The Big Match
ITV's long-running football highlights programme.
The Big Match was a British football television programme broadcast on ITV between 1968 and 1992. It originally launched on London Weekend Television (LWT) as a highlights show of Football League matches, created partly in response to increased demand after the 1966 FIFA World Cup and as an alternative to the BBC's Match of the Day. The programme launched the media career of Jimmy Hill and made Brian Moore one of the country's leading football commentators.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Football
- Runtime
- 60 minutes
- Presenter
- Brian Moore (19681983) · Elton Welsby (19831992)
- Starring
- Jimmy Hill (19681973) · Jim Rosenthal (19801983)
- Open Theme
- see Theme Tunes
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Language
- English
- Network
- ITV
- Company
- London Weekend Television
- First Aired
- 1968-08-25
- Last Aired
- 1992-04-26
- Related
- The Premiership
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The Big Match was launched soon after LWT took over the ITV weekend franchise for London from ATV, which had previously shown local football highlights under the name Star Soccer. Co-presenter Jimmy Hill was also Head of Sport at LWT. The programme originally screened match highlights on Sunday afternoons, while Match of the Day was broadcast on Saturday evenings. In 1978, Michael Grade at LWT won exclusive rights to all league football coverage for ITV in a move termed 'Snatch of the Day', though the Office of Fair Trading blocked the move, forcing the BBC to allow ITV to alternate the Saturday night slot starting with the 1980–81 season.
Reader's Guide
The Big Match was significant as ITV's flagship football highlights programme for 24 years, shaping televised football in Britain. It launched the media careers of Jimmy Hill and Brian Moore, and its theme tunes—including 'Young Scene', 'Jubilation', and 'Aztec Gold'—became iconic. The programme evolved into The Match in 1988 after ITV won exclusive league rights, and it broadcast live league matches for the first time since 1960. ITV lost top-flight rights to Sky and the BBC in 1992, leading to regional variations like The Central Match and The London Match. The Big Match name was briefly revived for FA Cup coverage from 1997 to 2001. Its legacy includes the nostalgic series The Big Match Revisited on ITV4 from 2008 onward, and DVD releases for clubs such as Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.
Did You Know?
- The Big Match had six different theme tunes during its run, including 'Aztec Gold' which was also used for ITV's 1986 World Cup coverage.
- The programme was set up partly as a response to increased demand for televised football following the 1966 FIFA World Cup.
- In 1978, Michael Grade at LWT won exclusive league rights for ITV in a move called 'Snatch of the Day', though the Office of Fair Trading blocked it.
- The Big Match Revisited, a series repeating old editions, began on ITV4 in 2008 and continued for multiple seasons.
More in British television series revived after cancellation 1-24
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