Football First

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Football First is an interactive television programme on Sky Sports that shows extended highlights of every Barclays Premier League match played on the day. It regularly airs on Saturdays at 8.25pm, and is currently presented by Julian Warren.

[edit] Overview

The show first broadcasted on Saturday 14th August 2004, at 8.25 with two main parts to the programme:

  • GAME OF THE DAY: On-air at 8.25pm with the full 90 minutes of a match selected from the day's 3pm kick-offs. The decision on the Game of the Day is made after 5pm every Premiership match day, and announced on Soccer Saturday by the Football First presenter.
  • MATCH CHOICE: At 10.15 pm, a choice from extended highlights of every game played that day except matches shown live on ESPN that day. Viewers on the Sky Digital platform can chose extended highlights of up to eight games. Viewers who do not use the interactive service - or do not have Sky Digital - will see 50 minutes of highlights from one match.

After a full Match Choice, the programme's presenter along with a studio guest, usually a footballer such as John Salako, Warren Barton, or Paul Walsh, discuss the main developments of the day.

The music currently used for the round-up of goals is a track from Kasabian - Empire.

[edit] Restrictions

The match choice service is only available to UK and Republic of Ireland viewers, who subscribe to Sky Digital.

If more than eight matches are played on one match day, such as the final day of the season, one would be broadcast on the main channel (i.e. the one that non-interactive viewers watch) and would not be included on the interactive service. If more than eight games still need to be offered, any games that were shown live on Sky Sports are not offered interactivley.

[edit] Football First commentators

A large number of top commentators appear on Football First, including Sky's regulars such as Martin Tyler and Rob Hawthorne. Others include John Anderson, Gary Weaver, Daniel Mann, Gary Taphouse and Tony Jones. These are the same feeds as TWI uses for the international audience.