ALL SO DIFFERENT FOR BEEB BACK IN THE DAY
OCCASIONAL replays, little analysis and no interviews – because it is straight off to Steve Rider and the European Indoor Athletics Championships in Budapest.
The theme tune may be hauntingly familiar when live top-flight league football returns to the BBC for the first time since 1988 on Saturday at 7.15pm for the build-up to Bournemouth against Crystal Palace.
But the look will be very different from that afternoon of March 6
– unless one of the pundits really does have the temerity to match up Trevor Brooking’s hideous red-andwhite banded tie chosen in honour of the north London derby back then.
Coverage of live football has grown along with the amount broadcasters have invested for the right to show it.
Back in 1988, the price per game was barely a 50th of what Sky and BT paid when Premier League rights reached their zenith just before the most recent round of deals.
So, “goalmouth scramble is the phrase we hear these days,” was considered insightful half-time analysis from
Jimmy Hill, top inset.
Likewise, we accepted a throwntogether final wrap of highlights, Brooking, right, looking forward to the much bigger FA Cup game next week and not a word from the players or the managers.
Then off to see David Sharpe going for gold in the 800m. Former BBC head of sport Brian Barwick joined the Match of the Day team a few months after that last live game and explained: “The big problem we always had on mainstream television was that the windows either side of the action were always so tight. “Sky and the Premier League changed all that. Even when I was working on ITV with the Champions League I remember having to get everything wrapped within 90 seconds of the final whistle so as not to delay any further the start of Coronation Street.”
At least for the onfield soap opera, the BBC could rely on the peerless Barry Davies for commentary.
It was a different era for football, not just broadcasting, of course. The technology forVAR simply did not exist – a giant caption proclaiming the scoreline every 10 minutes was the extent of the graphics department’s input. Alan Smith had given Arsenal an early lead, only for Clive Allen to level with a 20-yard second-half drive, although Perry Groves’ late winner nicked the spoils. “Those TV games were the few occasions when those who could not get to games could see you play,” said Allen. “Millions used to watch, including all the family, so those games chosen to feature always meant more.”
With a Premier League record of 4million viewers possibly set to tune in, Bournemouth and Crystal Palace could be about to discover how much free-to-air football on the box still means to a large part of the country.