The Big Match

The Big Match
Genre	Football
Presented by	Brian Moore(1968–1983) Elton Welsby(1983–1992) Mark Pougatch(2021–present)
Starring	Jimmy Hill(1968–1973) Jim Rosenthal(1980–1983)
Opening theme	see Theme Tunes
Ending theme	see Theme Tunes
Composer	see Theme Tunes
Production
Producer	London Weekend Television
Running time	60 minutes
Original release
Network	ITV
Release	25 August 1968(1968-08-25)–26 April 1992(1992-04-26) 2021(2021)–present
Related
Match of the Day(BBC)

The Big Matchwas a Britishfootballtelevision programme, screened onITVbetween 1968 and 1992.

The Big Matchoriginally launched onLondon Weekend Television(LWT) – the ITV regional station that served London and theHome Countiesat weekends – screening highlights ofFootball Leaguematches.Other ITV regions had their own shows, but would showThe Big Matchif they were not covering their own match – particularly often in the case ofSouthernandHTV.The programme was set up in part as a response to the increased demand for televised football following the1966 FIFA World Cupand partly as an alternative to theBBC's own football programme,Match of the Day.The Big Matchlaunched the media career ofJimmy Hill,who appeared on the programme as an analyst, and madeBrian Mooreone of the country's leading football commentators.

The programme was launched soon afterLondon Weekend Televisiontook over theITVweekend franchise for London fromATV,which had previously shown local football highlights under the nameStar Soccer.Co-presenterJimmy Hillwas also Head of Sport at LWT.

The Big Matchoriginally screened match highlights on Sunday afternoons whileMatch of the Dayscreened them on Saturday evenings. But in 1978,Michael GradeatLondon Weekend Televisionaudaciously won exclusive rights to all league football coverage for ITV in a move termed "Snatch of the Day". Although theOffice of Fair Tradingblocked the move, the BBC was forced to allow ITV to take over the Saturday night slot in alternating seasons.This new arrangement began with the1980–81 season.

The Big Matchtheme tunes

The Big Matchhad no fewer than six theme tunes during its run:

• 1968 to 1972: "The Young Scene" byKeith Mansfield
• 1972 to 1973: "Cheekybird" byDon Harper
• 1973 to 1980: "La Soiree (The Evening)" by David Ordini
• 1980 to 1986: "Jubilation" byJeff Wayne
• 1986 to 1988: "Aztec Gold" by Silsoe
• 1988 to 1992: "Goal Crazy" byRod Argent

Note: Aztec Gold was previously used as the theme to ITV's coverage of the1986 World Cup,and later from 1988 until 1992 as the theme tune toSaint and Greavsie

Live era

ITV's regional-based coverage of football ended in 1983, withThe Big Matchbecoming the sole football highlights programme on ITV. That same year, the first live league match since 1960 was shown, aFirst Divisiongame on Sunday 2 October betweenTottenham HotspurandNottingham Forestwhich Tottenham won 2–1. ITV's football coverage continued and expanded throughout the 1980s, particularly after ITV won exclusive league rights in 1988, after whichThe Big Matchwas renamed simplyThe Match.

The Match

Between 1988 and 1992, the programme's main presenter wasElton 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 wasAlan Parry.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 theFirst Divisiontitle, most memorably on 26 May 1989 whenArsenal'sdecisive 2–0 winatLiverpoolwon them the championship by the narrowest of margins at their opponents' expense.

ITV lost rights to the newPremier LeaguetoBritish Sky Broadcastingand theBBCin 1992, and the final top-flight match shown live beingLiverpool's 2–0 win overManchester Unitedon 26 April 1992, a result that sealed the title forLeeds United,who won 3–2 atSheffield Unitedearlier 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 byIan St John.The Matchwas 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 toSky Sportsand the BBC,The Matchfocused on theLeague Cup,theUEFA Cup,theCup Winners' Cupand 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 theUEFA Champions League).

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 carriedThe Matchbranding, depending on the region:

The Central Match, The Granada Match, The West Match, The Meridian Match, The London Match(which becameThe Sunday Matchfrom 1993/94), The Tyne Tees Match(which becameThe 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 Matchand HTV Wales'sSoccer Sundayall used "You Are The Number One" as their theme, and other regions may have done as well.

The Matchunderwent radical rebranding from the summer of 1993 onward, as Central and Grand Slam Productions took over the production contract from LWT.Matthew Lorenzobecame the programme's main presenter, withJim Rosenthaloften 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 andJimmy Greaves– though both remained involved with ITV's regional football coverage, and St John returned as a co-commentator for networked coverage from 1996.

Bob Wilsonreplaced 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"was used, having been used during ITV's coverage of Euro '96.The Matchreverted toThe Big Matchname 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 theUEFA Champions Leaguetitle. Through the 1990s ITV covered highlights of the League Cup, and between 1997 and 2001 had the rights to show theFA Cup,both as highlights and live; from the start of FA Cup coverage at the beginning of 1998, ITV revived the nameThe Big Matchfor its football coverage. However, when ITV won back English top-flight football highlights in 2001, the new programme was simply calledThe Premiership.

In 2021, ITV won back the secondary rights to the FA Cup fromBT Sport,howeverThe Big Matchbranding was not used on air.

The Big Match Revisited

On 7 February 2008,ITV4began showing old editions ofThe Big Matchin its various regional and national forms on a Thursday afternoon, hoping to cash in on the sports TV nostalgia revival headed by theESPN Classicchannel. Each edition was from the same week 25 years earlier. The first series ofThe Big Match Revisitedran until 15 May 2008, coinciding with the end of the1982–83 season.The programme mainly featuredLondon Weekend Television'sThe Big Matchbut occasionally aired programmes fromGranada Television(Match Time) andTelevision South(The Saturday Match).

The second series began on ITV4 on 1 January 2009 and it covered the second half of the1978–79 season.The first episode broadcast was Granada's coverage ofWest Bromwich Albion's 5–3 win atManchester Unitedon 30 December 1978. The series ran until May, concluding with the1979 FA Cup Final.A mixture ofThe Big MatchandKick Off Matchepisodes were broadcast during the series.

A third series began onBT Sport 2on 10 July 2017, which covered the1976–77 season,and was immediately followed by series 4, which covered the1974–75 season.These two series were not shown onITV4until 2020.

Series 5, covering the1979–80 seasonmade its debut onITV420 February 2021. All episodes were fromThe Big Match.Season 6, which follows on with the1980–81 seasonaired from 14 August 2021.

Following the success of 'The Big Match Revisited',ITVcommissioned 'Matchtime Revisted' which followed the same format, but using episodes of theGranada Televisionregional show 'Match Time', presented byElton Welsby.The first series began onITV4on 26 February 2022, and featured the 1981-82 season.

A seventh season ofThe Big Match Revisitedwas commissioned in 2023, and is due to air from April 2023. At 34 episodes it is the longest series to date, and covers the1977–78 season.

The Big Match Revisited Episode Guide

Series	Episode	Featured Matches
1	1	Manchester City v Tottenham; Barnsley v Wolverhampton Wanderers, Ipswich v Manchester United
	2	Liverpool v Ipswich, Celtic v Aberdeen, Coventry v Manchester City
	3	Everton v Tottenham, Middlesbrough v Arsenal, Aston Villa v Watford
	4	Manchester United v Liverpool, Watford v Aston Villa, Leicester v Wolverhampton Wanderers
	5	Liverpool v Stoke, Sunderland v Everton, Notts County v Tottenham
	6	Manchester United v Everton, Brighton and Hove Albion v Norwich City
	7	West Ham v Stoke, Oldham Athletic v Fulham, Southampton v Manchester City
	8	Fulham v Grimsby, West Ham v Norwich, Nottingham Forest v Southampton
	9	Brighton and Hove Albion v Tottenham, West Ham v Watford, Ipswich v Aston Villa
	10	Luton v Aston Villa, West Bromwich Albion v Watford, Newcastle v Blackburn
	11	Brighton and Hove Albion v Sheffield Wednesday, Norwich v Sunderland, Aberdeen v Celtic, Manchester City v West Ham
	12	Fulham v Leicester, Liverpool v Norwich, Luton v Swansea City
	13	Tottenham v Liverpool, Southampton v Luton, Sunderland v Birmingham City
	14	Fulham v Carlisle, Oldham v Leicester, Birmingham City v Tottenham, Celtic v Morton
	15	Derby v Fulham, Leicester v Burnley, Bury v Wimbledon, Dundee v Dundee United
2	1	Manchester United 3-5 West Bromwich Albion Arsenal 3-1 Birmingham City
	2	Sheffield Wednesday 1-1 Arsenal Stoke City v Oldham Athletic (match abandoned at HT)
	3	Arsenal 2-1 Nottingham Forest Leeds United 1-1 Manchester City
	4	Manchester City 2-3 Chelsea Fulham 2-2 Sunderland
	5	Ipswich Town 0-0 Leyton Orient Newcastle United 1-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nottingham Forest 3-1 York City
	6	Tottenham Hotspur 0-3 Manchester City Middlesbrough 1-3 Nottingham Forest Manchester United 0-2 Arsenal
	7	Everton 4-1 Bristol City Birmingham City 0-1 Leeds United
	8	Leicester City 2-1 Newcastle United Morton 2-2 Partick Thistle
	9	Brentford 3-3 Watford Sheffield United 0-1 Millwall West Bromwich Albion 1-2 Leeds United
	10	Chelsea 0-0 Liverpool Newcastle United 5-3 Charlton Athletic Leeds United 2-2 Norwich City
	11	Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Manchester United
	12	Nottingham Forest 3-2 Southampton
	13	West Ham United 5-0 Newcastle United Cardiff City 1-3 Stoke City Middlesbrough 2-1 Birmingham City
	14	Liverpool 2-2 Manchester United Aberdeen 1-2 Rangers
	15	Leyton Orient 3-3 Brighton and Hove Albion Leicester City 1-1 Stoke City Cologne v Schalke Liverpool 3-0 Arsenal
	16	Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Queens Park Rangers Leeds United 1-0 Aston Villa Derby County 1-2 Nottingham Forest
	17	Bolton v Ipswich, West Bromwich Albion v Wolverhampton Wanderers
	18	Crystal Palace 2-0 Notts County Brighton and Hove Albion 2-1 Blackburn Rovers
	19	Wrexham 1-2 Sunderland Newcastle United 1-3 Brighton and Hove Albion
	20	Arsenal v Manchester United
3	1	Arsenal 0-1 Bristol City Tranmere Rovers 0-1 Chester City Ipswich Town 3-1 Tottenham Hotspur
	2	Brighton and Hove Albion 1-1 Crystal Palace Leeds United 0-2 Manchester United Southampton 4-1 Fulham
	3	Hull City 1-3 Charlton Athletic Bury 3-0 Brighton and Hove Albion Nottingham Forest 6-1 Sheffield United
	4	QPR 2-0 Sunderland Luton Town 1-4 Southampton Leicester City 4-1 Arsenal
	5	Tottenham Hotspur 3-3 Everton Bristol Rovers 1-1 Charlton Athletic West Bromwich Albion 3-0 West Ham United
	6	Fulham 1-5 Notts County Ipswich Town 1-1 Leeds United Aberdeen v Celtic Leicester City 1-1 Manchester United
	7	Chelsea 3-3 Wolverhampton Wanderers Leeds United 1-3 Aston Villa Liverpool 3-1 QPR
	8	Arsenal 3-1 Manchester United Sheffield United 2-3 Bristol Rovers Burnley 1-3 Millwall
	9	Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 West Ham United Liverpool 2-0 Sunderland Norwich City 3-2 Leicester City
	10	Fulham 1-1 Charlton Athletic Middlesbrough 2-0 Tottenham Hotspur Liverpool 4-1 Birmingham City
	11	Arsenal 2-3 West Ham United Hull City 2-2 Bolton Wanderers Manchester United 3-1 Newcastle United
	12	Southampton 2-2 Manchester United Liverpool 2-1 Oldham Athletic Middlesbrough 4-1 Arsenal
	13	Chelsea 2-2 Blackpool Manchester United 3-1 Manchester City Sunderland 6-0 West Ham United
	14	West Ham United 2-2 Everton Rotherham United v Crystal Palace Manchester City 2-1 Ipswich Town
	15	Chelsea 2-0 Luton Town Leeds United 1-1 Sunderland Liverpool 2-1 Manchester City
	16	Tottenham Hotspur 1-1 Sunderland Norwich City 2-1 Bristol City Newcastle United 3-0 West Ham United
	17	Leeds United 1-2 Manchester United
	18	Chelsea 4-0 Sheffield United Leeds United 2-0 Bristol City Liverpool 2-1 Ipswich Town
	19	West Ham United 2-2 Derby County Manchester City 5-0 Tottenham Hotspur Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-1 Chelsea
	20	Chelsea 4-0 Hull City Colchester United v Bradford City Bolton Wanderers v Wolverhampton Wanderers
4	1	Leyton Orient 0-2 Manchester United Norwich City 2-1 Blackpool Stoke City 3-0 Leeds United
	2	Gillingham 0-1 Charlton Athletic Newcastle United 2-0 West Ham United Manchester City 2-1 Leeds United
	3	Fulham 0-2 York City Manchester United 2-2 Nottingham Forest Notts County 3-2 Southampton
	4	Chelsea 0-0 Arsenal Newcastle United 1-0 Carlisle United Birmingham City 3-2 Derby County
	5	Arsenal 2-2 Luton Town Ipswich Town 2-0 Chelsea Leeds United 5-1 Sheffield United
	6	Arsenal 2-2 QPR Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-0 Carlisle United Sheffield United 2-2 Everton
	7	West Ham United 3-0 Middlesbrough Sheffield United 2-1 Carlisle United Manchester United 4-0 Oxford United
	8	West Ham United 5-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers Birmingham City 4-0 Manchester City Newcastle United 5-0 Chelsea
	9	Crystal Palace 2-1 Charlton Athletic Newcastle United 2-1 Manchester City Luton Town 2-3 Burnley
	10	Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 Newcastle United Birmingham City 0-3 Stoke City Sheffield Wednesday 4-4 Manchester United
	11	Millwall 0-0 Portsmouth Sheffield United 1-1 Arsenal Stoke City 2-1 West Ham United
	12	QPR 0-1 Burnley Coventry City 2-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers Ipswich Town 2-0 Middlesbrough
	13	West Ham United 1-1 Swindon Town Coventry City 1-1 Arsenal Chelsea v Watford Leeds United 0-0 Wimbledon
	14	Arsenal 2-0 Liverpool Southend United 1-1 Preston North End
	15	Luton Town 1-0 Newcastle United Manchester City 2-1 Everton Norwich City 3-2 West Bromwich Albion
	16	West Ham United 2-1 Queens Park Rangers Ipswich Town 3-2 Aston Villa Everton 1-2 Fulham
	17	Tottenham Hotspur 0-3 Leicester City Burnley 2-1 Sheffield United Aston Villa 2-0 Manchester United
	18	Charlton Athletic 2-1 Southend United Derby County 1-2 Stoke City Middlesbrough 3-0 Tottenham Hotspur
	19	Leyton Orient 1-0 Aston Villa Luton Town 2-1 Leeds United Burnley 3-3 Arsenal
	20	Arsenal 1-1 Stoke City Ipswich Town 2-1 Leicester City Carlisle United 2-0 Everton
	21	Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Chelsea Norwich City 3-0 Nottingham Forest Everton 2-3 Sheffield United
	22	Arsenal 1-0 Tottenham Hotspur Portsmouth 0-3 Norwich City Luton Town 1-1 Manchester City
5	1	Tottenham v Nottingham Forest, Wolverhampton Wanderers v Aston Villa, Brighton v Norwich
	2	Crystal Palace v Manchester City, Derby v West Bromwich Albion, Sunderland v Chelsea
	3	Luton v QPR, Southampton v Nottingham Forest, Everton v Middlesbrough
	4	Chelsea v Charlton, Aston Villa v Stoke, Norwich v Southampton
	5	Arsenal v Liverpool, Everton v Tottenham, Notts Count v Chelsea
	6	Tottenham v Manchester United, Cambridge United v QPR, Manchester City v Wolverhampton Wanderers
	7	Crystal Palace v Nottingham Forest, Ipswich v Manchester City, Middlesbrough v Southampton,
	8	Chelsea v Swansea, Newcastle v QPR, Liverpool v Crystal Palace
	9	Manchester United v Nottingham Forest, Everton v Manchester City
	10	Crystal Palace v Middlesbrough, Brighton v Manchester City, Manchester United v Arsenal
	11	Tottenham v Manchester United, Birmingham City v Southampton, Halifax Town v Manchester City
	12	West Ham v Watford, Nottingham Forest v West Bromwich Albion, Liverpool v Southampton
	13	Swindon v Tottenham, Everton v Wigan, Arsenal v Brighton and Hove Albion
	14	Derby v Manchester United, Luton v Notts County, Tottenham v Southampton
	15	West Ham v Aston Villa, Everton v Ipswich
	16	Crystal Palace v Manchester United, Manchester City v Bolton, Walsall v Peterborough
	17	QPR v Birmingham City, Leicester v Chelsea
	18	Liverpool v Arsenal, Norwich City v Manchester United, Chelsea v Notts County
	19	Crystal Palace v Liverpool, Ipswich v Bolton, Leicester v Charlton
	20	Chelsea v Oldham, Birmingham City v Notts County, Cardiff City v Sunderland
6	1	Southampton v Man City
	2	Southampton v Brighton
	3	Crystal Palace v Ipswich
	4	Arsenal v Nottingham Forest
	5	Crystal Palace v West Bromwich Albion
	6	West Ham v Bolton Wanderers
	7	Crystal Palace v Manchester United
	8	Tottenham v Wolverhampton Wanderers
	9	Arsenal v Everton
	10	Crystal Palace v Manchester City
	11	Liverpool v Tottenham
	12	Ipswich v Liverpool
	13	Arsenal v Manchester United
	14	Everton v Liverpool
	15	Southampton v Everton
	16	Manchester United v Manchester City
	17	Watford v West Ham
	18	Aston Villa v Manchester United
	19	Tottenham v Aston Villa
	20	Leicester v Aston Villa
	21	Aston Villa v Portsmouth
	22	Sunderland v Brighton
	23	Norwich v Leicester
7	1	Millwall v Crystal Palace, Newcastle v Leeds, Birmingham v Manchester United
	2	Chelsea v Coventry, Nottingham Forest v Derby, Middlesbrough v Newcastle
	3	Arsenal v Nottingham Forest, Ipswich v Chelsea, Newcastle v West Ham "
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In the 1990s, a similar show calledThe Big Match Replayedwas shown late at night onITV,repeating various editions ofThe Big Matchfrom the 1970s.

The Big Matchon DVD

In April 2009 a series ofBig Matchtitles were released on DVD for clubs includingManchester UnitedandTottenham Hotspur.Editions due to be released forLiverpoolandArsenal,entitledMatch of the 70's,while containingBig Matchcontent, was unable to be released under the name due to contractual issues.

May 2009 saw the release of further DVDs in the range, includingBig Matchreleases forWest Ham United,Newcastle United,Chelsea.

Later editions in the series include discs centered onEverton,Manchester City,Aston Villa,Wolves,Sunderland A.F.C.,two volumes ofQPRandLeeds Unitedmatches and theEnglandnational team.

As well as selected match highlights, the bonus content includes much additional footage including the Fun Spot. Viewers' Letters, and the surreal sight ofKevin Keegan,Mick ChannonandElton Johnpresenting the show in December 1976. Other highlights include clips ofPeter Taylortalking about his ill-fated book onBrian Clough(which led to their split), a 38-year-oldMartin Peters,Brazil 1970and a clip of a 21-year-oldDiego Maradona.

References

• Bourn, John."History of Football on ITV".
• "The Big Match: A Sunday Treat".Reminisce This.Archived fromthe originalon 13 February 2009.
• "ITV Sport idents".TV Ark.
• "ITV Football 1968–1983".Up The Maggies.

External links

• ITV News - Footballatitv