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 Match was a British football television programme, screened on ITV between 1968 and 1992.

The Big Match originally launched on London Weekend Television (LWT) – the ITV regional station that served London and the Home Counties at weekends – screening highlights of Football League 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 and partly as an alternative to the BBC's own football programme, Match of the Day. The Big Match launched the media career of Jimmy Hill, who appeared on the programme as an analyst, and made Brian Moore one of the country's leading football commentators.

The programme was launched soon after London Weekend Television took over the ITV weekend franchise for London from ATV, which had previously shown local football highlights under the name Star Soccer. Co-presenter Jimmy Hill was also Head of Sport at LWT.

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 at London Weekend Television 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 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
• 1972 to 1973: "Cheekybird" by Don Harper
• 1973 to 1980: "La Soiree (The Evening)" by David Ordini
• 1980 to 1986: "Jubilation" by Jeff Wayne
• 1986 to 1988: "Aztec Gold" by Silsoe
• 1988 to 1992: "Goal Crazy" by Rod Argent

Note: 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

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 and Nottingham Forest 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. 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's decisive 2–0 win at Liverpool won them the championship by the narrowest of margins at their opponents' expense.

ITV lost rights to the new Premier League to British Sky Broadcasting and the BBC in 1992, and the final top-flight match shown live being Liverpool's 2–0 win over Manchester United on 26 April 1992, a result that sealed the title for Leeds United, who won 3–2 at Sheffield United 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. 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 and the BBC, The Match focused on the League Cup, the UEFA Cup, the Cup Winners' Cup 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).

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 became the programme's main presenter, with Jim Rosenthal 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 – 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" 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, 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.

In 2021, ITV won back the secondary rights to the FA Cup from BT Sport, however The Big Match branding was not used on air.

The Big Match Revisited

On 7 February 2008, ITV4 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 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's The Big Match but occasionally aired programmes from Granada Television (Match Time) and Television South (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's 5–3 win at Manchester United 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 until 2020.

Series 5, covering the 1979–80 season made its debut on ITV4 20 February 2021. All episodes were from The Big Match. Season 6, which follows on with the 1980–81 season aired from 14 August 2021.

Following the success of 'The Big Match Revisited', ITV commissioned 'Matchtime Revisted' which followed the same format, but using episodes of the Granada Television regional show 'Match Time', presented by Elton Welsby. The first series began on ITV4 on 26 February 2022, and featured the 1981-82 season.

A seventh season of The Big Match Revisited was commissioned in 2023, and aired on ITV4 from April 2023. At 34 episodes it was the longest series to date, covering the 1977–78 season. Series 8, looking at the 1984-85 season, will be broadcast in early 2025.

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"
	4
	5
	6	West Ham v Everton, Newcastle United v Coventry, Norwich v Arsenal
	7
	8
	9
	10
	11
	12
	13
	14
	15
	16
	17	Arsenal v Leeds, Norwich City v Liverpool, Nottingham Forest v Coventry City
	18
	19
	20
	21
	22	Chelsea v Ipswich, Wolves v Everton, Manchester Utd v Derby
	23
	24
	25
	26
	27	Oldham v Tottenham, Coventry v Birmingham, Ipswich Town v West Bromwich Albion
	28
	29
	30	Gillingham v Wrexham, Aston Villa v Liverpool, Burnley v Tottenham Hotspur
	31
	32
	33
	34

In the 1990s, a similar show called The Big Match Replayed was shown late at night on ITV, 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 and Tottenham Hotspur. Editions due to be released for Liverpool and Arsenal, entitled 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, Newcastle United, Chelsea.

Later editions in the series include discs centered on Everton, Manchester City, Aston Villa, Wolves, Sunderland A.F.C., two volumes of QPR and Leeds United matches and the England 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 and Elton John presenting the show in December 1976. Other highlights include clips of Peter Taylor talking about his ill-fated book on Brian Clough (which led to their split), a 38-year-old Martin Peters, Brazil 1970 and a clip of a 21-year-old Diego Maradona.

References

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

External links

• ITV News - Football at itv.com