Match of the Day
television series
Match of the Day (abbreviated to MOTD) is a men’s football highlights programme, typically broadcast on BBC One on Saturday nights during the Premier League season.
Match of the Day is one of the BBC's longest-running shows, having been on air since 22 August 1964. In 2015, Guinness World Records recognised it "as the longest-running football television programme in the world." It was later longest active running sports TV program anywhere in the world after Hockey Night in Canada stopped airing over-the-air in Canada. Analysis is currently provided by Danny Murphy, Micah Richards and Alan Shearer, among others. Former England striker Gary Lineker was the series' longest-serving presenter (1999–2025). From the 2004–05 season, a second programme, Match of the Day 2, has usually aired on a Sunday in the football season, featuring highlights of all the men’s games of the day, whilst showing the goals from the Saturday action.
The show's theme tune was voted the most recognised television theme in a 2010 poll conducted by the PRS.
History
1960s
Although the title was first used by the BBC for its Wimbledon tennis 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.
“Match of the Day” enters the record as television series. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Match, television and series can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Match of the Day” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Match, television and series provides the most credible route into that argument.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1908130. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1964, 2015, 1999 and 2025.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
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The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
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Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Match of the Day” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.