“And Now On BBC One . . . “

When I was asked to take over Valley Free Radio’s (www.valleyfreeradio.org) soccer show slot in May of 2007 from Carson Cistulli there was only one name I could think to call the show I was inheriting. The show which was on Valley Free Radio at the time was called “Goal! The Soccer Show” and quite frankly the whole name and format of the show didn’t appeal to me. If the show was going to be mine then there would be changes.  The name of the show would pay homage to a highlights show that became a household name in Great Britain – “Match of The Day”

 Now I was of the opinion that I couldn’t use the exact name as that would be cheating! So, seeing how the show was being broadcast in the USA meant that the name would be “Match of The Day the USA Way”.  I knew I always wanted to have a theme tune to my radio show, so what better theme tune than the music that is synonymous in a lot of ways with football. I had theme tunes for the other shows I was involved with (“The Late English Breakfast” www.thelateenglishbreakfast.blogspot.com  and “The Nightclub”) so why not the football show? It certainly made sense to me!  

Why do I reminisce about theme tunes today? Well, last Saturday night I had a trip down memory lane when the continuity announcer on BBC One said “And now on BBC One,highlights of today Premier League action with Gary Lineker on Match of theDay” and cue the music!  

I had looked forward to watching the show all day. You see, for most people of my generation, “Match of the Day” was the main source of football on the television back in the 1970’s. It was part of a stellar line-up of programmes on BBC One back in the day. It was on after 10pm back then, like now, but it was the weekend so I was allowed to stop up to watch!  

It was funny watching the show last Saturday, because deep down, although I was obviously aware that it was 2011 it felt like I was transported back in time to the 1970’s. Although the format of the show has changed dramatically from the halcyon days of the 1970’s, the excitement of the programme starting was just the same.   

Jimmy Hill the presenter of Match of The Day in the 1970's and the man who got on ym Dad's nerves!

Back in the 1970’s there was just two games covered on that show. Even in the 1980’s, when I started going to Old Trafford, if you saw the cameras at the stadium you got that extra sense of excitement knowing that the game you were about to see was going to be “on telly”.  

Live football on television was a rarity in those days. There were a handful of games covered live all season; now there are several each week on Mr. Murdoch’s Sky Sorts channel (which charges £1500 A MONTH –outrageous!). I have to thank the Landlord of the Castle Inn Public House here in Congleton for that fact. I was reminded of a conversation I was involved in several years ago with another Landlord here in Congleton. He said he couldn’t afford to show live football in his pub, but couldn’t afford NOT to. His way round the exorbitant fees charged by Murdoch was to show an Arabic channel’s coverage of the BBC’s coverage of Manchester United versus Tottenham Hotspur. What made the afternoon more exciting and slightly clandestine was that what we were watching was being viewed illegally!

You see we (my friend Richard and I) were watching the game at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon, with, if my memory serves me correctly, the curtains of the pub drawn. In England, it is illegal to show games that kick-off at the traditional 3pm on television. That’s why games that are shown on television live on television live on Sky are known as having being “skyjacked”! We’ve only been back in England for nearly a month so I don’t know if ESPN has its own version of skyjacked yet!  

Not everyone has satellite television. I commend the landlords and landladies who install Sky Sports in their pubs. It takes a lot of courage to be bold enough to spend that much money in the hope of pulling in the punters, especially in this economic climate. It’s a bold move. So, highlights shows that are on free to air channels like the BBC (yes I know there’s the Licence Fee but it’s not a pay per view channel) are essential and play a role in the cultural make-up of this country.  

Thinking back to my time on Valley Free Radio, my co-presenter Tim told Stokes told me that friends of his who were ex-pat Brits were instantly taken back to their childhood when they heard the theme tune to our show. That’s how I felt when I heard that music last Saturday night. Happy Days! 

Enjoy your football wherever you are in the world – it’s still the beautiful game and will always be the people’s game, despite what you see and hear!  

Best Wishes,  

Ed