25 September 1976
Main Road,
Manchester
It can count among its regular ten million viewers a Cabinet minister, the Chinese ambassador in London, a score of the top comics in the country (but they watch the programme for football, not for laughs!) and nearly every football director, manager and player who doesn't dine out that particular night of the week. Police and solicitors are regularly in touch with the programme planners because somewhere in the land the precise timings of the programme are needed to try to get some unfortunate into or out of jail as a result of that person claiming he was in watching a game on Match of the Day. We have gently busted a few seemingly good alibis! Match of the Day is the oldest football programme. It began in 1964. One match only used to be shown. Then one main match and a different second smaller match which was shown in different BBC regions of the country. Now the best content is two matches shown nationally—one at thirty minutes in length, the other at fifteen minutes. Although the viewers know the presenters and commentators like Jimmy Hill, David Coleman, Barry Davies, John Motson and Alan Weeks there is a small army of people who are behind each programme roughly 200 persons are involved, all important and all extremely loyal to and proud of Match of the Day.
Manchester
It can count among its regular ten million viewers a Cabinet minister, the Chinese ambassador in London, a score of the top comics in the country (but they watch the programme for football, not for laughs!) and nearly every football director, manager and player who doesn't dine out that particular night of the week. Police and solicitors are regularly in touch with the programme planners because somewhere in the land the precise timings of the programme are needed to try to get some unfortunate into or out of jail as a result of that person claiming he was in watching a game on Match of the Day. We have gently busted a few seemingly good alibis! Match of the Day is the oldest football programme. It began in 1964. One match only used to be shown. Then one main match and a different second smaller match which was shown in different BBC regions of the country. Now the best content is two matches shown nationally—one at thirty minutes in length, the other at fifteen minutes. Although the viewers know the presenters and commentators like Jimmy Hill, David Coleman, Barry Davies, John Motson and Alan Weeks there is a small army of people who are behind each programme roughly 200 persons are involved, all important and all extremely loyal to and proud of Match of the Day.
