Extra Time

On the Ball / World of Sport Results Service / Map of the ITV Regions / Studios / STV / Special Programmes /
The Big Match Replayed / The Big Match Revisited / Archive Series / Pay-TV / Official DVD's / Links

On The Ball
On 2nd January 1965, a new 4½  hour programme called World Of Sport was introduced to ITV's Saturday afternoon schedule to rival Grandstand on BBC1, it was produced for the network by ABC and was originally hosted by Eamonn Andrews. Following ABC's demise, London Weekend Television took over production in the summer of 1968 and Andrews was replaced by Richard Davies, who had previously been employed on the programme as a reporter and commentator. Davies soon became one of the most recognisable faces on TV and as 'Dickie Davies' a household name throughout the 1970's and '80's*.

Early in the 1968/69 season World Of Sport was including a five or ten minute "Soccer Round Up" at around 2:20pm, by 21st September 1968 this had mutated into "On The Ball" which appears to have initially consisted of brief conversations with the four ITV commentators working for the major regions (Brian Moore, Hugh Johns, Danny Blanchflower and Barry Davies). On 4th January 1969 the slot was expanded to 25/30 minutes and moved to the start of the programme with Jimmy Hill also becoming involved. Now the host, Brian Moore had to present On the Ball from whichever ground he had been assigned to commentate for The Big Match and the location had to be obscured from view to prevent potential punters from staying at home and watching the match on TV the following afternoon instead. Probably for this same reason the link-ups with the other commentators were apparently dropped for the start of the 1969/70 season which in turn allowed for more air-time to be given over to Jimmy Hill - who remained an integral part of On the Ball until he left ITV after the end of season 1972/73. Hill was not replaced, although there were numerous guests, but in August 1978 On The Ball was dropped in favour of "Headline" co-presented by Dickie Davies which gave ITV scope for addressing potentially more pressing sporting issues at the top of the programme. Brian Moore was furious and almost left ITV over the decision (the BBC were eager to take him). It was eventually agreed that former Liverpool and Scotland player Ian St John would sit alongside Dickie Davies for "Headline" whilst Moore would now be able to concentrate on his Big Match duties having secured himself an improved contract, yet on 27th October 1979 (following a three month strike that took ITV off the air) On The Ball was restored, albeit now presented by Ian St. John.

In the early 1980's, 'Saint' in London would link up with the ATV/Central studios in Birmingham for a chat with the 1960s Chelsea, Tottenham & England legend Jimmy Greaves (already a regular face on Midlands ITV as a summariser for Star Soccer and the sports section of ATV Today/Central News), the pairing proved successful enough to warrant Greaves eventually travelling down to the London studio for the 1983/84 season and assuming equal air-time in what had essentially become a comedy double act (with Saint playing straight man to Greaves' off the wall observations). After a run of almost 21 years, World Of Sport came to an end on 28th September 1985, the final show was hosted by Dickie Davies with On The Ball following the wrestling and news at 12:50-1:40pm. There was however a reprieve for the Saturday afternoon ITV football preview - On 5th October 1985 the newly titled Saint & Greavsie show debuted at 12:05-12:30pm and it ran for seven seasons.**

See here for a November 1976 On the Ball article from the TVTimes.

*Dickie Davies delivered the all time classic TV clanger when, during a World of Sport broadcast, he mis-pronounced "Cup soccer " as (what sounded like) "Cock sucker".

**Saint & Greavsie was axed after Euro '92 when ITV faced the prospect of a new season bereft of any rights to show action from the newly formed Premier League. "On The Ball" was then partially resurrected for sporadic previews of the European champions league and later enjoyed a full blown renaissance when ITV wrestled Premier League highlights from the BBC in 2001, but it was dropped once again after they lost Premiership rights in 2004.

World Of Sport Results Service / Theme Tunes
The closing sequence of World of Sport, which traditionally followed the Wrestling, was the 'Results Service' presented by Dickie Davies with the actual results read by Bob Colston. At the start of the 1968/69 season this section began at around 5pm, by the mid-1970's it had been moved forward to just after 4:45pm to catch the results as they came in (The half-time scores would usually appear around 3:55pm). Some of the regional commentators would make an appearance by giving a report direct to camera from the gantry and they'd also do their own plug for the following afternoon's local highlights show which would be shown in their respective region's after World Of Sport had finished. Davies would also go through all of the regional matches to be shown the next day with the aid of a caption. The results service continued after the demise of World Of Sport in 1985, initially as a programme in its' own right (4:45-5:00pm) before eventually being absorbed into the Saturday tea-time ITN News bulletin. For mid-week games News At Ten could usually be relied upon to come up with the goods, best delivered by Alastair Burnett.

The classic World of Sport theme tune of the 1970's, accompanied by a title sequence of planes and trailing banners, was "World of Sport March" by The Don Harper Orchestra. The full length 1:58 minute original recording was released as a single on the EMI/Columbia label in December 1968, the composer is listed as 'Jackson' - this being the real surname of Don Harper* (the cat no. of the single was DB 8519 with "England 88" on the b-side, it was re-issued in 1971, a shorter 1:40mins edit of the A-side was later included on a compilation CD). Given the release date of the single, the recording was most likely first heard on the programme itself when LWT took over production in August 1968 or very soon afterwards, so the 1965-1968 ABC/Eamonn Andrews era probably had a different tune, or at least an earlier version. An inferior re-recording of "World of Sport March" was introduced towards the end of 1980/early 1981 accompanied by a new title sequence which opened with the Earth eclipsing the sun. Don Harper's tune was replaced altogether in 1983 with a Jeff Wayne composition** and this coincided with another change to the title sequence which simulated a CRT electron gun building up the World of Sport logo.

*Don Harper was also responsible for the 1972/73 season Big Match theme "Cheekybird" and in November 1973 he issued a synthesiser version of "World of Sport March" as a single under the guise of 'Homo Electronicus', that version was never heard on the actual programme, nor was a 1975 jazz version issued by Harper on his "On the Fiddle" LP (this particular version ending with a homage to the full-time results sting).
The font used for both World of Sport and The Big Match (in the early days) was the Amelia typeface designed by Stan Davis in the United States in the mid-1960's, it was also used for The Beatles' animated film Yellow Submarine in 1968.
**Jeff Wayne's theme wasn't commercially available until the 4:40mins full length version was included on a CD compilation “Lost in Transmission” in 2015.

The nearest league club to Channel TV's HQ in Jersey was Bournemouth, 107 miles away, though Torquay United was only a couple of miles further. Ulster's nearest English league ground was Workington, some 95 miles away, though they were much nearer to Stranraer in the Scottish League. STV were closest to Partick Thistle and pretty much equally distanced from both Rangers and Celtic. Grampian were based in Aberdeen. ITN's base, like Thames, was closest to Arsenal. Thames also used Teddington Studios to produce the majority of their entertainment output, which was closest to Brentford's ground. ATV's Elstree premises were nearest to Watford.
 
 

Grampian Television (based in Aberdeen, serving Northern Scotland)
Showed Scotsport
Border Television (based in Carlisle, serving the English/Scottish border areas)
Showed other region's programmes, usually Granada's, although they did occasionally show Scotsport, Shoot and around the turn of the decade (into the 1980's) Border favoured The Big Match.
Ulster Television (based in Belfast)
Showed other region's programmes
Channel Television (serving the Channel Islands)
Showed whatever Westward/TSW were broadcasting.
 
 

Leeds Utd - United, United / United They Conquered
"United United" was shown in the Yorkshire region only around August 1968 in black & white.
This was a behind the scenes look at Leeds United, broadcast in a 30 minute slot. Jack Charlton, Billy Bremner and Don Revie talk about their hopes for the coming season (1968/69) and their experiences of the previous year when they helped the club win their first ever trophies, the League Cup and the UEFA Cup. Includes footage of both of those finals as well as a rare glimpse of the team training. Narrated by Keith Macklin. The programme was repeated two years later in the Yorkshire and Granada regions before the FA Cup final replay on 29th April 1970 at 6:15-6:45pm.

At the end of the 1968/69 season, Yorkshire showed another Leeds United programme exclusive to that region only on Thursday 1st May 1969 (11:00-11:30pm) black & white. This 'Yorksport Special' looked at the Leeds United team of the 1960's as they had just become League Champions after a 49 year wait.

Charlton Boys / Big Jack's Other World / The Charlton Brothers
"Charlton Boys" was shown in some ITV regions* on Saturday 2nd November 1968 (9:55-10:55pm) black & white
This was a London Weekend Television production for the "Saturday Special" slot that profiled brothers Bobby and Jackie Charlton with a commentary by Michael Parkinson.
*Surprisingly not shown in the Yorkshire or Tyne Tees regions.

"Big Jack's Other World" networked (aside from HTV Wales) on Tuesday 2nd November 1971 (10:30-11:10pm) was a Tyne Tees produced documentary on Jack Charlton visiting his hometown of Ashington for the weekend.

"The Charlton Brothers" was broadcast by all ITV regions on Tuesday 1st May 1973 (10:30-11:15pm). This was a Yorkshire Television production in which Jack and Bobby talked about their relationship as brothers off the pitch and as players on it.

George Best - For The Record / Weekend World
"For The Record" shown in the London region only, Friday 31st January 1969 (11:30pm-12am) black & white
London Weekend Television produced this documentary on George Best as part of the "For The Record" series, Best was shown playing football with children, talking about his ability and when he realised he could become a professional footballer, how training & playing come easy to him and his awareness that he won't be able to burn the candle at both ends forever. His parents are also interviewed and talk about George when he was at school - always playing football.

George Best also appeared on the Sunday 18th February 1973 edition of "Weekend World" (made by LWT and shown in all regions at 11:30am-1:00pm), Hunter Davies interviewed Best who stated that he would never change his mind about giving up football and also discussed his past, present, and future.

Lorimer's Leeds
Shown in the Yorkshire region only, Monday 24th April 1972 (?6:25-6:45pm?)
A 24 year-old Peter Lorimer talks about his life on and off the pitch at Leeds United.

Norwich City's Great Leap Year
Shown in the Anglia region only, Sunday 30th April 1972 (3::25-3:55pm)
A celebration of Norwich City's promotion to the top flight, broadcast immediately before the final "Match of the Week" of the season.

The Don Of Elland Road / Remember Leeds United
"The Don Of Elland Road" was shown by some regions (YTV, Tyne Tees, ATV, Anglia & Thames) on Thursday 18th April 1974 (5:20-5:50pm)
A nostalgic look back at Don Revie's glorious career as Leeds United manager as he departs to take on the England job.

"Remember Leeds United" was shown in the Yorkshire region only, Thursday 19th May 1977 (10:30-11:00pm)
"Richard Whitely and Martin Tyler host a reunion of the greatest Leeds United team of all time in this Calendar Sport Special. Norman Hunter, Billy Bremner, Jack Charlton and Peter Lorimer are among the players who reminisce with their manager Don Revie about the good times and the bad times under his management between 1961-1974 when the team won 6 trophies. Includes footage of some of the highlights on the pitch during the period."
 

Charlton's Champions
Shown in the Tyne Tees region only, Wednesday 1st May 1974 (Time unknown)
40 minute special celebrating Middlesbrough's promotion to the top flight, managed by Jack Charlton. The footage was all shot at Ayresome Park on 6th April 1974 when Middlesbrough beat Notts County, the programme begins with the groundsman marking the pitch in the morning and ends with him forking the pitch in the evening after everybody has gone home. As well as action from the game, there are various behind the scenes sequences including the players watching "On The Ball" after their pre-match meal and a dressing room argument between the manager and his captain.
 

Calendar Specials - Clough Comes To Leeds / Goodbye Mr. Clough
"Clough Comes To Leeds" was shown in the Yorkshire region only on Friday 2nd August 1974 (Time unknown), it was a documentary about the appointment of the new Leeds United Manager, Brian Clough.

"Goodbye Mr. Clough" was another programme exclusive to the Yorkshire region on Thursday 12th September 1974 (it was a late programme change at 10:30pm). This was a 30 minute live studio discussion withBrian Clough & Don Revie, examining the reasons why Brian had been sacked from his position as manager of Leeds United after only seven weeks in the job. The programme was chaired by Austin Mitchell who had limited football knowledge but he just happened to be in the Leeds studio having hosted that evening’s Calendar. Clough did know in advance that Revie would be in the studio with him, despite the film "The Damned Utd" suggesting otherwise.
 

World In Action "Trouble Afoot"
Networked on Monday 2nd December 1974 (8:30-9pm), Granada
"Professional footballers - as part of one of the biggest businesses in the world - are the only group of workers bought, sold, lent and exchanged on an open market - the transfer system. World In Action investigates the rows brewing between professional footballers and the Football Association about players' contracts and the rules restricting the clubs' rights to sign foreign players."

Now You're Gonna Believe Us
Shown in the Tyne Tees region only, Tuesday 27th April 1976 (7:00-7:35pm)
Special programme celebrating Sunderland's promotion to the top flight.

All In The Game
First series broadcast on ITV from 21st July - 1st September 1976 (networked in a Wednesday evening slot at 7:00-7:30pm)
Second series broadcast on ITV from September - October 1977 (Day/Times varied by region)
This was an HTV produced series recorded at Bristol City's ground featuring eight clubs taking part in a knock-out fitness/skills contest, it was presented by Dickie Davies with Brian Moore commentating, Norwich City and Derby County reached the final of the first series, other teams involved were Bristol City, Hearts, Leeds United, Manchester United, West Ham United and Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The eight clubs who took part in the 2nd series were Bristol City, Ipswich Town, Leeds United, Leicester City, Manchester City, Queens Park Rangers, St Mirren and Wolverhampton Wanderers, the final contested by Leicester City and Manchester City.

Play Soccer Jack Charlton's Way / Skilful Soccer / Positive Soccer
First broadcast on ITV, Sep-Oct 1976, Oct-Dec 1977 & Feb-Mar 1979
Tyne Tees produced three football education series of seven half hour programmes in which Jack Charlton coached a group of 12-14 year olds, mostly from Framwellgate Moor School in Durham plus a selection of Middlesbrough trainees including future 'Boro star Stan Cummins. It was probably best remembered for an outtake included on "It'll Be Alright On The Night" in which one of the schoolboys booted the ball into Charlton's groin. The first series, filmed in June/July 1976, was called "Play Soccer - Jack Charlton's Way" and debuted in the Tyne Tees region on Saturday 4th September 1976 at 11-11:30am*, Jack Charlton was the manager of Middlesbrough at the time, but he was in charge at Sheffield Wednesday by the time the 2nd series went out which was entitled "Skilful Soccer", this series being broadcast in the Tyne Tees region on Sundays from 30th October 1977 at 9:30-10am*. The third series was called "Positive Soccer With Jack Charlton" which Tyne Tees ran on Sunday mornings from 11th February 1979 to 25th March 1979, this final series featured apprentices from Newcastle United.

*Yorkshire, Border and Ulster all showed the first series in the same Saturday morning slot as Tyne Tees. LWT and Anglia showed it at the earlier time of 9:25am, Scottish, Southern, Granada and ATV screened it at 9:45-10:10am (I remember sitting through it waiting to see "Tiswas"), Westward showed it at 10am and Grampian at 12pm. HTV showed it a day later on Sunday afternoons at 1:10pm. As for the 2nd series; LWT, ATV, Granada, Anglia, Scottish and Border all showed it a day earlier than Tyne Tees in various Saturday morning slots, Southern, Ulster and Yorkshire broadcast it on Sunday mornings, Grampian on Sunday afternoons. The 3rd series also went out on Sunday mornings on LWT, Southern and Yorkshire, whilst HTV showed it on Sunday afternoon's. ATV, Granada, Anglia and Westward screened it a day earlier on Saturday mornings.

Series One "Play Soccer - Jack Charlton's Way"
All archived.
1. Making better use of sports facilities
2. Passing
3. Ball Control
4. Heading And Goalkeeping
5. Correct way to kick a ball
6. Controlling ball above the waist
7. Dribbling And Running

Series Two "Skilful Soccer"
Granada's archive logs the series as "Jack Charlton Soccer".
1. Shooting
2. Heading
3. Passing And Movement
4. Goalkeeping
5. Creating Space
6. Dead Ball Situations
7. Tricks & Dummies

Series Three "Positive Soccer With Jack Charlton"
All archived as "Jack Charlton Soccer" and undated.
1. Coaching Children
2. Pressure Training
3. A Day in the Life of a Coach
4. A Day in the Life of a Coach pt.2
5. Amateur Part-Time Coaching
6. World Cup Part 1
7. World Cup Part 2

Focus On Soccer
First broadcast on ITV, September - October 1978
The TVTimes entry for 8th September 1978 reads; "In this new series of films made in co-operation with the Football League, some of England's top professionals talk about their skills and demonstrate training techniques. Sequences from League matches bring home the relationship between training and performance."
Seven half hour episodes were produced by HTV and broadcast in that region in a 5:15-5:45pm slot from Friday 8th September 1978 to 29th October 1978. Other regions showed it on different days at different times - Granada, ATV and Westward on Saturday mornings from the 9th September. LWT, Southern, Anglia, Yorkshire, Tyne Tees and Border on Sunday mornings from the 10th.

1. "The History Of The Game And It's Basic Skills" with Mick Channon
2. "The Goalkeeper" with Ray Clemence
3. "The Defender" with Colin Todd
4. "The Midfield Player" with Trevor Brooking
5. "The Winger" with Gordon Hill
6. "The Striker" with Kevin Keegan
7. "The Team" with Matt Busby & the current Manchester United squad

All seven programmes are archived. It was also distributed on film to various countries abroad and translated into French, Arabic, Spanish and German.

Great Managers, Great Players
Shown in the GRANADA region only, Friday 9th March 1979 (10:30-11:15pm)
A one off programme produced by Granada Television. The TV Times entry reads; "Sir Matt Busby, Joe Mercer, Bill Shankly - Three of the most famous post-war managers in British soccer explain what makes "greatness" in the world's most popular game. Between them, they have been in charge of some of the most exciting talents ever to appear on a football field, players who have captained club and country and become household names in the process. But which players can be termed the greatest? The three retired managers look back and decide on an elite group of players they are convinced will be immortalised as the "greatest" ever."
The programme is archived but incorrectly dated 8th March 1979.

Brian Moore Meets...
An intermittent LWT networked series.

1. Fri 16/Nov/1979 (9:00 -10:00pm) - Kevin Keegan
2. Fri 11/Jan/1980 (9:00 -10:00pm) - Niki Lauda
3. Fri 20/Jun/1980 (9:00 -10:00pm) - Bjorn Borg
4. Sun 05/Apr/1981 (10:30-11:30pm) - Seve Ballesteros
5. Fri 17/Apr/1981 (7:30-9:00pm) - Captain Mark Phillips
6. Sat 29/May/1982 (10:15-11:15pm) - Willie Carson

World In Action - The Man Who Bought United
Networked on Monday 28th January 1980 (8:30-9pm)
"Investigates the unorthodox way Louis Edwards became majority shareholder of Manchester United using a series of secret cash payments and incorrect share transfer entries. Cash payments were also used in winning contracts for the Louis Edwards family meat business. Includes interviews with some of the previous shareholders and records a telephone conversation between Louis Edwards and the son of one such shareholder."  Apparently the Granada cameras got a frosty welcome when they covered United v Wolves the following Saturday.

Up For The Cup
Networked from Saturday 6th September 1980 - 1st November 1980 (6:45-7:30pm)
An ATV series which fused the concept of a football knock-out tournament with a variety show contest, "refereed" by David Hamilton with professional footballer's and managers acting as "linesmen" judging and awarding points to entertainers selected by two teams supporters clubs. Bolton won the final and received the 'ATV Challenge Cup' from Billy Wright.

1. Charlton Athletic v Cardiff City. 2. Bolton Wanderers v Southampton. 3. Walsall v Coventry City. 4. Manchester City v Nottingham Forest. 5. Sunderland v Norwich City. 6. Charlton Athletic v Coventry City. 7. Bolton Wanderers v Manchester City. 8. Norwich City v Charlton Athletic. 9. The Final - Bolton Wanderers v Charlton Athletic.

City!
Networked on Monday 9th February 1981 (10:30-11:30pm) *Tyne Tees showed it 30 minutes later.
A Granada production. "Malcolm Allison and Tony Book were the main characters in a management team that spent nearly £3 million on building a Manchester City side that was unsuccessful. The programme follows the last few days of Allison's reign at City, his dismissal and the subsequent interview and employment of John Bond as new manager, the rise of the team under Bond and the chance draw which brought Allison back to Maine Road in the League Cup when City played Crystal Palace, the team Allison went to manage after his sacking."
 

World In Action - The Bankrupt Game
Networked, Monday 15th February 1982 (8:30-9pm)
Granada production. "World In Action followed the developments at Bristol City Football Club where their top 8 players were made redundant and a new board of directors was formed leaving the old board to sort out all the financial debts. The majority of clubs in the league are in financial trouble and many chairmen believe the maximum wage should be re-introducted. The World In Action team filmed behind the scenes activities at Bristol City during the turbulent week in which the players finally agreed to accept redundancy settlement and leave. Includes views of chairman of Manchester City Peter Swales. There is an exclusive interview with the group of eight."

Past Masters (Series 2)
Shown in the Yorkshire region only, Friday 28th May 1982 - Friday 11th June 1982 (6:30-7:00pm)
This was a three part YTV series presented by John Helm reminiscing on past glories. Series 1, broadcast the previous year, had focussed on Cricket.

1. "The Barnsley Reds" (Guests Danny Blanchflower & Sidney Normanton)
2. "The Huddersfield Terriers" (1920's, guests George Mutch, Bob Hesford & Vic Metcalfe)
3. "Blades and Owls" (Guests Derek Dooley & Alf Ringstead)

Paisley: A Champion's Farewell
Networked, Saturday 7th May 1983 (11:15pm-midnight)
A Granada TV tribute to Liverpool manager Bob Paisley who was to retire at the end of the 1982/83 season after nine years at the helm. On this penultimate Saturday of the league season, Brian Clough traced Paisley's glorious years including 14 major titles, culminating in a League Championship and League Cup double in his final season.
 
 
 

Other football related stuff on ITV, 1968-1983

1968/69
09/Sep/1968 - "It's Trueman", (Granada region only, 6:05-6:30pm), "The Fanatics", Brian Trueman investigates football supporters obsessive enthusiasm for the game.
12/Jan/1969 - "Sports Arena" (LWT region, 2-2:30pm), Alan Hardaker (Chief of Football League) and Denis Howell (Minister for Sport) on Football Violence. Not archived.
23/Mar/1969 - "Sports Arena" (LWT region, 2:30-3:00pm), Joe Mercer interviewed by Michael Parkinson (Held by BFI).
27/Apr/1969 - "Sports Arena" (LWT region, 2:30pm), profile of Alf Ramsey (as part of The Big Match Special which also showed Cup Final highlights).

1969/70
22/Nov/1969 - "Frost on Saturday".LWT, (Networked 11:10pm-12am), Chat show - George Best is one of the guests along with Frankie Howerd and Barry Humphries.
26/Nov/1969 - "This is Your Life", Thames, (Networked 7:00-7:30pm), Bobby Charlton is the subject of show 2 of the 1st series on ITV (BBC had axed it in 1964)
04/Jan/1970 - "Face The Press", (LWT region only, 2:15-2:45pm), Brian Clough. Not archived?
25/Jan/1970 - "Sports Arena" (LWT region only, 2:10-2:45pm), Jimmy Greaves interviewed
25/Mar/1970 - "This is Your Life", Thames, (Networked 7:00-7:30pm), Joe Mercer
11/May/1970 - "For The Love of Ada", Thames (Networked 9:30-10pm), this edition of the sit-com series was based around this year's FA Cup final.
23/Jul/1970 - "Take Me To Your Leader", (Granada region only, 6:05-6:30pm), Episode 5 looked at the career and ambitions of Alan Hardaker (Chief of the Football League).

1970/71
15/Dec/1970 - "Never Mind the Quality Feel the Width", Thames, Sitcom series - Peter Osgood appeared in an episode set around a football match between a Catholic church and Jewish synagogue
26/Dec/1970 - "Holiday Startime", LWT, (Networked 6:45-8pm), includes Peter Cook comedy sketch with Jimmy Hill titled 'The Big Snatch'.
06/Jan/1971 - "This is Your Life", Thames, (Networked 7:00-7:30pm), Bobby Moore
15/Apr/1971 - "Big Match Referee", Anglia (10:30-11pm), programme about Norfolk 1971 FA Cup final referee Norman Burtenshaw, repeated 23/Aug/1972
01/May/1971 - "Aquarius" - A feature on The Kop was included on this edition of LWT's arts programme (London region only, 10:15-11:15pm).
04/May/1971 - "People Work Here", A Yorkshire Television production for ITV Schools. One episode in the series was titled "Football".
12/May/1971 - "This is Your Life", Thames, (Networked 7:00-7:30pm), Matt Busby

1971/72
22/Aug/1971 - "Man In The News", LWT. Derek Dougan (London region only, 11:45pm-12:15am). Tape may have been wiped.
19/Sep/1971 - "Rules of the Game", ATV, Billy Wright presented this series, first edition on "soccer" with Wolves coach Sammy Chung and several players.
17/Nov/1971 - "This is Your Life", Thames, (Networked 7:00-7:30pm), George Best
09/Jan/1972 -  "Another Sunday And Sweet F.A.", Granada, (Networked Sunday night play, 10:15-11:15pm) Jack Rosenthal comedy about two amateur football teams.
08/Mar/1972 - "This is Your Life", Thames, (Networked 7:00-7:30pm), Gordon Banks
10/May/1972 - "What The Paper's Say", Granada, (London & Granada only, after midnight) Danny Blanchflower fronted this edition looking at reports on the cup final & the media treatment of current stars compared to his day.

1972/73
10/Jan/1973 - "This is Your Life", Thames, (Networked 7:00-7:30pm), Bill Shankly
02/Mar/1973 - "On The Buses", LWT (& some other regions 8:30-9pm). Popular sit-com - this edition of 7th series titled "The Football Match" (management decide on a depot football team trained by Inspector Blake, Bob McNab cameo).
18/Mar/1973 - "Achilles Heel", LWT, (Networked Sunday night play, 10:15-11:25pm) written by Alan Clarke (not the Leeds player) about a fictional professional footballer played by Martin Shaw.
25/Mar/1973 - "Frost Programme", LWT (Networked 11:15pm-12:15am), "Darlington FC".
02/May/1973 - "This is Your Life", Thames, (Networked 7:00-7:30pm), Jack Charlton

1973/74
30/Dec/1973 - "Meanwhile, Back in Sunderland", (Tyne Tees region only, 3:05-3:30pm). Documentary which captured the mood of the town whilst the FA Cup final was on.
16/Jan/1974 - "This is Your Life", Thames, (Networked 7:00-7:30pm), Derek Dougan
16/Mar/1974 - "Russel Harty Plus", (LWT region only, 9:35-10:15pm). Terry Venables was a guest on this edition of the chat show and sang "What Do You Want to Make Those Eyes at Me For?"
??/Mar/1974 - "Let's Go to Football" (Granada region only, various times), 30 second advert shown in the North West on Friday nights to encourage people to go to games.
24/Apr/1974 - "This is Your Life", Thames, (Networked 7:00-7:30pm), Don Revie

1974/75
06/Aug/1974 - "Village Hall", Granada, (Networked 9-10pm), play by Willis Hall about an amateur team starring George Cole and Lewis Collins.
09/Sep/1974 - "You'll Never Walk Alone", Yorkshire TV, (Networked 8:30pm), Comedy short starring Brian Glover and Maureen Lipman as two Leeds fans travelling by train to the Cup final.
23/Sep/1974 - "Denis", (Granada region only, 10:50-11:20pm), A documentary about Dennis Law - his professional and home life (Archived as "Kick Off" but listed as "Granada Reports Special")
19/Feb/1975 - "This is Your Life", Thames, (Networked 7:00-7:30pm), Denis Law
19/Mar/1975 - "This is Your Life", Thames, (Networked 7:00-7:30pm), Dickie Davies
24/Mar/1975 - "Jay Walking", ATV (Midlands only 10:30-11pm), "Shout for City", Sue Jay reports on Stoke City's most devoted supporters.
23/May/1975 - "European Cup Special", (Yorkshire region only, 10:40-11:10pm), A Friday night programme examining Leeds' step by step progress to the final.

1975/76
12/Oct/1975 - "London Weekend Show", LWT, (London only 11:30am-12pm), this edition looked at Football apprentices.
10/Nov/1975 - "The Sweeney", Thames (networked 9-10pm).episode subtitled "I Want That Man" included footage from Loftus Road on a non-match day with John Thaw chasing Henry Woolf over empty terraces.
23/Nov/1975 - "The London Programme", LWT, (London only 11:10pm-12:10am), this edition included a feature on Brentwood Town and Chelmsford City.
11/Jan/1976 - "Granada Profile", (Granada only 11-11:30pm), Gordon Burns interviews Francis Lee.
08/Feb/1976 - "Red Letter Day (Match Fit)", Granada, (Networked 10-11pm), Football play written by Brian Glanville.
24/Mar/1976 - "Good Afternoon", Thames (Part networked 2:00-2:30pm), Bill Shankly interviewed by Mavis Nicholson.
02/May/1976 - "Granada Profile", (Granada only 1:30-2pm), Kevin Keegan tells Gordon Burns why he aims to be playing on the Continent in about two years time.
??/???/1976 - "South Sport" (Southern only), Fred Dineage interviewed Brian Moore. Held by the BFI. Given the year, this might have been related to the FA Cup final.

1976/77
06/Jun/1976 - "European Penalty Prize Final" (LWT 2:25-3:10, other regions at diff times) From Wembley, recorded a week or so beforehand, commentator Brian Moore
29/Sep/1976 - "Saturday's Heroes", Thames, (Networked 9:00-10:00pm), three part series. "Ha'way The Lads (Jimmy Seed)", "Saturday Night at the (Crystal) Palace",  "Vince (Hilaire)"
29/Dec/1976 - "Decade of Change", Thames, (Networked 10:40-11:40pm), Brian Glanville looks back at the past decade of international football since England won the World Cup.

1977/78
14/Sep/1977 - "Star Spangled Soccer", Yorkshire TV, (Networked 10:30-11:15pm), Ian Woodridge looks at the techniques with which the game is presented in the USA.
23/Oct/1977 - "The London Programme", LWT, (London only 11pm-12am), London clubs in financial crisis (Guests include George Best & Brian Glanville)
04/Nov/1977 - "Report Extra", HTV WEST (10:35-11:05pm), Financial crisis at Bristol Rovers.
28/Dec/1977 - "This is Your Life", Thames, (Networked 7:00-7:30pm), Bob Paisley
07/Jan/1978 - "Our Show", LWT, (London & Southern only 9:00-11:00pm), Brian Moore was a guest on this edition of the children's Saturday morning show alongside Kenny Everett & Pierre the Clown.
20/Jan/1978 - "An Audience With Jasper Carrott", LWT, (London only 10:40-11:10pm), Stand up comic includes story of going to Old Trafford to follow Birmingham City.
14/Mar/1978 - "Get it Together", Granada TV, (Networked 4:20-4:45pm), a football themed edition of the children's pop/variety series.

1978/79
05/Sep/1978 - "Star Games" (Thames TV), celebrity version of It's A Knock Out, the series included a regular six-a-side football section with Gerald Sinstadt commentating.
15/Dec/1978 - "Reports Extra", (Granada only 10:30-11pm), "The Huyton Boys", Reunion of Schoolboys Football Trophy winners of 1971 & the failure of all but one (Peter Reid) to make it to the top.
08/Jan/1979 - "Feet First", Thames (Networked Mondays at 8pm-8:30pm), "6 part sit-com about a young mechanic (Terry Prince played by Jonathan Barlow) who "shoots his way to siccer stardom".
14/Feb/1979 - "This is Your Life", Thames, (Networked 7:00-7:30pm), Kevin Keegan
06/Mar/1979 - "Watch Your Language", ATV (Networked for Schools, 10:00-10:18am), this edition 'Watching Games' included Hugh Johns explaining his technique to a TVTimes competition winner.
02/Nov/1979 - "Carrott Gets Rowdie", LWT (Networked 9-10pm), Comedian Jasper Carrott visits Tampa Bay Rowdies in a documentary exploring the soccer boom in the USA.
18/May/1979 - "The London Programme", LWT (London only 11:10pm-12:10am), Looks at the "decline" of the football hooligan.

1979/80
30/Nov/1979 - "Double Vision", (Granada only 10:30-11pm), Gordon Burns chairs debate "Is the one million pound player bad for football?", includes Malcolm Allison & Ian Greaves.
27/Feb/1980 - "This is Your Life", Thames, (Networked 7:00-7:30pm), Emlyn Hughes
19/May/1980 - "Mossley Goes To Wembley" (Granada only 10:30-11pm), documentary of Mossley AFC's trip to Wembley in the FA Trophy Final v Dagenham.

1980/81
29/Oct/1980 - "This is Your Life", Thames, (Networked 7:00-7:30pm), Laurie McMenemy
23/Nov/1980 - "Credo", LWT (All regions except Scottish & Grampian, 6:10-6:40pm), Exploration of sectarian rivalries in Galsgow. Interviews with Celtic and Rangers fans.
04/Dec/1980 - "Minder" Thames (networked 9-10pm) subtitled "All About Scorin Innit" including Dennis Waterman watching Chelsea v Preston 20/Sep/1980 and being called to the office urgently by the electronic scoreboard.
20/Feb/1981 - "Extraordinary People Show", Yorkshire TV (Networked 4:45-5:15pm), Kevin Keegan is the subject of this edition in a series for children.
22&29/Mar/1981 - "Skin", LWT (London only 2:15-2:30pm), Racism, the NF and the British Movement at London's grounds / The rise in black star players (inc Vince Hilaire and Justin Fushanu).
30/Mar/1981 - "Calendar People", (Yorkshire only), Raich Carter.
20/May/1981 - "Live From Two", (Granada only, 2-2:50pm), Shelley Rhode interviews Bill Shankly and ex PM Harlold Wilson who talk about their childhood, careers and passion they both share for football.

1981/82
09/Sep/1981 - "Live From Two", Granada (Networked, 2-2:25pm), Shelly Rhode interviews Denis Law, Mike Summerbee and Fred Eyre.
09/Dec/1981 - "This is Your Life", Thames, (Networked 7:00-7:30pm), Jackie Milburn
17/Feb/1982 - "This is Your Life", Thames, (Networked 7:00-7:30pm), John Toshack
19/Feb/1982 - "The London Programme", LWT (London only 11-11:35pm)), "Sick As A Parrott", financial problems in football, focusses on Crystal Palace and Fulham.
25/Feb/1982 - "England Their England", (Central only 7:30-8pm), documentary on  Nottinghamshire police at 12/Sep/1981 Nottingham Forest v West Bromwich Albion.
01/Mar/1982 - "Murphy's Mob", Central (Networked 4:45-5:15pm), first in a children's drama series based around a fictitious football club, filmed at Watford's ground (later series at Derby).
04/Mar/1982 - "Yesterday", (Granada only, 2:30-2:45pm), Looking back twenty years when Accrington Stanley closed down and resigned from the Football League.
??/Mar/1982 - "Robson's Choice" Tyne Tees (regional slots), 1 hour documentary following the fortunes of schoolboys on trial at Ipswich Town under the scrutiny of manager Bobby Robson.
22/May/1982 - "The Game" (Granada), Paul Pender play based on two Scotland fans watching the 1978 World Cup on TV.
06/Jun/1982 - "A Captain's Tale", Tyne Tees, (Networked 10-11:30pm), Drama by Neville Smith telling the story of West Auckland winning a proto World Cup in 1910, starring Dennis Waterman.

1982/83
09/Aug/1982 - "Rowan's Report", Yorkshire, (Networked, 4:30-4:45pm), Children's show, this edition followed Leeds apprentice Neil Aspin.
22/Aug/1982 - "Football's My Game", (Granada only, 1:30-2:15pm), Trevor Francis narrates the progress of school leavers Michael Phelan (Burnley) and Darron McDonough (Oldham).
05/Feb/1983 - "Munich Remembered", Granada, (All region's at various times over weekend), Tribute to the Man Utd team of 1958, eight of whom died in the Munich air crash 25 years earlier.
16/Feb/1983 - "This is Your Life", Thames, (Networked 7:00-7:30pm), Kenny Dalglish
 

Big League Soccer
Launched in 1979, this was a weekend highlights programme produced by Thames TV for export to Australia, New Zealand and the USA. Brian Moore presented the show and it usually featured three matches, often including BBC games. The series ran until the end of season 1987/88.
 
 
 
 

The Big Match Replayed
First broadcast on ITV, 14th May 1996
A series of selected episodes of the London Weekend Television highlights programme.
It was repeated in a middle-of-the-night networked slot around 2004-ish.
This list was compiled by Stuart Croucher

1). 7th January 1978 (FA Cup Third Round weekend)
Chelsea 4 Liverpool 2 / Everton 4 Aston Villa 1 / Sheffield United 0 Arsenal 5

2). 26th September 1976
Fulham 4 Hereford United 1 /Derby County 2 West Bromwich Albion 2 / Ipswich Town 3 Arsenal 1

3). 7th February 1976
Crystal Palace 3 Swindon Town 3 / Norwich City 3 Arsenal 1 / Newcastle United 4 Derby County 3

4). 1st April 1972
West Ham United 2 Tottenham Hotspur 0 / Ipswich Town 1 Chelsea 2 / Coventry City 2 Manchester United 3

5). 30th January 1977 (FA Cup Fourth Round Weekend)
Arsenal 3 Coventry City 1 / Swindon Town 2 Everton 2 / Ipswich Town 2 Wolverhampton Wanderers 2

6). 6th March 1977
Chelsea 2 Blackpool 2 / Manchester United 3 Manchester City 1 / Sunderland 6 West Ham United 0

7). 7th October 1977
Queen’s Park Rangers 1 Everton 5 / Liverpool 2 Chelsea 0 / Stoke City 0 Crystal Palace 2

8). 17th September 1978
Chelsea 1 Manchester City 4 /Derby County 3 West Bromwich Albion 2 / Leeds United 1 Tottenham Hotspur 2

9). 8th December 1974
Tottenham Hotspur 3 Newcastle United 0 / Birmingham City 0 Stoke City 3 / Sheffield Wednesday 4 Manchester United 4

10). 16th February 1975  (This was an FA Cup Fifth Round weekend )
West Ham United 2 Queen’s Park Rangers 1 / Ipswich Town 3 Aston Villa 2 / Everton 1 Fulham 2

11). 31st December 1978
Arsenal 3 Birmingham City 1 / Stoke City 2 Notts County 0 / Manchester United 3 West Bromwich Albion 5

12). 1st October 1972
Queen’s Park Rangers 3 Cardiff City 0 / Coventry City 3 Chelsea 1 / Leeds United 1 Liverpool 2

13). 27th November 1977
Queen’s Park Rangers 2 Manchester United 2 / Sunderland 1 Luton Town 1 / Everton 6 Coventry City 0

14).  20th August 1978
Arsenal 2 Leeds United 2 / Sheffield United 1 Orient 2 / Norwich City 3 Southampton 1
 
 

The Big Match Revisited
First broadcast on ITV4, 7th February 2008
"The Big Match Revisited" differed from "The Big Match Replayed" in two ways. Rather than being a series of memorable episodes from different seasons "Revisited" stuck with one season only and showed a programme from the corresponding weekend, it would also occasionally throw up an alternate region's programme instead of London Weekend's package. The title "The Big Match Revisited" never actually appeared on screen during the initial run, ITV4 pretty much showed the programmes as they were originally aired but some material had to be excised in order to fit in the extra commercial break required for modern day broadcasting (There had only been two breaks during a one hour show in the 1970's and 1980's, there were now three, so about 5 minutes of material was cut from each show). The 3rd series was delayed for eight years, eventually turning up on the subscription channel BT Sport 2.

1st Series, Season 1982/83
Tx'd February 2008 - May 2008
Showed a corresponding weekend's show from 25 years ago, starting with 05/Feb/1983 and ending with the final day of the league season, 14/May/1983.
The cuts in this series appear to have been post match interviews and the pools news.
All episodes were repeats of LWT's The Big Match except....
05/Feb/1983 - Match Time (Granada)
05/Mar/1983 - Match Time (Granada)
02/Apr/1983 - The Saturday Match (TVS)
16/Apr/1983 - Match Time (Granada)
14/May/1983 - The Saturday Match (TVS)

*ITV4 began repeating the 1982/83 series on 18th February 2012.

2nd Series, Season 1978/79
Tx'd January 2009 - May 2009*
Showed a corresponding weekend's show from 30 years ago, starting with 30/Dec/1978 and ending with the FA Cup Final on 12/May/1979. Original break bumpers were now replaced with new "Revisted" captions (except for the final edition which retained the 1979 World Of Sport Cup Final Special bumpers).
Post match interviews were now largely left intact, the excised portions appear to have been the news round-ups.
All episodes were repeats of LWT's The Big Match except....
30/Dec/1978 - The Kick Off Match (Granada)
20/Jan/1979 - The Kick Off Match (Granada)
10/Feb/1979 - The Kick Off Match (Granada) *Elton Welsby standing in for (a presumably ill) Gerald Sinstadt.
17/Mar/1979 - Football League Cup Final (ITV Sport) *Re-edited to give the impression that this was an edition of "The Big Match"
21/Apr/1979 - The Kick Off Match (Granada)
05/May/1979 - The Kick Off Match (Granada)
12/May/1979 - FA Cup Final (ITV Sport) *Sourced from the live Saturday broadcast and re-packaged for 2009 as "The Big Match"

*ITV's 'Men & Motors' channel began repeating the 1978/79 series on 20th May 2009.

3rd Series, Season 1976/77
Tx'd July 2017
Selected episodes throughout the campiagn shown in various different time slots on BT Sport 2, all LWT region.
See here with all editions included on 'Revisited' highlighted with a white blocked "(R)".

4th Series, Season 1974/75
Tx'd from June 2019
Selected episodes throughout the campiagn shown in various different time slots on BT Sport 2, all LWT region.
See here with all editions included on 'Revisited' highlighted with a white blocked "(R)".

5th Series, Season 1979/80
Tx'd from February 2021
Selected episodes throughout the campiagn shown in various different time slots on ITV4, all LWT region.
See here with all editions included on 'Revisited' highlighted with a white blocked "(R)".

6th Series, Season 1980/81
Tx'd from August 2021
Selected episodes throughout the campiagn shown Saturday mornings on ITV4, all LWT region.
See here with all editions included on 'Revisited' highlighted with a white blocked "(R)".

7rh Series, Season 1981/82 (as "Match Time Revisited")
Tx'd from February 2022
Selected episodes throughout the campiagn shown Saturday mornings on ITV4, all GRANADA region.
See here with all editions included on 'Revisited' highlighted with a white blocked "(R)".

8th Series, Season 1977/78
Tx'd from April 2023
34 episodes - the majority from this campiagn - shown Saturday mornings on ITV4, all LWT region.
See here with all editions included on 'Revisited' highlighted with a white blocked "(R)".
 

ITV football archive programmes
Post 1983 productions that covered the classic '68-83 period

Cloughie's Golden Oldies
Central
26/Apr/1987 - 14/Jun/1987
Brian Clough introduced vintage highlights of Midlands clubs in action in the 1970's and early 1980's, the theme tune was the classic Star Soccer jingle. The six part series of 30 minute programmes was only broadcast to the Central region.

Best & Marsh - The Perfect Match
Granada
22/Jan/1988 - 18/Mar/1988
Tony Wilson hosted this eight part series, prompting George Best and Rodney Marsh to reminisce on two 1970's matches plucked from the archives in each half-hour programme. Although this was a non-networked Granada production, the footage was not exclusively concerned with North West clubs and some other region's screened it the following year. New Order provided the theme tune which was later released on the b-side of their single "Round and Round"*. The shows were themed as follows; 1. George & Rod, 2. Goalkeepers, 3. Great Teams: Derby & Leeds, 4. The Liverpool Years, 5. Local Derby's, 6. Goalscorers, 7. British Clubs in Europe, 8. The FA Cup.**

*After hearing the Best and Marsh tune, the FA asked New Order to come up with the official England song for the 1990 World Cup - the result being World In Motion.
**Match highlights included in the series; Show 1 - Northampton 2 United 8 from 1970 and Fulham 4 Hereford 1 from 1976. Show 2 - Liverpool 2 Stoke 1 match from 1972. Show 7 -  Spurs 5 Dynamo Tiblisi 1 from 1973 and Liverpool 3 St Ettiene 1 from 1977. Show 8 - Hull 2 Stoke 3 from 1971 and Liverpool 2 Manchester United 2 from 1979.

21 Years of London Football
LWT
29/Jul/1989
A 60 minute special looking back at the LWT era of football coverage was followed by a series - each show focussing on a classic match.
 

The Channon & Ball Video Show
TVS
15/Mar/1990 - 23/May/1990
Presented by David Bobin with Mike Channon and Alan Ball. Not networked.
 

Soccer in the 70s
TVS
1991
Gary Lineker's first presenting role. The ten part half hour series looked back at each season of the 1970's with relevant studio guest's (starting with 1970/71 and concluding with 1979/80). It wasn't networked, but it was shown in at least three ITV region's.

"The People's Final" - The League Cup Story
LWT
21/Apr/1991
A very good one hour special narrated by Clive Tyldesley with footage from all League Cup finals since 1967 (Broadcast before the Sheffield Wednesday v Manchester United final).
 

Yesterday's Heroes
Granada
Series One: 19/Oct/1993 - 14/Dec/1993
Series Two: 01/Nov/1994 - 20/Dec/1994
Presented by Elton Welsby in a 30 minute slot, the programmes would feature two guests each week who would look back at highlights of their playing career. At least one other region (HTV) showed it too.

Series One
19/Oct/1993 Graeme Souness & Howard Kendall
26/Oct/1993 Lou Macari & Dennis Tueart
02/Nov/1993 Norman Hunter & Tommy Smith
09/Nov/1993 Duncan McKenzie & Liam Brady
16/Nov/1993 Alan Ball & Mike Channon
23/Nov/1993 Francis Lee & Eddie Gray
30/Nov/1993 Ray Clemence & Peter Shilton
07/Dec/1993 George Best & Rodney Marsh
14/Dec/1993 Peter Osgood & Malcolm MacDonald

Series Two
01/Nov/1994 Denis Law & Joe Royle
08/Nov/1994 John Toshack & Geoff Hurst
15/Nov/1994 Jack Charlton & Emlyn Hughes
22/Nov/1994 Bob Latchford & Andy Gray
29/Nov/1994 Frank Worthington & Charlie George
06/Dec/1994 Tony Currie & Bruce Rioch
13/Dec/1994 Kevin Keegan & Trevor Francis
20/Dec/1994 Stan Bowles & Mike Summerbee

There's Only One Brian Moore
LWT
20/May/1994 - 11/Oct/1996
Initially a three part/one hour slot series celebrating the LWT commentator and vintage action, hosted by comedian Tim Clark with a panel of football celebrities talking about the games. A 2nd series followed from October 1995 hosted by Bob Mills and there was a final run (also fronted by Mills) in 1996.

The Rock And Goal Years
Granada
03/Oct/1995 - 05/Dec/1995
A series of half hour programmes which mixed archive footage of North West teams in action with pop hits of the day. The seasons covered (not in this order) were; 1970/71, 1972/73, 1973/74, 1976/77, 1978/79, 1980/81, 1982/83, 1989/90 and 1991/92. There was also a Christmas Special and two further one-off specials; A General Election edition on 23/Apr/1997 was presented by Michael Parkinson (this looked at the years 1979 and 1990), and a one hour World Cup edition narrated by Sean Bean was shown on 12/Jul/1998.

Up For The Cup
LWT
09/Nov/1997 - 14/Dec/1997
A series of six one hour shows looking back at classic FA Cup finals, it was shown in the London region on Sunday afternoon's and was hosted by Jonathan Pearce with comments from players involved.
1. Chelsea v Leeds (1970), 2. Arsenal v Liverpool (1971), 3. Tottenham Hotspur v Manchester City (1981), 4. West Ham v Fulham (1975), 5. Ipswich v Arsenal (1978), 6. Wimbledon v Liverpool (1988).

Leeds Leeds Leeds
Yorkshire
22/Aug/2003 - 03/Oct/2003
An excellent six part history of Leeds United.
 

Rock 'N' Goal Years
Yorkshire
26/Sep/2001 - 03/Jun/2008
This was Yorkshire Television's version which added local news to the mix of local football and chart hits from a particular season (there were also some World Cup editions). The half hour shows were screened over the course of several years. The Seasons covered were; 1. 1969/70, 2. ?????*, 3. 1976/77, 4. 1980/81, 5. 1984/85, 6. 1991/92, 7. 1974/75, 8. 1979/80, 9. 1981/82, 10. 1990/91, 11. World Cup 1982, 12. World Cup 1986, 13. World Cup 1990. 14. 1995/96*

*Show 2 may actually have been postponed and could be 1995/96 which was screened much later than the others.

Glory Days
Central
18/Sep/2008 - 10/Nov/2008
Stan Collymore presented this eight part series. Each 30 minute show focussed on one Midlands based club and their greatest achievements, clips from matches were interspersed with new interviews with the heroes involved. The clubs featured were; 1. Nottingham Forest (European success), 2. Coventry City (1987 FA Cup), 3. West Bromwich Albion (1968 FA Cup & late '70's), 4. Stoke City (1972 League Cup), 5. Leicester City (1990's League Cups), 6. Derby County (1970's championship seasons), 7. Wolves (1974 & 1980 League Cups), 8. Aston Villa (1982 European Cup).
 

BBC Retrospectives

Classic MOTD matches were repeated in a series called Action Replay which celebrated the 20th anniversary in August 1984.
The 'UK Gold' channel repeated a selection of Match of the Day episodes in the mid-1990's but replaced the original title sequences with a new one (as well as adding commercial breaks). Early-mid 1970's editions were mostly telerecordings (filmed off a monitor) recovered from abroad and sadly these were in black & white. The ESPN Classics channel repeated the same episodes and more in the 2000's but again these were missing their original title sequence. There were also some afternoon re-runs of 1960's matches on BBC2 in the late 1990's.

The 25th anniversary of Match of the Day was marked with an excellent BBC VHS video looking back at the 1960's (starting with 1964/65 and ending with the first few colour matches at the end of 1969), a further pair of video's covering the 1970's and the 1980's followed soon afterwards.

Match of the Seventies (BBC1) 26/Jul/1995 - 02/Sep/1996 and Match of the Eighties (BBC1) 21/Jul/1997 - 25/Aug/1997 are generally regarded as the best archive football packages ever to be produced, although both chiefly relied on BBC material (ITV footage tended to be dubbed with music or fake crowd noise, probably because this would have meant paying less for use of the clips). The shows occupied a 40/45 minute slot and each told the story of one particular season. There were two series covering the 1970's (1970/71 through to 1979/80, all narrated by Dennis Waterman) but only one for the 1980's which ended with season 1985/86 (Danny Baker narrated these). There was also Match of the Nineties with Mark Radcliffe and Marc Riley covering 1989/90 - 1996/97 (So no programmes for 1986/87, 1987/88 or 1988/89).

The BBC produced World Cup Stories in 2006 (first edition shown on 07/May/2006), this was an excellent series with each episode telling the story of one particular country (England, Germany, Italy, Brazil, Argentina and France). However, in terms of original British televised World Cup footage unspoilt by overdubbed music or pointless effects, a series of shorts produced for Sportsnight in 1989 - looking back at each tournament in turn - is probably more desirable (all BBC footage though).

Sky Retrospectives

Football Years
Broadcast from 01/Oct/2002, this series was a mixture of ITV, BBC and SKY footage with celebrity talking heads (comedians, pop stars etc. as well as players) looking back at a particular season in a one hour slot - Most programmes were concerned with the 1990's but seasons 1980/81 and 1983/84 were also covered.

Bobby Charlton's Football Scrapbook
Presented by Dickie Davies with Bobby and other guests making comments on the archive footage, the first edition (with Franz Beckenbauer) was broadcast on the night the Sky Sports Gold channel was launched on 01/Nov/1995.
List of known guests in alphabetical order.....
George Armstrong (Arsenal v Palace '69 & Arsenal v West Ham '76) / Jimmy Armfield (Managers) / Alan Ball (Arsenal 1970's)  / Gordon Banks (Leicester 60's & Stoke 70's) / Peter Barnes (Man City v Man Utd 1975) /  Franz Beckenbauer (World Cup Final 1966) / George Best (England v Northern Ireland 1971) /  Stan Bowles (QPR 70's) / Liam Brady (Arsenal v Man Utd '76 & '79) / Billy Bremner (Leeds European Cup 74/75) / Tony Brown (Chelsea v West Brom '79) / Keith Burkinshaw (Spurs 70's/80's) / Mike Channon (Man City '78 & Southampton '81)  / Ralph Coates (Spurs 71/72) / Tony Currie (Leeds & Sheff Utd 1970's) / Tom Finney (Chelsea v Palace '76) /  Bryan Flynn (Wales v England) / Bill Foulkes (Man Utd 1960's) /  Charlie George (Euro Matches 70's) / Johnny Giles (Chelsea v Leeds 1970) / Bobby Gould (West Ham v Wolves 70 & 74) / Andy Gray (Strikers) / Jimmy Greenhoff (Stoke '72 & Man Utd '77) /  Ron Harris (Chelsea 1966)  / Johnny Haynes (Fulham 64-66) /  Kenny Hibbitt (Wolves 1970's) /  Norman Hunter (Leeds v Man Utd 60s, Leeds v Colchester '71, England v Poland 1973, Man Utd v Leeds 1972) / Roger Hunt (Liverpool 1960's)  / Geoff Hurst (West Ham 60's)  / Pat Jennings (Man Utd v Spurs 60's) / Joe Jordan (Leeds '74 & Man Utd '81) / Frank Lampard (West Ham 70's) / Tommy Langley (Chelsea '78) /  Denis Law (England v Scotland 65 & 75, England Scotland 60's) / Dave Mackay (Spurs'65 & Derby 70s) /  Rodney Marsh (QPR 1970 & Fulham 1976) /  Stanley Matthews (European Cup Final 1960) / John McGovern (Derby '72 & Nottm Forest 79) /  Sammy McIlroy (Man Utd early 1970's) / Duncan McKenzie (Leeds & Everton mid-70's) / Frank McLintock (Arsenal 70/71) / Billy McNeill (Celtic v Inter 1967) / Bobby Moncur (Newcastle 1969) / Jim Montgomery (FA Cup Final 1973) / Arnold Muhren (Ipswich 80/81) / Alan Mullery England (1970 World Cup, Spurs 70/71) /  David O'Leary (FA Cup Giantkillers) /  Peter Osgood (Chelsea 70/71) /  Martin Peters (West Ham 60's & Spurs'70's, Man Utd v Spurs'72 & West Ham '69) /  Bryan 'Pop' Robson (West Ham 1970's), Bryan Robson (West Brom) / Don Rogers (League Cup Final 1969) / David Sadler (Man Utd 65/66) /  Tommy Smith (Liverpool EC final 1977) / Frank Stapleton (Arsenal 1977) / Alex Stepney (European Cup Final 1968) / Mike Summerbee (Man City v Man Utd 70/71, Man City 67/68, Manchester derbys 60's & 70's) /  Phil Thompson Liverpool (75/76) / Dennis Tueart (Man City 76/77) /  John Wark (Ipswich 1980's) / David Webb (Chelsea 1970's) / Ray Wilkins (Chelsea 77/78) / Peter Withe (Birmingham 75 & Villa 80/81) / Frank Worthington (Leicester 74/75) / Ron Yeats (Liverpool v Man Utd '69).

Sky also had "Days of Out Lives" presented by Jeff Stelling or Gary Newbon. At least a couple of programmes featured Manchester United players from both the 1968 European Cup and 1977 FA Cup winning teams.
"Sporting Heroes" was another series, examples of which included  Graham Taylor interviewing Denis Law and Peter Schmeichel interviewing Peter Shilton.
 

Also...
24/Feb/1965 - "The Football Fan" (BBC)  -  "Is he a hooligan? or just an ordinary harmless fellow who goes beserk on Saturday?"
04/Aug/1969 - "I Want To Be - A Footballer" (BBC) - Children's programme shows young West Ham trainies with Ron Greenwood.
11/Feb/1970 - "World of Georgie Best" (BBC), 50 minute colour documentary from which many clips have been recycled ever since.
24/Jul/1970 - "Champions Quiz Ball" (BBC), Quiz series of 7 programmes with football team names represented by players and celebrity fans, hosted by Stuart Hall, the final was txd on 11/Sep.
13/Jan/1972 - "Scene - It's a Tough Life: Football apprentices" (BBC), b&w schools programme in which Liverpool manager Bill Shankly gives his views
18/Feb/1972 - "The Best in Football" (BBC), Friday tea-time series of 10 minute soccer skills programmes with George Best.
08-12/Oct/1973 - "Jackanory" (BBC), a weeks of football stories written by Brian Glanville raad by Kenneth Cope Mon-Thu, Martin Peters read Friday's story.
09/Nov/1973 - "Nationwide" (BBC1), George Best interviewed on the weekday ealry evening magazine show.
18/Mar/1974 - "Second City Firsts - Match of the Day" (BBC), play with main character an Everton supporter whose sister gets married on a football Saturday.
02/May/1974 - "In Vision" (BBC), How Match of the Day gets on the TV.
02/Nov/1974 - "2nd House" (BBC2) - This edition subtitled '45 Minutes Each Way', a documentary entertainment on football introduced by Melvyn Bragg, incl Bill Tidy and Roger McGough.
01/Apr/1975 - "Sports Line-up" (BBC1 Wales) - Including a piece on ref Clive Thomas who was to officiate an FA Cup semi-final later that week.
19/Aug/1975 - "Nairn's Journeys - Football Towns" (BBC), three programmes, 1: Bolton and Preston, 2. 2: Huddersfield and Halifax, 3: Wolverhampton and Walsall
31/Dec/1975 - "Striker" (BBC), Children's drama series based around a schoolboy football team.
20/Aug/1977 - "Cup Tie: The Sights and Sounds of a Saturday" (BBC2), BBC North production, no details but presumabley was football related. Shown as part of "Network" series.
24/Aug/1976 - "Don't Shoot the Ref!" (BBC), a portrait of Jack Taylor - who had refereed the 1974 World Cup final.
27/Sep/1978 - "Tonight" (BBC), this edition examined dangerous football fouls, Kevin Keegan & Jack Charlton give their views
1979 - "Yesterday's Hero" (film) starring Ian McShane, Glynis Barber, Adam Faith and Suzanne Somers, with John Motson commentating. Includes 1979 League Cup Final footage.
20/Dec/1980 - "Football Association Coaching Tactics And Skills [F.A.C.T.S.]" (BBC), series shown daily in a morning slot over Xmas holidays.
23/Feb/1981 - "Film 81" (BBC1) with Barry Norman, included a feature on the football themed film  'Escape to Victory' starring Pele, Bobby Moore and Ossie Ardliles amongst others. The film itself premiered on BBC1 on Boxing Day 1984
25/Mar/1982 - "Scene - Don't Shoot the Ref" (BBC), for schools, a different programme to the entry for 24/Aug/1976 which had the same title.
17/Oct/1983 - "Refereeing" (BBC2), A series of four 25 minute programmes made in co-operation with the FA, narrated by John Motson.
29/Jul/1985 - "Return of the Champions" (Yorkshire TV), highlights of the re-match of the 1966 World Cup final at Elland Road in aid of the Bradford Disaster Appeal, played the previous day. England won 6-4. YTV region only.
07/May/1990 - "The Greatest Game On Earth" (Yorkshire TV), 4 part series/30 minutes each, mostly contemporary footage.
16/Sep/1991 - "Standing Room Only" (BBC), 'TV fanzine', ran for a few years, various features of vintage interest.
21/Jan/1994 - "Fantasy Football League" (BBC), Frank Skinner and David Baddiel's comedy football series, many references to classic era, later moved to ITV.
16/Oct/1995 - "Kicking And Screaming" (BBC), excellent 6 part series on the history of football narrated by James Bolam.
25/May/1999 - "Bostock's Cup" (ITV), fictional drama about non-league team winning the '74 FA Cup (starring Tim Healy and Neil Pearson), includes archive footage of 1970s games.
1999-2000 - "Brian Moore Interviews" (Sky Sports) a series of 20 interviews with ex-footballers and managers.
2000-2002 - "Football Stories" (Channel Four), an intermittent run of 1 hour documentaries including "The Charlton Brothers",  "When Bobby [Moore] met Jimmy [Greaves]", "Football's Fight Club" (Hooliganism) and "Ultimate Rulebreakers".
06/Jun/2002 - "Three Lions" (BBC) 3 part series/1 hour each, James Bolam narrates England story, 1. 1966-1973, 2. 1974-1986, 3. 1986-2000.
03/Sep/2002 - "Jimmy Hill: Football's First Revolutionary" (Channel Four), 1 hour documentary.
10/Feb/2006 - "That Was The Team That Was" (BBC1 Scotland), 3 series (15 shows) narrated by John Gordon Sinclair, 1. Scotland 1974, others on Scottish clubs of particular seasons, 23/Feb/2007 edition on Leeds of 1973/74.
25/Mar/2009 - "Clough" (ITV1), documentary which served as an antidote to the fictional novel/movie "The Damned United".
02/Oct/2009 -  ESPN compilations devoted to various clubs (titled "Liverpool Classics" etc.) sourced from ITV Sport, mostly from The Big Match.
18/Jul/2010 - "Brian Clough: The Greatest Manager England Never Had?" (BBC), 1 hour documentary
25/Feb/2011 - "Football Years" (STV), this edition told the story of Scotland's 1974 World Cup campaign.
??/Jan/2015 - "FA Cup Rewind" (BBC), series including highlights from past years.
05/May/2015 - "The Mavericks" (ITV), 3 part series which "looks at players whose skill on the pitch comes with a generous amount of problematical baggage off the field", part 1 dealt with the 1970's.
30/May/2015 - "TOTP2" (BBC), compilation of FA Cup Final songs from the 1970s to the 1990s.
2016 - "Football's Greatest" (ITV4), series of 15 minute programmes, subjects included Bobby Charlton and Johan Cruyff.
21/Sep/2016 - "Get Shirty" (ITV), documentary on 1970's kit manufacturers Admiral
07/Oct/2016 - "Mavericks" (Sky Sports), this edition of the 30 minute documentary series on George Best
08/Oct/2017 - "Sir Bobby Charlton at 80" (BBC), 1 hour 4 minute documentaryincluding contributions from Geoff Hurst, Denis Law, Harry Gregg, Gordon Banks and brothers Jack and Tom Charlton.
12/Nov/2017 - "Shankly: Nature's Fire" (BBC2 Scotland), 1 hour 30 minute documentary looking at the life and times of Liverpool's legendary Scottish manager.
14/Nov/2017 - "Stuck on You: The Football Sticker Story" (ITV4), A film about how four Italian brothers called Panini took a childhood obsession and turned it into a worldwide multi-billion pound industry.
28/Mar/2018 - "Football's Foreign Legion" (ITV4), the first wave of foreign footballers in the Football League from 1978 into the early 1980s.
29/Mar/2018 - "When English Football Ruled Europe" (ITV4), two part documentary looking back at the European Cup successes of 1977-1984.
19/May/2018 - "John Motson: The Man Behind the Sheepskin" (BBC2), documentary marking the retirement of the BBC's long serving football commentator.
26/May/2018 - "Kenny" (BBC1), 75 minute documentary on Kenny Dalglish.
06/Jun/2018: - "Scotland 78: A Love Story" (BBC1 Scotland),  1 hour documentary.
04/Jul/2018: - "Barry Davies, the Man, the Voice, the Legend" (BBC1), tribute to the commentator who retired at the end of the 2018 Wimbledon Tennis championships.
27/Nov/2018 - "Out of Their Skin" (ITV4), documentary on black footballers including Viv Anderson, Brendan Batson and Vince Hilaire.

Post 1982/83 "This is Your Life" guests of interest to the 1968-1983 period
Pat Jennings 16/Nov/1983, Bryan Robson 23/Jan/1985, Peter Shilton 19/Mar/1986,  Billy Wright 17/Jan/1990 <the show now hosted by Michael Aspel>,  Nobby Stiles 20/Nov/1991, Nat Lofthouse 07/Apr/1993, Francis Lee 27/Apr/1994, Jimmy Hill 29/Mar/1995 <show now back on BBC1, though still produced by Thames>,  John Motson 18/Oct/1996, Bob Wilson 09/Nov/1998, Gary Mabbutt 15/Feb/1999, Mick Channon 07/Mar/2001, John Barnes 04/April/2001, George Best 06/Mar/2003 <his second appearance>
 

Scheduled ITV matches not shown

August 1979 (Not covered due to the three month strike)
18/Aug/1979 *listed in The Observer
LWT -  Tottenham Hotspur 1 Middlesbrough 3
ATV - West Bromwich Albion 0 Derby County 0
SOU - Brighton & Hove A. 0 Arsenal 4
25/Aug/1979 *these matches were billed for the Big League Soccer programme
LWT - Arsenal 0 Manchester United 0
ATV - Nottingham Forest 4 Coventry City 1

The unscreened 12/Sep/1981 ATV match - Derby County  v Leicester City
Duncan Cavanagh writes; "I have come across a Derby programme for the 1981/82 season which has a lot of infomation about the Derby v Leicester game played a few weeks earlier - The reason the game could not be shown was that Derby breached Football League Regulation 61, because their goalkeeper, Roger Jones wore a shirt with the Derby sponsors name 'Patrick' on it. Patrick were also the shirt manufacturers. The headline in the programme was "Are We The Only Ones In The Sin Bin?". The programme says that Derby were told on August 6th that the game would be televised, and booked extra advertising space. The kit man was told not to put out the sponsored shirts, and he did so, but the goalkeeper's shirt had the sponsors name on it, none of the outfield shirts did. Roger Jones said he never put his shirt on until the team went onto the pitch. "Call it superstition or habit. That's what i do." The Derby secretary missed the kick off, but noticed after 6 minutes that the keepers shirt had a sponsors logo on it and asked the trainer to swap the shirt, but no opportunities occurred, and the shirt could not be swapped until half time. Derby were winning 3-0 at half time! Derby's argument was that there was one rule for them, and another for Liverpool, whose game v Ipswich was shown the same day, and whilst none of the Liverpool shirts had 'Hitachi' on them, the trainers tracksuit did, and this was given screen time. They also asked why it was not possible to avoid showing the Derby keeper in the first half highlights, when Derby were winning 3-0. The programme called the game a wonderful advert for English football! The game was recorded by ATV, but minutes after the full time whistle, ITV sports boss Gerry Loftus decided that the game could not be shown that night. It cost ATV £15,000. There are some conspiracy theories in the article. One was - "Is it that Patrick Sports are English and Hitachi are not? ", another was that Derby were being made an example of, a further one involved a suggested take over by Doug Ellis at the time had affected the decision."
 
 

'Pay-TV' (Viewsport)
Pay-TV was an experimental coin-slot TV service jointly owned by Associated British Picture Corporation, British Home Entertainment and British Relay Wireless. The service began in Westminster and Southwark on 7th January 1966 and was later made available in Sheffield from 17th November 1966. Their football coverage was provided by 'Viewsport' who had covered boxing for screening in cinemas, including the Henry Cooper-Cassius Clay fight, and football "beambacks" - Coventry City the first club to do this at Highfield Road for their away match at Cardiff City on 06/Oct/1965 with John Camkin commentating.

During its' three years of operation, Pay-TV showed at least five football matches live.....

22/Nov/1966    LIVE - Chelsea 2 (Hateley, Hollins) Real Madrid 0 [Friendly] *cost 10 shillings to view
07/Dec/1966    LIVE - Sheffield United 2 (Fenoughty, Mallender) Birmingham City 3 (Bullock, Hockey, Vincent) [League Cup QF] *highlighted in Birmingham Evening Mail match report
18/Jan/1967    LIVE - West Bromwich Albion 4 (Astle 3, Clark) West Ham Utd 0 [League Cup SF L1] *reported  in Birmingham Evening Mail
04/Feb/1967    LIVE - Sheffield United 1 (Punton) Sheffield Wednesday 0 *shown in Sheffield only to "700 pkus subscribers"
29/Nov/1967    LIVE - Burnley 3 (Lochhead, O'Neil, Irvine) Arsenal 3 (Graham 2, McLintock) [League Cup QF] *Maurice Edelston wrongly identified Storey being sent off instead of McNab.
06/Feb/1968    ?LIVE? -  Huddersfield Town 1 (Leighton) Arsenal 3 (Sammels, Jenkins, McLintock) [League Cup SF L2] *Unconfirmed, possibly Sam Leitch commentating

The service reached a regulated limit of 10,000 subscribers and became notorious for showing X rated horror movies. It was popular with those who had access to it, but plans to expand the service to a sufficiently viable number of homes were blocked and it was closed down on 9th November 1968.
 

The Brazilian Independence Cup (1972)
In January 1972, there had been talk of a 'Great Britain' side (with Matt Busby as manager) taking part in a tournament designed to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Brazil's independence from Portugal. After it was made clear that none of Alf Ramsey's squad would be made available for the "Mini World Cup", it was decided on 21st January that Scotland would be invited instead. Days after Italy and West Germany had declined to take part, Tommy Docherty confirmed on 28th February that Scotland would take their strongest possible squad. The competition appears to have been completely ignored by British tv, although it was televised in Brazil (most of it, including the final, apparently in black & white). Fifteen nations, not including Scotland, took part in a preliminary round (three groups of five) between 11th and 25th June with only the three group winners - Argentina, Portugal and Yugoslavia - qualifying to join five other nations in the final stage. The Republic of Ireland had finished 3rd in Group 2 having managed to record their first wins in 5 years (v Iran and Ecuador).
The final stage saw eight teams divided into two groups of four, the two group winners would contest the final whilst the runners-up would play-off for 3rd place. Scotland were in Group A with Brazil*, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. Group B consisted of Argentina, Portugal, Soviet Union and Uruguay. After drawing their first two games, Scotland had the opportunity to progress to the final if they could beat Brazil in the last Group A match, but the tournament went to script and it was Brazil who went through to meet Portugal in the 9th July final - where the only goal was scored by Jairzinho with a looping header in the 89th minute to win it for the hosts. Yugoslavia took 3rd place by beating Argentina 4-2 on the same day, both sides had a man sent off and the game was described as a scandalous brawl and a disgrace to football.

*Pele did not play in the tournament, he had made his farewell international appearance a year earlier on 18th July 1971 in a draw v Yugoslavia in front of 200,000 fans in Rio.
 

Arsenal - Match of the 70’s
Released May 2009
31 October 1970 Arsenal 2-0 Derby (Plus studio interview with George Armstrong), 28 November 1970 Arsenal 2-0 Liverpool (Studio interview with Frank McLintock), 03 April 1971 Arsenal 2-0 Chelsea (Post match analysis from Jimmy Hill & Brian Moore starts the search for an Arsenal chant for Wembley), 9 December 1972 Tottenham 1-2 Arsenal (Post match analysis from Jimmy Hill), 28 April 1973 West Ham 1-2 Arsenal (Post match analysis from Jimmy Hill), 25 August 1973 Arsenal 3-0 Man Utd (Analysis from Malcolm Allison concentrates on Radford), 1 February 1975 Arsenal 2-0 Liverpool (No post match material), 26 April 1975 Arsenal 1-0 Tottenham (Short post match analysis), 20 March 1976 Arsenal 6-1 West Ham (Stadium interview with hat-trick hero Brian Kidd and brief look at controversial incident), 18 December 1976 Arsenal 3-1 Man Utd (Elton John presents with analysis from Mick Channon & Kevin Keegan), 3 September 1977 Arsenal 3-0 Nott'm Forest (Short post match analysis).

Aston Villa - The Big Match
Released August 2009
September 23, 1972 – Nott’m Forest 1-1 Aston Villa, October 27, 1973 - Nott’m Forest 1-2 Aston Villa, November 23, 1974 - Aston Villa 2-0 Portsmouth, February 22, 1975 – Aston Villa 2-0 Man Utd, September 27, 1975 – Aston Villa 2-1 Birmingham (Comment on bad challenge from Kenny Burns of Birmingham), December 11, 1976 – Leeds 1-3 Aston Villa, October 21, 1978 – Birmingham 0-1 Aston Villa, March 22, 1980 – Aston Villa 1-1 Ipswich, November 1, 1980 – Aston Villa 2-0 Leicester (Brief look at table and stadium interview with Aston Villa manager Ron Saunders), April 4, 1981 – Leicester 2-4 Aston Villa (Brief look at table with review of other games from Jim Rosenthal and look at remaining fixtures), April 18, 1981 – Aston Villa 2-0 Nott’m Forest (Brief look at table with review of other games from Jim Rosenthal and look at remaining fixtures), September 5, 1981 – Tottenham 1-3 Aston Villa (Post match analysis with Brian Moore), April 2, 1983 - Ipswich 1-2 Aston Villa (Taken from The Saturday Match presented by Fred Dinenage).

Chelsea – The Big Match
Released May 2009
27 September 1969 Chelsea 3-0 Arsenal (Studio interview with Birchenall & post match analysis from Jimmy Hill), 19 December 1970 Chelsea 2-1 West Ham (Post match analysis from Jimmy Hill), 29 January 1972 Chelsea 4-0 Everton (Post match analysis from Jimmy Hill), 30 September 1972 Coventry 1-3 Chelsea (No post match), 03 November 1973 Man Utd 2-2 Chelsea (Very brief analysis from Brian Clough & Malcolm Allison), 26 October 1974 Chelsea 3-3 Stoke (Studio interview with Ian Hutchinson and analysis from Brian Clough), 23 August 1975 Chelsea 3-1 Carlisle (Studio interview with 18 year old Ray Wilkins), 11 December 1976 Chelsea 3-3 Wolves (Studio interview with Steve Finniestion), 21 January 1978 Chelsea 5-3 Ipswich (Short post match analysis), 20 January 1979 Man City 2-3 Chelsea (Short look at league table), 17 November 1979 Chelsea 3-1 Charlton (Post match interview with both managers, Geoff Hurst & Mike Bailey),  07 February 1981 Chelsea 3-0 Cambridge (No post match analysis), 26 December 1981 QPR 0-2 Chelsea (Stadium interview with Chelsea manager John Neal),  23 October 1982 Chelsea 3-1 Charlton (Short post match analysis).

Everton - The Big Match
Released August 2009
August 9, 1969 - Arsenal 0-1 Everton (Studio interview by Jimmy Hill with Bob Wilson talking about Gordon Wests decision to retire from International football), March 13, 1971 - Everton 2-0 Stoke (Look at Andy Rankin’s goalkeeping performance), October 30, 1971 – Everton 1-0 Newcastle, October 21, 1972 - Sheffield Utd 0-1 Everton, September 15, 1973 – Everton 1-0 QPR, September 13, 1975 – Everton 3-0 Newcastle, October 4, 1975 - West Ham 0-1 Everton (Frank Lampard studio interview and stadium interview with Roger Kenyon), September 11, 1976 – Everton 3-0 Stoke, September 10, 1977 – Leicester 1-5 Everton, October 8, 1977 – QPR 1-5 Everton (Analysis of Latchford’s 4 goals in the game, comparison with Stoke game from 1976), November 26, 1977 – Everton 6-0 Coventry, September 23, 1978 – Everton 2-0 Wolves (Brian Moore on Colin Todd signing for Everton, look at table), January 24, 1981 – Everton 2-1 Liverpool, October 17, 1981 – Everton 2-1 Ipswich (Stadium interview with Ipswich’s Mick Mills about defensive frailties), September 4, 1982 – Everton 3-1 Tottenham (Stadium interview with Tottenham manager Keith Burkenshaw).

Leeds United - The Big Match
Released August 2009
Nott’m Forest 1-4 Leeds United – August 16, 1969,  West Ham 2-3 Leeds United – January 16, 1971 (Stadium interview with Jack Charlton with analysis from Jimmy Hill), Leeds United 2-0 Nott’m Forest – May 1, 1971 (Stadium interview with Don Revie as Leeds inch towards the title), Leeds United 3-0 WBA – December 4, 1971 (footage turns to black & white half way through), Leeds United 3-0 Arsenal – March 25, 1972 (Leeds players applaud double winners Arsenal onto the field), Leeds United 2-1 Tottenham – January 6, 1973 (Brief Jimmy Hill analysis of controversial penalty), Leeds United 3-0 Birmingham – September 8, 1973 (Post match reaction from Jack Charlton), Leeds United 3-2 Ipswich – April 20, 1974, (Short analysis of some of Leeds goals), Leeds United 5-1 Sheff Utd – September 21, 1974, Leeds United 5-2 Everton – November 29, 1975, Leeds United 2-0 Bristol C – April 30, 1977, Man City 2-3 Leeds United – November 12, 1977, Leeds United 4-0 Southampton – November 25, 1978.

Volume Two
Released September 2011
13/Dec/1969 Leeds 2 Sheff Wed  0 / 22/Aug/1970 Leeds 3 Everton 2, 03/Oct/1970 Leeds 2 Huddersfield  0, 28/Nov/1970 Leeds 1 Man City  0, 26/Dec/1970 Leeds 3 Newcastle  0, 30/Jan/1971 Man City 0 Leeds 2,  20/Mar/1971 Leeds 2 C Palace 1, 14/Aug/1971 Man City 0 Leeds 1, 06/Nov/1971 Leeds 2 Leicester  1, 27/Nov/1971 Nott'm F 0 Leeds 2, 19/Aug/1972  Leeds 2 West Brom  0, 09/Dec/1972  Leeds 1 West Ham  0, 15/Dec/1973  Chelsea 1 Leeds 2, 14/Dec/1974 Leeds 3 Stoke 1, 16/Aug/1975 Aston Villa 1 Leeds 2, 08/Nov/1975 Leeds 3 Newcastle 0,  27/Dec/1975 Leeds 4 Leicester 0,  24/Feb/1979 West Brom 1 Leeds 2 & 07/Nov/1981 Leeds 1 Notts County 0.

Liverpool - Match of the '70s
Released April 2009
October 31, 1970 – Liverpool 2-0 Wolves, August 28, 1971 – Liverpool 3-2 Leicester, December 11, 1971 – Liverpool 3-2 Derby, September 9, 1972 – Liverpool 4-2 Wolves,  October 26, 1974 – Liverpool 1-0 Leeds, December 11, 1976 – Liverpool 3-1 QPR, February 5, 1977 – Liverpool 4-1 Birmingham, April 1, 1978 – Aston Villa 0-3 Liverpool, September 2, 1978 – Liverpool 7-0 Spurs (KICK OFF MATCH FOOTAGE Opinion from fans at beginning and end. Studio interview with Emlyn Hughes), October 7, 1978 – Norwich 1-4 Liverpool, October 14, 1978 – Liverpool 5-0 Derby, December 15, 1979 – Liverpool 3-0 Crystal Palace (Stadium interview with Palace manager Terry Venables).

Manchester City - The Big Match
Released August 2009
Manchester City 4-0 Manchester Utd – November 15, 1969, Manchester City 3-0 Everton – April 3, 1971, Manchester City 3-0 Southampton – September 25, 1971 (Short analysis of one of the Man City goals), Manchester City 3-1 Norwich – August 19, 1972, Manchester City 2-0 Burnley – December 22, 1973 (Christmas special – Game introduced by John Hollins and Alan Ball gives short opinion after game), Manchester City 2-1 Everton – February 8, 1975, Wolves 0-4 Manchester City – November 29, 1975, Manchester City 5-0 Tottenham – May 7, 1977, Manchester City 3-1 Liverpool – October 29, 1977, Chelsea 1-4 Manchester City – September 16, 1978 (Stadium interviews with Ray Wilkins and hat-trick hero Ron Futcher as well as analysis of game from Brian Moore), Manchester City 2-2 Bolton – March 29, 1980 (Brief look at the league table), Crystal Palace 2-3 Manchester City – November 29, 1980 (Pre and post match chat with new manager John Bond as well as match analysis and interview with former manager Malcolm Allison), Manchester City 2-0 Southampton – November 6, 1982 (Brief look at table and feature on a City supporter who regained her sight).

Manchester United - The Big Match
Released April 2009
January 10, 1970 – Man Utd 2-1 Arsenal, April 17, 1971 – Crystal Palace 3-5 Man Utd (interview with hat-trick hero Dennis Law, post match reaction from Jimmy Hill and some comedy from Brian Moore!), April 1, 1972 – Coventry 2-3 Man Utd,  September 23, 1972 – Man Utd 3-0 Derby,  November 3, 1973 – Man Utd 2-2 Chelsea (Very brief analysis from Brian Clough & Malcolm Allison), December 7, 1974 – Sheff Wed 4-4 Man Utd,  January 31, 1976 – Man Utd 3-1 Birmingham (post match interview with Man Utd manager Tommy Docherty), March 5, 1977 – Man Utd 3-1 Man City, January 14, 1978 – Ipswich 1-2 Man Utd (Dickie Davies presents),  December 9, 1978 – Derby 1-3 Man Utd, April 5, 1980 – Man Utd 2-1 Liverpool (Quick look at newspaper cuttings about the game), October 4, 1980 – Nott’m Forest 1-2 Man Utd,  October 3, 1981 – Man Utd 5-0 Wolves (Bryan Robson unveiled as new signing at the beginning of the highlights, quick look at league table at the end), December 11, 1982 – Man Utd 4-0 Notts County.

Newcastle United – The Big Match
Released May 2009
8 November 1969 Newcastle 3-0 Sunderland, 21 August 1971 Newcastle 3-2 Liverpool (Malcolm MacDonald scores 3 on his home debut), 9 September 1972 Newcastle 2-1 Arsenal, 31 August 1974 Newcastle 2-0 West Ham (Introduction from Kenneth Wolstenholme), 16 November 1974 Newcastle 5-0 Chelsea, 18 October 1975 Newcastle 5-2 Norwich, 07 February 1976 Newcastle 4-3 Derby. 16 April 1977 Newcastle 3-0 West Ham, 3 March 1979 Newcastle 5-3 Charlton, 15 December 1979 Newcastle 4-2 QPR, 1 November 1980 Newcastle 2-1 Watford, 09 April 1983 Newcastle 3-2 Blackburn.

Queens Park Rangers - The Big Match
Released August 2009
October 4, 1969 – QPR 4-0 Middlesbrough (Studio interview by Jimmy Hill with Rodney Marsh), October 17, 1970 – QPR 5-2 Birmingham (Studio interview by Jimmy Hill with Rodney Marsh about his incredible hat-trick), September 30, 1972 – QPR 3-0 Cardiff (Post match analysis from Jimmy Hill), October 20, 1973 – Wolves 2-4 QPR, December 22, 1973 – QPR 3-2 Newcastle (Christmas special presented by Alan Ball with studio interview by John Hollins with Terry Mancini), September 13, 1975 – QPR 1-0 Man Utd (Studio with David Webb and stadium interview with Stanley Bowles and Alex Stepney), October 23, 1976 – QPR 2-0 Sunderland (Studio interview with Gerry Francis), December 17, 1978 – QPR 2-1 Man City (Stadium interview with Steve Burtenshaw), October 18, 1980 – Derby 3-3 QPR (Terry Venables first match in charge), September 19, 1981 – QPR 1-0 Crystal Palace (Pre match stadium interview with Terry Venables about new artificial pitch, post match stadium interview with Palace manager Dario Gradi), January 15, 1983 – QPR 2-0 Newcastle (Kevin Keegan post match comment about the QPR pitch and brief look at the table).

Volume Two
Released October 2010
27/Dec/1969 QPR 2 Birmingham City 1, 21/Apr/1973 Millwall 0 QPR 1, 29/Sep/1973 Newcastle 2 QPR 3, 06/Oct/1973 QPR 1 Chelsea 1, 03/Nov/1973 Derby 1 QPR 2, 10/Nov/1973 QPR 3 Coventry 0, 01/Dec/1973 Leeds 2 QPR 2, 12/Oct/1974 Arsenal 2 QPR 2, 01/Nov/1975 Coventry 1 QPR 1, 15/Nov/1975 Ipswich 1 QPR 1, 13/Mar/1976 Everton 0 QPR 2, 27/Mar/1976 QPR 1 Man City 0, 10/Apr/1976 QPR 4 Middlesbrough 2, 25/Mar/1978 QPR 3 Ipswich 3, 20/Nov/1982 Cambridge 1 QPR 4. Plus special feature on Stan Bowles.

Sunderland - The Big Match
Released April 2011
17/Jan/1970 Sunderland 2 Tottenham Hotspur 1, 31/Oct/1970 Luton 1 Sunderland 2, 18/Dec/1971 Sunderland 3 Millwall 3, 15/Sep/1973 Oxford United 0 Sunderland 1, 15/Nov/1975 Charlton 1 Sunderland 2, 05/Mar/1977 Sunderland 6 West Ham United 0, 22/Apr/1978 Tottenham Hotspur 2 Sunderland 3, 02/Dec/1978 Sunderland 5 Bristol Rovers 0, 03/Nov/1979 Sunderland 2 Chelsea 1, 16/Aug/1980 Sunderland 3 Everton 1, 27/Sep/1980 Sunderland 4 Leeds United 1, 13/Dec/1980 Sunderland 2 Arsenal 0, 19/Dec/1981 Manchester City 2 Sunderland 3, 01/May/1982 Sunderland 3 Brighton 0, 05/Mar/1983 Sunderland 2 Everton 1.

Tottenham Hotspur - The Big Match
Released May 2009
September 6, 1969 – West Ham 0-1 Spurs (Studio interview with West Ham manager Ron Greenwood and stadium interview with Spurs manager Bill Nicholson),  January 30, 1971 – Spurs 2-1 Everton (Studio interview with Everton’s Alan Ball), October 23, 1971 – Spurs 6-1 Nott’m Forest (Jimmy Hill’s post match analysis focusing on Martin Peters), October 7, 1972 – Spurs 4-3 Stoke (Stadium interview with Spurs John Pratt & post match analysis from Jimmy Hill focusing on Alan Gilzean), October 13, 1973 – Spurs 2-0 Arsenal (Post match analysis from Malcolm Allison and Brian Clough focusing on Martin Peters. Also stadium interview with Spurs’ Martin Peters), December 7, 1974 – Spurs 3-0 Newcastle (Studio interview with scorer of 2 of the goals, Cyril Knowles),  November 1, 1975 – Spurs 2-1 Wolves (Studio interview with man of the match, Pat Jennings), January 1, 1977 – Spurs 2-1 West Ham (Stadium interview with match winner John Duncan), September 10, 1977 – Spurs 1-0 Fulham (Brian Moore provides some post match analysis), September 16, 1978 – Leeds 1-2 Spurs (Short statement from Spurs manager Keith Burkinshaw), October 27, 1979 – Spurs 1-0 Nott’m Forest (Studio interview with man of the match Glenn Hoddle), December 13, 1980 – Spurs 2-1 Man City (Includes footage of new stand being built at White Hart Lane at the start. Quick show of the league table at the end), October 3, 1981 – Spurs 3-0 Nott’m Forest (Short post match reaction from Brian Moore), April 30, 1983 – Spurs 2-0 Liverpool (Stadium interview with Liverpool’s Phil Thompson)

Volume Two
Released November 2012
Spurs 1-0 Arsenal 2 May 1970,  Spurs 2-0 Man City 29 September 1970, Spurs 1-0 Liverpool 10 October 1970, Man City 0-1 Spurs 1 May 1971,  Spurs 3-0 Crystal Palace 18 September 1971,  Spurs 3-0 Everton 6 November 1971, Spurs 2-0 Stoke 19 February 1972, Spurs 2-1 Crystal Palace 9 September 1972,  Spurs 2-0 Sheff Utd 23 December 1972, Spurs 1-0 Derby 29 September 1973, Stoke 1-2 Spurs 21 February 1976, Spurs 1-0 Leeds 11 September 1976, Brighton 0-2 Spurs 31 January 1981, Spurs 2-0 Aston Villa 21 March 1981, Middlesbrough 1-3 Spurs 29 August 1981, Southampton 1-2 Spurs 31 October 1981, Spurs 2-1 West Ham 20 November 1982

West Ham United – The Big Match
Released May 2009
This DVD includes footage from one of the few surviving "Big Match" programmes from the 1968-69 season..
02 November 1968 West Ham 4-3 QPR (Post match analysis from Bobby Moore & Jimmy Hill), 20 December 1969 Tottenham 0-2 West Ham (Post Match analysis with Jimmy Hill), 22 August 1970 West Ham 2-2 Chelsea (Studio interview with Weller (Chelsea) and post match analysis from Jimmy Hill), 01 January 1972 West Ham 3-0 Man Utd (Jimmy Hill is ill with flu and so there is only a short post match analysis from Brian Moore), 14 October 1972 West Ham 3-1 Sheff Utd (Stadium Interview with Bobby Moore), 12 January 1974 West Ham 2-1 Man Utd (Malcolm Allison post match analysis), 16 November 1974 West Ham 5-2 Wolves (Studio interview with Trevor Brooking), 29 November 1975 West Ham 1-0 Arsenal (Short post match analysis), 02 April 1977 West Ham 2-2 Everton (Short post match analysis), 15 April 1978 West Ham 3-0 Derby (Short post match analysis), 24 March 1979 West Ham 5-0 Newcastle (Stadium interviews with Brooking & Bill McGarry), 09 February 1980 West Ham 2-1 QPR (Stadium interviews with Paul & Clive Allen + interview with John Lyall), 25 October 1980 West Ham 2-1 Bolton (Short post match analysis), 31 October 1981 West Ham 3-1 Middlesbrough (Feature on child who recovered from a comma visiting the West Ham dressing room), 30 October 1982 West Ham 3-1 Man Utd (Stadium interviews with Steve Coppell & John Lyall and feature on West Ham Kit Man retiring).

Wolverhampton Wanderers - The Big Match
Released March 2010
October 11, 1969 Tottenham 0-1 Wolves (In depth analysis from Brian Moore & Jimmy Hill as well as a stadium interview with Derek Dougan), December 26, 1970 Wolves 2-0 Everton (Christmas Special presented from a childrens hospital),  November 13, 1971 Wolves 2-1 Derby, September 16, 1972 Wolves 2-0 Man Utd, November 24, 1973 Tottenham 1-3 Wolves (Analysis from Malcolm Allison),  November 9, 1974 Wolves 2-1 Ipswich, September 13, 1975 Wolves 2-0 Birmingham, November 6, 1976 Wolves 3-1 Millwall, January 21, 1978 Wolves 3-1 Everton,  April 21, 1979 West Brom 1-1 Wolves (Footage taken from Kick Off), February 23, 1980 Norwich 0-4 Wolves (Footage taken from Star Soccer), November 8, 1980 Tottenham 2-2 Wolves (Short quote from Wolves manager John Barnwell), April 10, 1982 N Forest 0-1 Wolves (Interview with Wolves manager Ian Greaves after one of only 5 wins he had in charge at Wolves), October 30, 1982 Wolves 2-1 Derby.

Extras on the discs include: Intro's throughout the years, Jimmy Hill on refereeing, Jim Rosenthals news desk, Fun spots, Viewers letters, News articles and Christmas special compilation.

Also...

England - Match of the '70s
Released March 2010
Tuesday, April 21, 1970 England 3-1 N Ireland (Bobby Charlton's 100th cap), Saturday, May 22, 1971 England 3-1 Scotland (Post game analysis from Jimmy Hill, Malcolm Allison, Paddy Crerand and Bob McNabb), Saturday, May 19, 1973 England 1-0 Scotland (Post Game analysis from Jimmy Hill, Jack Charlton, Paddy Crerand, Malcolm Allison and Derek Dougan), Wednesday, September 26, 1973 England 7-0 Austria (Just highlights), Wednesday, October 17, 1973 England 1-1 Poland (Famous clown quote from Brian Clough included in post game analysis from Brian Moore, Derek Dougan, Jack Charlton, Brian Clough and Malcolm Allison. Also included is a studio interview later in the week to discuss the future of English football with Brian Clough & Malcolm Allison), Wednesday, March 12, 1975 England 2-0 West Germany (Introduction and post game analysis from Brian Moore & Sir Alf Ramsey as well as post match interview with Don Revie), Saturday, May 24, 1975 England 5-1 Scotland (Post match interview with Don Revie & Gerry Francis), Wednesday, October 13, 1976 England 2-1 Finland (Post match interview with Don Revie), Wednesday, March 30, 1977 England 5-0 Luxembourg (Just highlights), Wednesday, November 16, 1977 England 2-0 Italy (Pre and post match reaction from Jack Charlton and Alan Mullery), Wednesday, May 24, 1978 England 4-1 Hungary (Post match interview with Ron Greenwood).

And as a three disc set entitled The Big Match Hatrick....

The Big Match - The Best Of The Studio
Originally released November 2009
Includes:
Viewers Letters including Mohamed Ali having a go at Brian Clough, Norman Hunter explaining the banner at the beginning of the titles and a Bill Nicholson interview following his departure from Spurs.
Golden Goals the best goals from various seasons throughout the Big Match era.
Jimmy Hill on refereeing including an interview with Jimmy after his appearance as a linesman in a game at Arsenal and Brian Moore being congratulated for passing his Grade 3 referees exam.
A Year In Review looks back at 1970 and 1971 including a studio bust up between Alan Mullery and Malcolm Allison.
Where Are They Now including Maurice Norman and many other legends.
Jim Rosenthals News Desk including a catch up with Peter Osgood who was running a catering business with his old team mate.

Big Match South
Originally released April 2010
Crystal Palace
December 16, 1972 Crystal Palace 5-0 Man Utd (First Palace win shown on the Big Match, includes analysis from Jimmy Hill), March 31, 1973 Crystal Palace 2-0 Chelsea (Malcolm Allison’s first game in charge at Palace, includes Studio interview), November 04, 1979 Crystal Palace 2-0 Man City (Return to Selhurst Park for Malcolm Allison now manager of City, includes post match interview with Allison and Venebals together), September 12, 1981 Crystal Palace 2-0 Charlton (Short reaction from Charlton manager Alan Mullary).
Fulham
September 27, 1969 Stockport 1-4 Fulham (Analysis from Jimmy Hill on his former team), September 25, 1976 Fulham 4-1 Hereford (Post match interview with George Best & Rodney Marsh together), March 26, 1977 Fulham 3-2 Sheffield Utd (Short analysis from Brian Moore), September 25, 1982 Fulham 3-2 Leeds (Pre match interview with injured goalkeeper Gerry Peyton).
Southampton
August 17, 1969 Man Utd 1-4 Southampton (Ron Davies studio interview with Jimmy Hill questioning whether he scored 3 or 4 goals!), November 10, 1979 Southampton 4-1 Nott'm Forest (Forest suffer worst defeat since 1975), February 09, 1980 Southampton 5-1 Brighton (Short post match reaction), March 27, 1982 Southampton 4-3 Stoke (Just highlights).
Watford
March 01, 1980 Newcastle 0-2 Watford (Plus look at the 2nd division table), October 24, 1981 Watford 3-0 Norwich (Post match interview with Elton John and Graham Taylor together), August 28, 1982 Watford 2-0 Everton (Watfords first ever game in top flight football; includes post match reaction from Pat Rice), November 27, 1982 Arsenal 2-4 Watford (Footage taken from TVS/"The Saturday Match", John Barnes scores a hat-trick with post match analysis from George Best).
 

Big Match Midlands & East Anglia
Originally released April 2010
Birmingham City
September 14, 1974 Birmingham 3-2 Derby (In depth look from Brian Moore at the 2 penalty decisions), November 16, 1974 Birmingham 4-0 Man City (Brief chat about league position, Man City knocked off summit with defeat), September 18, 1976 Aston Villa 1-2 Birmingham (Just highlights), September 05, 1981 Birmingham 4-3 Nott'm Forest (Just highlights).
Derby County
September 20, 1969 Derby 5-0 Spurs (Studio interview with Dave Mackay talking to Jimmy Hill), October 30, 1971 Nott’m Forest 0-2 Derby (Just highlights), November 20, 1971 Derby 3-0 Sheff Utd (Brian Moore comment about referee consistency), April 24, 1976 Ipswich 2-6 Derby (Franny Lee’s last game for Derby).
Ipswich Town
December 14, 1974 Ipswich 4-0 Spurs (Brief look at the newspaper report on Spurs performance), September 25, 1976 Ipswich 3-1 Arsenal (Just highlights), March 02, 1980 Ipswich 6-0 Man Utd (Incredible game including 3 penalty saves by Gary Bailey for Man Utd; footage includes post match reaction from Bobby Robson), December 20, 1980 Birmingham 1-3 Ipswich (Plus a look at the top of the 1st Division).
Nottingham Forest
October 09, 1976 Nott’m Forest 6-1 Sheff Utd (Just highlights), August 27, 1977 Nott’m Forest 3-0 Derby (Just highlights), November 11, 1978 Spurs 1-3 Nott’m Forest (Post match interview with Brian Clough & Peter Shilton), November 27, 1982 Nott’m Forest 3-0 Man City (Footage taken from TVS/"The Saturday Match" including analysis from George Best).
 

Manchester United: A Passback Through History
8 DVD Box Set (Region 2) issued by Sports Classics on 31st October 2011
Disc 1:  Chelsea 1 - 3 Manchester United 29/12/84 / Stoke City 1 - 2 Manchester United 21/03/71 / Manchester United 2 - 1 West Ham 23/11/91
Disc 2:  Manchester United 3 - 0 Arsenal 30/12/79 / Arsenal 0 - 1 Manchester United 24/02/85 / Manchester United 4 - 1 Arsenal 19/08/89
Disc 3:  Manchester United 5 - 0 Wolves 03/10/81 / Huddersfield 0 - 3 Manchester United 09/10/71 / Arsenal 2 - 6 Manchester United 28/11/90
Disc 4:  Manchester United 2 - 0 Crystal Palace 22/02/92 / QPR 1 - 3 Manchester United 11/05/85
Disc 5:  Manchester United 3 - 0 Nottingham Forest 22/12/79 / Northampton 2 - 8 Manchester United 07/02/70 / Portsmouth 2 - 3 Manchester United 20/09/89
Disc 6: Crystal Palace 3 - 5 Manchester United 17/04/71 / Coventry City 2 - 3 Manchester United 02/04/72 / Southampton 0 - 1 Manchester United 14/09/91
Disc 7:  Tottenham 1 - 3 Manchester United 13/02/77 / Southampton 0 - 2 Manchester United 24/03/90
Disc 8:  Manchester United 2 - 1 Wolves 11/02/73 / Leeds United 1 - 2 Manchester United 12/10/75 / Sheffield United 1 - 2 Manchester United 14/03/92