The Match (TV series)

Last updated

The Match is a reality TV show on Sky One in which a group of celebrities form a football team to compete against a team of former professional footballers (The Legends). The show begins with a large squad of celebrities who train and live together, all aiming to be selected for "The Match" against the team of legends. The show has also been published in Switzerland in 2006 and 2008 on SF 2.

Contents

In Great Britain, three editions of the programme have been made, one in early 2004, one in late 2005 and one in October 2006. The program is hosted by Mark Durden-Smith, Ulrika Jonsson (2004) and Zoë Ball (2005 & 2006). The matches are played at St James' Park, Newcastle. In the Swiss version, the matches were held at Espenmoos in St. Gallen (2006) and at Allmend Stadion in Lucerne (2008).

Participants

The show features one of English football's best known managers, Graham Taylor, who manages the celebrity team. Players on the legends team have included Ally McCoist, Matt Le Tissier and John Barnes, among others. Notable members of the celebrities team have included Jonathan Wilkes, Ralf Little, Andy Scott-Lee, Philip Olivier, MC Harvey, Terry Alderton and Darren Campbell. The Match has never been won by the celebrities - losing 2-1 in 2004 and 2-0 in 2005 and 2006. The only goal the celebrities have ever scored was one that many believe to be a fluke by Jonathan Wilkes when his apparent cross looped over the head of 63-year-old goalkeeper Peter Bonetti.

In Switzerland, the Celebrities ("Die Promis") lost 1-6 against the Legends ("Die Legenden") in 2006 and 1-2 in 2008.

The Match: Series 3 (2006)

Series 3 of The Match was shown during September and October 2006.

Participants

Final match

Celebrities starting XI

NamePositionFame
Mark Bosnich Goalkeeper Ex- Manchester United F.C. and Chelsea F.C. goalkeeper
Danny Young Fullback (Right) Coronation Street
Alec Stewart Defender (Centre) (Captain)Former England Cricketer
Thomas Craig Defender (Centre)Coronation Street
Ralf Little Fullback (Left) Actor
Anthony Hutton Winger (Right) Big Brother Series 6 winner
Chris Hollins Midfielder (Centre)Sports journalist
Jeff Brazier Midfielder (Centre)Television presenter
MC Harvey Winger (Left)Musician
Sam Robertson Striker Coronation Street
Darren Campbell Striker Athlete

Legends starting XI

NamePositionNotable Clubs
Andy Goram Goalkeeper Rangers, Manchester United
Denis Irwin Fullback (Right) Manchester United, Oldham Athletic, Wolverhampton Wanderers
Colin Hendry Defender (Centre) Blackburn Rovers, Manchester City, Rangers
Des Walker Defender (centre) Nottingham Forest, Sheffield Wednesday, Sampdoria
Nigel Winterburn Fullback (Left) Arsenal, Wimbledon, West Ham United
Chris Waddle Winger (Right) (Captain) Newcastle United, Sheffield Wednesday, Olympique Marseille, Tottenham Hotspur
David Batty Midfielder (centre) Leeds United, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United
Gary McAllister Midfielder (centre) Leeds United, Liverpool, Leicester City, Coventry City
Paul Merson Winger (Left) Arsenal, Middlesbrough, Aston Villa, Portsmouth, Walsall
Ian Rush Striker Chester City, Liverpool, Juventus, Leeds United, Newcastle United
Peter Beardsley Striker Liverpool, Newcastle United, Everton, Bolton Wanderers, Fulham
Celebrities02Legends
Rush 17"
Waddle 57"
Attendance: 52,000

Match report

The Celebrities started the match on top and, for the first 15 minutes, had the vast majority of possession and goal chances. However, when Ian Rush scored for the Legends (a goal typical of his predatory style during his playing career) on 17 minutes, the game turned in the favour of the ex-professionals. For the remainder of the match the Legends used their superior passing ability and vision to keep hold of the ball and keep the Celebrities chances to a bare minimum. The commentary team even mentioned that it had become the most one-sided match in the short history of this fixture.

Celebrity winger MC Harvey was sent off late in the game for a second bookable offence. Upon leaving the field he had a row with goalkeeping coach Tony Coton which sparked aggression between many players and staff of both teams. This explosive reaction from Harvey seemed to amuse some of the Legends players, such as Paul Gascoigne who was seen laughing and making hand gestures.

Match history

YearWinnerScorersRunner-upScorersScoreVenueAttendance
2004Legends Gary Pallister (45)
Ally McCoist (90 + 4)
Celebrities Jonathan Wilkes (85)2 - 1St James' Park52,000
2005Legends Nigel Winterburn (5)
Ally McCoist (67)
Celebrities-2 - 0St James' Park52,000
2006Legends Ian Rush (17)
Chris Waddle (57)
Celebrities-2 - 0St James' Park52,000

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Harvey (footballer)</span> Australian rules footballer, born 1971

Robert Jeffrey Harvey is an Australian rules football coach and former player. He is currently an assistant coach for the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). As a player, he played his entire career with St Kilda in the AFL. Following retirement, Harvey embarked on a career in assistant coaching which has spanned across three decades, highlighted by a nine-game stint as caretaker head coach of the Collingwood Football Club in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UEFA Euro 2008</span> 13th edition of the UEFA European Football Championship

The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA. It took place in Austria and Switzerland from 7 to 29 June 2008.

The Laws of the Game are the codified rules of association football. The laws mention the number of players a team should have, the game length, the size of the field and ball, the type and nature of fouls that referees may penalise, the offside law, and many other laws that define the sport. During a match, it is the task of the referee to interpret and enforce the Laws of the Game.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Fremantle Football Club</span> Australian rules football club

South Fremantle Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in Fremantle, Western Australia. The club plays in the Western Australian Football League (WAFL) and the WAFL Women's (WAFLW), commonly going by the nickname the Bulldogs. Since its founding, the club has won 14 WAFL premierships, the most recent of them in 2020.

<i>The Games</i> (British TV series) British sports-reality television show

The Games is a British reality sports game show that ran on Channel 4 for four series, in which 10 celebrities competed against each other, by doing Olympic-style events, such as weight lifting, gymnastics and diving. At the end of the series, the contestants with the most points from each round were awarded either a gold, silver or bronze medal.

<i>Soccer AM</i> British football–based talk show, 1994–2023

Soccer AM is a British football-based comedy talk show, produced by Sky Sports. It aired from 20 August 1994 to 27 May 2023 on Sky Showcase, Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Football. From 2010, the programme was put on a short broadcast delay in order to edit bad language and/or inappropriate content from guests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darren Bent</span> English footballer (born 1984)

Darren Ashley Bent is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He played in the Premier League and Championship for nine clubs, and at senior international level for the England national team.

Jason Hadfield Dunstall is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

The Australia international rules football team is Australia's senior representative team in International rules football, a hybrid sport derived from Australian rules football and Gaelic football. The current team is solely made up of players from the Australian Football League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darren Mackie</span> Scottish footballer

Darren Graham Mackie is a Scottish former footballer who, most recently, played for Inverurie Loco Works as a player/coach. Mackie was born in Inverurie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland and previously played as a striker for Aberdeen in the Scottish Premier League between 1998 and 2012, with a loan spell at Inverness Caledonian Thistle in 2004.

<i>606</i> (radio show)

606 is a weekend early evening football phone-in programme, broadcast on BBC Radio 5 Live throughout the British football season. It covers topics relating to the current affairs of football in the United Kingdom.

Soccer Aid is a British annual charity event that has raised over £106 million in aid of UNICEF UK, through ticket sales and donations from the public. The televised event is a exhibition-style football match between two teams, England and the Soccer Aid World XI, composed of celebrities and former professional players representing their countries. It is the only mixed-sex match officially sanctioned by The Football Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allan McGregor</span> Scottish footballer (born 1982)

Allan James McGregor is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. McGregor has previously played for Rangers, St Johnstone, Dunfermline Athletic, Turkish team Beşiktaş, English club Hull City and Welsh side Cardiff City, and made 42 international appearances for Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1997 AFL Grand Final</span> Grand final of the 1997 Australian Football League season

The 1997 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Adelaide Football Club and the St Kilda Football Club, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 27 September 1997. It was the 101st annual grand final of the Australian Football League, staged to determine the premiers for the 1997 AFL season. The match, attended by 99,645 spectators, was won by Adelaide by a margin of 31 points, marking that club's first premiership victory.

Premier League All Stars was a televised charity football tournament, which was broadcast live on Sky1 on consecutive nights between 23 September and 30 September 2007. The format featured football teams representing all 20 Premier League clubs, each playing to win a share of the £300,000 prize money for distribution among their chosen charities. All matches were played in front of a live audience at Premier League All Star Arena which was built inside the David Beckham Academy in Greenwich, London.

The 2003 Kangaroo Tour was a six-match tour by the Australia national rugby league team of France, Wales and England, and to date has been the last Kangaroo Tour. The last three matches were all Tests against Great Britain for the Ashes. Coached by Chris Anderson and captained by Darren Lockyer, Australia continued its dominance, winning all of the three tests against Great Britain and retaining The Ashes that they have held since 1973 but the 3-0 scoreline didn't show how close the series really was as Australia had to come from behind to win every test, and won each match by a margin of no more than one converted try.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 AFL Grand Final</span> Drawn AFL Grand Final played by Collingwood and St Kilda

The 2010 AFL Grand Final was a series of two Australian rules football matches between the Collingwood Football Club and the St Kilda Football Club. They are considered the 114th and 115th grand finals of the Australian Football League ,Note 1 and were staged to determine the premiers for the 2010 AFL season. The premiership is usually decided by a single match; however, as the first grand final ended in a draw, a grand final replay was played the following week and was won by Collingwood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2012 Scottish Cup final</span> Football match

The 2012 Scottish Cup Final was the 127th final of the Scottish Cup. The match took place at Hampden Park on 19 May 2012 and was contested by the Edinburgh derby rivals, Hibernian (Hibs) and Heart of Midlothian (Hearts). It was Hibs' 12th Scottish Cup Final and Hearts' 14th. It was also the first time the clubs had met in a Scottish Cup Final since 1896.

The 2000 International Rules Series was the seventh annual International Rules Series and the third time that a Test series of international rules football has been played between Ireland and Australia since the series resumed in 1998.