The Big Match

Last updated

The Big Match
Genre Football
Presented by Brian Moore (1968–1983)
Elton Welsby (1983–1992)
Mark Pougatch (2021–present)
Starring Jimmy Hill (1968–1973)
Jim Rosenthal (1980–1983)
Opening theme see Theme Tunes
Ending theme see Theme Tunes
Composer see Theme Tunes
Production
Producer London Weekend Television
Running time60 minutes
Original release
Network ITV
Release25 August 1968 (1968-08-25)–26 April 1992 (1992-04-26)
2021 (2021)–present
Related
Match of the Day (BBC)

The Big Match was a British football television programme, screened on ITV between 1968 and 1992. [1]

Contents

The Big Match originally launched on London Weekend Television (LWT) – the ITV regional station that served London and the Home Counties at weekends – screening highlights of Football League matches. [2] [3] Other ITV regions had their own shows, but would show The Big Match if they were not covering their own match – particularly often in the case of Southern and HTV. The programme was set up in part as a response to the increased demand for televised football following the 1966 FIFA World Cup and partly as an alternative to the BBC's own football programme, Match of the Day . The Big Match launched the media career of Jimmy Hill, who appeared on the programme as an analyst, and made Brian Moore one of the country's leading football commentators.

The programme was launched soon after London Weekend Television took over the ITV weekend franchise for London from ATV, which had previously shown local football highlights under the name Star Soccer. Co-presenter Jimmy Hill was also Head of Sport at LWT.

The Big Match originally screened match highlights on Sunday afternoons while Match of the Day screened them on Saturday evenings. But in 1978, Michael Grade at London Weekend Television audaciously won exclusive rights to all league football coverage for ITV in a move termed "Snatch of the Day". Although the Office of Fair Trading blocked the move, the BBC was forced to allow ITV to take over the Saturday night slot in alternating seasons. [4] This new arrangement began with the 1980–81 season.


The Big Match theme tunes

The Big Match had no fewer than six theme tunes during its run:

Note: Aztec Gold was previously used as the theme to ITV's coverage of the 1986 World Cup, and later from 1988 until 1992 as the theme tune to Saint and Greavsie

Live era

ITV's regional-based coverage of football ended in 1983, with The Big Match becoming the sole football highlights programme on ITV. That same year, the first live league match since 1960 was shown, a First Division game on Sunday 2 October between Tottenham Hotspur and Nottingham Forest which Tottenham won 2–1. ITV's football coverage continued and expanded throughout the 1980s, particularly after ITV won exclusive league rights in 1988, after which The Big Match was renamed simply The Match.

The Match

Between 1988 and 1992, the programme's main presenter was Elton Welsby, with Jim Rosenthal sometimes acting as a touchline reporter and interviewer. Former presenter Brian Moore was often the main match commentator, and on other occasions it was Alan Parry. The first live game under that title was on 30 October 1988 when Everton and Manchester United drew 1–1. Much of the coverage focused on the destiny of the First Division title, most memorably on 26 May 1989 when Arsenal's decisive 2–0 win at Liverpool won them the championship by the narrowest of margins at their opponents' expense. [5]

ITV lost rights to the new Premier League to British Sky Broadcasting and the BBC in 1992, and the final top-flight match shown live being Liverpool's 2–0 win over Manchester United on 26 April 1992, a result that sealed the title for Leeds United, who won 3–2 at Sheffield United earlier the same day.

From the start of the 1992/93 season, Welsby left ITV Sport to work for Granada Television full-time and was replaced as presenter by Ian St John. The Match was given another new theme tune, "You Are The Number One" by Union, a theme also used for ITV's coverage of the 1992 European Championship. With the loss of the top flight to Sky Sports and the BBC, The Match focused on the League Cup, the UEFA Cup, the Cup Winners' Cup and international matches, and was shown as and when ITV had the rights to the various matches (the rights to European matches were sold on a club-by-club basis in those days, with the exception of the UEFA Champions League).

ITV retained the rights to what was left of the Football League, but coverage was mainly shown on a regional basis. Many regions showed live matches on Sunday afternoons, and in many cases the programmes carried The Match branding, depending on the region:

The Central Match, The Granada Match, The West Match, The Meridian Match, The London Match (which became The Sunday Match from 1993/94), The Tyne Tees Match (which became The North East Match), Soccer Sunday (originally a name used by HTV Wales, though some years later it was adopted by many other regions).

The Central Match, The London Match and HTV Wales's Soccer Sunday all used "You Are The Number One" as their theme, and other regions may have done as well. [6]

The Match underwent radical rebranding from the summer of 1993 onward, as Central and Grand Slam Productions took over the production contract from LWT. Matthew Lorenzo became the programme's main presenter, with Jim Rosenthal often hosting highlights programmes. The black and red branding, which had been in place since 1990, was replaced with a blue and silver theme. Many long-serving pundits left the programme, including Ian St John and Jimmy Greaves – though both remained involved with ITV's regional football coverage, and St John returned as a co-commentator for networked coverage from 1996.

Bob Wilson replaced Lorenzo as host from the start of the 1994/95 season, and from the start of the 1995/96 season, the programme got a new instrumental theme. From 1996/97, an instrumental version of the hymn "Jerusalem" was used, having been used during ITV's coverage of Euro '96. The Match reverted to The Big Match name from the start of 1998 and remained in use until 2001 (see below).

Modern era

ITV did gain coverage of the new UEFA Champions League, but all programmes covering that competition went out under the UEFA Champions League title. Through the 1990s ITV covered highlights of the League Cup, and between 1997 and 2001 had the rights to show the FA Cup, both as highlights and live; from the start of FA Cup coverage at the beginning of 1998, ITV revived the name The Big Match for its football coverage. However, when ITV won back English top-flight football highlights in 2001, the new programme was simply called The Premiership .

In 2021, ITV won back the secondary rights to the FA Cup from BT Sport, however The Big Match branding was not used on air.

The Big Match Revisited

On 7 February 2008, ITV4 began showing old editions of The Big Match in its various regional and national forms on a Thursday afternoon, hoping to cash in on the sports TV nostalgia revival headed by the ESPN Classic channel. Each edition was from the same week 25 years earlier. The first series of The Big Match Revisited ran until 15 May 2008, coinciding with the end of the 1982–83 season. The programme mainly featured London Weekend Television's The Big Match but occasionally aired programmes from Granada Television (Match Time) and Television South (The Saturday Match).

The second series began on ITV4 on 1 January 2009 and it covered the second half of the 1978–79 season. The first episode broadcast was Granada's coverage of West Bromwich Albion's 5–3 win at Manchester United on 30 December 1978. The series ran until May, concluding with the 1979 FA Cup Final. A mixture of The Big Match and Kick Off Match episodes were broadcast during the series.

A third series began on BT Sport 2 on 10 July 2017, which covered the 1976–77 season, and was immediately followed by series 4, which covered the 1974–75 season. These two series were not shown on ITV4 until 2020.

Series 5, covering the 1979–80 season made its debut on ITV4 20 February 2021. All episodes were from The Big Match. Season 6, which follows on with the 1980–81 season aired from 14 August 2021.

Following the success of 'The Big Match Revisited', ITV commissioned 'Matchtime Revisted' which followed the same format, but using episodes of the Granada Television regional show 'Match Time', presented by Elton Welsby. The first series began on ITV4 on 26 February 2022, and featured the 1981-82 season.

A seventh season of The Big Match Revisited was commissioned in 2023, and aired on ITV4 from April 2023. At 34 episodes it was the longest series to date, covering the 1977–78 season. Series 8, looking at the 1984-85 season, will be broadcast in early 2025.

The Big Match Revisited Episode Guide
SeriesEpisodeFeatured Matches
11Manchester City v Tottenham; Barnsley v Wolverhampton Wanderers, Ipswich v Manchester United
2Liverpool v Ipswich, Celtic v Aberdeen, Coventry v Manchester City
3Everton v Tottenham, Middlesbrough v Arsenal, Aston Villa v Watford
4Manchester United v Liverpool, Watford v Aston Villa, Leicester v Wolverhampton Wanderers
5Liverpool v Stoke, Sunderland v Everton, Notts County v Tottenham
6Manchester United v Everton, Brighton and Hove Albion v Norwich City
7West Ham v Stoke, Oldham Athletic v Fulham, Southampton v Manchester City
8Fulham v Grimsby, West Ham v Norwich, Nottingham Forest v Southampton
9Brighton and Hove Albion v Tottenham, West Ham v Watford, Ipswich v Aston Villa
10Luton v Aston Villa, West Bromwich Albion v Watford, Newcastle v Blackburn
11Brighton and Hove Albion v Sheffield Wednesday, Norwich v Sunderland, Aberdeen v Celtic, Manchester City v West Ham
12Fulham v Leicester, Liverpool v Norwich, Luton v Swansea City
13Tottenham v Liverpool, Southampton v Luton, Sunderland v Birmingham City
14Fulham v Carlisle, Oldham v Leicester, Birmingham City v Tottenham, Celtic v Morton
15Derby v Fulham, Leicester v Burnley, Bury v Wimbledon, Dundee v Dundee United
21Manchester United 3-5 West Bromwich Albion, Arsenal 3-1 Birmingham City
2Sheffield Wednesday 1-1 Arsenal, Stoke City v Oldham Athletic (match abandoned at HT)
3Arsenal 2-1 Nottingham Forest, Leeds United 1-1 Manchester City
4Manchester City 2-3 Chelsea, Fulham 2-2 Sunderland
5Ipswich Town 0-0 Leyton Orient, Newcastle United 1-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers, Nottingham Forest 3-1 York City
6Tottenham Hotspur 0-3 Manchester City, Middlesbrough 1-3 Nottingham Forest, Manchester United 0-2 Arsenal
7Everton 4-1 Bristol City, Birmingham City 0-1 Leeds United
8Leicester City 2-1 Newcastle United, Morton 2-2 Partick Thistle
9Brentford 3-3 Watford, Sheffield United 0-1 Millwall, West Bromwich Albion 1-2 Leeds United
10Chelsea 0-0 Liverpool, Newcastle United 5-3 Charlton Athletic, Leeds United 2-2 Norwich City
11Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Manchester United
12Nottingham Forest 3-2 Southampton
13West Ham United 5-0 Newcastle United, Cardiff City 1-3 Stoke City, Middlesbrough 2-1 Birmingham City
14Liverpool 2-2 Manchester United, Aberdeen 1-2 Rangers
15Leyton Orient 3-3 Brighton and Hove Albion, Leicester City 1-1 Stoke City, Cologne v Schalke, Liverpool 3-0 Arsenal
16Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Queens Park Rangers, Leeds United 1-0 Aston Villa, Derby County 1-2 Nottingham Forest
17Bolton v Ipswich, West Bromwich Albion v Wolverhampton Wanderers
18Crystal Palace 2-0 Notts County, Brighton and Hove Albion 2-1 Blackburn Rovers
19Wrexham 1-2 Sunderland, Newcastle United 1-3 Brighton and Hove Albion
20Arsenal v Manchester United
31Arsenal 0-1 Bristol City, Tranmere Rovers 0-1 Chester City, Ipswich Town 3-1 Tottenham Hotspur
2Brighton and Hove Albion 1-1 Crystal Palace, Leeds United 0-2 Manchester United, Southampton 4-1 Fulham
3Hull City 1-3 Charlton Athletic, Bury 3-0 Brighton and Hove Albion, Nottingham Forest 6-1 Sheffield United
4QPR 2-0 Sunderland, Luton Town 1-4 Southampton, Leicester City 4-1 Arsenal
5Tottenham Hotspur 3-3 Everton, Bristol Rovers 1-1 Charlton Athletic, West Bromwich Albion 3-0 West Ham United
6Fulham 1-5 Notts County, Ipswich Town 1-1 Leeds United, Aberdeen v Celtic, Leicester City 1-1 Manchester United
7Chelsea 3-3 Wolverhampton Wanderers, Leeds United 1-3 Aston Villa, Liverpool 3-1 QPR
8Arsenal 3-1 Manchester United, Sheffield United 2-3 Bristol Rovers, Burnley 1-3 Millwall
9Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 West Ham United, Liverpool 2-0 Sunderland, Norwich City 3-2 Leicester City
10Fulham 1-1 Charlton Athletic

Middlesbrough 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur

Liverpool 4-1 Birmingham City

11Arsenal 2-3 West Ham United

Hull City 2-2 Bolton Wanderers

Manchester United 3-1 Newcastle United

12Southampton 2-2 Manchester United

Liverpool 2-1 Oldham Athletic

Middlesbrough 4-1 Arsenal

13Chelsea 2-2 Blackpool

Manchester United 3-1 Manchester City

Sunderland 6-0 West Ham United

14West Ham United 2-2 Everton

Rotherham United v Crystal Palace

Manchester City 2-1 Ipswich Town

15Chelsea 2-0 Luton Town

Leeds United 1-1 Sunderland

Liverpool 2-1 Manchester City

16Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Sunderland

Norwich City 2-1 Bristol City

Newcastle United 3-0 West Ham United

17Leeds United 1-2 Manchester United
18Chelsea 4-0 Sheffield United

Leeds United 2-0 Bristol City

Liverpool 2-1 Ipswich Town

19West Ham United 2-2 Derby County

Manchester City 5-0 Tottenham Hotspur

Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-1 Chelsea

20Chelsea 4-0 Hull City

Colchester United v Bradford City

Bolton Wanderers v Wolverhampton Wanderers

41Leyton Orient 0-2 Manchester United

Norwich City 2-1 Blackpool

Stoke City 3-0 Leeds United

2Gillingham 0-1 Charlton Athletic

Newcastle United 2-0 West Ham United

Manchester City 2-1 Leeds United

3Fulham 0-2 York City

Manchester United 2-2 Nottingham Forest

Notts County 3-2 Southampton

4Chelsea 0-0 Arsenal

Newcastle United 1-0 Carlisle United

Birmingham City 3-2 Derby County

5Arsenal 2-2 Luton Town

Ipswich Town 2-0 Chelsea

Leeds United 5-1 Sheffield United

6Arsenal 2-2 QPR

Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 Carlisle United

Sheffield United 2-2 Everton

7West Ham United 3-0 Middlesbrough

Sheffield United 2-1 Carlisle United

Manchester United 4-0 Oxford United

8West Ham United 5-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Birmingham City 4-0 Manchester City

Newcastle United 5-0 Chelsea

9Crystal Palace 2-1 Charlton Athletic

Newcastle United 2-1 Manchester City

Luton Town 2-3 Burnley

10Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 Newcastle United

Birmingham City 0-3 Stoke City Sheffield Wednesday 4-4 Manchester United

11Millwall 0-0 Portsmouth

Sheffield United 1-1 Arsenal

Stoke City 2-1 West Ham United

12QPR 0-1 Burnley

Coventry City 2-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Ipswich Town 2-0 Middlesbrough

13West Ham United 1-1 Swindon Town

Coventry City 1-1 Arsenal

Chelsea v Watford

Leeds United 0-0 Wimbledon

14Arsenal 2-0 Liverpool

Southend United 1-1 Preston North End

15Luton Town 1-0 Newcastle United

Manchester City 2-1 Everton Norwich City 3-2 West Bromwich Albion

16West Ham United 2-1 Queens Park Rangers

Ipswich Town 3-2 Aston Villa

Everton 1-2 Fulham

17Tottenham Hotspur 0-3 Leicester City

Burnley 2-1 Sheffield United

Aston Villa 2-0 Manchester United

18Charlton Athletic 2-1 Southend United

Derby County 1-2 Stoke City

Middlesbrough 3-0 Tottenham Hotspur

19Leyton Orient 1-0 Aston Villa

Luton Town 2-1 Leeds United

Burnley 3-3 Arsenal

20Arsenal 1-1 Stoke City

Ipswich Town 2-1 Leicester City

Carlisle United 2-0 Everton

21Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Chelsea

Norwich City 3-0 Nottingham Forest

Everton 2-3 Sheffield United

22Arsenal 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur

Portsmouth 0-3 Norwich City

Luton Town 1-1 Manchester City

51Tottenham v Nottingham Forest, Wolverhampton Wanderers v Aston Villa, Brighton v Norwich
2Crystal Palace v Manchester City, Derby v West Bromwich Albion, Sunderland v Chelsea
3Luton v QPR, Southampton v Nottingham Forest, Everton v Middlesbrough
4Chelsea v Charlton, Aston Villa v Stoke, Norwich v Southampton
5Arsenal v Liverpool, Everton v Tottenham, Notts Count v Chelsea
6Tottenham v Manchester United, Cambridge United v QPR, Manchester City v Wolverhampton Wanderers
7Crystal Palace v Nottingham Forest, Ipswich v Manchester City, Middlesbrough v Southampton,
8Chelsea v Swansea, Newcastle v QPR, Liverpool v Crystal Palace
9Manchester United v Nottingham Forest, Everton v Manchester City
10Crystal Palace v Middlesbrough, Brighton v Manchester City, Manchester United v Arsenal
11Tottenham v Manchester United, Birmingham City v Southampton, Halifax Town v Manchester City
12West Ham v Watford, Nottingham Forest v West Bromwich Albion, Liverpool v Southampton
13Swindon v Tottenham, Everton v Wigan, Arsenal v Brighton and Hove Albion
14Derby v Manchester United, Luton v Notts County, Tottenham v Southampton
15West Ham v Aston Villa, Everton v Ipswich
16Crystal Palace v Manchester United, Manchester City v Bolton, Walsall v Peterborough
17QPR v Birmingham City, Leicester v Chelsea
18Liverpool v Arsenal, Norwich City v Manchester United, Chelsea v Notts County
19Crystal Palace v Liverpool, Ipswich v Bolton, Leicester v Charlton
20Chelsea v Oldham, Birmingham City v Notts County, Cardiff City v Sunderland
61Southampton v Man City
2Southampton v Brighton
3Crystal Palace v Ipswich
4Arsenal v Nottingham Forest
5Crystal Palace v West Bromwich Albion
6West Ham v Bolton Wanderers
7Crystal Palace v Manchester United
8Tottenham v Wolverhampton Wanderers
9Arsenal v Everton
10Crystal Palace v Manchester City
11Liverpool v Tottenham
12Ipswich v Liverpool
13Arsenal v Manchester United
14Everton v Liverpool
15Southampton v Everton
16Manchester United v Manchester City
17Watford v West Ham
18Aston Villa v Manchester United
19Tottenham v Aston Villa
20Leicester v Aston Villa
21Aston Villa v Portsmouth
22Sunderland v Brighton
23Norwich v Leicester
71Millwall v Crystal Palace, Newcastle v Leeds, Birmingham v Manchester United
2Chelsea v Coventry, Nottingham Forest v Derby, Middlesbrough v Newcastle
3Arsenal v Nottingham Forest, Ipswich v Chelsea, Newcastle v West Ham"
4
5
6West Ham v Everton, Newcastle United v Coventry, Norwich v Arsenal
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17Arsenal v Leeds, Norwich City v Liverpool, Nottingham Forest v Coventry City
18
19
20
21
22Chelsea v Ipswich, Wolves v Everton, Manchester Utd v Derby
23
24
25
26
27Oldham v Tottenham, Coventry v Birmingham, Ipswich Town v West Bromwich Albion
28
29
30Gillingham v Wrexham, Aston Villa v Liverpool, Burnley v Tottenham Hotspur
31
32
33
34

In the 1990s, a similar show called The Big Match Replayed was shown late at night on ITV, repeating various editions of The Big Match from the 1970s.

The Big Match on DVD

In April 2009 a series of Big Match titles were released on DVD for clubs including Manchester United [7] and Tottenham Hotspur. Editions due to be released for Liverpool and Arsenal, entitled Match of the 70's, while containing Big Match content, was unable to be released under the name due to contractual issues.

May 2009 saw the release of further DVDs in the range, including Big Match releases for West Ham United, Newcastle United, Chelsea.

Later editions in the series include discs centered on Everton, Manchester City, Aston Villa, Wolves, Sunderland A.F.C., two volumes of QPR and Leeds United matches and the England national team.

As well as selected match highlights, the bonus content includes much additional footage including the Fun Spot. Viewers' Letters, and the surreal sight of Kevin Keegan, Mick Channon and Elton John presenting the show in December 1976. Other highlights include clips of Peter Taylor talking about his ill-fated book on Brian Clough (which led to their split), a 38-year-old Martin Peters, Brazil 1970 and a clip of a 21-year-old Diego Maradona.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ITV (TV network)</span> TV network in the United Kingdom

ITV, legally known as Channel 3, is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network. It is branded as ITV1 in most of the UK except for central and northern Scotland, where it is branded as STV. It was launched in 1955 as Independent Television to provide competition, eliminating what had hitherto been the monopoly of BBC Television. ITV is the oldest commercial network in the UK. Since the passing of the Broadcasting Act 1990, it has been legally known as Channel 3 to distinguish it from the other analogue channels at the time: BBC1, BBC2 and Channel 4.

<i>Match of the Day</i> British TV football series (since 1964)

Match of the Day is a football highlights programme, typically broadcast on BBC One on Saturday nights, during the Premier League season. The show's current presenter is former England international striker Gary Lineker, with regular analysis from fellow former players Alan Shearer and Ian Wright, and occasional relief analysts such as Micah Richards, Danny Murphy, Martin Keown, and Dion Dublin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ITV4</span> British free-to-air television channel

ITV4 is a British free-to-air television channel which first aired on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV network. The channel has a line-up that consists of sports including Football, Rugby, Snooker, Cycling, Darts and Horse Racing, cult classic films such as James Bond, US dramas and classic ITV action series of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

Roger Elton Welsby is an English television sports presenter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The London Studios</span> Former television studio complex and ITV headquarters on the South Bank, London, England

The London Studios in Lambeth, Central London was a television studio complex owned by ITV plc and originally built for London Weekend Television. The studios were located in Central London, on the South Bank next to the IBM Building and the Royal National Theatre. The building was set on 2.5 acres of land and was 24 floors high. The London Studios closed on 30 April 2018. Many ITV programmes now come from Television Centre in White City, London.

<i>World of Sport</i> (British TV programme) ITV Saturday afternoon sports show (1965–85)

World of Sport is a British television sport programme which ran on ITV between 2 January 1965 and 28 September 1985 in competition with the BBC's Grandstand. Like Grandstand, the programme ran throughout Saturday afternoon.

ITV Sport is a sport producer for ITV. It was formed following the merger between Granada Sport and Central Sport.

Angus Scott is an international broadcaster, journalist, university lecturer and academic. He has worked for Al Jazeera, beIN SPORTS, ITN, ITV Sport and Setanta Sports. He mainly covers football and rugby union, but has also hosted cricket and motorsport coverage. In 2021 he completed a doctorate at the University of Winchester on Al Jazeera.

Matt Smith is a British broadcaster who worked with ITV Sport between 2001 and 2015. He currently presents TNT Sports' coverage of Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League, Europa League, Conference Football and England Under 21 matches.

The 1982–83 FA Cup was the 102nd season of the world's oldest football knockout competition, The Football Association Challenge Cup, or FA Cup for short. The competition was won by Manchester United, who drew the first final 2–2, but won the replay 4–0.

The 1981–82 FA Cup was the 101st season of the world's oldest football knockout competition, The Football Association Challenge Cup, or FA Cup for short.

The 1980–81 FA Cup was the 100th season of the world's oldest football knockout competition, The Football Association Challenge Cup, or FA Cup for short. The final saw Tottenham Hotspur defeat Manchester City in the first Wembley replay. The final saw a memorable solo goal from Ricky Villa that was voted the greatest goal scored at Wembley.

Soccer Night is a regional television football programme on ITV in United Kingdom between the 1990s and 2008.

The 1977–78 FA Cup was the 97th season of the world's oldest knockout football competition, The Football Association Challenge Cup, or FA Cup. The final saw Ipswich Town beat Arsenal 1–0, with a goal from Roger Osborne.

The 1973–74 FA Cup was the 93rd season of the world's oldest football cup competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup. Liverpool won the competition for only the second time, beating Newcastle United 3–0 in the final at Wembley, London.

Results Service was a British television programme that ran from October 1985 until the end of the 1991/92 football season on the ITV network late on Saturday afternoons during the football season.

This is a timeline of the history of the British television network ITV.

This is a timeline of the history of ITV Sport, provider of sports coverage for the British ITV network and ITV Digital Channels.

This is a timeline of the history of rugby union on television in the UK.

This is a timeline of overnight television broadcasting in the United Kingdom. It focuses on programming between midnight and 6am and includes details of when channels began into the night and 24-hour broadcasting.

References

  1. ↑ Fort, Rodney D.; Fizel, John (5 October 2004). International Sports Economics Comparisons. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN   9780275980320 – via Google Books.
  2. ↑ "United Nation: The Golden Era of ITV's Regional English Football Coverage". The Sportsman. 13 July 2019.
  3. ↑ Guides, Rough (1 September 2010). The Rough Guide to Cult Football. Rough Guides UK. ISBN   9781405387965 – via Google Books.
  4. ↑ Tim Bradford When Saturday Comes, London: Penguin, 2005, p.882-83
  5. ↑ "1988–89 Liverpool v Arsenal". Archived from the original on 17 December 2021 – via www.youtube.com.
  6. ↑ "Central Match Live: Derby v Swindon (Mar 21, 1993)". Archived from the original on 17 December 2021 – via www.youtube.com.
  7. ↑ "The Big Match DVDs". Amazon.co.uk. 27 April 2009.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.