Match of the Day
Encyclopedia
Match of the Day is the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

's main football television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 programme. Typically, it is shown on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...

 on Saturday evenings during the English football season, showing highlights
Broadcasting of sports events
The broadcasting of sports events is the coverage of sports as a television program, on radio and other broadcasting media. It usually involves one or more sports commentators describing the events as they happen.-United States:...

 of the day's matches in English football's top division, the Premier League. It is one of the BBC's longest-running shows, having been on air since 22 August 1964, though it has not always been aired regularly. The programme is broadcast from MediaCityUK in Salford Quays
Salford Quays
Salford Quays is an area of Salford in Greater Manchester, England, near the end of the Manchester Ship Canal. Previously the site of Manchester Docks, it became one of the first and largest urban regeneration projects in the United Kingdom following the closure of the dockyards in...

 on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal
Manchester Ship Canal
The Manchester Ship Canal is a river navigation 36 miles long in the North West of England. Starting at the Mersey Estuary near Liverpool, it generally follows the original routes of the rivers Mersey and Irwell through the historic counties of Cheshire and Lancashire. Several sets of locks lift...

 in Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...

.

MOTD is presented by former England captain Gary Lineker
Gary Lineker
Gary Winston Lineker, OBE , is a former English footballer, who played as a striker. He is a sports broadcaster for the BBC, Al Jazeera Sports and Eredivisie Live...

, who is usually joined by England teammate and former Newcastle United captain Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer OBE, DL is a retired English footballer. He played as a striker in the top level of English league football for Southampton, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United and for the England national team...

 and Liverpool and Scotland defender Alan Hansen
Alan Hansen
Alan David Hansen is a Scottish former football player and BBC television football pundit. He played as a central defender for Partick Thistle, Liverpool and Scotland...

 as well as other retired footballers like Lee Dixon
Lee Dixon
Lee Michael Dixon is a former English professional footballer born in Manchester.He formed part of the Arsenal defence from the late 1980s, through till 2002. He was capped 22 times for England, scoring once....

 and Mark Lawrenson
Mark Lawrenson
Mark Thomas Lawrenson is a former professional football player, a defender in the Liverpool and Irish football teams of the 1980s; he since became a radio, television and internet pundit for the BBC and Today FM. He was born in England, but played for the Republic of Ireland because his...

. Over the years many famous and respected sports broadcasters have fine-tuned their skills on the programme, including Kenneth Wolstenholme
Kenneth Wolstenholme
Kenneth Wolstenholme DFC & Bar was the football commentator for BBC television in the 1950s and 1960s, most notable for his commentary during the 1966 FIFA World Cup which included the famous phrase "some people are on the pitch...they think it's all over....it is now!", as Geoff Hurst scored...

, David Coleman
David Coleman
David Coleman, OBE is an English former sports commentator and TV presenter who worked for the BBC for almost fifty years. In 2000, he was awarded the Olympic Order, the highest honour of the Olympic movement....

, Barry Davies
Barry Davies
Barry George Davies MBE is a British sports commentator. He has covered a wide range of sports in a long career, primarily for the BBC.-Broadcasting career:...

, John Motson
John Motson
John Walker Motson OBE ,AKA Motty, is an English football commentator on both television and radio as well a well known moter. He made his name as 'Moty' after he moted out the entire Huddersfield huddersfield cheerleaders team. writer.-Biography:The son of a Methodist minister, Motson was educated...

, Jimmy Hill
Jimmy Hill
James William Thomas "Jimmy" Hill OBE is an English association football personality. His career has taken in virtually every role in football, including player, union leader, coach, manager, director, chairman, television executive, presenter, analyst and match official.-Early life:Hill was born...

 and Des Lynam
Des Lynam
Desmond Michael "Des" Lynam, OBE is an Irish television and radio presenter based in the UK.He has hosted television coverage of high profile events for many years...

.

1960s

The first edition of Match of the Day was screened on BBC2
BBC Two
BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...

 at 6:30pm on 22 August 1964. BBC2 had been launched in April that year with Mike Peacock as controller (Sir David Attenborough took over in spring 1965) but the programme's primary purpose was to train up BBC cameramen and technicians so that the BBC could fulfil its duties as host broadcaster to cover every match at the forthcoming 1966 World Cup in England.

The first edition showed only one match; highlights of the First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....

 game between Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...

 and Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

 at Anfield
Anfield
Anfield is an association football stadium in the district of Anfield, Liverpool, England, with a seating capacity of 45,522. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892 and was originally the home of Everton F.C. from 1884 to 1892, before they moved to Goodison Park...

; Liverpool won 3-2. As seen in Liverpool's "100 Greatest Moments of the Kop" movie, footage of a pitch invasion was caught by the MOTD cameras. It was a black cat.

As BBC2 was available only in the London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 area at the time, the programme's audience was estimated at only 20,000; less than half of the attendance at Anfield stadium. However this soon expanded; on 3 December new transmitters were opened in the Midlands
English Midlands
The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...

 and the number of people with access increased to over two million.

The BBC had been showing live games before Match of the Day, the first being an FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

 semi-final game between Fulham
Fulham F.C.
Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...

 and Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...

 in 1958. Although Match of the Day primarily screened First Division matches, under the BBC's initial contract with The Football League
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...

, they had to screen three Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...

 games per season as well. The following year it also extended its coverage to Third Division
Football League Third Division
The Football League Third Division was the 3 tier of English Football from 1920 until 1992 when after the formation of the Football Association Premier League saw the league renamed The Football League Division Two...

 matches, and started showing highlights of FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

 matches. Additionally, in its inaugural season, Match of the Day screened a Fourth Division
Football League Fourth Division
The Fourth Division of The Football League was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season...

 match between Oxford United
Oxford United F.C.
Oxford United Football Club is an English association football club based in Oxford, Oxfordshire. The club play in League Two, following promotion from the Conference National in May 2010. The club had been a non-League side since their relegation from the Football League in the 2005–06 season. The...

 and Tranmere Rovers
Tranmere Rovers F.C.
Tranmere Rovers Football Club are an English team based in Birkenhead, Wirral. The club currently compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system...

, though it would not do so again until 1978.

Match of the Day was not universally welcomed in the football world; in 1965 several clubs attempted to block a renewed deal with the BBC in fear of a drop in gate attendances at matches. Eventually a compromise was reached where the BBC agreed not to reveal which match was to be shown until after the day's play had concluded, an arrangement that remained until 1983. The show moved to BBC1
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...

 the same year, though occasionally in later years highlights of FA Cup matches were screened on BBC2. The first colour edition of Match of the Day was shown on 15 November 1969, between Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...

 and West Ham United
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...

.

By then, Match of the Day was not the only football highlights programme on English television; the BBC faced competition from 1967 as ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

 started to show highlights on a regional basis on Sunday afternoons; London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...

's The Big Match
The Big Match
The Big Match is a British Association football television programme, which screened on ITV regularly between 1968 and 1992 ....

, which later became the programme for the entire ITV network, was first broadcast in 1968. Match of the Day responded by increasing the number of matches to two per programme.

1970s and 1980s

During the 1970s, Match of the Day became one of the BBC's most successful programmes, with audiences peaking at over 12 million. The "Goal of the Month
Goal of the Month (England)
The Goal of the Month is a monthly segment on BBC's Match of the Day television programme, in honour of the best goal scored each month. The segment has been featured on the programme since the 1970–71 season...

" and "Goal of the Season
Goal of the Season
In English football, the Goal of the Season is an annual competition and award given on BBC's Match of the Day, in honour of the most spectacular goal scored that season...

" competitions were introduced in 1970; slow motion replays followed a year later. However, at the end of the decade the BBC lost a significant share of matches, with a new four-year deal in 1979 splitting the rights between the BBC and ITV (ITV had originally won exclusive rights, but a ruling from the Office of Fair Trading
Office of Fair Trading
The Office of Fair Trading is a not-for-profit and non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom, established by the Fair Trading Act 1973, which enforces both consumer protection and competition law, acting as the UK's economic regulator...

 ordered that the rights be split). Match of the Day was moved to Sunday afternoons for the 1980-81
1980-81 in English football
The 1980–81 season was the 101st season of competitive football in England.-Overview:The Football League introduced a three points for a win system in place of the two points for a win system which had operated since the league's formation in 1889...

 and 1982-83
1982-83 in English football
The 1982–83 season was the 103rd season of competitive football in England.- First Division :Bob Paisley's last season as Liverpool manager ended on a high as they topped the First Division with a comfortable lead. Bob Paisley retired as Liverpool manager with a record 21 prizes in nine years. His...

 seasons, but as consolation the number of games per programme went up to three.

In 1983, the rights came up for renewal again; once again the BBC had to share with ITV. For the first time, league games were shown live, on Friday evenings. Additionally, programmes reverted to Saturday nights and shirt sponsorship was allowed for the first time on the non-commercial BBC. Industrial action
Industrial action
Industrial action or job action refers collectively to any measure taken by trade unions or other organised labour meant to reduce productivity in a workplace. Quite often it is used and interpreted as a euphemism for strike, but the scope is much wider...

 by BBC staff hampered coverage that season, but the first live league match shown on Match of the Day was on Friday 16 December 1983, with a Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...

 4-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....

.

As the 1980s progressed, Match of the Day focused more and more on the First Division. The final Fourth Division game to be on the programme, between Blackpool
Blackpool F.C.
Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...

 and York City
York City F.C.
York City Football Club is an English football club based in York, North Yorkshire. The club participates in the Conference National, the fifth tier of English football. Founded in 1922, they joined the Football League in 1929, and have spent most of their history in the lower divisions...

, was shown on 4 February 1984. Coverage of the Second and Third Divisions dwindled until it was finally dropped in 1986. However, other competitions were shown; the League Cup
Football League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...

 Final was covered live for the first time by the BBC in 1985.

In 1985, the rights for League football came up again, but an ongoing wrangle between the TV companies, Football League's TV Negotiating Committee and a rebel group of clubs led by Oxford United
Oxford United F.C.
Oxford United Football Club is an English association football club based in Oxford, Oxfordshire. The club play in League Two, following promotion from the Conference National in May 2010. The club had been a non-League side since their relegation from the Football League in the 2005–06 season. The...

 chairman Robert Maxwell
Robert Maxwell
Ian Robert Maxwell MC was a Czechoslovakian-born British media proprietor and former Member of Parliament , who rose from poverty to build an extensive publishing empire...

 meant the first half of the 1985-86
1985-86 in English football
The 1985–86 season was the 106th season of competitive football in England.- First Division :The championship crown went to Liverpool for the 16th time in their history at the end of their first season under the management of Kenny Dalglish, but they had to fight off some very stiff competition to...

 season was not televised at all; some clubs even tried negotiating individually with their local BBC and ITV regions. Eventually, in December 1985, a deal was agreed and Match of the Day resumed for the second half of the season.

After the 1986 FIFA World Cup
1986 FIFA World Cup
The 1986 FIFA World Cup, the 13th FIFA World Cup, was held in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia had been originally chosen to host the competition by FIFA but, largely due to economic reasons, was not able to do so and officially...

 in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, the BBC and ITV signed a new deal which left screening of highlights at the broadcaster's discretion; the BBC decided to suspend the regular weekly highlights apart from a couple of FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

 Saturdays, instead showing basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 highlights in its slot. However, in the following season highlights of league football were reintroduced, though this was only occasional and not as often as before as the main focus was still on live games and the top teams.

In 1988, an even more competitive scramble for TV rights meant that the BBC lost all rights for League football to ITV, although they retained rights for FA Cup and England matches, shared with satellite
Satellite television
Satellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an...

 channel BSB
British Satellite Broadcasting
British Satellite Broadcasting was a British television company which provided direct broadcast satellite television services to the United Kingdom...

. For the next four seasons, Match of the Day only appeared on FA Cup weekends. However, ITV's negotiating stance and poor quality match coverage proved unpopular with the clubs.

1990s and 2000s

With the breakaway of the top clubs in England to form the Premier League in 1992, the BBC regained highlights of matches (though Sky gained exclusive live rights), and regular Match of the Day programming resumed with highlights of three main games, and for the first time all the goals from the other games played that day. Sky's emergence made the TV rights market more competitive, with the BBC losing European Cup
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

 matches after UEFA
UEFA
The Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....

's revamping as the Champions League in 1993. In 1997, the BBC lost all live rights to the FA Cup meaning Match of the Day's live coverage was restricted to UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...

 and Cup Winners' Cup
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a football club competition contested annually by the most recent winners of all European domestic cup competitions. The cup is one of the many inter-European club competitions that have been organised by UEFA. The first competition was held in the 1960–61 season—but...

 matches. However the BBC were still able to show Saturday evening highlights of FA Cup games. However things got much worse for the network when, in 2001, the Premier League awarded highlights rights to ITV in a three-year contract.
Match of the Day did not totally disappear; the same year the BBC regained full live coverage of the FA Cup and England's World Cup qualifying matches, as well as retaining UEFA Cup coverage. ITV's league highlights programme, The Premiership
The Premiership (TV series)
The Premiership was a television programme which showed highlights from the FA Premier League...

, fared poorly and, in 2004, Premier League highlights returned to the BBC with an innovative new deal. MOTD would show highlights of all the Premier League games played on a Saturday, with commentators at every ground. A sister programme, Match of the Day 2
Match of the Day 2
Match of the Day 2 is a football highlights programme shown on BBC Two in the United Kingdom...

 was launched on BBC2 on Sunday nights to cover the increasing number of Sunday fixtures in the Premier League. This show was closer in style to the old style Match of the Day, as typically only two or three games are played. The BBC has twice since renewed its Premier League rights with MOTD streamed live on the BBC website.

Traditionally, midweek BBC football shows were included under the Sportsnight
Sportsnight
Sportsnight was a midweek BBC television sports programme that ran from 1968 until 1997.-Sportsview:Sportsnight was a successor to Sportsview which started on 8 April 1954. Sportsview was devised by Paul Fox, later Controller of BBC1 and Peter Dimmock was the original host for a decade...

 banner, particularly highlights from matches on Wednesday night. However, as the 1990s progressed the vast majority of football coverage was shown on Match of the Day, a situation that increased further when Sportsnight was canceled in 1997. Match of the Day currently airs on any weeknight in which at least six matches are scheduled (including a two night period with as many matches), or if the BBC negotiates special dispensation with the Premier League for a key game.

ITV regained live FA Cup and England matches from 2008, meaning there was very limited live football on the BBC in the 2008/09 season. From the 2009/10 season, the BBC picked up 10 live Championship games a season, as well as the League Cup Semi-Finals and Final, as part of a deal with the Football League that allowed it to show Football League highlights
The Football League Show
The Football League Show is a BBC One football television show hosted by Manish Bhasin, featuring highlights from the Championship, League One and League Two. It began on 8 August, 2009, at 11.45pm and immediately follows Match of the Day on Saturdays...

 in a separate programme after Match of the Day.

In 2005–06, a Save of the Season competition was introduced (in addition to the traditional Goal of the Month and Season contests) with the inaugural winner being Tomasz Kuszczak
Tomasz Kuszczak
Tomasz Mirosław Kuszczak is a Polish footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for English club Manchester United and the Polish national team.Born in Krosno Odrzańskie, Kuszczak has previously played for Śląsk Wrocław in Poland, as well as for the German clubs KFC Uerdingen 05 and Hertha BSC, before...

, then of West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion F.C.
West Bromwich Albion Football Club, also known as West Brom, The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion or WBA, are an English Premier League association football club based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands...

. In 2006-07, Jussi Jääskeläinen
Jussi Jääskeläinen
Jussi Albert Jääskeläinen is a Finnish football goalkeeper, who plays for Bolton Wanderers.-Club career:Jääskeläinen was born in Mikkeli, and made his Veikkausliiga debut in Finland for MP Mikkeli in 1992, and became the club's first choice goalkeeper in 1994. In 1996, he moved to VPS Vaasa where...

 of Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers F.C.
Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001....

 won the award.

From the 2011-12 season a new web-only Match of the Day 3 programme was launched on Monday mornings as a light-hearted addition to Match of the Day 2. Although broadcast as a separate programme and with its own unique title, it is recorded immediately following the conclusion of Match of the Day 2 on Sunday night.

Regional variations

BBC Northern Ireland
BBC Northern Ireland
BBC Northern Ireland is the main public service broadcaster in Northern Ireland.The organisation is one of the three national regions of the BBC, together with BBC Scotland and BBC Wales. Based at Broadcasting House, Belfast, it provides television, radio, online and interactive television content...

 and BBC Wales
BBC Wales
BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the British Broadcasting Corporation for Wales. Based at Broadcasting House in the Llandaff area of Cardiff, it directly employs over 1200 people, and produces a broad range of television, radio and online services in both the Welsh and English languages.Outside...

 also use the Match of the Day title when featuring local domestic or international football, with slight variations: Match of the Day from Northern Ireland
Match of the Day from Northern Ireland
Match of the Day from Northern Ireland is the name given to coverage of football matches involving local teams in Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland national football team, produced and broadcast by BBC Northern Ireland...

 and Match of the Day Wales respectively. These programmes are usually simulcast on the Red Button
Red Button (Digital Television)
Red Button is a button on the remote control for certain digital television set top boxes in the UK, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and By Directv in the USA. It is for interactive television services such as BBC Red Button and Astro...

 and online for the rest of the UK.

BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland is a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. It is, in effect, the national broadcaster for Scotland, having a considerable amount of autonomy from the BBC's London headquarters, and is run by the BBC Trust, who...

 airs Sportscene
Sportscene
Sportscene is the name of a range of Scottish sports television programmes produced by BBC Scotland. Its main anchors are Dougie Donnelly, David Currie, Rob MacLean and Dougie Vipond, with Alison Walker and Richard Gordon acting as relief presenters...

 in place of Match of the Day when a Scotland
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...

 match airs across the network (in addition to its usual coverage of the Scottish leagues and cups).

Presenters and commentators

Match of the Days first match was presented by Kenneth Wolstenholme
Kenneth Wolstenholme
Kenneth Wolstenholme DFC & Bar was the football commentator for BBC television in the 1950s and 1960s, most notable for his commentary during the 1966 FIFA World Cup which included the famous phrase "some people are on the pitch...they think it's all over....it is now!", as Geoff Hurst scored...

, who also commentated alongside Walley Barnes
Walley Barnes
Walley Barnes was a Welsh footballer and broadcaster. He played for Arsenal, being part of their championship-winning side in 1947-48, and he captained the Welsh national side.-Early career:...

. By 1970 David Coleman
David Coleman
David Coleman, OBE is an English former sports commentator and TV presenter who worked for the BBC for almost fifty years. In 2000, he was awarded the Olympic Order, the highest honour of the Olympic movement....

 had established himself as the programme's main anchorman. Jimmy Hill
Jimmy Hill
James William Thomas "Jimmy" Hill OBE is an English association football personality. His career has taken in virtually every role in football, including player, union leader, coach, manager, director, chairman, television executive, presenter, analyst and match official.-Early life:Hill was born...

 then took over the role in 1973 after moving from ITV, although Coleman continued to feature as a commentator. One of the programme's most famous presenters, Des Lynam
Des Lynam
Desmond Michael "Des" Lynam, OBE is an Irish television and radio presenter based in the UK.He has hosted television coverage of high profile events for many years...

, joined in 1979 as a commentator before taking over from Hill in 1988, although Hill was retained as a pundit.

Current presenter, former England captain Gary Lineker
Gary Lineker
Gary Winston Lineker, OBE , is a former English footballer, who played as a striker. He is a sports broadcaster for the BBC, Al Jazeera Sports and Eredivisie Live...

, joined as a pundit in 1995 before becoming the main presenter after Lynam's departure in 1999. Ray Stubbs
Ray Stubbs
Raymond "Ray" Stubbs is a broadcaster and former footballer. He works for ESPN, presenting live Premier League and Scottish Premier League matches, having joined the satellite sports channel from the BBC in 2009.-Football career:...

 was a stand-in presenter on the programme for 17 seasons, from the start of the Premier League in 1992 until he left the BBC in 2009. Other stand-in hosts have included Gabby Logan
Gabby Logan
Gabby Logan is a television presenter and radio presenter, as well as a former Wales international gymnast. She currently hosts programmes for BBC Sport, mainly focusing on football.- Early life :...

, Mark Pougatch
Mark Pougatch
Mark Pougatch is a freelance radio and television broadcaster, a journalist and author who works mainly as a sports presenter for the BBC.-Early life:...

, Celina Hinchcliffe
Celina Hinchcliffe
Celina Hinchcliffe is a British television sports presenter.-Family and early life:Celina married in May 2009 and they had a son the following year...

, the show's first female presenter and Jake Humphrey
Jake Humphrey
Jacob John "Jake" Humphrey is an English television presenter, currently best known for his work with BBC Sport, being the youngest ever presenter to host Football Focus, Match of the Day and Final Score. He currently presents the BBC's Formula One coverage and BBC Sports Personality of the Year...

  became the youngest presenter of the show and now is the F1 Main Presenter but features heavily on football coverage .

Currently Lineker is typically joined by two pundits for highlights shows. Since 2007, the weekly Saturday edition of MOTD has used any pairing of Alan Hansen
Alan Hansen
Alan David Hansen is a Scottish former football player and BBC television football pundit. He played as a central defender for Partick Thistle, Liverpool and Scotland...

, Mark Lawrenson
Mark Lawrenson
Mark Thomas Lawrenson is a former professional football player, a defender in the Liverpool and Irish football teams of the 1980s; he since became a radio, television and internet pundit for the BBC and Today FM. He was born in England, but played for the Republic of Ireland because his...

, Lee Dixon
Lee Dixon
Lee Michael Dixon is a former English professional footballer born in Manchester.He formed part of the Arsenal defence from the late 1980s, through till 2002. He was capped 22 times for England, scoring once....

 and Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer OBE, DL is a retired English footballer. He played as a striker in the top level of English league football for Southampton, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United and for the England national team...

 in rotation. Match of the Day 2, aired on Sundays, is presented by Colin Murray
Colin Murray
Colin Murray is a Northern Irish sports and music radio and television presenter. He is the current host of the BBC Television show Match of the Day 2 on BBC Two, and the BBC Radio 5 Live shows 5 Live Sport and Fighting Talk, as well as a show on BBC Radio Ulster. He has previously hosted regular...

 and features either two or three pundits. Dixon, Hansen, Martin Keown
Martin Keown
Martin Raymond Keown is a former English footballer. Widely regarded as one of the best man-markers of his generation, Keown played for six different football clubs during his career but it was with Arsenal that he will be best remembered. Keown made over three hundred appearances for Arsenal...

, and Les Ferdinand
Les Ferdinand
Leslie "Les" Ferdinand MBE is a former English footballer. His playing career included spells at Queens Park Rangers, Besiktas J.K., Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United and Bolton Wanderers F.C., during which period he earned a number of appearances for England...

 are the most regular pundits, although current or former players and managers also contribute. Comedian Kevin Day
Kevin Day
Kevin Day is a British stand up comedian, comedy writer and sports presenter, born in London.He came to prominence in the British alternative comedy stand up scene of the late eighties and early nineties, playing clubs like The Comedy Store...

 provides supporters-led reportage at a particular match each weekend.

The main commentators are Jonathan Pearce
Jonathan Pearce
Jonathan Pearce , is a British football commentator for the BBC.Known for his loud, exuberant commentaries, he has worked for both Radio Five Live and Match of the Day, as well as participating in other lower key sports programmes.- Early life and career :Pearce wanted to become a footballer, but...

, Steve Wilson
Steve Wilson (Football commentator)
Steve Wilson is a British football commentator, currently working on the BBC's Match of the Day programme.Wilson previously worked on BBC Radio Five Live and before that at Capital Gold Sport in London where he was number two commentator to now BBC colleague Jonathan Pearce.-Early and personal...

, Guy Mowbray
Guy Mowbray
Guy Mowbray is a football commentator on British television, who supports York City FC, and is currently with the BBC. Whilst working for Eurosport at the 1998 World Cup, he became the youngest ever television commentator on a World Cup Final, aged 26...

 and Simon Brotherton
Simon Brotherton
Simon Brotherton is a principal football commentator for the BBC, appearing on Match of the Day and BBC Radio Five Live.Brotherton was still at school when he began his career with BBC local radio and developed further while he was studying at Birmingham University where he joined Birmingham's...

. The longest-running commentator is John Motson
John Motson
John Walker Motson OBE ,AKA Motty, is an English football commentator on both television and radio as well a well known moter. He made his name as 'Moty' after he moted out the entire Huddersfield huddersfield cheerleaders team. writer.-Biography:The son of a Methodist minister, Motson was educated...

, who made his first appearance on 9 October 1971. He continues to feature on the programme, although is no longer the BBC's principal commentator for live matches, having retired from live coverage after Euro 2008. Other freelance commentators used include: Tony Gubba
Tony Gubba
Tony Gubba is a British journalist and sports commentator. He was educated at Blackpool Grammar School in Blackpool, a coastal town in England's North West...

, John Roder, Dan O'Hagan
Dan O'Hagan
Dan O'Hagan is a freelance football commentator and TV presenter, who covers the UEFA Champions League for SBS in Australia. Formerly he was the voice of the world feed for the French Football League...

, Martin Fisher, Ian Gwyn Hughes, Steve Bower
Steve Bower
Steve Bower is an English football commentator, one of the main voices for BBC TV's Match of the Day, culminating in being part of the commentary teams for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa...

, Alistair Mann
Alistair Mann
Alistair Mann is a BBC football commentator. He trained as a journalist at the department of Journalism, Media and Communication, University of Central Lancashire. Since 2006 he has been a regular on the BBC's flagship Match of the Day programme, mainly covering matches in the North of England...

, Louis Browne, Russell Vernon, Roger Johnson
Roger Johnson (TV presenter)
Roger Johnson is an English journalist and presenter, currently working as the main presenter for the BBC regional news programme North West Tonight.Johnson was previously a sports presenter on BBC South's news programme South Today...

 and Paul Mitchell
Paul Mitchell (broadcaster)
Paul Mitchell is a Scottish football commentator for BBC Scotland and has been their main commentator since Rob MacLean left for Setanta Sports in 2004....

. In April 2007, Jacqui Oatley
Jacqui Oatley
Jacqueline Anne "Jacqui" Oatley is a British sports broadcaster for BBC Sport, reporting and commentating mostly on football. She is best known for being the first female commentator on Match of the Day...

 became the first woman to commentate on the programme. For live matches the commentator will be joined by a co-commentator, usually Lawrenson, Keown, Mark Bright
Mark Bright
Mark Abraham Bright is a former English footballer who is now a sports pundit and BBC London's sport presenter, as well as a coach at Crystal Palace....

, or Iain Dowie
Iain Dowie
Iain Dowie is a former footballer and manager. He is currently without a club. He has previously managed Hull City and Queens Park Rangers and was assistant manager of Newcastle United...

.

Previous commentators include: Barry Davies
Barry Davies
Barry George Davies MBE is a British sports commentator. He has covered a wide range of sports in a long career, primarily for the BBC.-Broadcasting career:...

 who featured between 1969 and 2004, Stuart Hall
Stuart Hall (television presenter)
James Stuart Hall is a BBC radio and television presenter.Hall claims to have coined the phrase "The Beautiful Game" as a youngster to describe football...

, Alan Weeks
Alan Weeks
Alan Frederick Weeks was a British television sports reporter and commentator.-Personal life:...

, Alan Parry
Alan Parry
Alan Parry is a British sports commentator, born and raised in Garston, Liverpool, concentrating on football and athletics. He has commentated for all three main broadcasters of football in the UK - the BBC, ITV and Sky TV, as well as for both BBC and commercial radio.Starting his career at BBC...

, Gerald Sinstadt
Gerald Sinstadt
Gerald Sinstadt is a British commentator and broadcaster, usually on football.-Broadcasting career:Born in Folkestone, Kent, Sinstadt attended the Harvey Grammar School, and began broadcasting on the British Forces Broadcasting Service in October 1949 and BBC Radio in the 1950s and 1960s - where...

, Idwal Robling
Idwal Robling
James Idwal Robling was a Welsh sports commentator, who worked for the BBC in Wales for almost 40 years.Robling was born in Ynyshir in the Rhondda Valley, where he attended the local grammar school. His education was interrupted by the Second World War, and upon being called up was accepted for...

, Harry Carpenter
Harry Carpenter
Harry Leonard Carpenter OBE was a British BBC sports commentator broadcasting from the early 1950s until his retirement in 1994. His speciality was boxing...

, Clive Tyldesley
Clive Tyldesley
Clive Tyldesley is an English sports commentator, who since 1998 has been the main football commentator for ITV. He has commentated on eleven Champions League finals, five FA Cup Finals and numerous World Cup and European Championship matches.-Career:Tyldesley was born in Radcliffe, Bury,...

 and Jon Champion
Jon Champion
Jon Champion is ESPN UK's number one football commentator. Champion is a well-established and experienced commentator who has also worked for the BBC and ITV over the past 20 years. His late father David Champion was the deputy headmaster of the independent school Bootham School, York...

.

Occasionally, guests have been known to take part in the show. On the final day of the 1993/94 season, Frank Skinner
Frank Skinner
Frank Skinner is a British writer, comedian and actor. He is best known for his television presenting, often alongside David Baddiel, with whom he also collaborated for the football song "Three Lions."He is a radio presenter on the Saturday morning slot on Absolute Radio.-Youth and early career...

 and David Baddiel
David Baddiel
David Lionel Baddiel is an English comedian, novelist and television presenter.-Early life:Baddiel was born in New York, and moved to England when he was four months old. His father, Colin Brian Baddiel, was a Welsh research chemist with Unilever before being made redundant in the 1980s, after...

 were present as studio pundits, offering a somewhat lighthearted slant on the role. In February 2010, Croatia
Croatia national football team
The Croatia national football team represents Croatia in international football. The team is controlled by the Croatian Football Federation, the governing body for football in the country, and has been managed since 2006 by former player Slaven Bilić...

 manager Slaven Bilić
Slaven Bilic
Slaven Bilić is a former Croatian footballer and current head coach of the Croatia national team. His playing tenure predominantly comprised extended vocations in his hometown with Hajduk Split and a combination of foreign spells in Germany and England...

 made a guest appearance on the show, on a weekend when many Croatian players were in action for their clubs.

Premier League licensing

The BBC have purchased the rights to televise highlights of Premier League matches. In 2009 the BBC signed a three year extension to their agreement which expires in 2013 at a cost of £171m.

Theme music

The current theme tune for the series is called "Match of the Day" and was written especially for the programme in 1970 by Barry Stoller, and has become so ubiquitous in British culture that it is associated not just with the programme but football in general. It is often incorrectly labelled with the title "Offside", which was actually the name of an alternative commercially-released version in 1970, which was conducted by Mike Vickers
Mike Vickers
Mike Vickers is a British musician who came to prominence as guitarist, flautist and saxophonist with the 1960s band, Manfred Mann. He originally played flute and saxophone but with the increasing popularity of guitars in bands it was decided that Manfred Mann should have a guitarist in its line-up...

. In May 2010, PRS for Music revealed that the Match of the Day theme tune is the most recognisable in the UK.
The original theme tune to Match of the Day was written by Major Leslie Statham
Leslie Statham
Leslie Statham was born in Solihull, England on 18 December 1905 and died on 28 April 1974. He was an arranger and composer...

, the band leader of the Welsh Guards
Welsh Guards
The Welsh Guards is an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Guards Division.-Creation :The Welsh Guards came into existence on 26 February 1915 by Royal Warrant of His Majesty King George V in order to include Wales in the national component to the Foot Guards, "..though the order...

 and was entitled "Drum Majorette". This remained the theme tune from 1964 until 1970 when the current tune by Barry Stoller replaced it. At the time Major Statham wrote his original works using the pen-name 'Arnold Steck'.

The theme tune appears in popular children's party song The Music Man
The Music Man (song)
"The Music Man" is a popular cumulative folksong among children, rugby players and Hash House Harriers.Peter Kennedy published a song called "The German Musicianer" in "Folk Songs of Britain and Northern Ireland" . It has some similarities with this song. Even earlier, "The Wonderful Musician",...

 by Black Lace
Black Lace (band)
Black Lace is a British Euro pop band, best known for novelty party records, including their biggest hit, "Agadoo". The band first came to the public eye after being selected to represent the UK in the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest, in which they finished seventh with the song "Mary Ann"...

 and
Genesis
Genesis (band)
Genesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...

 honoured the programme with their song "Match of the Day" in 1977, on the "Spot the Pigeon
Spot the Pigeon
Spot the Pigeon is a 7 inch EP by the British progressive rock band Genesis, released in 1977. Its three songs were holdovers from the Wind & Wuthering sessions, which the band felt did not fit the feel of the album....

" EP.
In some parts of the UK the Match of the Day theme is used by some ice cream van
Ice cream van
An ice cream van or ice cream truck is a commercial vehicle which serves as a travelling retail outlet for ice cream, usually during the summer. Ice cream vans are often seen parked at public events, or near parks, beaches, or other areas where people congregate...

s as opposed to the usual "Greensleeves
Greensleeves
"Greensleeves" is a traditional English folk song and tune, a ground of the form called a romanesca.A broadside ballad by this name was registered at the London Stationer's Company in September 1580 as "A New Northern Dittye of the Lady Greene Sleeves". It then appears in the surviving A Handful of...

".

Related shows

  • The BBC's coverage from World Cup
    FIFA World Cup
    The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...

    s is usually under the World Cup Match of the Day banner
  • Between 1995 and 1999, the BBC broadcast Match of the Seventies (1995–96), Match of the Eighties (1997) and Match of the Nineties (1999). Each series acted as a chronological review of seasons through each decade, presented in a slightly off-beat style, and relied heavily on footage originally included in Match of the Day broadcasts. Presenters included Dennis Waterman
    Dennis Waterman
    Dennis Waterman is a British actor and singer, best known for his tough-guy roles in television series including The Sweeney, Minder and New Tricks.-Early life:...

    , Danny Baker
    Danny Baker
    Danny Baker is an English comedy writer, journalist, radio DJ and screenwriter. Since the late 1970s, he has worked for a wide range of publications and broadcasters including NME, LWT, the BBC, and Talk Radio....

    , Mark Radcliffe
    Mark Radcliffe
    Mark Radcliffe is an English broadcaster who has worked in various roles for the BBC since the 1980s and remains one of Britain's most recognised DJs. He is currently a presenter on BBC Radio 2 and BBC 6 Music, where he hosts an afternoon show five times a week alongside Stuart Maconie, called...

     and Marc Riley
    Marc Riley
    Marc Riley is a British musician, alternative rock critic and radio DJ on BBC 6 Music. Formerly a member of The Fall, he had his own record label, In-Tape, and also worked as a record plugger...

  • From the 2004-05 season
    2004-05 in English football
    The 2004–05 season was the 125th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:*2004–05 was the first season to feature the rebranded Football League. The First Division, Second Division and Third Division were renamed the Football League Championship, Football League One and Football League...

     season a second programme, Match of the Day 2
    Match of the Day 2
    Match of the Day 2 is a football highlights programme shown on BBC Two in the United Kingdom...

    , has also been aired
  • From the 2009-10 season onwards, the BBC have picked up the rights to all Football League highlights and ten live games, which have been broadcast on a new programme named The Football League Show
    The Football League Show
    The Football League Show is a BBC One football television show hosted by Manish Bhasin, featuring highlights from the Championship, League One and League Two. It began on 8 August, 2009, at 11.45pm and immediately follows Match of the Day on Saturdays...

     (or, for Carling Cup
    Football League Cup
    The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...

    games, The League Cup Show)

Match of the Day Annual

Since 2001, the Match of the Day Annual has been produced as a spin-off publication aimed at the teenage market. Edited by football journalist Louis Browne, the annual traditionally features charts of the Top 100 players in world football and the Top 50 players by position.

Magazine

In 1996 an official Match of the Day magazine was launched in the UK. It was aimed at an adult audience and was published on a monthly basis. The magazine was withdrawn in 2001 when the BBC lost the rights to broadcast Premier League highlights, which meant they no longer broadcast the MOTD television programme.

In 2008 a magazine was relaunched, but was significantly different to the old version. It is aimed at a much younger readership, in the 8–14 years age range. It is published weekly, every Tuesday. The magazine commonly features comic strips, interviews with Premier League players and posters of the players in the Premier League. A strip about a world famous player's life is also common feature. In October 2008, BBC Books published the Match of the Day 2008 Annual drawn from material in the magazine.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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