''Football on 5'' is the principal football programme on Channel 5 in the UK. The show first ran from May 1997 until July 2012. The show returned in August 2015 under the name ''
Football League Tonight
''Football League Tonight'' was a football highlights programme on Channel 5 in the United Kingdom. The show covered the English Football League and its cup competitions; the EFL Cup and the EFL Trophy. It was replaced for the 2018–19 season ...
''. For the 2016–17 Football League season the ''Football on 5'' name was revived with the highlights show now called ''Football on 5: The Championship'' and ''Football on 5: Goal Rush'' being broadcast from 9pm-10.30pm on a Saturday with a repeat on Sunday morning. The show itself was initially sponsored by
Wilkinson Sword
Wilkinson Sword is a formerly British brand for Safety razor, razors and other personal care products sold in Europe, owned by the US company Edgewell Personal Care. The company was founded as a manufacturer of guns made in Shotley Bridge in Co ...
, and would eventually be sponsored by Soccernet.com,
Peugeot
Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis.
The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...
and
SEAT
A seat is a place to sit. The term may encompass additional features, such as back, armrest, head restraint but also headquarters in a wider sense.
Types of seat
The following are examples of different kinds of seat:
* Armchair (furniture), ...
, among others.
First match
Channel 5's first live
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
match was in May 1997, shortly after the channel launched. It was a 1998 World Cup qualifying match between
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
and
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
in Chorzów.
International football
From 1997 to 2007, Channel 5 showed many away qualifying matches involving the home nations.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
were shown playing in
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
(twice),
Luxembourg
Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...
,
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
and
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
. In fact, the first game against Poland brought in the highest number of viewers the channel has ever seen to date. This was the high point of Football on 5's early coverage as they showed all the qualifying campaign for Euro 2000 for England but these qualifying matches have since transferred to the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
and
Sky Sports
Sky Sports is a group of British subscription sports channels operated by the satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It ...
from 2001 to 2008 and
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
since 2008.
They also showed
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
games which included their crucial final qualifier for
1998 FIFA World Cup
The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...
at home to
Latvia
Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
, plus trips to
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
,
Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark.
They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...
,
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
,
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and Pars pro toto#Geography, often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of Southern Europe, south and southeast Euro ...
,
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
, Latvia,
San Marino
San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...
,
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
and
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
. They also showed the second leg of their Euro 2004 play-off with the Netherlands. These qualification matches are now on Sky Sports.
Many Ireland away matches were shown in qualification for the 2002 World Cup, these included the away matches against
the Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
,
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
,
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
,
Andorra
, image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg
, symbol_type = Coat of arms
, national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...
, and
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
. This stopped in 2002, but was resumed with Ireland's away match in Israel in 2005. They showed the second leg of their Euro 2004 play-off with the Netherlands. These matches are now on Sky Sports.
Wales' Euro 2000 qualifiers away to Italy and Bulgaria were and they showed the first Wales football match at the Millennium Stadium against Brazil in 2000. They also covered a Northern Ireland's match in Moldova which was their only match on the network. These matches are now on Sky Sports.
Channel 5 won the terrestrial UK rights for the
FIFA Confederations Cup
The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, ...
in 2001, 2003 and 2005, showing a selection of matches including each final. Channel 5's coverage of the
FIFA Confederations Cup
The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, ...
ended after the 2005 tournament, as
BBC Sport
BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...
won the rights and covered the event on
BBC Red Button
BBC Red Button is a brand used for digital interactive television services provided by the BBC, and broadcast in the United Kingdom. The services replaced Ceefax, the BBC's analogue teletext service. BBC Red Button's text services were due to cl ...
or
BBC Three
BBC Three is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, covering all genres including animation, comedy, curre ...
.
Scottish football
Between 2002 and 2004, they showed live matches from the
Scottish League Cup
The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...
, including the two finals; Rangers v Celtic in 2003 and Livingston v Hibs in 2004. Channel 5 usually showed one match per round usually on Thursday nights keeping with the tradition of UEFA Cup matches. Steve Scott was still the host at this time and Jonathan Pearce commentated. These matches have since transferred to BBC Scotland who usually show a match per round and the final.
Italian football
For the 2007–08 season, Channel 5 won the rights to broadcast a live Serie A game on Sunday afternoons, presented by Radio 1 DJ Mark Chapman and Laura Esposto. Games were also shown on sister channel Fiver and a highlights show was broadcast on Saturday afterwards, named ''Football Italiano''. Channel 5 announced in July 2008 that they would not be continuing to cover Italian football for the 2008–09 season. These rights have since transferred to ESPN UK and BT Sport.
Chapman maintained a relationship with Channel 5 when he hosted a
UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
match in 2008 between
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
and
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
and deputised for
Colin Murray
Colin Murray (born Luke Wright on 10 March 1977) is a Northern Irish radio and television presenter. In 2010, he became host of BBC Television's ''Match of the Day 2'' on BBC Two, while still anchoring shows on BBC Radio 5 Live, including '' 5 ...
whenever he was unavailable. His ties ended when, in 2009, Chapman presented Match of the Day for the first time (with ex-Northern Ireland manager
Lawrie Sanchez
Lawrence Philip Sanchez (born 22 October 1959) is a Northern Irish football manager and former international footballer.
The defining moment of his playing career came in the 1988 FA Cup Final, when he scored the winning goal for Wimbledon ag ...
and
Martin Keown
Martin Raymond Keown (; born 24 July 1966) is an English football pundit and former professional footballer who played as a defender from 1984 to 2005, notably in the Premier League for Arsenal, where he made over 400 appearances for the club a ...
) in a friendly International between Northern Ireland and Italy in Pisa, which Italy won 3–0. He has since been seen deputising on
Final Score
''Final Score'' is a BBC Television football news and results programme produced by BBC Sport. The programme is broadcast on late Saturday afternoons in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, usually on BBC One. BBC Northern Ireland opts away dur ...
on the BBC whenever
Gabby Logan
Gabrielle Nicole Logan (''née'' Yorath; born 24 April 1973) is a Welsh presenter and a former international rhythmic gymnast who represented Wales and Great Britain. She hosted ''Final Score'' for BBC Sport from 2009 until 2013. She has also p ...
has been unavailable or due to her covering other sports.
Friendly matches
Channel 5 covered pre-season friendly games and have done since 1998. Two games from Liverpool's pre season tour were shown in July 2008 with Channel 5's UEFA Europa League at the helm. Occasional charity games, such as those featuring a team of England Legends, were shown on Channel 5. They showed The Carlberg Belfast Challenge in 1998, which Liverpool were in, The Gelderland Tournament the same year with Chelsea and Dennis Bergkamp's testimonial and anything else they could grab in the early days.
European club football
The backbone of Channel 5's football coverage consisted of
UEFA Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...
matches, which it had shown throughout its existence, and The UEFA Cup. This was Channel 5's longest running football commitment showing matches from this every season since 1997–98 starting with Arsenal back in 1997 until the end of the 2011–12 season. They showed Aston Villa and Rangers a lot in the early days but would only cover the tournament to a point as BBC or ITV would usually have the rights from the quarter finals onwards. Usually Channel 5 showed matches on an ad hoc basis covering sometimes three games in a day from early afternoon to late evening if there were many British clubs playing. For the three seasons starting in 2009–10 season, Channel 5 was the UK's lead network for Europa League coverage, winning rights to first choice matches in every round and exclusive coverage of the final. They previously held second choice matches and had no final coverage. Matches not covered by Channel 5 were shown on
ITV4
ITV4 is a Television in the United Kingdom, British free-to-air television channel which was launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV (TV network), ITV network. The channel h ...
or
ESPN UK
BT Sport 4 is a British sports television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA and the BT Group. It is part of the BT Sport group of channels in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and is predominantly focused on sports from North America.
...
. When they became the main broadcaster they just picked one match usually at 8pm on a Thursday night.
Channel 5 showed three Europa League Finals as first choice broadcaster, before losing the rights to ITV Sport;
*
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
: Fulham 1–2 Atlético Madrid
*
2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
: Porto 1–0 Braga
*
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
: Atlético Madrid 3–0 Athletic Bilbao
In the early days, Channel 5 had matches involving
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
and
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
in the last two seasons of the now-defunct
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...
. They showed the Cup Winners' Cup in the early days of Channel 5, they showed virtually every Chelsea match in 1997–98 and 1998–99 and also Newcastle when they were in it in 1998
At the start of the 21st century, Channel 5 would occasionally cover Champions League qualifiers involving British teams. They showed qualifiers of Newcastle in 1997, Liverpool in 2001 and 2004 and Manchester United in 2005.
Channel 5 also occasionally covered the
UEFA Intertoto Cup
The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...
during its existence, including Aston Villa in 2000 and Newcastle in 2001.
They showed the FIFA World Club Cup in 2008, which Manchester United won, with commentary by Dave Woods and Stan Collymore with the usual UEFA Cup team presenting.
End of Football on 5 (2012)
Football on Five was Channel 5's longest-running non-news programme, airing from 1997 to 2012. However, Channel 5 lost the contract for the Europa League to
ITV Sport
ITV Sport is a sport producer for ITV. It was formed following the merger between Granada Sport and Central Sport.final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
between Atletico Madrid and Atletico Bilbao in May 2012 and their last live match was in July 2012 when they had pre-season friendly coverage between Southampton and Ajax on 28 July (Jim Rosenthal presented alongside
Ken Monkou
Kenneth John Monkou (born 29 November 1964) is a Dutch former professional Association football, footballer and pundit.
As a player, he was as a centre-back who notably played in the Premier League for both Chelsea F.C., Chelsea and Southampton ...
, with Dave Woods and Stewart Robson commentating and Dave Beckett reporting).
Revival (2015-2018)
Football on 5 had been off air for three years when in May 2015 Channel 5 won the rights to broadcast
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
highlights from the 2015–16 in a three-year deal, in a new programme called ''
Football League Tonight
''Football League Tonight'' was a football highlights programme on Channel 5 in the United Kingdom. The show covered the English Football League and its cup competitions; the EFL Cup and the EFL Trophy. It was replaced for the 2018–19 season ...
'', taking the coverage away from the BBC after six seasons. The highlights show is broadcast at 9pm, typically an hour and a half before ''
Match of the Day
''Match of the Day'' (abbreviated to ''MOTD'') 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 L ...
'' is broadcast on
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...
, much earlier than when the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
used to show ''
The Football League Show
''The Football League Show'' is a BBC One football television show, primarily hosted by Manish Bhasin. It features match highlights from the Championship, League One and League Two. It began on 8 August 2009, at 11:45 pm and immediately fol ...
'' which followed ''Match of the Day'' and usually started at 11:45pm. The promise of a mid-evening broadcast slot was believed to have been the tide turner, also in the contract were the highlights of the
Football League Trophy
The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...
. Channel 5 revived the ''Football on 5'' banner, prefixing the ''Football League Tonight'' name. The format of the show changed midway through the 2015–16 season and split into two segments, called ''Football on 5: The Championship'' and ''Football on 5: Goal Rush''. Together, they are broadcast from 9pm to 10:30pm on a Saturday, with a repeat on Sunday morning.
The show was presented by George Riley and
Kelly Cates
Kelly Cates (née Dalglish) is a Scottish presenter, currently working for Sky Sports, Radio 5 Live, and ESPN.
Early life
Born in Glasgow, Kelly is the eldest of four children of former Celtic and Liverpool player and manager Sir Kenny Dalg ...
for its maiden season, followed by George Riley and Lindsay Hipgrave for the 2nd season and Colin Murray from 2017 to 2018 season, Colin previously presented all of Channel 5 UEFA Cup, Europa League and other football coverage from 2006 to 2010 leaving to join the BBC and host Match of the Day 2.
Quest
A quest is a journey toward a specific mission or a goal. The word serves as a plot device in mythology and fiction: a difficult journey towards a goal, often symbolic or allegorical. Tales of quests figure prominently in the folklore of ever ...
acquired the rights after the end of the 2017/18 season, signing a four-year contract, ending the run of three years for Channel 5.
Presenters
Channel 5's football coverage has had a number of presenters over the years. Brough Scott famously presented their first big match - famously remembered due to the sports bar set-up and the inclusion of fellow Channel 5 personalities, including the cast of
Family Affairs
''Family Affairs'' is a British soap opera that aired on Channel 5. It debuted on 30 March 1997, the day of the launch of said channel and was the first programme broadcast on the channel. It was screened as five thirty-minute episodes per w ...
. After that it was Jeremy Nicholas for a short period until
ITV News
ITV News is the branding of news programmes on the British television network ITV. ITV has a long tradition of television news. Independent Television News (ITN) was founded to provide news bulletins for the network in 1955, and has since conti ...
ITV Sport
ITV Sport is a sport producer for ITV. It was formed following the merger between Granada Sport and Central Sport.Angus Scott took over as host until 2004, when he was replaced by
John Barnes
John Charles Bryan Barnes MBE (born 7 November 1963) is a former professional football player and manager. He currently works as an author, commentator and pundit for ESPN and SuperSport. Initially a quick, skilful left winger, he moved to cent ...
. In 2006, Barnes moved to a roving reporter and co-commentator role. Whenever Barnes was unavailable when he was the host Sky's NFL presenter Nick Halling would deputise.
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
DJ and football enthusiast
Colin Murray
Colin Murray (born Luke Wright on 10 March 1977) is a Northern Irish radio and television presenter. In 2010, he became host of BBC Television's ''Match of the Day 2'' on BBC Two, while still anchoring shows on BBC Radio 5 Live, including '' 5 ...
took over the reins as he already appeared on Channel 5 hosting live NFL. In 2007, his Radio 1 colleague Mark Chapman joined Channel 5 to cover Italian football alongside Laura Esposto. In 2010, Colin Murray left Channel 5 after the final of the Europa League in which
Fulham
Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...
were beaten 2–1 by
Atlético Madrid
Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...
, to become a full-time host with
BBC Sport
BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...
to host Match of the Day 2 and BDO Darts. Mark Chapman only appeared once more on Channel 5 after the end of Football Italiano covering for Colin Murray and with Laura Esposito now presenting in Italy, Channel 5 needed a new host and
Jim Rosenthal
Jim Rosenthal (born 6 November 1947) is an English sports presenter and commentator. In a long broadcasting career, Rosenthal has presented coverage of many sports including football, rugby, automotive racing, boxing and athletics. He has covere ...
was appointed to host live Europa League matches, hosting a live match every round up to the final from 2010 to 2012. Kelly Cates and George Riley from BBC Radio 5 Live have joined the show as the new presenters for the new Football League Highlights Show. Kelly Cates has worked for ESPN UK, ITV Sport, Talksport and BBC Radio 5 Live covering football from Premier League to the World Cup. George Riley has presented Rugby League and reported and commentated on football, snooker and darts for BBC Sport and BBC Radio 5 Live.
Commentators
Channel 5's first main commentator was
Capital Gold
The Capital Gold radio station started in London in 1988 on Capital Radio's AM frequency, after the Independent Broadcasting Authority had urged stations to end simulcasting (broadcasting the same programmes simultaneously on AM and FM) and t ...
and
BBC Radio Five Live
BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcast ...
man Jonathan Pearce. Pearce hosted an array of football from UEFA Cup, Confederations Cup, Internationals to Scottish Football. Pearce left in Summer 2004 to join the
Match of the Day
''Match of the Day'' (abbreviated to ''MOTD'') 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 L ...
team. John Helm was then the main commentator and filled the role left by Pearce, with other commentaries coming from
Gary Bloom
Gary Bloom is a Welsh people, Welsh clinical sports psychotherapist and a sports broadcaster. As a sports commentator, commentator, Bloom has provided his commentary mainly in the FIFA World Cup, World Cup and the Football at the Summer Olymp ...
Jon Champion
Jonathan Martin Champion (born 23 May 1965) is a British sports commentator currently working as the lead association football commentator for ESPN (US). Champion is a well-established and experienced commentator who has also worked for the BBC ...
. In 2007 Dave Woods and commentated on nearly every UEFA Cup and Europa League match from 2007 to 2012, when he was unavailable Steve Bower deputised. Paul Walker is the main commentator for Football League & League Cup highlights although Sky Sports Football League Commentators are used as well on matches that were previously shown live on Sky.
Dave Farrar
Dave Farrar is a British broadcaster, specialising in television football commentary. He was Eurosport's number one commentator for ten years, joining the network in 1999 after spells with BBC Radio Lancashire and the BBC World Service as a repl ...
has also commentated, mostly in the
EFL Cup
The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...
.
Pundits
Channel 5's regular pundits consisted of
Pat Nevin
Patrick Kevin Francis Michael Nevin (born 6 September 1963) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a winger. In a 20-year career, he appeared for Clyde, Chelsea, Everton, Tranmere Rovers, Kilmarnock and Motherwell. He won 2 ...
who, from 2009, moved to pitchside before games and in the OB truck at half and full-time;
Phil Thompson
Philip Bernard Thompson (born 21 January 1954) is an English retired footballer, who played as a defender for Liverpool team of the 1970s and 1980s. During this time, he also represented the England national football team on 42 occasions, and ...
, who commentated on the first ever Football on 5 match between Poland and England with Jonathan Pearce;
Stan Collymore
Stanley Victor Collymore (born 22 January 1971) is an English football pundit, sport strategist, and former player who played as a striker from 1990 to 2001, most notably for Nottingham Forest and later Liverpool, who he joined from the form ...
who replaced
John Barnes
John Charles Bryan Barnes MBE (born 7 November 1963) is a former professional football player and manager. He currently works as an author, commentator and pundit for ESPN and SuperSport. Initially a quick, skilful left winger, he moved to cent ...
from 2010 to 2012 and was in the studio alongside Jim Rosenthal, and
Graham Taylor
Graham Taylor (15 September 1944 – 12 January 2017) was an English football player, manager, pundit and chairman of Watford Football Club. He was the manager of the England national football team from 1990 to 1993, and also managed Lincoln C ...
who is the principal co-commentator. When needed, guests are used as pundits such as
Kevin Ratcliffe
Kevin Ratcliffe (born 12 November 1960) is a Welsh former professional footballer who spent most of his career playing for Everton.
Club career
Ratcliffe was born in Mancot, near Queensferry in Flintshire, Wales. He joined Everton as an appren ...
. Channel 5 has also used other pundits and commentators when needed, such as
Ray Houghton
Raymond James Houghton (born 9 January 1962) is a former professional footballer and current sports analyst and commentator with RTÉ Sport.
As a player, he was a midfielder, notably playing for Liverpool where he won two First Division titles ...
,
Terry Butcher
Terry Ian Butcher (born 28 December 1958) is an English football manager and former player. He works as an academy coach for Ipswich Town.
During his playing career as a defender, Butcher captained the England national team, winning 77 caps ...
,
Joe Royle
Joseph Royle (born 8 April 1949) is an English football manager and former footballer. In his playing career as a striker, he debuted for Everton at the age of 16 and went on to play for Manchester City, Bristol City, Norwich City, and the ...
,
Phil Babb
Philip Andrew Babb (born 30 November 1970) is a sports television pundit and former professional football player and manager.
As a player he was a central defender who made over 370 league appearances during his career, most notably spending ...
,
Stewart Robson
Stewart Ian Robson (born 6 November 1964) is an English former football player and TV and radio football pundit. He played for Arsenal, West Ham United where he was their player of the season in 1988, and Coventry City. After his footballing c ...
and
John Scales
John Robert Scales (born 4 July 1966) is an English former professional footballer who played as a central defender from 1984 to 2001.
He notably played in the Premier League for Wimbledon, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Ipswich Town as well ...
.
Uniquely, John Barnes has appeared in every major role for the show: firstly, he hosted the programme then, when Murray was appointed host, Barnes appeared as a co-commentator. He also appeared as a pitchside analyst speaking to resident reporter
Dave Beckett
Gary and Dave were a Canadian pop duo composed of Gary Weeks (born May 22, 1950 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island) and David Lloyd George "Dave" Beckett (born July 5, 1949 in Newmarket, Ontario). They are best known for their 1973 song "Co ...
, giving his thoughts on the action during the match, at half time and at full-time, and conducting post-match interviews. Barnes left after he became manager of
Tranmere Rovers
Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they adop ...
and was replaced by Collymore. He was sacked as manager after a poor run of results, but has never returned to Channel 5 but has since appeared on
ESPN UK
BT Sport 4 is a British sports television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA and the BT Group. It is part of the BT Sport group of channels in the United Kingdom and Ireland, and is predominantly focused on sports from North America.
...
as a pundit. Channel 5 use a variety of pundits for Football League & League Cup programming however
Alan Curbishley
Llewellyn Charles "Alan" Curbishley (born 8 November 1957) is an English former football player and manager. He played as a midfielder for West Ham United, Birmingham City, Aston Villa, Charlton Athletic and Brighton & Hove Albion and has worke ...
,
Chris Iwelumo
Christopher Robert Iwelumo (; born 1 August 1978) is a Scottish former professional footballer, who played as a striker.
Iwelumo started his career with St Mirren before moving to Danish club Aarhus Fremad for two years. A move to Stoke Cit ...
,
Clinton Morrison
Clinton Hubert Morrison (''né'' Chambers; born 14 May 1979) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward. Since his retirement from playing he works as a pundit.
Morrison began his career at local side Crystal Palace in 1998, ...
Adam Virgo
Adam John Virgo (born 25 January 1983) is a former professional footballer, who now works as a pundit and commentator.
Playing career
Early career
From the age of seven Virgo played for the St. Aubyns Preparatory School football team. At 13 h ...
all feature regularly. More pundits have included
Kevin Davies
Kevin Cyril Davies (born 26 March 1977) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker for Chesterfield, Southampton, Blackburn Rovers, Millwall, Bolton Wanderers and Preston North End. He managed Southport in the 2017 ...
,
David James Dewi, Dai, Dafydd or David James may refer to:
Performers
*David James (actor, born 1839) (1839–1893), English stage comic and a founder of London's Vaudeville Theatre
*David James (actor, born 1967) (born 1967), Australian presenter of ABC's ''P ...
and
Francis Benali
Francis Vincent Benali (born 30 December 1968) is an English football coach and former professional player.
As a player, he was a full back who notably spent most of his career in the Premier League with Southampton, during a sixteen-year spe ...
. As for co-commentators, recently the likes of
Nigel Spackman
Nigel James Spackman (born 2 December 1960) is an English football manager, former professional footballer and sports television pundit.
As a player he was as a midfielder from 1980 to 1998, notably for Liverpool, Chelsea and Rangers. He also p ...
Owen Hargreaves
Owen Lee Hargreaves (born 20 January 1981) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He was known as a hard-working and "solid defensive midfielder who worked tirelessly to win the ball" and provide his teammates with posses ...
(co-commentator and pundit) and
John Hartson
John Hartson (born 5 April 1975) is a Welsh former professional footballer, coach and sports television pundit for S4C, Sky Sports, Premier Sports TV and BT Sport.
As a player he was a striker, notably for Scottish club Celtic where his time ...
have appeared on their League Cup coverage.
Reporters
Football League coverage on Channel 5 has numerous reporters at each game. Tom Skippings is the main reporter for most programmes. Two other notable reporters are
Nick Halling
Nick Halling is a British sports broadcaster and journalist who studied English & Theology at Leeds University. He was a boxing commentator for Sky Sports and presented their American football, as well as ice hockey, ten-pin bowling and numerous ...
and
Sue Thearle
Sue Thearle is a British journalist. She presented on the now defunct Setanta Sports News. She is currently a relief presenter on the BBC's 24-hour news channel BBC News. She was previously a sports presenter on the channel and on BBC Breakfast.
...
- both taken from the BBC. Jack Woodward, Dan Mason, Dave Beckett and John Anderson all also feature semi-regularly. For the 2016/17 season, Channel 5 used 22 reporters during the course of the season, as well as those mentioned. Oliver Wilson, Will Cope,
Dan O'Hagan
Daniel O'Hagan is a freelance football commentator and TV presenter as well as covering the UEFA Champions League for SBS in Australia and BT Sport in England. Formerly he was the voice of the world feed for the French Football League. He is best ...
, Alex Gordon-Martin, Faye Carruthers, Chris Maughan, Mick Conway, Jonathan Beck, Steve Lee, Andy Hodgson,
Jonathan Legard
Jonathan Legard (born 7 July 1961 in Cardiff, Wales), is a sports journalist, best known as the lead commentator for the BBC's Formula One TV coverage in 2009 and 2010.
Legard has been the BBC's motor racing and football correspondent as well a ...
, Simon Watts, Callum Williams, Chris Wise and Tony Colliver have all appeared during the 2016/17 season.