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''The Big Match'' was a British
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 ...
television programme, screened on
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 ...
between 1968 and 1992. ''The Big Match'' originally launched on
London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 unt ...
(LWT) – the ITV regional station that served London and the
Home Counties The home counties are the counties of England that surround London. The counties are not precisely defined but Buckinghamshire and Surrey are usually included in definitions and Berkshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Kent are also often inc ...
at weekends – screening highlights of
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 ...
matches. 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 The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 July to 30 July 1966. The England national football team defeated West Germany 4-2 in the ...
and partly as an alternative to the
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 exam. ...
...
's own football programme, ''
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 ...
''. ''The Big Match'' launched the media career of
Jimmy Hill James William Thomas Hill, OBE (22 July 1928 – 19 December 2015) was an English footballer and later a television personality. His career included almost every role in the sport, including player, trade union leader, coach, manager, director ...
, who appeared on the programme as an analyst, and made Brian Moore one of the country's leading football commentators. ''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 Michael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth, (born 8 March 1943) is an English television executive and businessman. He has held a number of senior roles in television, including controller of BBC1 (1984–1986), chief executive of Channel 4 ( ...
at
London Weekend Television London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 unt ...
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 The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) was a non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom, established by the Fair Trading Act 1973, which enforced both consumer protection and competition law, acting as the United Kingdom's economic ...
blocked the move, the BBC was forced to allow ITV to take over the Saturday night slot in alternating seasons. 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: * 1968 to 1972: "The Young Scene" by
Keith Mansfield Keith Mansfield (born 1941 in London, England) is a British composer and arranger known for his creation of prominent television theme tunes, including the '' Grandstand'' theme for the BBC. Career Other works include "The Young Scene" (the ...
* 1972 to 1973: "Cheekybird" by
Don Harper Don Harper (192130 May 1999) was an Australian composer. Born in Melbourne in 1921, Don Harper showed an interest in music from an early age, learning to play the violin as a child. His formal study began at the New South Wales Conservatorium ...
* 1973 to 1980: "La Soiree (The Evening)" by David Ordini * 1980 to 1986: "Jubilation" by
Jeff Wayne Jeffry Wayne (born 1 July 1943) is an American-British composer, musician and lyricist. In 1978, he released ''Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds'', his musical adaptation of H. G. Wells' science-fiction novel ''The War of ...
* 1986 to 1988: "Aztec Gold" by Silsoe + * 1988 to 1992: "Goal Crazy" by
Rod Argent Rodney Terence Argent (born 14 June 1945) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and record producer. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Argent came to prominence in the mid 1960s as the keyboardist, founder and leader of the ...
+ 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 ''Saint and Greavsie'' was a British television show in which former footballers Ian St John and Jimmy Greaves discussed current football themes such as the day's matches. It ran on ITV from 1985 to 1992. Format Englishman Jimmy Greaves and S ...
''


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 Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
and
Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...
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 Alan Parry (born 1948 in Garston, Liverpool) is an English sports commentator, concentrating on football and athletics. He has commentated for all four main broadcasters of football in the UK – the BBC, BT Sport, ITV and Sky TV, as well a ...
. 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 An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
's decisive 2–0 win at
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
won them the championship by the narrowest of margins at their opponents' expense. ITV lost rights to the new
Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
to
British Sky Broadcasting Sky UK Limited is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television and broadband Internet services, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers and businesses in the United Kingdom. It is a subsidiary of ...
and the
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 exam. ...
...
in 1992, and the final top-flight match shown live being
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
's 2–0 win over
Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
on 26 April 1992, a result that sealed the title for
Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...
, who won 3–2 at
Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
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 John "Ian" St John (; 7 June 1938 – 1 March 2021) was a Scottish professional football player, coach and broadcaster. St John played as a forward for Liverpool throughout most of the 1960s. Signed by Bill Shankly in 1961, St John was a key me ...
. ''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 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 ...
and the BBC, ''The Match'' focused on the
League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
, the
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 ...
, the
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 ...
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 The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
). 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. ''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 Matthew Lorenzo is a British television presenter and film producer who has worked for Sky, BBC, ITV, Channel Four and GMTV. He is the son of the late former BBC and ITV sports commentator and journalist Peter Lorenzo. Broadcasting career Lorenzo ...
became the programme's main presenter, with
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 ...
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 James Peter Greaves (20 February 1940 – 19 September 2021) was an English professional footballer who played as a forward. Greaves is regarded as one of England’s best ever players. He is England's fifth-highest international goalscorer ...
– 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 Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
" 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 The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
, 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''.


''The Big Match Revisited''

On 7 February 2008,
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 ...
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 ESPN Classic was an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns 20%). The channel was originally l ...
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 London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 unt ...
's ''The Big Match'' but occasionally aired programmes from
Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...
(''Match Time'') and
Television South Television South (TVS) was the ITV (TV network), ITV franchise holder in the South East England, South and South East of England between 1 January 1982 at 9.25 am and 31 December 1992 at 11.59 pm. The company operated under various names, ini ...
(''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 West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...
's 5–3 win at
Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
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 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 ...
until 2020. Series 5, covering the 1979–80 season made its debut 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 ...
20 February 2021. All episodes were from ''The Big Match''. Season 6, which follows on with the 1980–81 season will air from 14 August 2021. Following the success of 'The Big Match Revisited',
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 ...
commissioned 'Matchtime Revisted' which followed the same format, but using episodes of the
Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...
regional show 'Match Time', presented by Elton Welsby. The first series began 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 ...
on 26 February 2022, and featured the 1981-82 season. In the 1990s, a similar show called ''The Big Match Replayed'' was shown late at night on
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 ...
, 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 Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
and
Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
. An edition due to be released for
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
, entitled ''Liverpool: 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 West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
,
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 ...
,
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
Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
(released under the ''Match of the 70's'' banner). Later editions in the series include discs centered on Everton, Manchester City,
Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...
,
Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
,
Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; plural, : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been reco ...
, two volumes of
QPR Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football, football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home ...
matches and the
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 ...
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 Michael Roger Channon (born 28 November 1948) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward, most notably for Southampton, and went on to represent the England national team in the 1970s. Scoring over 250 goals in his c ...
and
Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...
presenting the show in December 1976. Other highlights include clips of
Peter Taylor Peter Taylor may refer to: Arts * Peter Taylor (writer) (1917–1994), American author, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction * Peter Taylor (film editor) (1922–1997), English film editor, winner of an Academy Award for Film Editing Politi ...
talking about his ill-fated book on
Brian Clough Brian Howard Clough ( ; 21 March 1935 – 20 September 2004) was an English football player and manager, primarily known for his successes as a manager with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. He is one of four managers to have won the Engl ...
(which led to their split), a 38-year-old
Martin Peters Martin Stanford Peters (8 November 1943 – 21 December 2019) was an English footballer and manager. As a member of the England team which won the 1966 FIFA World Cup, he scored the second of England's four goals in the final against West Germa ...
,
Brazil 1970 Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area an ...
and a clip of a 21-year-old
Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the F ...
.


References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Big Match, The 1968 British television series debuts 1960s British sports television series 1970s British sports television series 1980s British sports television series 1990s British sports television series 2020s British sports television series English Football League on television Football mass media in the United Kingdom London Weekend Television shows ITV Sport English-language television shows British television series revived after cancellation