Match of the Day
Match of the Day is a "football highlights and analysis" programme, typically broadcast on BBC One on Saturday evenings, during the Premier League season.
In 2015, Guinness World Records recognised Match of the Day "as the longest-running football television programme in the world." It is one of the BBC's longest-running shows, having been on air since 22 August 1964.
History
1960s
Although the title was first used by the BBC for its Wimbledon tennis highlights programme in June 1964, the first football-related edition of Match of the Day was screened on BBC Two on 22 August 1964, and showed highlights of a game between Liverpool and Arsenal at Anfield. The programme's audience was estimated at only 20,000, less than half of the attendance at the ground.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. The first colour edition of Match of the Day on BBC 1 was shown on 15 November 1969, where it featured a game between Liverpool and West Ham United. However, the very first colour edition was shown on 2 November 1968 on BBC 2 when a game between Chelsea and Manchester City was featured.
1970s and 1980s
replays were first introduced in 1969. 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. Match of the Day was moved to Sunday afternoons for the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seasons.In 1983, the programme reverted to being shown on Saturday night, although that year four broadcasts were lost due to industrial action. The season 1983–84 also saw the first Match of the Day Live broadcasts of First Division matches, beginning with Manchester United vs Tottenham Hotspur on 16 December – a Friday evening fixture. This came some two months after the start of ITV's Big Match Live.
1990s and 2000s
League football highlights were not available to the BBC from 1988 as ITV had exclusive rights, though the programme remained on air for the FA Cup as Match of the Day: The Road to Wembley. League football returned in 1992, for the start of the Premier League era. Sky's emergence made the TV rights market more competitive, with the BBC losing European Cup matches after UEFA's revamping as the Champions League in 1992, although it did broadcast the 1994 final between A.C. Milan and FC Barcelona. In 1997, the BBC lost all live rights to the FA Cup meaning the programme's live coverage was restricted to the UEFA Cup and Cup Winners' Cup matches, the latter competition becoming defunct in 1999. However, the BBC were still able to show Saturday evening highlights of FA Cup games. A significant change occurred in 2001 when the Premier League awarded highlights rights to ITV in a three-year contract. Between 2001 and 2004, the Match of the Day brand was used for the BBC's live football coverage and the network had earned some consolation in losing by managing to regain live terrestrial coverage of the FA Cup and England internationals for that period.Rights for UEFA Champions League qualifiers, which are held by the home team and fall outside the rights for the competition proper, were obtained on an ad hoc basis for English teams in this period, which is currently the case for the BBC with Scottish and Northern Irish teams. Both legs of Manchester United's 2002–03 third round qualifying matches against Zalaegerszeg were shown live on the BBC.
In August 2003, it was announced that from the 2004–05 season, Premier League highlights were returning to the BBC and a revived MOTD. In addition, Match of the Day 2 was launched, which showed highlights of the increasing number of Sunday fixtures, and was initially presented by Adrian Chiles.
In 2009, the BBC announced they had retained their Premier League rights, allowing them to continue showing Match of the Day until 2013.
2010s
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. In November 2011, Match of the Day moved from London to a brand new studio in Dock10, MediaCityUK as part of BBC Sport's relocation north, this allowed the programme to be recorded in high-definition. At the start of 2012–13 season Match of the Day 2 moved to BBC One.Upon regaining the FA Cup rights in 2014, highlights from the early and later rounds of the competition were given their own separate programme instead of being broadcast on an extended Match of the Day straight after the Premier League highlights, as it was before the BBC last lost the rights in 2008. Highlights of the latter rounds occasionally sequence from the Premier League highlights, as they did until the previous decade, but both segments are considered separate programmes.
During the COVID-19 pandemic and the postponement of the 2019-20 Premier League season, Match of the Day split into a televised podcast called Match of the Day: Top 10 Podcast in which Gary Lineker and the pundits discussed and ranked certain roles from the start of the Premier League in 1992 and Match of their Day which featured one Match of the Day pundit picking 3 of their favourite Premier League matches.
Studio
Ahead of the 2019–20 Premier League season, BBC Sport upgraded the studio that Match of the Day, Match of the Day 2, Football Focus, and Final Score broadcasts from.The facility uses a "4K UHD ready virtual reality studio." It uses Epic Games' Unreal Engine 4 rendering technology.
Filming is located at the Dock10 studios at MediaCityUK in Salford.
Presenters, analysts, and commentators
has served as the main presenter since 1999, having worked as an analyst during predecessor Des Lynam's tenure. Mark Chapman, Gabby Logan, and Dan Walker, have all stood-in for Lineker.The predominant analysts for the 2019–20 season are: Jermaine Jenas, Danny Murphy, Alan Shearer, and Ian Wright. Each show typically features two analysts.
Match of the Day uses a selection of BBC and freelance commentators, including: Guy Mowbray, Steve Wilson, Jonathan Pearce, Steve Bower, Simon Brotherton, Vicki Sparks, Alistair Mann, Conor McNamara, Martin Fisher, Mark Scott, John Roder, Chris Wise, Robyn Cowen and Steven Wyeth.
In April 2007, it was announced that Jacqui Oatley was to become the first woman to commentate on the programme.
Previous commentators have included: Walley Barnes, Frank Bough, David Coleman, Jon Champion, Barry Davies, Tony Gubba, Stuart Hall, John Motson, Alan Parry, Idwal Robling, Gerald Sinstadt, Clive Tyldesley, Alan Weeks and Kenneth Wolstenholme.
In August 2014, the BBC announced that as part of the show's 50th anniversary celebrations, Barry Davies would return to commentate for one last time.
Criticism
In 2010, Wolverhampton Wanderers' American goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann criticised the show for showing bias towards the bigger clubs in the Premier League, particularly Manchester United.Premier League broadcast rights
2019–20 to 2021–22 seasons
In January 2018, the Premier League announced that it had awarded the UK highlights to BBC Sport. The rights cost £211.5 million and covers three seasons from 2019-20.The January 2018 agreement also includes Match of the Day 2, Match of the Day 2 Extra, Match of the Day Kickabout, Football Focus, Final Score, and The Premier League Show.
Theme music
The current theme tune for the series is called "Match of the Day" and was written for the programme in 1970 by Barry Stoller and was used for the first time on 15th August 1970. Ironically, Stoller himself admitted that he is not a football fan.Stoller's brief was simply to write "something good"; the short closing fanfare occurred to him first. "Those fanfare harmonies give the music a gladiator feel," he wrote in 2014, "akin to entering the ancient games arena in Rome with all its expectations." The tune was recorded by him, a trumpeter, and a drummer in the basement recording studio of his home. In May 2010, PRS for Music revealed that the Match of the Day theme tune is the most recognisable in the UK.
The theme is often incorrectly labelled "Off Side", the group name of an alternative 1970 version which was released as a 45 rpm gramophone single on the Pye label, arranged and conducted by Mandy Brewer. The original theme tune, entitled "Drum Majorette", was written by Major Oleen Wrigley, the band leader of the Jade Petherick under the pen-name 'Arnold Stock'.
Related shows
- Since 1998, the BBC's coverages of the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Championship have been under the Match of the Day banner.
- Between 1995 and 1999, the BBC broadcast Match of the Seventies, Match of the Eighties and Match of the Nineties. 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, Danny Baker, Mark Radcliffe, and Marc Riley.
- From the 2004–05 season, a second programme, Match of the Day 2, usually airs on the following Sunday.
- From the 2009–10 season until 2015–16, the BBC picked up the rights for the Football League highlights and up until 2011–12, ten live Championship games and three live League Cup games. Live games were broadcast under the Match of the Day Live banner but highlights were shown on a new dedicated programme named The Football League Show.
- From the 2013–14 season, American channel NBCSN has broadcast its own version also called Match of the Day.
- From the 2016–17 season, The Premier League Show typically airs on Thursday nights during the Premier League season.
- From the 2019/20 season, a spin-off show MOTDx was launched, focussing on celebs, music, fashion and culture of the Premier League. It is presented by Jermaine Jenas, alongside: Chelcee Grimes, Craig Mitch and Reece Parkinson.