''On the Ball'' is an English ITV Saturday lunchtime television show about

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 ...

, which ran as part of '' ''World of Sport'''' from 1968 until the mid 1980s, and as a stand-alone show from 1998 to 2004. There was another ITV television show called ''On the Ball'' which was a game show hosted by

Nick Weir Nicholas David Weir (born 20 November 1964) is an English entertainer and presenter. He was the second presenter of ''Catchphrase'' and is currently the Senior Vice President of Entertainment for Royal Caribbean International. He presented four ga ...

in 1997, shown only in the

Granada Granada (,, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the c ...

region.

Overview

The original ''On the Ball'' was a half hour football round-up segment shown as part of the '' World of Sport'' Saturday afternoon sports programming on ITV, preceding the traditional Saturday afternoon 3pm kick off time. Initially presented by Brian Moore, it was later hosted by 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 ...

. When ''World of Sport'' was discontinued in 1985, ''On the Ball'' was replaced by '' Saint and Greavsie'', a stand-alone lunchtime football show hosted by the same presenters. ''Saint and Greavsie'' ended in 1992 when

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 ...

gained the rights to broadcast

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 Fo ...

football, although ITV lunchtime coverage of football continued with occasional Champions League shows. ''On the Ball'' was revived on ITV from the beginning of the 1998–99 season, presented by Gabby Logan, initially co-presented by Barry Venison. The show was extended to an hour in 2001, coinciding with ITV's capture of the Premier League highlights package from the BBC which also saw the launch of ''

The Goal Rush ''The Goal Rush'' was a live ITV television programme that aired from 2001 to 2003, produced by Granada Television. The programme was broadcast on Saturdays as a rival show to Final Score on BBC One, and provided live football scores from the ...

'' Saturday afternoon results show and ''The Premiership'' Saturday evening show. ''On the Ball'' was discontinued again in 2004 after the BBC regained the rights to the Premier League.ITV axes 'On The Ball'
Digital Spy, 2 April 2004

References

{{reflist 1965 British television series debuts 2004 British television series endings 1960s British sports television series 1970s British sports television series 1980s British sports television series 1990s British sports television series 2000s British sports television series Association football television series British television series revived after cancellation English-language television shows English Football League on television ITV (TV network) original programming ITV Sport Premier League on television

Overview

See also

References