''Match of the Day'' (abbreviated to ''MOTD'') is a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

highlights programme, typically broadcast on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

on Saturday nights during the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

season. ''Match of the Day'' is one of the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's longest-running shows, having been on air since 22 August 1964. In 2015, ''

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

'' recognised it "as the longest-running football television programme in the world." Analysis is provided by Danny Murphy,

Micah Richards Micah Lincoln Richards (born 24 June 1988) is an English Association football, football pundit and former professional player who played as a right-back. Richards began his senior career with Manchester City F.C., Manchester City and made 245 a ...

and

Alan Shearer Alan Shearer (born 13 August 1970) is an English Association football, football pundit and former professional player who played as a striker (association football), striker. Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of all time and one of t ...

, among others. Former

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

international striker

Gary Lineker Gary Winston Lineker ( ; born 30 November 1960) is an English Sports broadcasting, sports broadcaster and former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. Lineker is the only player t ...

was the series' longest-serving presenter (1999—2025). Since the 2004–05 season, a second programme, ''

Match of the Day 2 ''Match of the Day 2'' is a Premier League football highlights programme. It is a companion show to ''Match of the Day'', usually broadcast on BBC One on Sunday evenings, thus facilitating coverage of the respective week's PL matches that were p ...

'', has usually aired on the following Sunday and features highlights of all the day's games, whilst showing the goals from the previous days' action. The show's theme tune was voted the most recognised television theme in a 2010 poll conducted by the

PRS PRS or prs may refer to: Science and technology * Peripheral Reflex System, an implementation of autonomous peripheral operations in microcontrollers * Personal response system, in audience response * Phenotypic response surfaces, in medicine * P ...

History

1960s

Although the title was first used by the

for its

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

highlights programme in June 1964, the first football-related edition of ''Match of the Day'' was screened on

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matter, incorporating genres such as comedy, drama and ...

on 22 August 1964, and showed highlights of a game between

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

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 ...

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

. The programme's audience was estimated at only 20,000, less than half of the attendance at the ground. ''Match of the Day'' was not universally welcomed in the football world; in 1965 several clubs attempted to block a renewed deal with the BBC in fear of a drop in gate attendances at matches. Eventually, a compromise was reached where the BBC agreed not to reveal which match was to be shown until after the day's play had concluded. Following the success of the

team at the

1966 FIFA World Cup The 1966 FIFA World Cup was the eighth FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in England from 11 to 30 July 1966. England defeated West Germany 4–2 in the 1966 FI ...

, the programme was moved from BBC2 to

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

for the start of the 1966–1967 season. The first

colour Color (or colour in Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is the visual perception based on the electromagnetic spectrum. Though color is not an inherent property of matter, color perception is related to an object's light absorp ...

edition was shown on 2 November 1968, when the programme moved back to BBC2 for one week, and a game between Chelsea and

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

was featured (BBC 2 was transmitted on

625 lines 625-line (or CCIR 625/50) is a late 1940s European analog standard-definition television resolution standard. It consists of a 625-line raster, with 576 lines carrying the visible image at 25 interlaced frames per second. It was eventually ...

capable of showing colour). Two other First Division games from the 1968-69 season were also broadcast on BBC2 in colour. The first

edition of ''Match of the Day'' on BBC1 was shown on 15 November 1969, where it featured a game between

and

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

1970s and 1980s

Slow motion Slow motion (commonly abbreviated as slow-mo or slo-mo) is an effect in film-making whereby time appears to be slowed down. It was invented by the Austrian priest August Musger in the early 20th century. This can be accomplished through the use ...

replays were first introduced in 1969. At the end of the decade the BBC lost a significant share of matches, with a new four-year deal in 1979 splitting the rights between the BBC and ITV (ITV had originally won exclusive rights, but a ruling from 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 economi ...

ordered that the rights be split). ''Match of the Day'' was moved to Sunday afternoons for the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seasons. In 1983, the programme reverted to being shown on Saturday night, although that year four broadcasts were lost due to industrial action. The season 1983–84 also saw the first ''Match of the Day Live'' broadcasts of First Division matches, beginning with

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

on 16 December – a Friday evening fixture. This came some two months after the start of ITV's '' Big Match Live''.

1990s and 2000s

League football highlights were not available to the

from 1988 as ITV had exclusive rights, though the programme remained on air for the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

as ''Match of the Day: The Road to Wembley''. League football returned in 1992, for the start of the

era.

Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the planetary surface, surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from ...

's emergence made the TV rights market more competitive, with the BBC losing

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

matches after

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

's revamping as the Champions League in 1992, although it did broadcast the 1994 final between

A.C. Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

and

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

. In 1997, the BBC lost all live rights to the

meaning the programme's live coverage was restricted to the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

and

Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renamed the UEFA Cup Winne ...

matches, the latter competition becoming defunct in 1999. The BBC were still able to show Saturday evening highlights of FA Cup games. A significant change occurred in 2001 when the Premier League awarded highlights rights to ITV in a three-year contract. Between 2001 and 2004, the ''Match of the Day'' brand was used for the BBC's live football coverage and the network had earned some consolation in losing by managing to regain live terrestrial coverage of the FA Cup and England internationals for that period. Rights for

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

qualifiers, which are held by the home team and fall outside the rights for the competition proper, were obtained on an ad hoc basis for English teams in this period, which is currently the case for the BBC with Scottish and Northern Irish teams. Both legs of Manchester United's 2002–03 third round qualifying matches against

Zalaegerszeg Zalaegerszeg (; ; ; ) is the administrative center of Zala County, Zala county in western Hungary. Location Zalaegerszeg lies on the banks of the Zala River, close to the Slovenian and Austrian borders, and west-southwest of Budapest by road. Hi ...

were shown live on the BBC. From the 2004–05 season, Premier League highlights returned to the BBC in a revived ''MOTD''. In addition, ''

'' was launched, which showed highlights of the increasing number of Sunday fixtures, and was initially presented by

Adrian Chiles Adrian Chiles (born 21 March 1967) is a British writer and television and radio presenter. He has co-presented both '' The One Show'' (2007–2010) and '' Daybreak'' (2010–2011) with Christine Lampard. He was also the chief presenter for fo ...

. The BBC's broadcasting rights were renewed in 2009, allowing them to continue showing ''Match of the Day'' until 2013.

2010s

From the 2011–12 season, a web-only ''Match of the Day 3'' programme was launched on Monday mornings as a light-hearted addition to ''

''. Although broadcast as a separate programme, it is recorded immediately following the conclusion of ''Match of the Day 2'' on Sunday night. In November 2011, ''Match of the Day'' moved from London to a brand new studio in Dock10,

MediaCityUK MediaCityUK is a mixed-use property development on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal in City of Salford, Salford, Greater Manchester, England. The project was developed by The Peel Group, Peel Media; its principal tenants are Mass media, ...

as part of BBC Sport's relocation north, this allowed the programme to be recorded in high-definition. At the start of 2012–13 season ''Match of the Day 2'' moved to

. Upon regaining the

rights in 2014, highlights from the early and later rounds of the competition were given their own separate programme instead of being broadcast on an extended ''Match of the Day'' straight after the

highlights, as it was before the BBC last lost the rights in 2008. Highlights of the latter rounds occasionally sequence from the Premier League highlights, as they did until the previous decade, but both segments are considered separate programmes. In January 2018, the

awarded the UK highlights to BBC Sport. The rights cost £211.5 million and were to cover three seasons from 2019–20. The January 2018 agreement also includes ''

'', ''Match of the Day 2 Extra'', ''

Match of the Day Kickabout A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...

'', ''

Football Focus ''Football Focus'' is a BBC television magazine programme launched in 1974, broadcast live on BBC One on Saturday lunchtimes during the football season. The programme, along with '' Final Score'', is a remnant from the former flagship sports show ...

'', ''

Final Score ''Final Score'' is a BBC Television football news and results programme produced by BBC Sport. The programme is broadcast on late Saturday afternoons in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, usually on BBC One. BBC Northern Ireland opts away dur ...

'' and ''

The Premier League Show ''The Premier League Show'' is a ''BBC'' magazine television show focusing on the ''Premier League''. The programme started broadcasting during the 2016–17 Premier League season and ran up to the end of 2018–19, it was succeeded by ''MOTDx ...

''.

2020s

During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and the postponement of the

2019–20 Premier League The 2019–20 Premier League was the 28th season of the Premier League, the top English professional association football, football league, since its establishment in 1992, and the 121st season of top-flight English football overall. The season ...

season, ''Match of the Day'' split into a televised podcast called ''Match of the Day: Top 10 Podcast'' in which Gary Lineker and the pundits discussed and ranked certain roles from the start of the Premier League in 1992 (such as Top 10 Goalkeepers) and ''Match of their Day'' which featured a pundit picking three of their favourite Premier League matches. Upon its resumption, the BBC broadcast four games live.

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

versus Crystal Palace became the first Premier League game shown live on one of the five main terrestrial channels, and the BBC's first live top-flight English football match since 1987–88. A further eight games were shown live during the 2020–21 season. In July 2022, the BBC acquired the rights to show highlights of the men's

on television,

iPlayer BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available Over-the-top media service, over-the-top on a wide range of devices, including Mobile phone, mobile phones and Tablet computer ...

and digitally from the 2024-25 to 2027-28 seasons. As part of this, on 21 August 2024, the first episode of ''MOTD: UEFA Champions League'' aired on

. In March 2023, Lineker was suspended following political controversy over a tweet he had made criticising UK government policy, which the BBC argued breached guidelines over social media use by employees and freelancers. Several presenters, pundits and commentators, including Alex Scott,

Ian Wright Ian Edward Wright (born 3 November 1963) is an English media personality and former professional footballer. Wright enjoyed success with London clubs Crystal Palace and Arsenal as a forward, spending six years with the former and seven year ...

and

, refused to participate in the BBC's football output, while some football clubs announced their refusal to conduct BBC interviews. Radio and television programming across BBC Sport's football division was severely disrupted on 11 March, while BBC director general

Tim Davie Timothy Douglas Davie (born 25 April 1967) is a British media executive, and the Director-General of the BBC since September 2020, taking over from Tony Hall. He was previously appointed as the acting director-general of the BBC in November 2 ...

apologised to viewers for the disruption. Both ''Match of the Day'' and ''Match of the Day 2'', presented the following day, followed a shortened format with no studio presentation, punditry, or interviews. On 13 March, Lineker was reinstated as host of ''Match of the Day'' and the BBC began a review of its social media guidelines. At the end of 2023, the BBC and Premier League agreed on a deal whereby Premier League highlights will be shown on ''Match Of The Day'', ''Match of the Day 2'' and ''Football Focus'' up to and including the 2028–29 season. The deal also includes a significant increase in the amount of digital content that can be used across BBC Sport platforms.

Studio

The programme was broadcast from TC5 at

BBC Television Centre Television Centre (TVC), formerly known as BBC Television Centre, is a building complex in White City, London, White City, West London, which was the headquarters of BBC Television from 1960 to 2013, when BBC Television moved to Broadcasting H ...

from 1964–2012. Ahead of the

season,

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC BBC Television, television, BBC Radio, radio and BBC Online, online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadc ...

upgraded the studio that ''Match of the Day'', ''

'', ''

'' and ''

'' broadcasts from. Filming is located at the Dock10 studios at

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

Presenters, analysts and commentators

Presenters

Despite the programme's long running status there have been only five regular main presenters:

Kenneth Wolstenholme Kenneth Wolstenholme, DFC & Bar (17 July 1920 – 25 March 2002) was an English football commentator for BBC television in the 1950s and 1960s. He is best remembered for his commentary during the 1966 FIFA World Cup Final; in the closing min ...

(1964–1967),

David Coleman David Robert Coleman (26 April 1926 – 21 December 2013) was a British sports commentator and television presenter who worked for the BBC for 46 years. He covered eleven Summer Olympic Games from 1960 to 2000 and six FIFA World Cups from 196 ...

(1967–1973),

Jimmy Hill James William Thomas Hill, Order of the British Empire, OBE (22 July 1928 – 19 December 2015) was an English football in England, footballer and later a television personality. His career included almost every role in the sport, including pla ...

(1973–1988),

Des Lynam Desmond Michael Lynam (born 17 September 1942) is an Irish-born British television and radio presenter. In a broadcasting career spanning more than forty years, he has hosted television coverage of many of the world's major sporting events, pr ...

(1988–1999) and

(1999–2025). Lineker had worked as an analyst during his predecessor Des Lynam's tenure. In 2005, Celina Hinchcliffe became the first woman to present on the programme. In November 2024, Gary Lineker announced that he would be departing the Premier League highlights edition shows at the end of the 2024-25 season. In January 2025, the

announced that

Kelly Cates Kelly Cates (née Dalglish; born 28 September 1975) is a Scottish presenter, currently working for Sky Sports, BBC Radio 5 Live and ESPN. Early life Born in Glasgow, Kelly is the eldest of four children of former Celtic and Liverpool player a ...

, Mark Chapman and

Gabby Logan Gabrielle Nicole Logan (''née'' Yorath; born 24 April 1973) is a Welsh television and radio presenter, and a former rhythmic gymnast who represented Wales and Great Britain. She hosted '' Final Score'' for BBC Sport from 2009 until 2013. She h ...

would share the presenting of ''Match of the Day'', ''

'' and ''Match of the Day: Champions League'' following Lineker's departure. Lineker had initially been expected to continue presenting coverage for the BBC of live

games for the 2025-26 season and

2026 FIFA World Cup The 2026 FIFA World Cup, marketed as FIFA World Cup 26, will be the 23rd FIFA World Cup, the Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international men's Association football, soccer championship contested by the List of men's n ...

before leaving the BBC. However, Lineker was pushed out programme entirely at the end of 2024-25 domestic season after campaign by BBC management accusing of reposting an

antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

video on social media which was actually a video about Zionism. BBC management were also pushing Lineker out given his vocal support for the children of Gaza.

Analysts

Among the analysts featured during the 2024–25 season are Danny Murphy,

and

. Previous ''Match of the Day'' analysts include

Alan Hansen Alan David Hansen MBE (born 13 June 1955) is a Scottish former footballer and BBC television football pundit. Regarded as one of the greatest defenders of all time and one of Liverpool's best ever centre-backs, he enjoyed a highly decorated ...

Mark Lawrenson Mark Thomas Lawrenson (born 2 June 1957) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), defender for Liverpool F.C., Liverpool, among others, during the 1970s and 1980s. After ...

and

Commentators

''Match of the Day'' uses a selection of

and

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

commentators Commentator or commentators may refer to: * Commentator (historical) or Postglossator, a member of a European legal school that arose in France in the fourteenth century * Commentator (horse) (foaled 2001), American Thoroughbred racehorse * The ...

, including: Guy Mowbray, Steve Wilson, Jonathan Pearce,

Steve Bower Stephen Robert Bower is an English football commentator. He is best known as one of the main voices for BBC TV's Match of the Day, culminating in being part of the commentary teams for the 2010, 2014, 2018, and 2022 FIFA World Cups. Bower comme ...

, Simon Brotherton, Conor McNamara,

Vicki Sparks Vicki Sparks is a British sports journalist and football commentator for BBC Sport and BT Sport. She has reported for '' Final Score'' and BBC Radio 5 Live. She also regularly covers women's football for the BBC. In March 2017, after a post-matc ...

, Alistair Mann, Martin Fisher, Mark Scott, John Roder, Chris Wise,

Robyn Cowen Robyn Cowen is an English journalist and football commentator. She was the lead commentator on BBC One for the England women's national football team matches during UEFA Women's Euro 2022, which was hosted and won by England. Early life Cowen ...

Steven Wyeth Steven Wyeth is a British football commentator for the BBC and TNT Sports amongst others. Early life Wyeth attended the University of Manchester and commented on Manchester United for Manchester Sports and for BBC Radio Manchester. Career Commen ...

, Tom Gayle and Ben Andrews. In 2007,

Jacqui Oatley Jacqueline Anne Oatley (born 28 December 1974) is an English broadcaster who works as a football commentator for TNT Sports UK and other broadcasters, calling games at the FIFA World Cup, Premier League, FA Women's Super League, UEFA Champions ...

became the first woman to commentate on the programme. Previous commentators have included

Walley Barnes Walley Barnes (16 January 1920 – 4 September 1975) was a Welsh footballer and broadcaster. Whilst playing as a defender he featured for Southampton and Arsenal and captained the Welsh national side. Early career He was born in Brecon to Engli ...

Frank Bough Francis Joseph Bough (; 15 January 1933 – 21 October 2020) was an English television presenter. He was best known as the host of BBC sports and current affairs shows including '' Grandstand'', '' Nationwide'' and '' Breakfast Time'', which he l ...

Jon Champion Jonathan Martin Champion (born 23 May 1965) is a British sports commentator currently working as an association football commentator for ESPN and NBC Sports. Champion is a well-established and experienced commentator who has also worked for the ...

Barry Davies Barry George Davies MBE (born 24 October 1937) is an English retired sports commentator and television presenter. He covered a wide range of sports in a long career, primarily for the BBC. Although best known for his football commentary, Da ...

Tony Gubba David Anthony Gubba (23 September 1943 – 11 March 2013) was an English journalist and television sports commentator. Life and career Born in Manchester, Gubba was educated at Blackpool Grammar School. He began work as a local newspaper repor ...

, Stuart Hall,

John Motson John Walker Motson (10 July 1945 – 23 February 2023) was an English football commentator. Beginning as a television commentator with the BBC in 1971, he commentated on over 2000 games on television and radio. From the late 1970s to 2008, Mo ...

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 as ...

, Idwal Robling,

Gerald Sinstadt Gerald Morris Sinstadt (19 February 1930 – 10 November 2021) was an English sports commentator, broadcaster and newspaper columnist. Early life Born in Folkestone, Kent, Sinstadt attended The Harvey Grammar School. Broadcasting career Sinst ...

Clive Tyldesley Clive Tyldesley (born 21 August 1954) is an English television sports broadcaster. He was ITV's senior football commentator from 1998 until 2020. In that role, he led the ITV commentary team at five World Cups and five European Championships an ...

, Alan Weeks and

. As part of the show's 50th anniversary celebrations,

returned to commentate.

Theme music

The current theme tune for the series is titled "Match of the Day". It was composed for the programme in 1970 by Barry Stoller, and was used for the first time on 15 August 1970. Stoller's brief was simply to write "something good"; the short closing fanfare occurred to him first. "Those fanfare harmonies give the music a gladiator feel," he wrote in 2014, "akin to entering the ancient games arena in Rome with all its expectations." The tune was recorded by him, a trumpeter and a drummer (Stuart Vincent) in the basement recording studio of his home. In May 2010,

PRS for Music PRS for Music Limited (formerly The MCPS-PRS Alliance Limited) is a British music copyright collective, made up of two collection societies: the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society (MCPS) and the Performing Right Society (PRS). It undertake ...

revealed that the ''Match of the Day'' theme tune is the most recognisable in the UK. The theme is often incorrectly labelled "Off Side", the group name used by musician Mike Vickers, for an alternative 1970 version of Stoller's tune, which was released as a 45 rpm gramophone single on the Pye label (7N 25534), The original theme tune, entitled "Drum Majorette", was written by Major Leslie Statham, a former band member of the

Welsh Guards The Welsh Guards (WLSH GDS; ), part of the Guards and Parachute Division, Guards Division, is one of the Foot guards, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army. It was founded in 1915 as a single-battalion regiment, during the World War I, First ...

under the pen-name Arnold Steck.

Related shows

*Since 1998, the BBC's coverages of the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

and the

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

have been under the ''Match of the Day'' banner. *Between 1995 and 1999, the BBC broadcast '' Match of the Seventies'' (1995–96), ''Match of the Eighties'' (1997) and ''Match of the Nineties'' (1999). Each series acted as a chronological review of seasons through each decade, presented in a slightly off-beat style, and relied heavily on footage originally included in ''Match of the Day'' broadcasts. Presenters included

Dennis Waterman Dennis Waterman (24 February 1948 – 8 May 2022) was an English actor and singer. He was best known for his tough-guy leading roles in television series including ''The Sweeney'', ''Minder (TV series), Minder'' and ''New Tricks'', singing the ...

Danny Baker Danny Baker (born 22 June 1957) is an English comedy writer, journalist, radio DJ and screenwriter. Throughout his career he has largely presented for London's regional radio and television. Baker was born in Deptford to a working-class fa ...

, Mark Radcliffe and

Marc Riley Marc Riley (born 10 July 1961) is an English radio DJ, alternative rock critic, musician, and former music businessman. He currently presents on BBC Radio 6 Music. Formerly a member of The Fall, he co-owned a record label, In-Tape, and also w ...

. *From the 2004–05 season, a second programme, ''

'', usually airs on the following Sunday. *From the 2009–10 season until 2015–16, the BBC picked up the rights for the Football League highlights and up until 2011–12, ten live

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

games and three live League Cup games. Live games were broadcast under the ''Match of the Day Live'' banner, but highlights were shown on a new dedicated programme named ''

The Football League Show ''The Football League Show'' is a BBC One football television show, primarily hosted by Manish Bhasin. It features match highlights from the Championship, League One and League Two. It began on 8 August 2009, at 11:45 pm and immediately f ...

'' (or, for League Cup games, ''The League Cup Show''). *From the 2013–14 season, American channel

NBCSN NBCSN (also known as NBC Sports Network) was an American sports television television channel, channel owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It originally launched on July 1, 1995, as the Outdoor Lif ...

has broadcast its own version also called ''

Match of the Day ''Match of the Day'' (abbreviated to ''MOTD'') is a Association football, football highlights programme, typically broadcast on BBC One on Saturday nights during the Premier League season. ''Match of the Day'' is one of the BBC's longest-runn ...

''. *From the 2016–17 season until the 2018–19 season, ''

'' typically airs on Thursday nights during the Premier League season. *From the 2019–20 season, a spin-off show ''MOTDx'' was launched, focussing on celebrities, music, fashion and culture of the Premier League. It is presented by Jermaine Jenas, alongside

Chelcee Grimes Chelcee Maria Grimes (born 8 May 1992) is an English singer, songwriter, television presenter, and footballer. She has written songs for Kylie Minogue, Dua Lipa, Blackpink, Kesha, Olly Murs, Jonas Blue, Louisa, the Saturdays, and Tom Walker. ...

, Craig Mitch and Reece Parkinson.

Match of the Day Annual

A ''Match of the Day Annual'' book is also produced.

References

External links

*
Behind the scenes with the ''Match of the Day'' commentary team

Unofficial ''Match of the Day'' fan-website
* {{Association football on television 1964 British television series debuts 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 2010s British sports television series 2020s British sports television series BBC Sport Black-and-white British television shows English football on television English Football League on television Football mass media in the United Kingdom Premier League on television BBC One original programming BBC Two original programming

History

1960s

1970s and 1980s

1990s and 2000s

2010s

2020s

Studio

Presenters, analysts and commentators

Presenters

Analysts

Commentators

Theme music

Related shows

Match of the Day Annual

See also

References

Further reading

External links