this season the BBC took to showing highlights of Basketball in the old Match of the Day slot. ITV on the other hand, as well showing the same number of live games as its rival, went back to showing regional highlights on most Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons in many of its regions. Match of the Day didn't show an FA Cup semi-final as ITV covered both. Again an attempt to show the semi-finals live was rejected by the FA.

1987-88

After the poor coverage the previous season, Match of the Day slowly started to move back towards its old style. Again ten League and Cup matches were shown live, but this season unlike the previous, they did show a few highlights shows including on a Bank Hoilday Monday in December Easter Monday and three times on Saturday's during the season. Although one of these programmes on August 29 went out as part of a Sports Special which was showing Boxing and Swimming rather than actually Match of the Day but there were highlights of two games Coventry City verus Liverpool and Arsenal versus Portsmouth. There were also regular League and League Cup highlights on Sportsnight most weeks.

The 1988 TV Deal

After years of just BBC and ITV bidding for the rights suddenly their was a new company in the race. BSB wanted to buy the rights and then sell them back to either the BBC or ITV with a share of games. Chelsea Chairman Ken Bates who had opposed the last two TV deals and had barred both companies from Stamford Bridge backed the BSB bid for £9 Million per season for ten seasons. As before the BBC and ITV bid together, but just days before a vote to agree the new deal, the head of ITV sport, Greg Dyke went behind the backs of the BBC and offered Arsenal, Aston Villa, Everton, Liverpool, Manchester United, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield Wednesday, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United £1 million each per season if they broke away and formed a super league. BSB and BBC then joined forces to put together a joint bid forcing Dyke to offer £11 Million per season for 4 seasons for all clubs. It was voted for thus the BBC lost League coverage. It did a win a deal to cover FA Cup and England matches with BSB.

1988-89

The show celebrated its 25th anniversary but due to the events of the summer of 1988 (see above) for the first time it couldn't show any League football. It wasn't until November on FA Cup 1st round day that it returned and with a new host in Des Lynam as Jimmy Hill became a pundit rather than as host. The name of the show now became Match of the Day-The Road to Wembley. The new deal allowed for highlights from the 1st and 2nd round followed by a live game on Sunday afternoon from each of the rounds from the 3rd round up to the semi-final plus highlights of each round on Saturday nights. One of the biggest upsets in FA Cup history came in the 3rd round that year season as non-league Sutton United sent Division one Coventry City winners of the Cup less than two years before out 2-1, but anything in the Cup that season was overshowed by the greatest single disaster in English Football history. On April 15 1989 at the semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest 95 Liverpool fans died in a terrible crush at Hillsborough, Sheffield. The show that evening stayed on air for over two hours to explain the horror that had unfolded. Eventually the semi-final was re-staged at Old Trafford on a Sunday lunchtime some three weeks later and was covered live. Liverpool won the game 3-1 and went on to beat local rivials Everton 3-2 in the final.

1989-90

The final season of the decade saw the second year of the FA Cup based programme. Three games were show as highlights in the 1st round with the featured game as two previous winners of the Cup Blackpool and Bolton Wanderers went head to head. In the 2nd round another previous winner Preston North End were knocked out by non-league Whitley Bay 2-0. Another first came on 3rd round day as four ties were selected for highlights. The Day after came a game that changed the course of English football history, although those watching it on Sunday didn't realise it at the time. Manchester United Boss Alex Ferguson faced the sack if his struggling team, who were just above the relegation zone lost at Nottingham Forest. In fact they won 1-0 with a goal from Mark Robins, and they proceeded through to the final. For the first time the events of the previous season made the FA finally relent and allowed live coverage of both semi-finals which were played on Sundays back to back and shown live on the show. In one of the greatest ever FA Cup ties of all time Crystal Palace beat Liverpool 4-3. The final with Manchester United produced a six goal thriller before United won the replay 1-0.

Back to the Future 1990-1991 to 1999-2000

This would be the decade that would change the face of football coverage on all channels. Recorded highlights would soon be back and live regular football would become common place.

1990-91

The fourth decade of Match of the day started with football on the way back. The World Cup held in Italy during the summer of 1990 and England's success in reaching the semi-final meant the game was suddenly popular again. Three FA Cup games were shown each fo the 1st and 2nd rounds. On December 8 FA Cup 2nd round day the country was hit by heavy snow storms. John Motson had been at Wycombe Wanderers to cover the game with Peterborough United but the game was called off due to the weather. As the snow blizzard got worse, Motson was seen by Football Focus viwers live struggling to give a live report about the postpoment of the game as the snow got worse wearing his famous sheepskin coat. A legendary image was born.

1991-92

The final season of the current contract saw a good year for the show in the FA Cup. On 3rd round day all three featured matches produced an upset. Fourth Division Wrexham sent League Champions Arsenal out 2-1 with two late goals. Next up came Second Division Middlesbrough as they kncoked out Manchester City. The final shock came as Leicester City put out Crystal Palace. A first for the show happened a day later. The due live game was Leeds United against Manchester United but the game was called off minutes before kick-off thanks to a frozen pitch. Not wishing to lose the oppunity to show football the whole of Aston Villa against Tottenham Hotspur was shown which had been show live by Sky earlier on at lunchtime was taken a delayed broadcast. If the orginial Leeds United had taken place then it would have shown with a few minutes worth of highlights, instead the whole 90 minutes was shown. Pity it ended 0-0.

The 1992 TV Deal

In February 1992 it was announced that the Football Association was taking the clubs in Division One and breaking away from the Football League to form the FA Premier League. It was not the super League that many had predicted there would still be promotion and relegation from the Football League and there would be no limits on which clubs could join. ITV were expected to win the rights but they had angered most Division One Club Chairman and most fans at the way they had favoured only a few top clubs over the previous four seasons. Also the coverage was seen by most as very amatuerish and over hyped. (for example live games never started each season until late October for some reason and the 1991-92 season ended with a huried end to an interview as the show had to go as Bullseye had to start on time). Following the deemed success of the BBC and Sky coverage of the FA Cup and England games since 1988 the two firms teamed up again to gain the new rights. BSB had become Sky in 1991. The BBC and Sky joint bid allowed for Sky to show a live game every Sunday afternoon plus a game on Monday night, with the BBC having Match of the Day back every Saturday night of the season showing highlights of three featured games. The five season deal was worth £304 million. ITV had offered more money but it was still much the same contract as before with live games not starting until after the season had begun and no national highlights provision, it would allow the various regions to show coverage if they wished but was about it. When the deal was announced in early May 1992 ITV was furious and tried to get a high court injunction to stop the deal but it was rejected. There was little sympathy for ITV. The main news was that a regular Match of the Day was back.

1992-93

To many this is the season when modern football really started. Regular live games on Sky plus Saturday night highlights were now back in fashion. The BBC and Sky also carried on their FA Cup and England coverage as before, although Sky now had live coverage of one FA Cup semi-final. On Saturday nights Des Lynam was joined by his two regular pundits of Alan Hansen and Trevor Brooking. In October Blackburn Rovers beat Norwich City 7-1. It was one of a number of high scoring games featured in this season. On the final Saturday of the season, the three featured games produced a whopping 18 goals between them including Oldham Athletic 4-3 win over Southampton which saved their Premier League status. Manchester United lifted the first Premier League tittle for the first time since 1967 (when it was the First Division).

Recent rights deals

After losing the rights to Premiership highlights to ITV for a few years the BBC regained them in 2003, when it paid £105 million for a three year contract covering the seasons 2004-05 to 2006-07. In 2006 it retained them for the seasons 2007-08 to 2009-10 at a cost of £171.6 million. [BBC keeps Premiership highlights], bbc.co.uk, 8 June 2006.

Pundits

Pundits featured on the show to make (often) insightful comments about the games they have just seen, have included Alan Hansen, Trevor Brooking, Gary Lineker, Mark Lawrenson, Peter Schmeichel, Ian Wright and Jimmy Hill. Hill and Lineker have both presented and appeared as a pundit on the show.

Match Of The Day Live

The BBC's live football matches almost always come under the title Match of the Day Live which has been the case since 1997 after Sportsnight was cancelled. Currently, these include FA Cup ties and replays, the FA Women's Cup final, all of England's home games and every other away friendly. Sky Sports show the other away friendlies and most away matches in qualification for major tournaments, with occasional exceptions when another network own the rights to the home team's games, such as Northern Ireland. The BBC shares live coverage of the World Cup finals and European Championship finals with ITV Sport. BBC Scotland's live football forms part of its Sportscene programme. Northern Ireland's home games are shown on BBC NI, with selected fixtures shown on BBC throughout the United Kingdom. BBC Wales does not currently have rights to Wales' home internationals, but does show live matches from the FAW Premier Cup under the banner Match Of The Day Wales. There is also Match of the Day 2 that is shown on Sundays, fronted by Adrian Chiles

Theme music

The show's famous theme tune is called "Match Of The Day" and was written especially for the programme in 1970 by Barry Stoller. It is often incorrectly credited with the title "Offside", which was actually the name of the group of session musicians that played on the commercially released version in 1970 (it being credited to "Offside conducted by Mike Vickers"). When the programme began in 1964 it used a different theme, a piece called 'Drum Majorette' by Arnold Stock.

Trivia

Selected commentators

References

1.Match of the Day-The Complete Record since 1964-John Motson-1992. 2.Match of the Day-40th Anniversary-Martyn Smith-2004. 3.Luton Town-The Modern Era- A complete Record- Roger Walsh-2004. 4.Portsmouth-The Modern Era-A complete Record-Colin Farmery-2005. 5.The Breedon Book of Football Records-1871-2000-Gordon Smailes-2000. 6.The FA CUP-The complete Story-Guy Lloyd and Nick Holt-2005. 7.Notts on the Box- A history of Notts County on Television website. 8.Its up for Grabs Now- A history of ITV Football website. 9. Rothmans Football Yearbook 1984-85. 10. Rothmas Football Yearbook 1987-88. 11. Various clubs Football Programmes.

External link

 

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