Match of the Day Season 1 Episode 1 The first regular football programme on television, Match of the Day, began on August 22 1964, at the start of the 1964-65 season. The identity of the match – Liverpool v Arsenal - was kept secret until 4.00pm, by agreement with the Football League, who feared crowds would stay at home to watch it.Match of the Day is one of the BBC's longest-running shows, having been on air since 22 August 1964. In 2015, Guiness World Record recognised it "as the longest-running football television programme in the world." Analysis is provided by Danny Murphy, Micah Richards and Alan Shearer, among others. Former England international striker Gary Lineker was the series' longest-serving presenter (1999—2025). Since the 2004-5 Season, a second programme, Match of the Day 2, has usually aired on the following Sunday and features highlights of all the day's games, whilst showing the goals from the previous days' action. The show's theme tune was voted the most recognised television theme in a 2010 poll conducted by the PRS.
Although the title was first used by the BBC for its Tennis highlights highlights programme in June 1964, the first football-related edition of Match of the Day was screened on BBC2 on 22 August 1964, and showed highlights of a game between Liverpool and Arsenal at Anfield. The programme's audience was estimated at only 20,000, less than half of the attendance at the ground.
Match of the Day was not universally welcomed in the football world; in 1965 several clubs attempted to block a renewed deal with the BBC in fear of a drop in gate attendances at matches. Eventually, a compromise was reached where the BBC agreed not to reveal which match was to be shown until after the day's play had concluded. Following the success of the England team at the 1966 FIFA World Cup the programme was moved from BBC2 to BBC1 for the start of the 1966–1967 season. The first colour edition was shown on 2 November 1968, when the programme moved back to BBC2 for one week, and a game between Chelsea and Manchester City was featured (BBC 2 was transmitted on 625 lines capable of showing colour). Two other First Division games from the 1968-69 season were also broadcast on BBC2 in colour. The first colour edition of Match of the Day on BBC1 was shown on 15 November 1969, where it featured a game between Liverpool; and West Ham United.
Bryan Cowgill (27 May 1927 – 14 July 2008) was a British TV executive. He was Head of Sport for BBC Television from 1963 to 1973, Controller of BBC 1 from 1973 to 1977, and Managing Director of Thames Television from 1977 to 1985. Born in Clitheror, Lancashire, Cowgill attended Clitheroe Royal GS. After leaving school he became a copy boy with the Lancashire Evening Post, where his father was a printer. In 1943, he joined the Royal Marines, and during the next four years he saw service in Southeast Asia.
In 1958, Cowgill devised the Saturday afternoon sports showcase Grandstand, which was an immediate success and ran for nearly half a century. In 1963, he was promoted to Head of Sport. In this capacity, he introduced the football highlights programme Match of the Day in 1964. During his tenure the BBC covered an increasing number of ambitious sporting events, including organising extensive coverage as host broadcaster of the 1966 World Cup and showing coverage live by satellite from Mexico of both the 1968 Summer Olympics and 1970 World Cup.In 1973, after a decade in charge of the sports department of BBC TV, Cowgill was promoted to Controller of BBC1, the corporation's premier television network.
In 1977, Cowgill accepted an offer to leave the BBC after over twenty years to join Thames televsion as Managing Director. In 1984, Cowgill, in a foretaste of changes to come within the industry, successfully resisted demands by the ACTT union for additional payments to use new technology, by maintaining a reduced service while the other ITV contractors met demands for a 20% rise in pay.
During Cowgill's tenure at Thames he tried to acquire the popular 1980s soap opera "Dallas", which had previously been associated with the BBC, abandoning a gentleman's agreement not to poach purchased programming. Other ITV companies refused to show Dallas if Thames retained it, and this led to Cowgill's resignation in 1985 at the age of 58.
Towards the end of his life, Cowgill argued for the abolition of the TV Licence that finances the BBC, asking "in the context of more than 200 channels how can little green vans going up and down the country saying effectively: 'What are you watching and have you got a licence to watch it?' survive?" Cowgill's autobiography, Mr Action Replay, was published in 2006.
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