It was a move that divided opinion. When news broke in the summer of 1983 that Division One matches would be shown live on BBC and ITV, there was more anxiety than expectation. The £5.2m deal gave the channels five league matches each, although the BBC only covered four due to a technicians’ strike. There was no chance of over-exposure during the first full season of live coverage, but the relationship between the national game and television would change the sport forever.
ITV had shown the only live league match before, a fixture between Blackpool and Bolton in 1960, but on Sunday 2 October 1983, the televised football revolution began in earnest. Tottenham v Nottingham Forest was the point of no return.
There was some doubt about whether live league football would work. With attendances already declining and viewing figures dropping for highlights packages, was there really a market for this new product? Writing in the Guardian, David Lacey wondered if the clubs were aware of the dangers: “An excellent match on television will persuade the fans that this is a better way to see soccer; a poor game will convince them that it is not worth paying money to watch it anyway.”
Others saw it as an opportunity. “Give TV soccer a chance,” wrote Jimmy Greaves in the Mirror. “Let’s use it to promote the best things about our great game. We will be reaching an audience of millions, many of whom just might be attracted back to the grounds if they see we can still produce football that is worth watching.”
The big issue with Greavsie’s optimism was the state of English football. In 1985, the Sunday Times described it as “a slum sport played in slum stadiums and increasingly watched by slum people,” which was a less than polite way of saying that football was unfashionable at the time. Were the television companies effectively flogging a dead horse?
View image in fullscreenMore than 30,000 fans attended the Sunday afternoon game in London. Photograph: S&G and Barratts/Empics
Tottenham made every effort to entice supporters to White Hart Lane for the first live league match of the new deal. Spending £2,500 on advertising, their message was: “It’s not really live unless you’re there.” With appearances from Chas and Dave, Warren Mitchell (Alf Garnett), a marching band and a parachute team, the club were putting on a show.
Spurs also offered free transport from Ware, Hertford, Hoddesdon, Broxbourne, Cheshunt, Waltham Cross and Harlow, and the first 1,000 children through the turnstiles received a free programme, a pen and an autographed photo of the team. “The aim obviously is to get as many people out of their homes as early as possible,” said Mike Lewis, the club’s commercial manager. “If we don’t get them out before lunch, they’ll simply stay indoors and watch it on the television.”
One man in particular was unimpressed with the 2.35pm kick-off on Sunday. Tottenham manager Keith Burkinshaw was adamant that television should not be in charge of the schedule. “It’s an outrage that we can be dictated to like this and I have no intention of standing for it. It is our home match and we will kick off when it suits us – not the television cameras. All our afternoon matches start at three o’clock. I see no reason for this one to be different and I will fight it all the way.”
Burkinshaw’s comments may seem naive in retrospect but his views will ring true for supporters who feel television companies have too much control. “We are penalising our season ticket holders,” added Burkinshaw. “They bought their seats to watch soccer on a Saturday afternoon not a Sunday. Sometimes we forget the people who stand by us on all occasions.”
Burkinshaw, along with many in football, was worried about the potential impact on attendances. The Football League set up a £300,000 pool to be used as compensation for clubs if their gates dropped. Tottenham planned to dip into it if the Forest game attracted fewer than 30,000. Fortunately, they didn’t need to.
The match itself was one of the more attractive fixtures on the football calendar. Burkinshaw and his opposite number Brian Clough liked football to be played on grass rather than in the air, and the two clubs really should have met in the Uefa Cup final later on in the season had it not been for some dubious tactics deployed by Anderlecht.
View image in fullscreenITV commentator Brian Moore gives the thumbs up to the crowd before kick-off at White Hart Lane. Photograph: Getty Images
The 30,596 crowd was the biggest of the weekend in Division One, alleviating those initial fears. Tottenham chairman Douglas Alexiou was delighted. “It was a super occasion, a super crowd. We tried to make it a day out for the family, and we hope some of them will come back and see us play again.”
The coverage started just five minutes before kick-off, with Jim Rosenthal presenting, Greaves assisting, and the excellent Brian Moore commentating alongside Ian St John. They did not have to wait long for the first goal, Colin Walsh opening the scoring for Forest after some good work by Steve Wigley and Viv Anderson.
When Tottenham did break down the Forest defence, they were thwarted by the excellent Hans van Breuklen, the Dutch keeper denying Glenn Hoddle on multiple occasions. But the match changed when winger Gary Brooke replaced Alan Brazil in the second half. Brooke’s fine cross set up new signing Gary Stevens to equalise in the 69th minute and, with five minutes remaining, Brooke’s free-kick was headed across goal by Mark Falco, giving Steve Archibald a tap-in and handing Tottenham their first home league win of the campaign.
Generally the afternoon was seen as a success, but there were reservations. Amusingly, St John told viewers: “It’s better to be here than sitting at home in front of the TV.” Moore interjected, telling him: “I’m not sure you should be saying that.” But St John was not alone in his opinion.
View image in fullscreen‘TV soccer will always be slightly unsatisfying. Two dimensions can’t match three.’ Photograph: Colorsport/Shutterstock
Frank McGhee was less than convinced, writing in the Mirror: “TV soccer will always be slightly unsatisfying – a picture of steak and chips rather than a mouthful, because two dimensions can’t match three. Sight and sound can’t be as real without the addition of taste and smell.”
Lacey was also singing the praises of attending matches in the flesh. “Watching football is about noise and bustle and the smell of overcooked onions from the hot-dog stalls. Yesterday ITV offered us lager, chocolate bars and cigars – but only in the commercials.”
John Bromley, the head of sport at ITV, said he was delighted to pull in 5,036,000 viewers. “An audience of this size on a Sunday afternoon is very encouraging. People are getting tired of highlights and this match proved there is nothing to be frightened of with live coverage.”
But, given that a recent England v Denmark match had attracted 10,474,000 viewers, some were sceptical. A BBC spokesman called the figure “very disappointing”, adding: “If that had happened to us we would have been crying our eyes out. Songs of Praise later the same Sunday drew just as big an audience.” The Football League also sounded cautious, calling “live games “an experiment” and suggesting they would “have to wait and see how it goes.”
Love it or hate it, live league football was here to stay. The early tentative steps taken in 1983 laid the foundations for the future, but first football had to get its house in order. It would take the tragedy of Hillsborough to improve spectator safety and the success of England at Italia 90 proved there was a product that could be sold.
Just before the Tottenham v Forest match in 1983, news broke that Rupert Murdoch was moving into the world of satellite television. With Tottenham also becoming the first club to sell shares on the London Stock Exchange, the shape of football was changing, not that we knew it at the time. Forest would also feature in the first Premier League match on Sky. By then it was a whole new ball game.
This article appeared first on That 1980s Sports Blog
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