''Star Soccer'' was a weekly

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 in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, which ran on

Associated Television ATV Network Limited, originally Associated TeleVision (ATV), was a British broadcaster, part of the ITV (TV network), ITV (Independent Television) network. It provided a service to London at weekends from 1955 to 1968, to the Midlands on week ...

(ATV) from 1965 until 1983 when it was replaced by a networked ''

The Big Match ''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 Countie ...

'' and spin-off ''The Big Match Live''.

History

The programme's early years were from London but from August 1968 the show centred on Midlands teams. This coincided with the re-jigging of the ITV network. ATV was now a Midlands only broadcaster. The programme was hosted initially by Billy Wright and then

Gary Newbon Gary Newbon MBE (born 15 March 1945 in Cambridge) is an English television sports presenter and executive. Biography Born in Cambridge, Newbon attended Culford School near Bury St Edmunds, where he captained the rugby first XV and edited the sc ...

, occasionally joined by a guest in the studio. The main commentator was

Hugh Johns Hugh Richard Lewis Johns (6 September 1922 – 27 June 2007) was an English football commentator, best known for his appearances for ITV. During his career, he covered 1,000 matches including four FIFA World Cup finals. Early life and career ...

, ITV's man at the microphone for the 1966 FIFA World Cup Final. Other commentators included Peter Lorenzo,

Nick Owen Nicholas Corbishley Owen (born 1 November 1947) is an English television presenter and newsreader, best known for presenting the ITV breakfast programme '' Good Morning Britain, Good Morning with Anne and Nick, ITV Sport,'' and the BBC's re ...

and

Peter Brackley Peter Brackley (13 June 1951 – 14 October 2018) was an English football commentator, perhaps most famous for commentating for '' Football Italia'' on Channel 4 in the 1990s, for the computer game series ''Pro Evolution Soccer'' until '' Pro Ev ...

Format

The programme's format was typical of the time, extended highlights of a London (1965–68) based match and a

Midlands The Midlands is the central region of England, to the south of Northern England, to the north of southern England, to the east of Wales, and to the west of the North Sea. The Midlands comprises the ceremonial counties of Derbyshire, Herefor ...

based match (from August 1968) was the main attraction and then shorter highlights of two other games from around the country, covered by other ITV regions. Where possible this would be a game involving a Midlands team as the visiting team. The programme was broadcast during a "glory" period for Midlands-based teams:

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

and

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

all won league championships during the show's run, the latter two adding European Cups as well.

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

also had a successful spell, bagged a brace of League Cups and competed in Europe;

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

also won this competition in 1972. An entertaining

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

side broke new boundaries by including

three 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...

black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

players,

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

gained a reputation as durable First Division battlers, and a young

Trevor Francis Trevor John Francis (19 April 1954 – 24 July 2023) was an English footballer who played as a forward for a number of clubs in England, the United States, Italy, Scotland and Australia. In 1979 he became Britain's first £1 million pla ...

dazzled all before him for

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

before moving to Forest in the English game's first million-pound transfer. All this was captured by the ATV cameras, but it wasn't just about the top division.

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

's promoted side were featured in Division 2 specials, and on

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 ...

weekends many lower league sides were featured. ATV's links with

ITC Entertainment The Incorporated Television Company (ITC), or ITC Entertainment as it was referred to in the United States, was a British company involved in the production and distribution of television programmes. History Incorporated Television Programme C ...

enabled fans in the US and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

to watch the best of Midlands football, with top ''Star Soccer'' matches repackaged and syndicated, as ''All-Star Soccer'', to television stations across the Atlantic. By 1983 the appetite for live football was growing and the FA allowed games to be shown in a deal with 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 ...

and ITV. '' Match of the Day Live'' and '' The Big Match Live'' would become the banners for TV football for the rest of the decade. Both networks continued to show highlights, however, they were invariably shunted to late night slots at a weekend.

References

{{reflist

External links

Football Broadcast
English football on television 1960s British sports television series 1970s British sports television series 1980s British sports television series 1965 British television series debuts 1983 British television series endings Sports television in the United Kingdom Football mass media in the United Kingdom