We know the score (Match of the Day)

Member Name: iamasadlittleboy

Product:	Match of the Day
Date:	10/09/09 (48 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Highlights of premier league football, decently done, no ads

Disadvantages: Commentary can be a bit naff

As with many British males I'm a fan of Football (as in Soccer, though truth be told I do like American Football too) and as I work Saturdays I'm unable to catch much of the English Premier League (EPL) live. This results in Match Of The Day (MOTD) being a rather regular view in our house (by regular it means "Unless there is a PPV Boxing event on Sky Box Office, MOTD will be on") to allow me to see the highlights of the great game. Though with my mum being a West Ham fan (whilst I'm a Manchester United fan) there's also a secondary reason to watch it based on mockery of the poor 'ammers. Though there is occasionally "Match Of The Day Live" for the BBC's live football (which is rare to say the least), this review will just talk about the highlights show.

Having been shown first in 1964 it has been the primary free to air English top flight highlight show for the vast majority of the time since except for the occasional time or two (notably when ITV purchased the rights for the highlights package during 2001-2004). The show in the format it's known now was formed when the Premier League broke away from the rest of the Football Association in England. Though Sky would have exclusive rights (at the time) for the live games BBC could show highlights of the games.

Currently hosted by the likeable Gary Lineker who himself was a highly rated international player for England he is joined by a few pundits every show usually including Alan Hansen and one of a host of other former players like Lee Dixon, Alan Shearer or Mark Lawrenson. They start the show by building up to one of the weekends games then showing the highlights from it, interviewing the managers (or players/assistant managers) then talking about the key points. This repeats for each of the games shown (usually 5 to 7 games every Saturday it's on) though with the latter games getting less air time and attention than the earlier games. This is often because the games on at the start at usually the bigger matches involving teams like Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool whilst the games at the end usually involve the poorly supported teams like Portsmouth and recently promoted teams.

The highlights of the games are commentated by one of a range of BBC commentators such as Jonathan Pearce, Steve Wilson, Guy Mowbray, Tony Gubba, Ivan Gaskell, Jacqui Oatley and Simon Brotherton. Of those there is a varying standard between the over excitable and poor Pearce who's voice is more suited to Robot Wars than football, the incredibly poor Oatley who often sounds lost and the excellent Wilson who knows his stuff brilliantly.

At the end of the show they show the league table and either a trailer (if they have some sport on soon), or the up coming matches if theirs a run in near the end of the season. And of course the infamous goal of the month competition in which the top 10 or so goals of the month are shown and you are asked to call in to a hotline or text a number with which you thought one of the pundits felt was best with the chance to win a pair of tickets to a match of your choice. This used to use "The Life of Riley" for the music originally done by the Lightning Seeds a song about lead singers Ian Broudies son.

Overall the show is good for what it is, it's a highlights show though and this needs to be remembered, most of the viewers will know the results before watching it and won't be surprised by much on offer. The pundits and host are all chummy and matey which can at times feel quite fake and boring, whilst other times their allegiances can be too obvious (Alan Shearer and Newcastle, Alan Hansen and Liverpool) for their views to be accepted. The poor quality of commentators can also feel off putting at times, though it does do it's job for those who can't watch the games live (lets remember, EVERY Premier League game is shown live almost, if you know where to look).

Summary: Not show of the month, but still glad it s there