2014/15 Football on the BBC
The 2014/15 football season is about to get under way and the BBC is offering more coverage than ever to audiences.
Match Of The Day celebrates its 50th Anniversary this year, marked by a special documentary on 22 August at10.35pm BBC One & HD. Gary Lineker starts his 16th year as MOTD presenter and the new season sees Ruud Gullit, Philip Neville and Rio Ferdinand join the team along with Alan Shearer, Robbie Savage and Danny Murphy. The programme will continue to use a wide range of pundits and guests including current Premier League players and managers throughout the season, and the lead the way with award-winning augmented reality graphics, Opta statistics, live social media votes and Gary Lineker’s manager interviews.
We’re delighted that the FA Cup returns to BBC Television after a six-year absence, with 16 live matches and highlights of every round. Extra prominence will be given to the early rounds, utilising the BBC’s multiplatform capabilities across TV, radio and online to bring the full magic of the tournament to audiences.
With MOTD, MOTD2, MOTD2 Extra, Football Focus, Final Score, Football League Show and MOTD Kickabout, the BBC is offering audiences over twelve hours of football on weekends to television audiences. This season, the Football League show also gets a Sunday morning repeat show on BBC Two. While after a successful launch season, Motd2 Extra will continue to combine the views of players, managers, pundits, journalists and commentators to audiences across TV, Radio and Online.
There's more Women's Football than ever before, from the Super League, to the FA Cup to the World Cup qualifiers. BBC television and BBC Radio 5 live sports extra will be home to extensive and unrivalled coverage over the next 12 months.
Radio 5 live once again boasts the most extensive live radio commentary portfolio available. Philip Neville joins the line up for 2014/15 with Jason Roberts expanding his role, and John Murray becomes the new Football Correspondent and continues to lead on commentary alongside Alan Green.
Audiences will benefit from comprehensive online coverage across PC, tablet, mobile and PC through the BBC Sport website and Sport App. This season for the first time fans can sign up for goal alerts through the BBC Sport app for mobiles and tablets - latest line-ups, kick-offs, goals, half-time and full-time scores as they happen - straight to your phone - for more than 150 teams across nine top domestic leagues.
BBC Sports News will be ever present throughout the season with all the results and all the big stories across TV and radio.
Barbara Slater, Director of BBC Sport, says: “Following on from an amazing World Cup we can be in no doubt about the huge audience appetite for football. Across TV, radio, online and our digital platforms BBC Sport is excited about delivering more content than ever before.
“MOTD turning 50 is a broadcasting milestone, we’re hugely proud of the show, one of the most iconic and best loved programmes on the BBC. We are looking forward to continuing to evolve this national institution and having the FA Cup back live on TV as well as all the highlights from the Premier League enables us to make even more impact with our coverage."
