Unbelievable Jeff! (Gillette Soccer Special)

Member Name: GeordieNick

Product:	Gillette Soccer Special
Date:	06/08/09 (62 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Jeff Stelling, Great banter, Up to date reports, Screen layout, Kammy

Disadvantages: None

You wouldn't think people reporting the football scores would be one of the funniest and entertaining things on television would you? Well if you like football and have never viewed Gilette Soccer Special or Soccer Saturday, what have you been doing with yourselves on a Saturday! The show is broadcast every saturday which is an English football match day and in midweek if there are a significant amount of games taking place. The show has been running since 1992 and is broadcasted on Sky Sports News and Sky Sports 1.

Jeff Stelling has been the main host of the show since 1994 and has carved out a sterling reputation of being a hilarious, yet brilliant presenter for the show. Without Jeff Stelling, Soccer Special would not be the same. His love for Hartlepool, his awful jokes, the little things and the unrivalled excitement for a match between Exeter City and Shrewsbury Town makes Soccer Special the only thing to do if you are not attending a game. On Saturday, Jeff is joined by four panelists who have all had a career in the game. The usual panelists are Paul Merson and his dodgy pronunciations, Matt Le Tissier on the recieving end of takeaway jokes, Charlie Nicholas and the large nosed man, Phil Thompson. Sometimes Paul Walsh will be a guest along with John Solako, Ian Dowie, Alan McInally and Paul Jewell among others in the midweek show usually hosted by Ian Payne. The banter between Jeff and the panelists is absolutely priceless and is hilarious to watch and I for one can not wait for the new season to start, partly for Soccer Saturday returning.

On Saturday the show runs from Midday and the pundits discuss and make predictions for the upcoming fixtures. Interviews are also featured in this slot as well as a round up of goals in the past week, hot topic discussion and up to date reports of early kick offs. This is before the panelists watch a game, usually a Premier League game, at 3pm and report on it in the studio. Various reporters are stationed up and down the grounds in the country reporting on the other games live. Games which are deemed as more important will have a reporter with a camera and others will just have audio reporting. The excitement in the studio for the matches is unrivalled and if you are involved in a game and hear a 'GOAL' shout you are frantically trying to work out which panelist it was. Jeff Stelling also has great banter with the reporters at the match, the most famous being 'Kammy', Chris Kamara. Kamara is famed for his enthusiasm and 'Unbelievable Jeff!' shout and you can not fail to love him. After the matches, you will be kept up to date with any late kick offs, post match interviews will be featured and the panelists will round up their game along with a full classified check.

The layout for Soccer Special is a lot like Sky Sports News with bars on the right and at the bottom of the screen. On the right hand side the scores come up by league and at the bottom is the vidiprinter which produces the latest scores, minute and goal scorers. Just above the vidiprinter is a ticker scores are cycled through with the scorers and minutes of the goals. The layout is perfect for giving you the latest information mixed with the studio entertainment in my opinion.

Soccer Special is a great way of spending your Saturday afternoons if you love football. There is a very popular and messy game called the Jeff Stelling Drinking Game which is one to look up if you want to add another element to the programme. It is also great, if you like a little bet, to put on an accumulator or two which makes those goals flooding in just that bit more exciting!

Summary: An unbelievably brilliant score reporting programme.