Media Index
England Football Online
Page Last Updated 2 July 2024
 
 

Euro
1938-39
1950-55
1960-65

1970-75
1980-85
1990-95
2000-05

World Cup
1947-50
1955-60
1965-70
1975-80
1985-90

1995-2000

Media Coverage
England on Television
(2000-05)

The commentators in italics are likely, but not confirmed.

Left: After a goal-laden career in England's front line, Gary Lineker set about a new vocation in broadcasting, and spent most of the 1990s honing his skills with BBC Sport. When Match of the Day presenter, Des Lynam left for ITV, he was unveiled as the natural successor. Not only did he appear as confident and relaxed as his predecessor in front of the cameras, but he also won great respect from his guests because of his footballing achievements and knowledge of the game.

Sky Sports entered the new millennium as the dominant force in the world of televised English football. They had partnered the Premier League since its inception in 1992 and when it came to providing professional coverage and analysis, they had raised the bar several notches to present the national game using the leading technologies of the time, paired with a comprehensive service that established British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) as a major constant alongside the five terrestrial channels. The difference, of course, was that the Sky channels required a monthly subscription, whilst the others, merely a TV licence.

By the year 2000, however, they had over five million total subscribers to the TV service (a proportion of which paid extra to get the Sky Sports channels) and it would double over the next decade, but their dominance in the football world had probably reached its peak, as players both old and new rose to challenge its superiority.

In the 2000-01 season, they had all of both the FA Carling Premiership and the Nationwide Football League's live games, the first-choice live games for each round, plus replays, of the FA Cup before the final, all of the Worthington (League) Cup live games, and all of England's home games live, outside of major tournaments, plus most of their away games. ITV had managed to hold on to the UEFA Champions League (though Sky Sports would be sharing it with them from 2003). Sky lost the Nationwide League to the short-lived ITV Digital venture in 2001, but acquired it back, just over a year later, at a quarter of the price that their failed digital challenger had paid for it.

Pay-per-view games were introduced in an attempt to entice more viewers, but when u<direct sports managed to secure the rights to England's World Cup qualifier in Finland, it provoked a huge backlash. Sky Sports viewers were, by now, paying over £20 in subscription fees to watch England games live, and the prospect of forking out another eight or nine pounds to watch a single game did not go down well. The timing was not great, as England had just lost to Germany in the old Wembley's last match, Kevin Keegan had resigned, there were technical issues when watching it via OnDigital and the relatively-unknown 27-year-old, Jim Proudfoot was plucked from talkSPORT radio to perform his first television commentary. All in all, it was not a great advert for pay-per-view football, but the Premier League still went ahead with their own Premiership Plus channel which lasted for six years, though it was also sold as part of a monthly subscription, before being quietly discontinued in favour of more live games in the main subscriptions.

Another World Cup qualifier that season, in Albania, was Channel 5's last England game (though they also showed some under-21 games), with commentator, Jonathan Pearce later going on to join the BBC, who managed to find a weakness in the Sky Sports' domination of the market. The Football Association had obviously been aware that England matches were usually only seen live by a minority, and the next three-year deal, from 2001, saw the BBC awarded live coverage of all of England's home qualifying matches in the World Cup and European Championship. Sky Sports could also show them live, but they were given exclusive rights to the home friendlies, with the BBC providing highlights, as ITV had done for all England matches outside of the major tournaments (apart from those on Channel 5) for the previous four years. This was coupled with a new FA Cup deal which saw the BBC acquire first-choice live games in every round from Sky Sports, as they had done in their previous deal up to 1997, though this time they were afforded a second live game in each round.

Feeling pleased with themselves for restoring the traditional order, they were almost immediately shaken by the revelation that ITV had consoled themselves by snatching Saturday-night highlights of the FA Carling Premiership, to be fronted by ex-BBC Match of the Day presenter, Des Lynam.

The BBC licked their wounds and settled into a routine that was slightly better for them than the last time that it had happened to them (1988-92) and they utilised new digital technology to show games in 16:9 widescreen for the first time, as opposed to the traditional 4:3 aspect ratio. This enabled viewers to see more of the pitch, and to get a better appreciation of tactics, though the next two major tournament finals would only be broadcast in 4:3 by the two terrestrial channels.

With England beginning to recover from a dreadful opening to their World Cup qualifying campaign, the new TV deal coincided with some of the most memorable moments outside of the major tournaments. Gary Lineker introduced the first live game, in Greece, in June 2001, with the words, "You didn't think you'd get rid of us that easily, did you?", straight out of the Des Lynam introductions masterclass.

Sky Sports shared the remaining live coverage of the World Cup qualifiers in 2001, the games, against Germany in Munich and against Greece at Old Trafford, giving them, at least, a small share of the nation's excitement. Their top commentary pairing of Martin Tyler and Andy Gray was restored, after they had previously used a number of ex-England players to provide analysis. Perhaps in light of their lesser coverage of future full England internationals, they committed more to live coverage of the lower levels from under-16 upwards, and there were also women's internationals broadcast. All were home games, though every match of the schoolboys' Victory Shield between the home nations continued to be, faithfully (and admirably), shown live each season from sparsely-populated grounds around the United Kingdom, as they had been since 1994.

Saturday, 6 October 2001

WORLD CUP QUALIFYING

England 2 Greece 2

It's a free kick, 25 yards out in what is, probably, the penultimate minute of the game. Everybody, bar the Greek supporters, praying for a goal. Beckham to take, the 93rd minute at Old Trafford. Beckham! Yes! He's done it! David Beckham, fantastic! It's 2-2 and England may still be going to the World Cup automatically! It's a fantastic ending to a very, very poor performance, and he's a lucky manager, and he [Beckham] deserves the goal, because Beckham has virtually played Greece on his own. What a curler, right in the corner. - John Motson (BBC)

Well, with players like David Beckham, you do feel there are certain moments of destiny. Arguably, the most recognisable footballer in the world! Yes! Yes, for England! David Beckham has done it, big time! - Martin Tyler (Sky Sports)

I said, if anyone could pick a goal out, well, he's already a hero but, my goodness, where does this elevate him to? It's a quite exquisite free kick. He's totally baffled the goalkeeper, he doesn't know whether it's going to his right, his left. Beckham picks the perfect moment, the perfect opportunity and England must surely be through. - Andy Gray (Sky Sports)

David Beckham has been an absolute hero. He's had about eight free kicks and he's got two on target, and he's left it right 'til the last minute...Let's not forget Teddy Sheringham, who got the first equaliser, and somehow or other, the England team have got out of jail, but it's the captain who saved them. - Trevor Brooking (BBC)

(More transcripts at the bottom of the page)

As per usual, Sky Sports stepped down and enabled ITV to join the BBC in covering the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea, a tournament which began for England with a 10:30 kick-off on the Sunday morning of the Queen's Golden Jubilee weekend, and all games were completed by mid-afternoon (UK time), a challenge to watch for a large proportion of the population, with Japan being eight hours ahead. John Motson and Trevor Brooking was the BBC's commentary pairing for every live England World Cup match, and Motson, in particular, seemed keen to reference the meal-times back home in almost every game. As well as breaking cups and glasses against Argentina, fans might be "choking on their corn flakes" against Nigeria, and perhaps the sausages were sizzling during the Brazil game! Barry Davies was now resigned to just the highlights of England's opening match, but he was given each Republic of Ireland game. Motson voiced his fifth World Cup Final, whilst Clive Tyldesley, over on ITV, commentated on his first.

This tournament also saw the new interactive service, BBCi, during their live games, accessible by the pressing of the red button on digital television remote controls. It offered an alternative commentary from Five Live's radio coverage, and also made available highlights from earlier in the game, during the ninety minutes. A similar service had been in operation on Sky Sports over the previous three years.

Following the World Cup, the BBC continued with their commitment to show all of England's qualifiers in the European Championship, home and away, and all of their qualifiers away from home were shown exclusively, without Sky Sports joining in. It was interesting to note that the other three home nations were not quite as enthusiastic about showing all of these England games, however, as the BBC regions of each began to shunt the highlights and even replays of the whole game in the middle of the night, later down their own schedules in favour of their own national programmes.

The BBC had lost Jon Champion to ITV's Premiership coverage, but they introduced a new commentary pairing for an end-of-season international in South Africa, with Mark Bright alongside 35-year-old Steve Wilson, a future Cup Final commentator.

Sky took the opportunity to introduce Alan Smith as a co-commentator alongside the evergreen Martin Tyler, instead of Scotsman, Andy Gray, but their masterstroke was to secure the rights to show Turkey's home qualifiers for £3 million, knowing that their meeting with England in October 2003 was going to be the deciding match in the group. This meant that the BBC had live coverage of the first seven qualifiers, and not the last, important one. In this world of exclusive coverage, the loophole of separate deals with foreign broadcasters for the away games was exploited to the full, as it had been on previous occasions by ITV and Channel 5, but because it was the final game and everything depended on it, this would have been a devastating blow to the BBC, who even missed out on the highlights.

England needed a point to qualify for Euro 2004, whereas Turkey had to win, but whoever finished runners-up was destined for the play-offs, so the ruling that deciding games had to be on a free-to-air channel didn't apply. Only the second leg of a play-off would invoke the rule. However, there was a real concern that too many English hooligans would take the trip to Istanbul and cause trouble in an area not known for its welcoming committees. The Football Association, therefore, insisted on extended highlights of the game also being available without subscription, and ITV won the tender.

The goalless draw, spiced up by antagonism on the pitch when David Beckham missed a first-half penalty, and a half-time battle in the tunnel between the players, justified Sky's expense. Alan Shearer accompanied Tyler in the commentary box, and over four million paid to watch it on Sky Sports 1. ITV had over five million viewers later that evening and many more had been watching the Sky coverage for the cost of a few pints in public houses up and down the country. It was a rare bout of nationalistic mid-season fervour.

In the months before the final tournament began, both terrestrial channels had to replace their long-standing first-choice co-commentators, for very different reasons. Trevor Brooking had been a mainstay of the BBC's football coverage for over 15 years, but he was appointed as Director of Football Development at the Football Association, and left the BBC in January 2004. He was knighted, five months later, in the Queen's Birthday Honours List, for services to sport.

ITV lost their main co-commentator, Ron Atkinson, three months later, when the 65-year-old ex-manager, who had first been heard at an England match in 1980, made a horrendous racist remark that was accidentally broadcast to a number of foreign channels, including in the Middle East, following Chelsea's defeat in Monaco in a Champions League semi-final. His position untenable, he resigned from ITV Sport.

The two new candidates for the commentary positions with the major terrestrial channels for their European Championship coverage in Portugal were, ultimately, short-term. Ex-England manager, Sir Bobby Robson (71) was alongside Clive Tyldesley for ITV, and Joe Royle (55), who had previously appeared on Channel 5's England internationals, was with John Motson for the BBC. ITV had the first two England games live and drew over twenty million viewers to the epic encounter with the reigning champions, France. Sir Bobby had to miss the last game (which wasn't live on ITV) because his brother had died, but Andy Townsend stepped in, and would eventually become the station's number-one choice for co-commentary, but it would take a while. He was an ex-Republic of Ireland international, as was the BBC's Mark Lawrenson, yet both had English accents and both went on to become familiar voices at England international matches.

It's Owen, floats it in, Rooney! [Sir Bobby Robson can be heard in the background, saying, "Well done".] Wayne Rooney becomes the youngest player ever to score in a European Championship finals. All of Europe will remember the name, now. Clive Tyldesley (England v. Switzerland, 2004 European Championship)

England's quarter-final meeting with Portugal, yet another in a long line of agonising tournament exits, was the most-watched TV programme of the year, narrowly beating the French game on ITV, the twenty-million mark again being reached.

In September 2004, Barry Davies decided to leave Match of the Day. One of the most recognisable voices in BBC Sport had been with ITV at the 1966 World Cup, but three years later, having joined the BBC, was thrown in at the deep end on the first day of the season, when he was switched to a different match in the morning, and then had to co-present the programme because David Coleman and Kenneth Wolstenholme were both ill. Over the years, he had mostly been second-choice to first, Coleman, and then John Motson, but he had commentated on a World Cup Final, two FA Cup Finals, eleven European Cup Finals (including the 1985 Heysel tragedy), a European Championship Final, and voiced almost a hundred England games. In addition to this, he was also a regular commentator at the Wimbledon tennis championships, the Varsity Boat Race, and broke David Coleman's record by commentating at twelve Olympic Games. His classy, articulate and passionate commentaries will long be remembered.

The 2004-05 season saw new deals come into play and TV coverage of the international scene became fragmented like never before. Des Lynam left ITV as the channel lost its Saturday-night highlights on The Premiership. Its league football was now limited to highlights on Sunday mornings on The Championship. The BBC, understandably, were delighted to restore Premiership action to Match of the Day, and now allocated commentators to every match, whilst they now had three live matches in each FA Cup round from the third to the sixth, plus a live replay in each, further marginalising Sky's coverage of the competition. This coverage was, however, to end abruptly for both broadcasters at the end of the four-year deal in 2008.

When it came to agreeing the TV coverage of England games for the next four seasons, it became obvious that the Football Association would have to accept that it would be receiving 30% less than the £115 million a year that it had garnered in the previous three-year deal, because Sky Sports was not willing to match it. This came at a time when cuts were being made to help to fund the new national football centre to be built at Burton upon Trent, as well as the ever-increasing costs being generated by the new stadium being built at Wembley which was to also become the new home of the FA's offices. They had also made a fifth of their staff redundant.

The BBC were given exclusive coverage of all home games (now including friendlies, as well as qualifiers). Sky Sports could show highlights, a seemingly inferior position, given that the live games would already have been shown for free. Crucially, though, the FA had no control over the broadcast rights of games played abroad, and this is where Sky could augment their limited home-games coverage of the World Cup qualifiers.

Flushed with their success in snatching England's final qualifier in 2003 from the BBC, their strategy for the World Cup qualifiers was to scoop up exclusive coverage of the home games of all of England's group opponents. So, as well as Austria, Azerbaijan and Poland, they managed to secure Wales' home games, an added bonus, considering that they were already showing Scotland and the Republic of Ireland (with their Sky Ireland subsidiary television service proving just as popular across the Irish Sea). The home games of the other team in the group, Northern Ireland, were still exclusive to the BBC. There was also a mad scramble for the other players in the market (including five) to bid for the away games of the other nations and the BBC still picked up the home friendlies of Scotland and Wales, plus the occasional qualifiers away from home involving Scotland and the Republic of Ireland. So, Sky didn't have it all their own way, but it was bewildering trying to find which channel was showing the game that you wanted to watch.

In their enthusiasm to appear to be the 'one-stop shop' for all of the significant international action, Sky Sports also added Scotland's and Wales' home Under-21 internationals to their roster alongside England's. One further implication also seemed to have 'slipped under the radar'. Though the BBC were able to show six of England's ten World Cup qualifiers live, there were no terrestrial highlights of the other four. Unlike the previous qualification campaign, they had the last three games to themselves, but given the furious response to the pay-per-view game in 2000, it was now seemingly acceptable to show qualifiers behind the Sky paywall, without any free highlights for the rest, a further indication that BSkyB had become mainstream.

As a footnote to the England coverage in this period, British Eurosport were showing more England youth games in UEFA and Toulon tournaments, five brought the UEFA Under-21 Championship to a wider audience for the first time, and the BBC showed their first live women's internationals when the north west hosted the 2005 UEFA Women's Championship. This would prove to be the first step towards more regular exposure for the women's game.

Television coverage of the England team was still a major draw in the mid-2000s. Peter Brackley and Gary Bloom could be heard on broadcasts around the world. The BBC were still trying to find a successor to Sir Trevor Brooking (from Mark Lawrenson and Graeme Le Saux), to sit alongside John Motson, and were showing more England games than ever before. Sky Sports commentary duties were still in the capable hands of Martin Tyler, with a number of different co-commentators. Motson and Tyler were now both in their sixtieth year, but there were younger voices waiting in the wings for their chance to describe the England games to the nation, and three years later, their wishes came true in one fell swoop.

England v. Argentina, World Cup 2002:

"Well, he's been the talisman so much in this qualifying competition. Can he do the same in the finals, on this huge stage? David Beckham with the penalty for England. Hold the cups and the glasses, back home. You can smash them now, Beckham has scored for England!...Jubilant scenes here of English support, and didn't he stay cool?" John Motson (BBC)

"Doesn't get much bigger than this next kick of the football. He's big enough! Captain's example, David Beckham. England lead Argentina, those three little words that mean so much." Clive Tyldesley (ITV)

Contact Us - please let us know if you can fill in any of the missing commentators below, or have any other additions or corrections.

Season 2000-01
Other England Internationals Tuesday, 11th July 2000 - Nationwide Under-16 International Tournament
Bootham Crescent, York
England 3 Thailand 0 -
Sky Sports 1 - 7:00pm - 10:30pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 12:00am - 2:00am and 12:30pm - 2:30pm - Wednesday, 12th July (full game recording)
Sunday, 16th July 2000 - Nationwide Under-16 International Tournament
Stadium of Light, Sunderland
England 1 Brazil 2 -
Sky Sports 2 - 2:00pm - 4:30pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 9:15pm - 11:15pm and Sky Sports 2 - 2:30am - 4:30am and 1:00pm - 3:00pm - Monday, 17th July (full game recording)
(Sky Sports 2 also screened Brazil's 4-0 win against Thailand at York,
three days earlier)
Thursday, 31st August 2000 - Under-21
BT Cellnet Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough
England 6 Georgia 1
-
Sky Sports
1 - 7:30pm - 10:00pm
commentator Martin Tyler
Sky Sports 2 - 12:
00pm - 1:30pm - Friday, 1st September
(recorded highlights)


772

Saturday, 2 September 2000 - France 1 England 1 [0-0]
Stade de France, Saint-Denis, Paris
- Kick-off 8.45pm (7.45pm BST)
International Football (Sky Sports 2) - 7:00pm - 10:30pm
commentators
Martin Tyler and Andy Gray
The Big Match (ITV - all regions) - 10:50pm - 11:50pm
commentators
Clive Tyldesley and Ron Atkinson
(recorded highlights)
International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 12:30am - 2:30am - Sunday, 3rd September
(full game recording)
Notes Channel 5 had live coverage of two opening World Cup qualifiers, with Scotland in Latvia at 5pm, followed by the Republic of Ireland taking on the Netherlands in Amsterdam in the evening. BBC One Wales, meanwhile, broadcast their opener live from Belarus in the afternoon, whilst BBC One Northern Ireland viewers saw their team beat Malta. Goals Extra in selected ITV regions showed action from the Nationwide Football League, as did SKYSPORTS.com TV, the rebranded Sky Sports News channel. British Eurosport broadcast two hours of World Cup qualifying action from 10:15pm, including Northern Ireland's game.
Other England Internationals
Friday, 6th October 2000 - UEFA Under-21 Championship Qualifying
Pride Park, Derby
England 1 Germany 1
- Sky Sports
1 - 7:30pm - 10:00pm
commentator Martin Tyler
Sky Sports 2 - 12:
00pm - 1:30pm - Friday, 1st September
(recorded highlights)


773

Saturday, 7 October 2000 -
England 0 Germany 1
[0-1]

Wembley Stadium, Wembley
- Kick-off 3.00pm BST
World Cup Football (Sky Sports 2 and Sky Sports Extra) - 2:00pm - 5:30pm
commentators
Martin Tyler and Andy Gray
The Big Match (ITV - all regions) - 5:25pm - 6:25pm
commentators
Clive Tyldesley and Ron Atkinson
(recorded highlights)
World Cup Football - 10:30pm - 11:30pm (Sky Sports 2), 12:00am - 1:00am (Sky Sports 1) and 3:30am - 4:30am (Sky Sports 2) - Sunday, 8th October
(recorded highlights)
Notes Channel 5, once again, had a double-header of World Cup qualifiers, with Scotland in San Marino at 6:45pm, followed by the Republic of Ireland taking on Portugal in Lisbon at 9:00pm. Wales' home qualifier with Norway was live on both BBC Two Wales and S4C in the afternoon, whilst BBC One Northern Ireland had live coverage of their qualifier with Denmark. Channel 4 and S4C reviewed the previous weekend's opening Serie A TIM fixtures in Gazzetta Football Italia at 10:00am. Goals Extra in selected ITV regions showed action from the previous night's matches in the Nationwide Football League. British Eurosport again broadcast two hours of World Cup qualifying action from 10:15pm, followed by a further two hours of football action.


774

Wednesday, 11 October 2000 -
Finland 0 England 0
[0-0]

Olympiastadion, Töölö, Helsinki
- Kick-off 7.00pm (5.00pm BST)
u>directsports (Sky Digital and OnDigital OnRequest) - 4:30pm - 7:30pm (approximately)
commentators
Jim Proudfoot and Mark Hateley
OnRequest (OnDigital) - 5:30pm - 8:30pm, 6:30pm - 9:30pm and 7:30pm to 10:30pm
(approximately - full game recording)
Match of the Day (BBC One) - 10:15pm - 11:45pm
Match of the Day (BBC One Northern Ireland) - 10:55pm - 12:25am
commentators
John Motson and Trevor Brooking
(recorded highlights)
Notes The England match was broadcast on a pay-per-view basis costing £8.99 to watch via a Sky Digital satellite dish decoder, and £7.99 through an OnDigital television aerial decoder. Scotland's World Cup qualifier in Croatia was shown live by Channel 5, whilst Sky Sports 1 showed the Republic of Ireland's qualifier with Estonia live. BBC Two Wales and S4C concentrated on live coverage of Wales' trip to Poland, and Match of the Day from Northern Ireland on BBC Two Northern Ireland brought live pictures from their qualifier in Iceland. Highlights from both of these games would also have appeared in Match of the Day. British Eurosport's two-hour World Cup round-up was at 9:10pm and they also started the day with two hours of the previous weekend's World Cup action at 7:30am.
Other England Internationals Friday, 20th October 2000 - adidas Victory Shield
Windsor Park, Belfast
Northern Ireland 1 England (Under-16) 0
- Schoolboys International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 7:30pm - 9:30pm
commentator
(Sky Sports 1) - 12:30am - 2:00am - Saturday, 21st October (full game recording)
(Sky Sports 2) - 4:00am - 5:00am - Saturday 21st October (recorded highlights)
Friday, 3rd November 2000 - adidas Victory Shield
Latham Park, Newtown
Wales 1 England (Under-16) 1
- Schoolboys International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 7:00pm - 9:30pm
commentator
12:00am - 1:30am (Sky Sports 1) and 4:00am - 5:30am (Sky Sports 2) - Saturday 4th November (full game recording)


775

Wednesday, 15 November 2000 -
Italy 1 England 0 [0-0]
Stadio delle Alpi, Santa Rita, Torino - Kick-off 8.45pm (7.45pm GMT)
International Football (Sky Sports 2) - 7:00pm - 10:30pm
commentators
Martin Tyler and Andy Gray
Match of the Day (BBC One) - 10:35pm - 11:35pm
Match of the Day (BBC One Northern Ireland) - 11:05pm - 12:05am
Match of the Day (BBC One Wales) - 11:05pm - 12:05am
Sportscene: Match of the Day (BBC One Scotland) - 11:05pm - 12:05am

commentators Jon Champion and Trevor Brooking
(recorded highlights)
International Football - 12:00am - 1:00am and 10:30am - 11:30am (Sky Sports 1), and 12:30pm - 1:30pm (Sky Sports 2) - Thursday, 16th November
(recorded highlights)
Notes Sky Sports 1 had live coverage of Scotland's friendly with Australia, whilst Sky Sports 3 was showing the Republic of Ireland's meeting with Finland live. British Eurosport, meanwhile, broadcast world and European champions, France's friendly live from Turkey, as well as two other football programmes, including Eurogoals at 7:30am. Sportscene: Match of the Day featured Scotland's game, but may also have included action from England's.
Other England Internationals
Friday, 1st December 2000 - adidas Victory Shield
Deva Stadium, Chester
England (Under-16) 5 Scotland 0
- Schoolboys International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 7:00pm - 9:30pm
commentator
12:00am - 1:30am (Sky Sports 1) and 3:00am - 4:30pm (Sky Sports 2) - Saturday 2nd December (full game recording)
Tuesday, 27th February 2001 - Under-21
St Andrew's, Birmingham
England 0 Spain 4
- Sky Sports
2 - 7:30pm - 10:00pm
commentato
rs Martin Tyler and Andy Gray
Sky Sports 1 - 12:00am - 1:30am and 1:00pm - 2:30pm, and Sky Sports 3 - 4:00pm - 5:30pm - Wednesday, 28th February (recorded highlights)


776

Wednesday, 28 February 2001 - England 3 Spain 0 [1-0]
Villa Park, Aston, Birmingham - Kick-off 8.00pm GMT
International Football (Sky Sports 2 and Sky Sports Extra) - 7:00pm - 10:30pm
commentators
Martin Tyler and Andy Gray
The Big Match (ITV - all regions) - 10:45pm - 11:35pm
commentators
Clive Tyldesley and Ron Atkinson
(recorded highlights)
International Football - 12:00am - 2:00am (Sky Sports 1), 11:30am - 1:30pm (Sky Sports 2) and 3:00pm - 5:00pm (Sky Sports 1) - Thursday, 1st March
(full game recording)
Notes The Sky Active application on Sky Sports Extra had a Player Cam(era) focused entirely on Andy Cole's movements during the full ninety minutes. Sky Sports 1 broadcast live coverage from the Republic of Ireland's meeting with Denmark. Match of the Day from Northern Ireland featured highlights from a 4-0 friendly defeat by Norway on BBC One Northern Ireland, whilst Sportscene: Match of the Day on BBC One Scotland showed highlights from a Scottish Cup fourth round replay between Kilmarnock and Inverness Caledonian Thistle whch was abandoned in the 28th minute because of a frozen pitch. British Eurosport had live coverage from Moscow in the afternoon as Spain beat Ukraine to win the UEFA Futsal Championship in their third successive final.
Other England Internationals Thursday, 22nd March 2001 - UEFA Under-18 (Under-19) Championship Qualifying Play-Off First Leg
White Hart Lane, Tottenham
England 0 Poland 1 - Sky Sports 1 - 8:00pm - 10:00pm

commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 2:00am - 4:00am and 1:00pm - 3:00pm - Friday, 23rd March (full game recording)
Friday, 23rd March 2001 - UEFA Under-21 Championship Qualifying
Oakwell, Barnsley
England 4 Finland 0
- Sky Sports
1 - 7:45pm - 10:15pm
commentato
rs Martin Tyler and Andy Gray
Sky Sports 2 - 1:00am - 2:30am and 4:30am - 6:00am, and Sky Sports 3 - 4:00pm - 5:30pm - Saturday, 24th March (recorded highlights)


777

Saturday, 24 March 2001 - England 2 Finland 1 [1-1]
Anfield, Liverpool - Kick-off 3.00pm GMT
World Cup Football (Sky Sports 2 and Sky Sports Extra) - 2:00pm - 6:00pm
commentator
Martin Tyler and Andy Gray
The Big Match (ITV - all regions) - 5:30pm - 6:30pm
commentators
Clive Tyldesley and Ron Atkinson
(recorded highlights)
World Cup Football - 11:30pm GMT - 2:30am BST (Sky Sports 1) and 7:00am - 9:00am (Sky Sports 2) - Sunday, 25th March (full game recording)
Notes The Sky Active application on Sky Sports Extra had a Player Cam focused entirely on Steven Gerrard's movements during the full ninety minutes. Sky Sports 1 covered Scotland's World Cup qualifier with Belgium at the same time as England's game (highlights were in Sportscene: Match of the Day on BBC One Scotland), and followed it with Germany against Albania in England's group. Channel 5 provided live coverage of the Republic of Ireland's qualifier in Cyprus, and BBC One Northern Ireland broadcast their home qualifier with the Czech Republic live. The Big Match was preceded in a number of ITV regions by Goals Extra, featuring action from the afternoon's games in the Nationwide Football League which would also have appeared on SKYSPORTS.com TV. The usual Gazzetta Football Italia at 10:00am on Channel 4 and at 1:10pm on S4C reviewed the previous weekend's games in Serie A TIM. S4C then went on to cover Wales' qualifier in Armenia live, along with BBC Two Wales. British Eurosport had live coverage of France's friendly with Japan in the evening, plus recent action from the UEFA Champions League at 11:00am and two hours of World Cup qualifying action at 10:45pm.


778

Wednesday, 28 March 2001 - Albania 1 England 3 [0-0]
Stadiumi Kombetar, Sheshi Italia, Tiranë - Kick-off 8.30pm
(7.30pm BST)
Football on 5 (Channel 5) - 7:00pm - 10:00pm
commentators
Jonathan Pearce and Trevor Steven
World Cup Football (British Eurosport) - 10:15pm - 12:15am (recorded highlights)
commentator
Jonathan Pearce's Football Night (Channel 5) - 12:35am - 2:10am - Friday 30th March
(full game recording)
Notes The programme also included highlights from the Republic of Ireland's World Cup qualifier against Andorra in Barcelona. Scotland's home qualifier with San Marino was live on Sky Sports 1, whilst Sky Sports 2 had live coverage of a friendly between Spain and France. BBC Two Wales and S4C broadcast Wales' qualifier with Ukraine live, and at 11:20pm, BBC One Northern Ireland had a World Cup Soccer Special to show highlights of their game in Bulgaria, whilst Sportscene: Match of the Day on BBC One Scotland featured highlights from their game. British Eurosport repeated the previous night's 2-0 victory by Greece against Germany in England's group of the UEFA Under-21 Championship qualifiers, and also repeated the recent UEFA Champions League round-up.
Other England Internationals Sunday, 22nd April 2001 - UEFA Under-16 (Under-17) Championship
Bramall Lane, Sheffield
England 1 Italy 3 - British Eurosport - 4:00pm - 6:00pm

commentator
British Eurosport - 11:30am - 12:30pm - Monday, 23rd April (recorded highlights)
Tuesday, 24th April 2001 - UEFA Under-16 (Under-17) Championship
Alfred McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield
England 2 Switzerland 0
- British Eurosport - 6:30pm - 9:15pm
commentator
British Eurosport - 11:15pm - 1:00am and 10:30am - 12:00pm - Wednesday 25th April (recorded highlights)
Thursday, 26th April 2001 - UEFA Under-16 (Under-17) Championship
Alfred McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield
England 1 Hungary 0
- British Eurosport - 6:30pm - 8:15pm
commentator
Thursday, 3rd May 2001 - UEFA Under-16 (Under-17) Championship Semi-Final
St James' Park, Newcastle
England 0 France 4 - British Eurosport - 6:30pm - 7:15pm (first half) and 7:30pm - 8:15pm (second half)
commentator
British Eurosport - 7:30am - 8:30am and 4:00pm - 5:00pm - Friday 4th May (recorded highlights)
Thursday, 24th May 2001 - Under-21
Filbert Street, Leicester
England 3 Mexico 0
- Sky Sports
1 - 7:30pm - 10:00pm
commentato
rs Martin Tyler and Peter Beardsley
Sky Sports 1 - 11:30pm - 1:00am and 1:00pm - 2:30pm - Friday, 25th May (recorded highlights)


779

Friday, 25 May 2001 - England 4 Mexico 0 [3-0]
Pride Park, Derby - Kick-off 8.00pm BST
International Football (Sky Sports 2 and Sky Sports Extra) - 7:00pm - 10:30pm
commentators
Martin Tyler and Peter Beardsley
The Big Match (ITV - all regions) - 11:30pm - 12:35am
commentators
Peter Drury and Ron Atkinson
(recorded highlights)
International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 12:00am - 1:00am and 12:00pm - 1:00pm - Saturday, 26th May
(recorded highlights)
Notes BBC One Scotland's Friday Sportscene previewed the following day's Tennent's Scottish Cup Final between Celtic and Hibernian, whilst BBC One Wales showed highlights from the Welsh Cup Final, as Barry Town beat Total Network Solutions (TNS) at Wrexham. For the second day in a row, British Eurosport showed two of the opening under-21 internationals live from the Toulon tournament; between Japan and Poland, and France and Portugal. Earlier in the day, they repeated the games from the previous day (with Italy against the United States, and Colombia, chasing a hat-trick of titles, meeting the Netherlands). OnDigital's OnSport 1 showed a repeat of the UEFA Champions League Final from two nights earlier.
Other England Internationals
Tuesday, 5th June 2001 - UEFA Under-21 Championship Qualifying
Stádio Apostolos Nikolaidis, Athína
Greece 3 England 1
- British Eurosport - 6:00pm - 8:00pm
commentator


780

Wednesday, 6 June 2001 - Greece 0 England 2 [0-0]
Olympiakó Stádio Spiros Louis, Marousi, Athína
 -
Kick-off 9.45pm (7.45pm BST)
Match of the Day Live (BBC One) - 7:30pm - 9:55pm
commentators John Motson and Trevor Brooking
Notes The key action from Germany's earlier victory in Albania in England's group was shown at half-time. BBC Two Northern Ireland had live coverage in the afternoon of their World Cup qualifier in the Czech Republic. The Republic of Ireland's qualifier in Estonia was shown live at 5:00pm by Channel 5, whilst Wales were in live qualifying action from Ukraine on BBC Two Wales and S4C. British Eurosport featured two and a half hours of World Cup action at 10:45pm, including the Welsh game. Sky were only able to show Football Asia on Sky Sports 1, and Beach Soccer on Sky Sports 2.
Other England Internationals
Sunday, 24th June 2001 - UEFA Women's Championship
Ernst-Abbe-Sportfeld, Jena
Russia 1 England 1 -
British Eurosport - 4:30pm - 6:30pm
commentator
British Eurosport - 11:00am - 12:30pm - Monday, 25th June (recorded highlights)
Wednesday, 27th June 2001 - UEFA Women's Championship
Ernst-Abbe-Sportfeld, Jena
Sweden 4 England 0
-
British Eurosport - 4:00pm - 5:45pm
commentator
British Eurosport - 8:00pm - 10:00pm (recorded highlights)
Saturday, 30th June 2001 - UEFA Women's Championship
Ernst-Abbe-Sportfeld, Jena
England 0 Germany 3
-
British Eurosport - 4:45pm - 6:45pm, 7:00pm - 8:00pm and 8:30am - 9:30am - Sunday, 1st July
commentator
(recorded highlights)

Season 2001-02
Other England Internationals
Wednesday, 11th July 2001 - Nationwide Under-17 International Tournament
JJB Stadium, Wigan
England 1 Italy 2 -
Sky Sports 1 - 8:00pm - 10:00pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 12:00am - 2:00am and 1:00pm - 3:00pm - Thursday, 12th July (full game recording)
Sunday, 15th July 2001 - Nationwide Under-17 International Tournament
Reebok Stadium, Bolton
England 0 Brazil 2 -
Sky Sports 1 - 3:30pm - 6:00pm
commentator
(The programme may also have included action from Brazil's 3-0 win against Italy at Wigan, two days earlier)

Sky Sports 1 - 9:00pm - 11:00pm and 10:00am - 12:00pm - Monday, 16th July (full game recording)
Tuesday, 14th August 2001 - Under-21
Madejski Stadium, Reading
England
4 Netherlands 0 - Sky Sports 2 - 7:30pm - 10:00pm
commentato
rs Martin Tyler and Peter Beardsley
Sky Sports 1 - 12:30am - 2:00am and 1:00pm - 2:30pm - Wednesday, 15th August (recorded highlights)


781

Wednesday, 15 August 2001 -
England 0 Netherlands 2 [0-2]
White Hart Lane, Tottenham, London
- Kick-off 8.15pm BST
International Football (Sky Sports 2 and Sky Sports Extra) - 7:00pm - 10:45pm (approximately)
commentators
Martin Tyler and Andy Gray
Match of the Day (BBC One) - 10:35pm - 11:35pm

commentators John Motson and Trevor Brooking
(recorded highlights)
International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 12:00am - 2:00am and 1:00pm - 3:00pm - Thursday, 16th August
(full game recording)
Notes The kick-off was put back 15 minutes because of traffic congestion and the midnight repeat may have been later as a result. Sky Sports 1 had live coverage of the Republic of Ireland's friendly with Croatia, and also two earlier programmes focusing on action from the Scottish Premier League and the German Bundesliga, respectively. British Eurosport showed the friendly between France and Denmark live, followed by an hour of the day's action at 10:00pm.
Other England Internationals Friday, 31st August 2001 - UEFA Under-21 Championship Qualifying
Dreisamstadion, Freiburg am Breisgau
Germany 1 England 2 -
Sky Sports Extra - 6:30pm - 8:30pm
commentators Martin Tyler and Andy Gray


782

Saturday, 1 September 2001 -
Germany 1 England 5 [1-2]
Olympiastadion, Westend, München - Kick-off 7.30pm (6.30pm BST)
World Cup Football (Sky Sports 1) - 5:30pm - 9:00pm
commentators
Martin Tyler and Andy Gray
Match of the Day Live (BBC One) - 5:40pm - 8:35pm
commentators
John Motson and Trevor Brooking - see transcripts below
World Cup Football (Sky Sports 1) - 12:00am - 2:30am - Sunday, 2nd September (recorded highlights)
Match of the Day (BBC One) - 2:55am - 4:35am - Sunday, 2nd September (full game recording)
Goals on Sunday (Sky Sports 1) - 7:30am - 9:30am
(recorded highlights)
Notes Sky Sports 1 had a triple bill of live action, beginning with Nuneaton Borough's home game with Yeovil Town in the Nationwide Conference at 12:00pm, followed by the Republic of Ireland's vital World Cup qualifier with the Netherlands at 3:00pm. They had also shown the previous evening's UEFA Under-21 Championship meeting at Waterford between the two countries at 4:00am. At the same time as the Irish game, BBC One Wales and S4C were broadcasting the qualifier between Wales and Armenia live, and Sky Sports 3 was showing Scotland's qualifier against Croatia, with highlights on BBC One Scotland's Sportscene at 10:45pm, whilst BBC One Northern Ireland was showing highlights of their qualifier in Denmark at the same time. British Eurosport had two programmes of World Cup qualifying action, at 11:00am and 10:15pm.
Other England Internationals Tuesday, 4th September 2001 - UEFA Under-21 Championship Qualifying
BT Cellnet Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough
England 5 Albania 0 -
Sky Sports 2 - 7:30pm - 10:00pm
commentators Martin Tyler and Andy Gray
Sky Sports 1 - 12:00am - 1:30am, 10:00am - 11:30am and 1:00pm - 2:30pm - Wednesday, 5th September
(recorded highlights)


783

Wednesday, 5 September 2001 -
England
2 Albania 0 [1-0]
St James' Park, Gallowgate, Newcastle upon Tyne
- Kick-off 8.00pm BST
World Cup Football (Sky Sports 2 and Sky Sports Extra) - 7:00pm - 10:30pm
commentators
Martin Tyler and Andy Gray
Match of the Day Live (BBC One) - 7:30pm - 9:55pm
commentators
Barry Davies and Trevor Brooking
World Cup Football (Sky Sports 1)
- 12:00am - 2:00am - Thursday, 6th September (full game recording)
Match of the Day (BBC One) - 3:45am - 5:25am - Thursday, 6th September (full game recording)
Notes The Sky Active application on Sky Sports Extra had a Player Cam focused entirely on Michael Owen's movements during the full ninety minutes. Sky Sports 1 broadcast Football Asia at 12:30pm. Scotland's World Cup qualifier in Belgium was live on Channel 5, and Wales' trip to Norway was live on BBC Two Wales and S4C. Highlights from Northern Ireland's qualifier with Iceland were on BBC One Northern Ireland at 11:05pm. British Eurosport had two programmes of World Cup qualifying action; at 3:45pm and at 10:15pm, whilst ITV1 had a forty-minute round-up of action in Nationwide Football League Extra at 3:20am (Thursday), excluding the Grampian and Scottish ITV regions.
Other England Internationals Friday, 5th October 2001 - UEFA Under-21 Championship Qualifying
Ewood Park, Blackburn
England 2 Greece 1 -
Sky Sports 1 - 7:00pm - 9:30pm
commentators Martin Tyler and Andy Gray
Sky Sports 1 - 3:30am - 5:30am - Saturday, 6th October (full game recording)


784

Saturday, 6 October 2001 -
England 2 Greece 2 [0-1]
Old Trafford, Stretford, Manchester - Kick-off 3.00pm BST
Match of the Day Live (BBC One) - 1:00pm - 5:35pm
commentators John Motson and Trevor Brooking - see transcripts above
World Cup Football (Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports Extra)
- 2:00pm - 5:45pm
commentators
Martin Tyler and Andy Gray - see transcripts above
Match of the Day (BBC One) - 11:10pm - 12:30am
(recorded highlights - BBC Northern Ireland and Scotland opted out)
World Cup Football (Sky Sports 1)
- 1:00am - 3:00am and 6:30am - 8:30am - Sunday, 7th October
(full game recording)
Match of the Day (BBC One) - 2:05am - 3:45am - Sunday, 7th October (full game recording)
Notes Sky Sports Extra provided dual-screen coverage alongside the other deciding match in the group, between Germany and Finland. After the match on Sky Sports 1 there was live coverage of the Republic of Ireland's final World Cup qualifier against Cyprus which took them into the play-offs. Meanwhile, Sky Sports 3 showed Scotland's last qualifier against Latvia live, with highlights in Sportscene on BBC One Scotland. BBC Two Wales and S4C broadcast their final qualifier with Belarus live in the afternoon, whilst Match of the Day from Northern Ireland featured highlights from their trip to Malta on BBC One Northern Ireland. Match of the Day will have shown highlights from all four home nations' games. British Eurosport had live coverage of France's friendly with Algeria, followed by World Cup qualifying action at 10:00pm, after an earlier football programme at 10:00am, whilst Channel 4 had its weekly Gazzetta Football Italia show with action from the previous week's Serie A TIM matches. The ITV Sport Channel on ITV Digital showed highlights from France's victory in the FIFA Under-17 World Championship in Trinidad from the previous week, and Sky Sports 2 featured action from Spain's La Liga at 3:00am (Sunday) with a recording of Deportivo La Coruña defeating Barcelona.
Other England Internationals Friday, 12th October 2001 - adidas Victory Shield (Under-16)
Nene Park, Irthlingborough
England 3 Northern Ireland 0 -
Sky Sports 1 - 8:00pm - 10:00pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 12:30am - 2:30am - Saturday, 13th October (full game recording)
Thursday, 25th October 2001 - Walkers Under-16 International Tournament
JJB Stadium, Wigan
England 4 Spain 3 -
Sky Sports 1 - 7:45pm (approximately) - 10:00pm
commentator
(preceded at 6pm by live coverage of Germany 2 Netherlands 1 at the same venue)
Sky Sports 1 - 12:30am - 2:30am and Sky Sports 3 - 12:00pm - 2:00pm - Friday, 26th October
(recorded highlights)
Friday, 2nd November 2001 - adidas Victory Shield (Under-16)
Adams Park, High Wycombe
England 3 Wales 1 -
Sky Sports 1 - 8:00pm - 10:00pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 12:00am - 2:00am and 4:00am - 6:00am - Saturday, 3rd November (full game recording)
Sunday, 4th November 2001 - Women's World Cup Qualifying
Blundell Park, Cleethorpes
England 0 Netherlands 0 -
Sky Sports 1 - 4:00pm - 6:00pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 3:00am - 5:00am - Monday, 5th November (full game recording)
Wednesday, 7th November 2001 - UEFA Under-19 Championship Qualifying
Bootham Crescent, York
England 4 Georgia 1 -
Sky Sports 1 - 7:30pm - 9:30pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 12:00am - 2:00am and 10:00am - 12:00pm - Thursday, 8th November (full game recording)
Friday, 9th November 2001 - UEFA Under-21 Championship Qualifying Play-Off First Leg
Stadion Nieuw Galgenwaard, Utrecht

Netherlands 2 England 2 -
Channel 5 - 7:00pm - 9:20pm
commentators Jonathan Pearce and Joe Royle


785

Saturday, 10 November 2001 -
England 1 Sweden 1 [1-1]
Old Trafford, Stretford, Manchester
- Kick-off 3.00pm GMT
International Football (Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports Extra) - 2:00pm - 5:30pm
commentators
Martin Tyler and Trevor Francis
Match of the Day (BBC One) - 5:30pm - 7:05pm
commentators
John Motson and Trevor Brooking
(recorded highlights)
International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 11:00pm - 1:00am and 8:00am - 10:00am - Sunday, 11th November (full game recording)
Notes Sky Sports 1 made a midday start to the live action with a game from the Nationwide Conference between Dagenham & Redbridge and Northwich Victoria. Following the England game, they then had live coverage of the Republic of Ireland's World Cup qualifying play-off first leg with Iran, and British Eurosport featured the play-off between Belgium and the Czech Republic in their live game at 7:15pm, with action from the other first legs in a later programme at 11:00pm. There were also three earlier half-hour programmes of recent World Cup qualifying action, and two showings of a UEFA Champions League round-up. The ITV Sport Channel also broadcast the Champions League programmes with some World Cup football, and repeated the previous evening's pay-per-view ITV Sport Select game between Wimbledon and Sheffield United in the first division of the Nationwide Football League, before providing highlights from the afternoon's games in Football First at 8:30pm (repeated at 11:00pm). ITV1's Goals Extra provided earlier action in selected regions. Channel 4 had its weekly round-up of action from Serie A TIM in Gazzetta Football Italia at 10:00am. Sky Sports 1 ended the day at 3:00am with the night's action from Spain's La Liga, a goalless draw between Sevilla and Real Betis replayed in full.
Other England Internationals Sunday, 11th November 2001 - UEFA Under-19 Championship Qualifying
Oakwell, Barnsley
England 3 Hungary 1 -
Sky Sports 1 - 1:00pm - 3:15pm
commentator
Monday, 12th November 2001 - Walkers Under-16 International Tournament
Meadow Lane, Nottingham
England 2 Netherlands 1 -
Sky Sports 1 - 7:45pm (approximately) - 10:00pm
commentator
(preceded at 6pm by live coverage of Germany 0 Spain 1 at the same venue)
Sky Sports 1 - 11:30pm - 1:30am, 10:00am - 12:00pm and 1:00pm - 3:00pm - Tuesday, 13th November
(recorded highlights)
Tuesday, 13th November 2001 - UEFA Under-21 Championship Qualifying Play-Off Second Leg
Pride Park, Derby
England 1 Netherlands 0
England win 3-2 on aggregate
Sky Sports 1 - 7:00pm - 10:00pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 1:00am - 3:00am and 10:00am - 12:00pm - Wednesday, 14th November (full game recording)
Thursday, 15th November 2001 - Walkers Under-16 International Tournament
Filbert Street, Leicester
England 0 Germany 2 -
Sky Sports 1 - 7:45pm (approximately) - 10:00pm
commentator
(preceded at 6pm by live coverage of Netherlands 0 Spain 3 at the same venue)
Sky Sports 1 - 1:00am - 3:00am and 10:00am - 12:00pm - Friday, 16th November
(recorded highlights)
Friday, 30th November 2001 - adidas Victory Shield (Under-16)
Victoria Park, Dingwall
Scotland 2 England 4 -
Sky Sports 1 - 8:00pm - 10:00pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 12:00am - 2:00am and 4:00am - 6:00am - Saturday, 1st December (full game recording)


786

Wednesday, 13 February 2002 - Netherlands 1 England 1 [1-0]
Amsterdam ArenA, Zuidoost - Kick-off 8.30pm (7.30pm GMT)
International Football (Sky Sports 2) - 7:00pm - 11:30pm
commentators
Martin Tyler and Andy Gray
Match of the Day (BBC One) - 10:45pm - 11:30pm
commentators
John Motson and Trevor Brooking
(recorded highlights)
International Football - 12:30am - 3:30am (Sky Sports 2) and 1:30pm - 4:30pm (Sky Sports 1) - Thursday, 14th February (recorded highlights)
Notes The match was preceded on Sky Sports 2 by live coverage of Greece's friendly with Sweden, England 's first opponents in the upcoming World Cup finals, whilst at 8:00pm, Sky Sports 1 was relaying the Republic of Ireland's meeting with Russia live from Dublin, and Sky Sports Extra was showing Spain against Portugal live. Sky Sports 3 also had a round-up of the previous weekend's  Scottish Premier League matches, whilst the ITV Sport Channel showed highlights from the previous night's northern final second leg of the LDV Vans Trophy between Huddersfield Town and Blackpool which it had shown live.
Other England Internationals Thursday, 14th February 2002 - Under-19
Portman Road, Ipswich
England 3 Germany 1 -
Sky Sports 1 - 8:00pm - 10:00pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 1:30am - 3:30am, 10:00am - 12:00pm and 3:30pm - 5:30pm - Friday, 15th February
(full game recording)
Sunday, 24th February 2002 - Women's World Cup Qualifying
Fratton Park, Portsmouth
England 3 Portugal 0 -
Sky Sports 1 - 5:30pm - 7:30pm
commentator
Tuesday, 26th March 2002 - Under-21
Bradford & Bingley Stadium, Bradford
England 1 Italy 1
- Sky Sports 1 - 7:30pm - 10:00pm
commentato
r
Sky Sports 1 - 12:30am - 2:00am and 1:00pm - 2:30pm, and Sky Sports 2 - 8:30am - 10:00am - Wednesday, 27th March (recorded highlights)

787

Wednesday, 27 March 2002 - England 1 Italy 2 [0-0]
Elland Road, Beeston, Leeds
- Kick-off 8.00pm GMT
International Football (Sky Sports 2 and Sky Sports Extra) - 7:00pm - 11:00pm
commentators
Martin Tyler and Andy Gray
Match of the Day (BBC One) - 10:35pm - 11:35pm
Match of the Day (BBC One Northern Ireland) - 11:05pm - 12:05am
Match of the Day (BBC One Wales) - 11:15pm - 12:15am
(BBC Scotland opted out)
commentators Barry Davies and Trevor Brooking
(recorded highlights)
International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 12:15am - 2:45am, 11:30am - 2:00pm and 3:00pm - 5:30pm - Thursday, 28th March (recorded highlights)
Notes Before England's match, Sky Sports 2 showed the second half live of Argentina's friendly with Cameroon in Geneva. Over on Sky Sports 1, the Republic of Ireland were taking on Denmark, kicking off half an hour earlier than England. BBC One Scotland brought live coverage of their trip to France to face the world and European champions in Sportscene, and BBC Two Wales and S4C had live coverage of their game with the Czech Republic, both games appearing as highlights in Match of the Day. Channel 5, meanwhile, were in Rotterdam to present the Netherlands' friendly with Spain live. The previous weekend's action in Germany's Bundesliga was featured on Sky Sports 1 and 2, along with both the Scottish Premier League in Inside Scottish Football, and Football Asia on Sky Sports 1. British Eurosport had a round-up of international action at 10:15pm, and there was an earlier edition of Eurogoals Plus, and recent UEFA Champions League action.
Other England Internationals
Tuesday, 16th April 2002 - Under-21
Britannia Stadium, Stoke-on-Trent
England 0 Portugal 1
- Sky Sports 1 - 7:30pm - 10:00pm
commentato
r
Sky Sports 1 - 12:30am - 2:30am and 1:00pm - 3:00pm, and Sky Sports 2 - 8:00am - 10:00am - Wednesday, 17th April (full game recording)


788

Wednesday, 17 April 2002 - England 4 Paraguay 0 [1-0]
Anfield, Liverpool - Kick-off 8.00pm BST
International Football (Sky Sports 2) - 7:00pm - 11:00pm
commentators
Martin Tyler and Ray Wilkins
Match of the Day (BBC One) - 10:40pm - 11:40pm
Match of the Day from Northern Ireland (BBC One Northern Ireland) - 10:40pm - 11:40pm
Match of the Day (BBC One Wales) - 11:10pm - 12:10am
(BBC Scotland opted out)
commentators John Motson and Trevor Brooking
(recorded highlights)
International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 12:15am - 3:15am and 1:00pm - 4:00pm - Thursday, 18th April (recorded highlights)
Notes Sky Sports had four live matches broadcast concurrently. On Sky Sports 1 it was the Republic of Ireland against the United States, Sky Sports 3 had Scotland entertaining Nigeria (with later highlights on Sportscene: Match of the Day on BBC One Scotland and possibly on Match of the Day in the other BBC One regions), and Sky Sports Extra was watching Portugal take on Brazil from 9:00pm. Channel 5 was showing Germany's game with Argentina live, and British Eurosport had live coverage of France's game with Russia, amongst a host of World Cup-themed programmes during the day, as well as recent UEFA Champions League action. Match of the Day from Northern Ireland provided highlights of a trouncing by Spain in Belfast, probably also appearing in shorter form in Match of the Day in England and Wales. Sky Sports 2 also had action from the previous weekend's Bundesliga matches in Germany, whilst Sky Sports 1 caught up on the Scottish Premier League with the weekly Inside Scottish Football programme. The ITV Sport Channel, soon to be defunct, had their regular Champions League Magazine show. ITV1 had their weekly Nationwide Football League Extra at 3:20am (Thursday), excluding the Grampian and Scottish ITV regions, whilst S4C repeated the weekend's Serie A TIM action in Football Italia.at 3:05am.
Other England Internationals
Monday, 29th April 2002 - UEFA Under-17 Championship
Gladsaxe Stadion, Copenhagen
Netherlands 0 England 2
- British Eurosport - 4:00pm - 5:45pm
commentato
r Dave Farrar
Wednesday, 1st May 2002 - UEFA Under-17 Championship
Hvidovre Stadion, Copenhagen
England 0 Denmark 0
- British Eurosport - 4:15pm - 5:45pm (excluding first 15 minutes)
commentato
r Dave Farrar
Saturday, 4th May 2002 - UEFA Under-17 Championship Quarter-Final
Hvidovre Stadion, Copenhagen
England 1 Yugoslavia 0
- British Eurosport - 4:30pm - 6:00pm and 7:30am - 9:00am - Sunday, 5th May
commentato
r Dave Farrar
(recorded highlights)
Monday, 6th May 2002 - Under-20
Stade Mayol, Toulon - Tournoi Espoirs de Toulon
England 0 China 0
- British Eurosport - 5:00pm - 6:45pm
commentato
r
British Eurosport - 7:30am - 9:15am - Tuesday, 7th May
(full game recording)
Tuesday, 7th May 2002 - UEFA Under-17 Championship Semi-Final
Herfølge Stadion, Køge
England 0 Switzerland 3
- British Eurosport - 12:15pm - 2:00pm - Wednesday, 8th May
commentato
r Dave Farrar
(recorded highlights)
Friday, 10th May 2002 - Under-20
Stade Pierre de Coubertin, Cannes - Tournoi Espoirs de Toulon
England 1 Poland 0
- British Eurosport - 5:00pm - 6:45pm
commentato
r
British Eurosport - 8:00am - 10:00am - Saturday, 11th May
(full game recording)
Sunday, 12th May 2002 - Under-20
Stade Mayol, Toulon - Tournoi Espoirs de Toulon
England 1 Portugal 0
- British Eurosport - 5:00pm - 6:45pm
commentato
r
British Eurosport - 11:30pm - 1:15am
(full game recording)
British Eurosport - 8:00am - 9:30am - Monday, 13th May
(recorded highlights)
Tuesday, 14th May 2002 - Under-20
Stade Poucin, Fréjus - Tournoi Espoirs de Toulon
England 0 Brazil 0
- British Eurosport - 5:00pm - 6:45pm
commentato
r
British Eurosport - 9:45am - 11:00am - Wednesday, 15th May (recorded highlights)
Friday, 17th May 2002 - Under-20
Stade Mayol, Toulon - Tournoi Espoirs de Toulon Third-Place Play-Off
Japan 0 England 0
Japan won 5-4 on penalties
British Eurosport - 5:00pm - 6:45pm
commentato
r
Friday, 17th May 2002 - UEFA Under-21 Championship
Hardturm, Zürich

England 2 Switzerland 1 -
Channel 5 - 7:05pm - 9:20pm
commentators Jonathan Pearce and Peter Taylor
Sunday, 19th May 2002 - Women's World Cup Qualifying
Selhurst Park, Croydon
England 0 Germany 1 -
Sky Sports 1 - 4:00pm - 6:30pm
commentator
Monday, 20th May 2002 - UEFA Under-21 Championship
Sankt Jakob-Park, Basel
Italy 2 England 1 -
Channel 5 - 7:15pm - 9:35pm
commentators Jonathan Pearce and Peter Taylor


789

Tuesday, 21 May 2002 - Korea Republic 1 England 1 [0-1]
Jeju World Cup Stadium, Daeryun, Seogwipo
- Kick-off 7.00pm (11.00am BST)
International Football Special (Sky Sports 1) - 10:30am - 1:30pm
commentators
Martin Tyler and Ray Wilkins
International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 4:00pm - 6:00pm and 7:00pm - 9:00pm
(full game recording)
Match of the Day (BBC One) - 10:35pm - 11:15pm
Match of the Day (BBC One Northern Ireland and Wales) - 11:05pm - 11:45pm

(BBC Scotland opted out)
commentators Barry Davies and Trevor Brooking
(recorded highlights)
International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 12:00am - 2:00am - Wednesday, 22nd May
(full game recording)
Notes British Eurosport repeated the match that they had shown live, two days earlier, between the United States and the Netherlands, and also brought live coverage of an annual charity match at Menton in France between teams captained by Prince Albert of Monaco, and Formula One motor racing world champion, Michael Schumacher of Germany.
Other England Internationals
Wednesday, 22nd May 2002 - UEFA Under-21 Championship
Hardturm, Zürich
Portugal 3 England 1 -
Channel 5 - 7:15pm - 9:35pm
commentators Jonathan Pearce and Peter Taylor
Channel 5 - 12:05am - 12:35am - Thursday, 23rd May (recorded highlights, including the other final game in the group, between Italy and the hosts, Switzerland)

790
Sunday, 26 May 2002 - England 2 Cameroon 2 [1-1]
Universiade Memorial Stadium, Suma-ku, Kobe - Kick-off 3:00pm (7.00am BST)
International Football Special (Sky Sports 1) - 6:30am - 9:40am (approximately)
commentators
Martin Tyler and Ray Wilkins
International Football (Sky Sports 3) - 2:30pm - 4:30pm
(full game recording)

Match of the Day (BBC One) - 4:25pm - 5:35pm

commentators John Motson and Trevor Brooking
(recorded highlights)

International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 7:00pm - 9:00pm, 10:45pm - 12:45am, 11:00am - 1:00pm and 2:30pm - 4:30pm - Monday, 27th May
(full game recording)
Notes The England match was followed by live coverage of the game between South Korea (Korea Republic) and France, whilst British Eurosport showed another pre-World Cup friendly, between Denmark and Tunisia, live from Japan at the same time as England's game, with more international action later in the day. Channel 5 showed highlights from the previous night's UEFA Under-21 Championship semi-finals in Switzerland at 12:10am (Sunday night).
World Cup Finals 2002

Japan and Korea Republic


791

Sunday, 2 June 2002 - England 1 Sweden 1 [1-0]
Sutajiamu Nimarumaruni, Midori-ku, Saitama
- Kick-off 6.30pm (10.30am BST)
World Cup 2002 (ITV1 - all regions) - 9:30am - 12:55pm
commentators
Clive Tyldesley and Ron Atkinson
Match of the Day Live: World Cup 2002 (BBC One) - 1:20pm - 1:30pm
(approximately)
(recorded highlights)

Match of the Day: World Cup 2002 (BBC One) - 7:00pm - 8:00pm
commentators
Barry Davies and Trevor Steven
(recorded highlights)
World Cup 2002 (ITV1 - all regions) - 11:20pm - 12:20am
(recorded highlights)
Match of the Day: World Cup 2002 (BBC Choice) - 12:30am - 1:30am - Monday, 3rd June

(recorded highlights)

World Cup 2002 (ITV1
- all regions) 1:05am - 2:50am - Monday, 3rd June (full game recording)
Notes Match of the Day Live: World Cup 2002 on BBC One began the day at 6:15am with live coverage of the other opening match in England's group, between Argentina and Nigeria. ITV1's coverage began at 8:25am with live first-half action from the game between Paraguay and South Africa. The second half was transmitted over on ITV2, whilst ITV1 concentrated on the build-up to England's game. BBC One's second live game was between Slovenia and Spain from 12:15pm and the later highlights programmes featured all four games.


792

Friday, 7 June 2002 - Argentina 0 England 1 [0-1]
Sapporo Dōmu, Toyohira-ku, Sapporo
- Kick-off 8.30pm (12.30pm BST)
Match of the Day Live: World Cup 2002 (BBC One) - 11:50am - 2:45pm
commentators
John Motson and Trevor Brooking
World Cup 2002 (ITV1
- all regions) 8:00pm - 10:00pm
commentators
Clive Tyldesley and Ron Atkinson
(full game recording)

Match of the Day: World Cup 2002 (BBC Choice) - 11:00pm - 12:00am
Match of the Day: World Cup 2002 (BBC One) - 11:50pm - 12:50am
(recorded highlights)
World Cup 2002 (ITV1
- all regions) 2:00am - 3:40am - Saturday, 8th June (full game recording)
Notes ITV1 had two earlier live games in the morning; Nigeria against Sweden in England's group, followed by the game between Paraguay and Spain. Highlights of all three games featured in the evening programmes.


793

Wednesday, 12 June 2002 - Nigeria 0 England 0 [0-0]
Nagai Rikujō Kyōgijō, Higashisumiyoshi-ku, Osaka
- Kick-off 3.30pm (7.30am BST)
Match of the Day Live: World Cup 2002 (BBC One) - 7:00am - 10:00am
commentators
John Motson and Trevor Brooking
World Cup 2002 (ITV1
- all regions) 12:05pm - 12:20pm (approximately - recorded highlights)
World Cup 2002 (ITV1
- all regions) 8:00pm - 9:00pm
commentators Clive Tyldesley and Ron Atkinson
(recorded highlights)

Match of the Day: World Cup 2002 (BBC One) - 10:35pm - 11:35pm
Match of the Day: World Cup 2002 (BBC One Scotland and Wales) - 11:05pm - 12:05am
Match of the Day: World Cup 2002 (BBC Choice) - 1:00am - 2:00am - Thursday, 13th June
(recorded highlights)
World Cup 2002 (ITV1
- all regions) 1:15am - 2:50am - Thursday, 13th June (full game recording)
Notes BBCi, the interactive service, provided live coverage on the red button of the other final match in England's group, between Argentina and Sweden, with highlights being shown at half-time and full-time of England's game on BBC One. ITV1 broadcast the game between South Africa and Spain live at 12:30pm, whilst ITV2 was showing the other deciding match in their group, between Paraguay and Slovenia. The key action from all four games was repeated in the later highlights programmes.


794

Saturday, 15 June 2002 - Denmark 0 England 3 [0-3]
Niigata Sutajiamu, Chūō-ku, Niigata
- Kick-off 8.30pm (12.30pm BST)
World Cup 2002 (ITV1 - all regions) 11:30am - 3:00pm
commentators
Clive Tyldesley and Ron Atkinson
Match of the Day Live: World Cup 2002 (BBC One) - 11:30am - 2:45pm
commentators
John Motson and Trevor Brooking
World Cup 2002 (ITV1
- all regions) 10:30pm - 11:45pm (recorded highlights)
Match of the Day: World Cup 2002 (BBC One) - 11:10pm - 12:10am
(recorded highlights)
World Cup 2002 (ITV1
- all regions) 2:20am - 4:00am - Sunday, 16th June (full game recording)
Notes BBC One showed the first match of the second round live at 7:30am, between Germany and Paraguay, highlights of which were shown in later programmes.


795

Friday, 21 June 2002 - England 1 Brazil 2 [1-1]
Shizuoka Sutajiamu Ekopa, Ainominami, Fukuroi
- Kick-off 3.30pm (7.30am BST)
World Cup 2002 (ITV1 - all regions) 6:00am - 10:00am
commentators
Clive Tyldesley and Ron Atkinson - see transcripts below
Match of the Day Live: World Cup 2002 (BBC One) - 6:30am - 9:40am
commentators
John Motson and Trevor Brooking - see transcripts below
World Cup 2002 (ITV1
- all regions) 12:15pm - 12:20pm (approximately - recorded highlights)
World Cup 2002 (ITV1
- all regions) 8:00pm - 9:00pm (recorded highlights)
Match of the Day: World Cup 2002 (BBC One) - 10:35pm - 11:45pm
(recorded highlights)
World Cup 2002 (ITV1
- all regions) 2:00am - 3:35am - Saturday, 22nd June (full game recording)
Notes ITV1 showed the second quarter-final live at 12:30pm, between Germany and the United States, highlights of which were shown in later programmes.

Season 2002-03
Other England Internationals Monday, 8th July 2002 - Nationwide Under-17 International Tournament
Kassam Stadium, Oxford
England 2 Italy 2 -
Sky Sports 1 - 7:00pm (approximately) - 10:00pm
commentator
(preceded at 5pm by live coverage of Brazil 1 Czech Republic 1 at the same venue)
Sky Sports 1 - 12:00am - 2:00am and Sky Sports 2 - 2:00pm - 4:00pm - Tuesday, 9th July (recorded highlights)
Thursday, 11th July 2002 - Nationwide Under-17 International Tournament
St Andrew's, Birmingham
England 2 Czech Republic 0 -
Sky Sports 1 - 7:00pm (approximately) - 10:00pm
commentator
(preceded at 5pm by live coverage of Brazil 1 Italy 1 at the same venue)
Sky Sports 1 - 12:00am - 2:00am and 1:30pm - 3:30pm - Friday, 12th July (recorded highlights)
Sunday, 14th July 2002 - Nationwide Under-17 International Tournament
Kassam Stadium, Oxford
England 1 Brazil 1 -
Sky Sports 1 - 3:00pm (approximately) - 6:00pm
commentator
(preceded at 1pm by live coverage of Czech Republic 2 Italy 0 at the same venue)
Sky Sports 1 - 12:00am - 2:00am and 11:00am - 1:00pm - Monday, 15th July (recorded highlights)
Monday, 22nd July 2002 - UEFA Under-19 Championship
Nadderud stadion, Bærum
England 3 Germany 3
- British Eurosport - 5:00pm - 7:00pm
commentato
r
British Eurosport - 7:30am - 9:00am (recorded highlights)
Tuesday, 23rd July 2002 - Women
Carrow Road, Norwich
England 0 Nigeria 1
- Sky Sports 1 - 8:00pm - 10:00pm
commentato
r
Sky Sports 1 - 12:00am - 2:00am and 1:00pm - 3:00pm
(recorded highlights)
Wednesday, 24th July 2002 - UEFA Under-19 Championship
Gjemsulund stadion, Kongsvinger
England 1 Belgium 1
- British Eurosport - 10:30am - 12:00pm - Thursday, 25th July
commentato
r
(recorded highlights)
Friday, 26th July 2002 - UEFA Under-19 Championship
Hønefoss stadion
Republic of Ireland 3 England 2
- British Eurosport - 10:45pm - 11:45pm and 12:45pm - 1:45pm - Saturday, 27th July
commentato
r
(recorded highlights)


796

Saturday, 7 September 2002 -
England 1 Portugal 1 [1-0]
Villa Park, Aston, Birmingham - Kick-off 4.00pm BST
International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 3:00pm - 6:30pm
commentators
Martin Tyler and Andy Gray
International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 6:30pm - 8:00pm
(recorded highlights)
Match of the Day (BBC One) - 11:05pm - 12:05am
commentators
Barry Davies and Trevor Brooking
(recorded highlights)
Sky Sports 1 - 3:30am - 5:00am and 6:00am - 7:30am - Sunday, 8th September (recorded highlights)
Notes Sky Sports 1 also had live coverage of the Nationwide Conference match between Doncaster Rovers and Dagenham & Redbridge at 12:15pm. BBC One Scotland's Grandstand from Scotland saw them begin their European Championship qualifying campaign in the Faroe Islands live, whilst BBC Two Wales and S4C followed Wales' opening qualifier direct from Finland. Match of the Day provided highlights from both games. British Eurosport had an international football round-up at 10:15pm.
Other England Internationals Thursday, 10th October 2002 - Under-19
Aggborough Stadium, Kidderminster
England 2 Yugoslavia 2 -
Sky Sports 1 - 7:30pm - 9:30pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 1:30am - 3:00am - Friday, 11th October (recorded highlights)
Sky Sports 2 - 1:30pm - 2:30pm - Friday, 11th October (recorded highlights)


797

Saturday, 12 October 2002 - Slovakia 1 England 2 [1-0]
Tehelné pole, Nové Mesto, Bratislava - Kick-off 7.30pm (6.30pm BST)
Match of the Day Live (BBC One) - 6:00pm - 8:30pm
commentators
John Motson and Trevor Brooking
Notes The goals from the other game in England's group, between Macedonia and Turkey, were shown at half-time. Selected regions of ITV1 featured goals from the afternoon's games in the Nationwide Football League, as did Sky Sports News, whilst Sky Sports 1 had an hour of Beach Soccer at 8:00am, repeated three times on Sky Sports 2, and it also appeared on Sky Sports 3. British Eurosport had live coverage of the qualifier between France and Slovenia in the evening, with more qualifying action at 10:00pm.
Other England Internationals Tuesday, 15th October 2002 - UEFA Under-21 Championship Qualifying
Madejski Stadium, Reading
England 3 FYR Macedonia 1 -
Sky Sports 2 - 7:30pm - 10:30pm
commentator


798

Wednesday, 16 October 2002 -
England 2 FYR Macedonia 2 [2-2]
Friends Provident St Mary's Stadium, Northam, Southampton  - Kick-off 8.00pm BST
International Football (Sky Sports 2) - 6:00pm - 10:30pm
commentators
Martin Tyler and Andy Gray
Match of the Day Live (BBC One) - 7:30pm - 10:00pm
commentators
John Motson and Trevor Brooking
International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 11:30pm - 1:30am (full game recording)
Match of the Day (BBC One) - 11:40pm - 12:20am
Match of the Day (BBC One Scotland) - 12:00am - 12:45am - Thursday, 17th October
Match of the Day (BBC One Wales) - 12:10am - 12:50am - Thursday, 17th October
Match of the Day (BBC One Northern Ireland) - 12:20am - 1:00am - Thursday, 17th October
(recorded highlights)
Match of the Day Replay (BBC One) - 1:55am - 3:35am - Thursday, 17th October (BBC Scotland opted out)
Match of the Day Replay (BBC One Wales) - 2:25am - 4:05am - Thursday, 17th October
(full game recording)
International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 10:00am - 12:00pm and 2:00pm - 4:00pm - Thursday, 17th October
(full game recording)
Notes The Sky Sports 2 coverage included the first half of the other game in England's group, between Turkey and Liechtenstein live. BBC Two Wales and S4C had live coverage of Wales' qualifier with Italy, whilst Match of the Day from Northern Ireland on BBC One Northern Ireland was showing their qualifier against Ukraine live. Highlights from both were included in the later Match of the Day. Sky Sports 1 was broadcasting the Republic of Ireland's qualifier with Switzerland at the same time, after two repeats of Scotland's friendly with Canada from the previous evening's live coverage, the highlights of which may have also made an appearance on Match of the Day. Futbol Mundial was then on at 11:00pm, and the channel also had Football Asia on twice, with a further showing on Sky Sports 3. British Eurosport had the usual two-hour round-up of highlights from 10:00pm after an earlier programme in the morning.
Other England Internationals Thursday, 17th October 2002 - Women's World Cup Qualifying Play-Off Final Second Leg
Selhurst Park, Croydon
England 0 France 1 -
Sky Sports 1 - 7.30pm - 9:30pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 12:00am - 2:00am and 1:00pm - 3:00pm - Friday, 18th October
(full game recording)
Friday, 18th October 2002 - adidas Victory Shield (Under-16)
The Showgrounds, Ballymena
Northern Ireland 0 England 2 -
Schoolboys International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 7:30pm - 10:00pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 12:00am - 1:30am - Saturday, 19th October
(recorded highlights)
Friday, 1st November 2002 - adidas Victory Shield (Under-16)
Jenner Park, Barry
Wales 0 England 1 -
Schoolboys International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 7:30pm - 10:00pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 12:00am - 2:00am and Sky Sports 2 - 4:00am - 6:00am - Saturday, 2nd November
(full game recording)
Friday, 15th November 2002 - Walkers Under-16 International Tournament
Gateshead International Stadium
England 2 Netherlands 1 -
Sky Sports 1 - 7.45pm (approximately) - 10:00pm
commentator
(preceded at 5:30pm by live coverage of Germany 1 Spain 1 at the same venue)
Monday, 18th November 2002 - Walkers Under-16 International Tournament
Stadium of Light, Sunderland
England 2 Germany 2 -
Sky Sports 1 - 7.45pm (approximately) - 10:00pm
commentator
(preceded at 5:30pm by live coverage of Netherlands 0 Spain 3 at the same venue)
Sky Sports 1 - 11:30pm - 1:30am, 10:00am - 12:00pm and 1:00pm - 3:00pm - Tuesday, 19th November
(recorded highlights)
Friday, 29th November 2002 - adidas Victory Shield (Under-16)
Alfred McAlpine Stadium, Huddersfield
England 2 Scotland 1 -
Schoolboys International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 7:30pm - 10:00pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 12:00am - 1:30am - Saturday, 30th November (recorded highlights)
Thursday, 12th December 2002 - Under-20 Four-Nations Tournament
Boleyn Ground, Upton Park, London
England 0 Switzerland 2
Sky Sports 1 - 7:30pm - 10:00pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 1:00am - 3:30am and 12:30pm - 2:30pm - Friday, 13th December (full game recording)
Thursday, 6th February 2003 - Under-20 Four-Nations Tournament
Madejski Stadium, Reading
England 2 Germany 1
Sky Sports 1 - 7:30pm - 9:30pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 12:00am - 2:00am and 1:00pm - 3:00pm - Friday, 7th February (full game recording)


799

Wednesday, 12 February 2003 -
England 1 Australia 3 [0-2]
Boleyn Ground, Upton Park, London - Kick-off 8.15pm GMT
International Football (Sky Sports 2) - 7:00pm - 10:45pm (approximately)
commentators
Martin Tyler and Alan Smith
Match of the Day (BBC One) - 11:05pm - 12:00am
Match of the Day (BBC One Northern Ireland) - 11:35pm - 12:30am
(BBC Scotland opted out)
commentators
Barry Davies and Trevor Brooking
(recorded highlights)
International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 1:00am - 3:30am and 1:30pm - 4:00pm - Thursday, 13th February
(full game recording)
Notes The kick-off was put back 15 minutes because of traffic congestion and the later repeat may have been later as a result. BBC Two Wales and S4C broadcast live coverage of the friendly with Bosnia and Herzegovina, whilst BBC Two Northern Ireland's Match of the Day from Northern Ireland featured highlights from their game with Finland, curiously at the same time as Match of the Day on BBC One which probably included action from all four games involving the home nations. Sky Sports 1 had live coverage of the game between Scotland and the Republic of Ireland, having repeated the Under-21 clash between them from the previous evening's live broadcast. Highlights from the full international were shown on BBC One Scotland's Sportscene at the same time as Match of the Day. The latest edition of Futbol Mundial was shown by Sky Sports 2 at midnight. British Eurosport broadcast the international friendly between France and the Czech Republic live, and there were later highlights from the day's international matches.
Other England Internationals
Friday, 28th March 2003 - UEFA Under-21 Championship Qualifying
Estádio Municipal, Rio Maior
Portugal 4 England 2 -
Sky Sports 1 - 6:00pm - 8:00pm
commentator


800

Saturday, 29 March 2003 - Liechtenstein 0 England 2 [0-1]
Rheinpark Stadion,
Vaduz
- Kick-off 6.30pm (5.30pm GMT)
Match of the Day Live (BBC One) - 5:15pm - 7:35pm
commentators
Barry Davies and Trevor Brooking
Notes Sky Sports 1 broadcast live coverage of Scotland's qualifier with Iceland, whilst BBC Two Northern Ireland followed their team to Armenia, and BBC Two Wales and S4C viewers were watching Wales play Azerbaijan. BBC One Scotland's Sportscene featured highlights from Scotland's game at 11:35pm. In the evening, Sky Sports 3 featured Portugal's friendly with Brazil live (repeated at 3:00am BST on Sky Sports 2), and British Eurosport concentrated on France's qualifier with Malta, before the usual round-up of international matches, after two earlier programmes of recent action in the UEFA Champions League. Goals from the afternoon's Nationwide Football League games will have appeared on Sky Sports News during the evening.
Other England Internationals Tuesday, 1st April 2003 - UEFA Under-21 Championship Qualifying
St James' Park, Newcastle upon Tyne
England 1 Turkey 1 -
Sky Sports 1 - 7:30pm - 10:15pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 12:45am - 2:45am and 1:00pm - 3:00pm - Wednesday, 2nd April (full game recording)


801

Wednesday, 2 April 2003 -
England 2
Turkey 0 [0-0]
Stadium of Light, Monkwearmouth, Sunderland - Kick-off 8.00pm BST
International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 7:30pm - 10:30pm
commentators
Martin Tyler and Alan Smith
Match of the Day Live (BBC One) - 7:30pm - 10:00pm
Sportscene Live (BBC One Scotland) - 9:00pm
(approximately) - 10:00pm (second half only)
commentators
John Motson and Trevor Brooking
(BBC Northern Ireland opted out)
International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 12:30am - 2:00am - Thursday, 3rd April (recorded highlights)
Match of the Day Replay (BBC One) - 1:05am - 2:45am - Thursday, 3rd April
Match of the Day Replay (BBC One Wales) - 1:35am - 3:15am - Thursday, 3rd April
(full game recording)
International Football - 10:00am - 11:30am (Sky Sports 2) and 2:00pm - 3:30pm (Sky Sports 1) - Thursday, 3rd April
(recorded highlights)
Notes There were news headlines from the Iraq War at half-time on BBC One, plus the goal from Scotland's defeat in Lithuania, a game that kicked off an hour earlier than England's on BBC One Scotland's Sportscene Live which probably switched to England's game at the end of the match. Immediately before England's game, Sky Sports 1 had live coverage of the Republic of Ireland's trip to Albania (repeated at 2:00am), and also aired the Netbusters programme twice, showing goals from recent games. Northern Ireland's game with Greece was live on BBC One Northern Ireland's Match of the Day from Northern Ireland at the same time as England's game. British Eurosport had a two-and-a-half-hour round-up of European Championship qualifying action at 9:45pm, plus two earlier programmes during the afternoon showing recent international action, and one on South American football at 9:30am.
Other England Internationals Friday, 9th May 2003 - UEFA Under-17 Championship
Estádio Municipal, Chaves
England 0 Italy 0 - British Eurosport - 5:00pm - 6:45pm
commentator
British Eurosport - 12:15am - 2:00am and 8:30am - 10:00am - Saturday, 10th May (full game recording)
Sunday, 11th May 2003 - UEFA Under-17 Championship
Complexo Desportivo Monte de Forca, Vila Real
England 2 Spain 2 - British Eurosport - 4:30pm - 6:15pm
commentator
British Eurosport - 1:30am - 3:30am - Monday, 12th May (full game recording)
British Eurosport - 9:30am - 10:30am - Monday, 12th May (recorded highlights)
Wednesday, 14th May 2003 - UEFA Under-17 Championship Semi-Final
Estádio do Fontelo, Viseu
Portugal 2 England 2
Portugal won 3-2 on penalties
British Eurosport - 5:00pm - 7:00pm (approximately)

commentator
British Eurosport - 10:30am - 12:00pm - Thursday, 15th May (recorded highlights)

 
802

Thursday, 22 May 2003 - South Africa 1 England 2 [1-1]
Amalgamated Banks of South Africa Stadium, East London, Durban - Kick-off 8.30pm (7.30pm BST)
International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 6:30pm - 10:00pm
commentators
Martin Tyler and Alan Smith
Match of the Day (BBC One) - 11:35pm - 12:15am
commentators S
teve Wilson and Mark Bright
(recorded highlights)

International Football (Sky Sports 1)
- 12:30am - 2:30am, 10:00am - 12:00pm and 2:00pm - 4:00pm - Friday, 23rd May
(full game recording)
Notes There were programmes featuring recent European Championship qualifying and South American football action on British Eurosport, whilst Sky Sports 1 showed Futbol Mundial twice, and there were two late-night showings of the Spanish Football League Review. After midnight, The re-branded (channel) five offered a recording of the weekend's Holland Casino eredivisie game between Feyenoord and PSV Eindhoven, followed by action from Argentina.
Other England Internationals Monday, 2nd June 2003 - Under-21
Kingston Communications Stadium, Hull
England 3 Serbia and Montenegro 2 -
Sky Sports 1 - 7:30pm - 10:15pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 12:15am - 2:15am and 1:00pm - 3:00pm, and Sky Sports 2 - 8:00am - 10:00am - Tuesday, 3rd June (full game recording)


803

Tuesday, 3 June 2003 - England 2 Serbia and Montenegro 1 [1-1]
Walkers Stadium, Filbert Way, Leicester
- Kick-off 8.00pm BST
International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 7:00pm - 10:30pm
commentators
Martin Tyler and Alan Smith
Match of the Day (BBC One) - 11:15pm - 11:55pm
Match of the Day (BBC One Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales) - 11:45pm - 12:25am
commentators
Steve Wilson and Trevor Brooking
(recorded highlights)
International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 12:00am - 2:00am and 1:00pm - 3:00pm
International Football (Sky Sports 2) - 8:00am - 10:00am - Wednesday, 4th June
(full game recording)
Notes Match of the Day also included highlights from Northern Ireland's trip to Italy. Both immediately before and straight after the game, Sky Sports 1 broadcast the latest edition of Football Asia, having presented the World Football Show at 12:30pm. British Eurosport showed the latest Eurogoals at 8:45am. five ended the day with Major League Soccer from the United States at 4:20am.
Other England Internationals
Tuesday, 10th June 2003 - UEFA Under-21 Championship Qualifying
Stadium of Light, Sunderland
England 2 Slovakia 0
-
Sky Sports 1 - 7:30pm - 10:15pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 12:15am - 1:45am and 1:00pm - 2:30pm, and Sky Sports 2 - 10:30am - 12:00pm - Wednesday, 11th June (recorded highlights)
Wednesday, 11th June 2003 - Under-20
Stade des Costières, Nîmes - Tournoi Espoirs de Toulon
Portugal 3 England 0 -
British Eurosport - 5:00pm - 6:45pm
commentators Dave Farrar and Brian Kerr
British Eurosport - 12:15am - 1:45am - Thursday, 12th June (recorded highlights)


804

Wednesday, 11 June 2003 - England 2 Slovakia 1 [0-1]
Riverside Stadium, Middlehaven, Middlesbrough
- Kick-off 8.00pm BST
Match of the Day Live (BBC One) - 7:30pm - 10:00pm
commentators
John Motson and Trevor Brooking
(BBC Northern Ireland opted out)
International Football (Sky Sports 1)
- 7:45pm - 10:15pm
commentators
Martin Tyler and Alan Smith
International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 1:00am - 2:30am - Thursday, 12th June (recorded highlights)
Match of the Day Replay (BBC One) - 3:10am - 5:00am - Thursday, 12th June
(full game recording)
International Football (Sky Sports 1)
- 11:00am - 12:30pm and 2:30pm - 4:00pm - Thursday, 12th June (recorded highlights)
Notes At the same time as England's game, BBC One Northern Ireland was showing their qualifier with Spain live in Match of the Day from Northern Ireland. Sky Sports 1 provided live coverage of the first half of the other game in England's group, between Turkey and Macedonia, kicking off an hour earlier, with highlights shown after the game, along with those from the Republic of Ireland's qualifier with Georgia which was shown live on Sky Sports 2. Ireland's under-21 fixture with the same opponents had also been shown live on the same channel on the previous evening, highlights of which had been repeated on both Sky Sports 1 and 2 during the afternoon. Football Asia appeared twice on Sky Sports 1 during the morning, whilst Futbol Mundial was shown at 11:00pm on Sky Sports 3. British Eurosport repeated the previous day's opening games in the Toulon tournament in the morning, between Burkina Faso and Colombia, and Italy and Mexico, and then followed England's opener against Portugal with live coverage of the other game in the group, between Argentina and Japan. There were also two hours of European Championship qualifying action, before highlights from the day's games in the Toulon tournament.
Other England Internationals
Friday, 13th June 2003 - Under-20
Stade Mayol, Toulon - Tournoi Espoirs de Toulon
Argentina 8 England 0 -
British Eurosport - 7:00pm - 8:45pm
commentators Dave Farrar and Brian Kerr
British Eurosport - 1:00am - 2:30am - Saturday, 14th June (recorded highlights)
Sunday, 15th June 2003 - Under-20
Stade Mayol, Toulon - Tournoi Espoirs de Toulon
Turkey 1 England 0 -
British Eurosport - 5:00pm - 6:45pm
commentators Dave Farrar and Brian Kerr
British Eurosport - 1:00am - 2:30am, 8:00am - 9:30am and 1:30pm - 3:00pm - Monday, 16th June (recorded highlights)
Thursday, 19th June 2003 - Under-20
Stade Antoine Scaglia, La Seyne-sur-Mer - Tournoi Espoirs de Toulon
Japan 1 England 0
-
British Eurosport - 4:15pm - 6:00pm
commentators Dave Farrar and Brian Kerr
British Eurosport - 12:15am - 1:45am - Friday, 20th June (recorded highlights)

Season 2003-04
Other England Internationals Monday, 7th July 2003 - Pepsi Under-17 International Tournament
Meadow Lane, Nottingham
England 1 United States 2 -
Sky Sports 1 - 5:00pm - 7:45pm (approximately)
commentator
(followed by live coverage of Brazil 2 Portugal 3 at the same venue)
Sky Sports 1 - 12:30am - 2:30am and 12:00pm - 2:00pm, and Sky Sports 2 - 9:00am - 11:00am - Tuesday, 8th July (recorded highlights)
Thursday, 10th July 2003 - Pepsi Under-17 International Tournament
Meadow Lane, Nottingham

England 0 Portugal 1 -
Sky Sports 1 - 7:45pm (approximately) - 10:00pm
commentator
(preceded at 5pm by live coverage of Brazil 1 United States 1 at the same venue)
Sky Sports 1 - 12:30am - 2:30am, 10:00am - 12:00pm and 2:00pm - 4:00pm - Friday, 11th July (recorded highlights)
Sunday, 13th July 2003 - Pepsi Under-17 International Tournament
Meadow Lane, Nottingham
England 0 Brazil 0 -
Sky Sports 1 - 2:45pm (approximately) - 5:00pm
commentator
(preceded at 12pm by live coverage of Portugal 3 United States 0 at the same venue)
Sky Sports 3 - 8:00pm - 10:00pm, and Sky Sports 1 - 1:30am - 3:30am and 10:00am - 12:00pm - Monday, 14th July (recorded highlights)
Friday, 18th July 2003 - UEFA Under-19 Championship
Sportpark Eschen-Mauren, Eschen
France 0 England 2
- British Eurosport - 5:30pm - 7:30pm
commentato
r Dave Farrar
Sunday, 20th July 2003 - UEFA Under-19 Championship
Sportpark Eschen-Mauren, Eschen
Czech Republic 3 England 0
- British Eurosport - 5:30pm - 7:30pm
commentato
r Dave Farrar
Tuesday, 19th August 2003 - Under-21
Boleyn Ground, Upton Park, London
England
0 Croatia 3
- Sky Sports 2 - 7:30pm - 10:15pm
commentato
r Alan Parry
Sky Sports 1 - 1:30am - 2:30am and 3:00pm - 4:00pm, and Sky Sports 2 - 12:00pm - 1:00pm
(recorded highlights)


805

Wednesday, 20 August 2003 -
England 3 Croatia 1
[1-0]
Portman Road, Handford, Ipswich
- Kick-off 8.00pm BST
International Football (Sky Sports 2) - 7:00pm - 10:30pm
commentators
Martin Tyler and Alan Smith
Match of the Day (BBC One) - 11:50pm - 12:30am
commentators
John Motson and Trevor Brooking
(recorded highlights)
International Football - 12:00am - 1:30am and 1:00pm - 2:30pm (Sky Sports 1) and 10:00am - 11:30am (Sky Sports 2) - Thursday, 21st August (recorded highlights)
Notes Wales' European Championship qualifier in Serbia was featured live on BBC Two Wales and S4C, whilst Scotland's friendly trip to Norway was live on BBC Two Scotland's Sportscene. Brief action from both may have cropped up on Match of the Day. Sky Sports 1 and 2 each provided highlights from the Republic of Ireland's friendly with Australia which had been shown live on the previous night on Sky Sports 1. Netbusters was also on Sky Sports 1, and Futbol Mundial preceded the England game on Sky Sports 2. British Eurosport broadcast the previous day's highlights from Argentina's victory against Nigeria at the World Under-17 Championship finals in Finland which they had shown live, and then had two more live games, between Brazil and Yemen, and an incredible game in which Portugal let slip a five-goal lead against Cameroon before scraping through to the quarter-finals with a draw! There were also two hours of full internationals from 11:00pm.


806

Saturday, 6 September 2003 -
FYR Macedonia 1 England 2 [1-0]
Gradski Stadion, Karpoš, Skopje  - Kick-off 6.30pm (5.30pm BST)
Match of the Day Live (BBC One) - 5:20pm - 7:30pm
commentators
John Motson and Trevor Brooking
Notes Sky Sports 2 began the live coverage with a goalless draw between Bournemouth and Bristol City in the second division, and followed that with the Republic of Ireland's qualifier with Russia. Meanwhile, Sky Sports 1 was covering Scotland's game with the Faroe Islands, with highlights at midnight, and twice on Sky Sports 2. Highlights were also on BBC One Scotland's Sportscene at 10:35pm. Match of the Day from Northern Ireland on BBC Two Northern Ireland covered their trip to Ukraine at the same time as England's game, before joining BBC Two nationally in showing Wales' qualifier in Italy live, with Welsh-language commentary on S4C. Sky Sports News will have shown goals from the Nationwide Football League during the evening and France's qualifier with Cyprus was shown live on British Eurosport, followed by two hours of European Championship highlights.
Other England Internationals
Tuesday, 9th September 2003 - UEFA Under-21 Championship Qualifying
Goodison Park, Liverpool
England 1 Portugal 2 -
Sky Sports 2 - 7:30pm - 10:15pm
commentator Alan Parry
Sky Sports 1 - 12:30am - 1:30am and 2:00pm - 3:00pm - Wednesday, 10th September (recorded highlights)


807

Wednesday, 10 September 2003 -
England 2 Liechtenstein 0 [0-0]
Old Trafford, Stretford, Manchester -
Kick-off 8.00pm BST
International Football (Sky Sports 2) - 7:00pm - 10:30pm
commentators
Martin Tyler and Alan Smith
Match of the Day Live (BBC One) - 7:30pm - 10:00pm
Match of the Day (BBC One) - 11:15pm - 12:15am

(recorded highlights)
commentators
John Motson and Trevor Brooking
(BBC Northern Ireland opted out)
International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 12:30am - 2:00am - Thursday, 11th September
(recorded highlights)
Match of the Day Replay (BBC One) - 2:25am - 4:05am - Thursday, 11th September
(full game recording)
International Football - 8:30am - 10:00am and 3:30pm - 5:00pm (Sky Sports 2) and 12:30pm - 2:00pm (Sky Sports 1) - Thursday, 11th September
(recorded highlights)
Notes BBC One Scotland broadcast their qualifying trip to Germany live in Sportscene, whilst BBC Two Wales and S4C were relaying Wales' qualifier with Finland. Action from both of these games was shown at half-time in England's game on Match of the Day Live, and possibly also at full-time, with full highlights in the later Match of the Day, along with Northern Ireland's qualifier with Armenia which had its own featured Match of the Day from Northern Ireland at the same time on BBC One Northern Ireland. British Eurosport had live coverage of the friendly between Norway and Portugal, and later qualifying action from the European Championship, the second programme of the day, with an earlier football programme in the morning.
Other England Internationals Thursday, 9th October 2003 - Under-20
Broadhall Way, Stevenage
England 2 Czech Republic 0
- Sky Sports 1 - 7:30pm - 10:00pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 1:00am - 3:00am and Sky Sports 2 - 2:00pm - 4:00pm - Friday, 10th October
(full game recording)
Friday, 10th October 2003 - UEFA Under-21 Championship Qualifying
Stadyumu Inönü, İstanbul
Turkey 1 England 0
- Sky Sports 1 - 4:00pm - 6:00pm
commentators Martin Tyler and Alan Shearer


808

Saturday, 11 October 2003 -
 Turkey 0 England 0 [0-0]
Şükrü Sarakoğlu Stadyumu, Kadιköy, İstanbul - Kick-off 8.00pm (6.00pm BST)
International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 5:00pm - 9:00pm
commentators
Martin Tyler and Alan Shearer
ITV1 - 9:35pm - 11:15pm

Anglia, Border, Central, Channel, Granada, London, Meridian, Tyne Tees, Ulster, Wales, West, Westcountry and Yorkshire
Grampian and Scottish
- 12:15am - 1:55am - Sunday, 12th October
commentators
Clive Tyldesley and Ron Atkinson
(recorded highlights)
International Football - 1:00am - 2:00am and 7:00am - 8:00am (Sky Sports 1) and 4:00pm - 5:00am (Sky Sports 2) - Sunday, 12th October (recorded highlights)
Notes The Nationwide Football League second-division game between Oldham Athletic and Port Vale was the first live game of the day at 12:30pm on Sky Sports 2. Sky Sports 1 broadcast the first half of Scotland's vital last qualifier against Lithuania live, just before the England game, before switching to Sky Sports 2 for the second half, as they qualified for the play-offs with a single-goal victory. Highlights were shown on both channels after midnight and on BBC One Scotland's Sportscene at 11:25pm, at which time highlights of Northern Ireland's final qualifier in Greece were being shown in Match of the Day from Northern Ireland on BBC One Northern Ireland. The Republic of Ireland's final qualifier, in Switzerland, was live on Setanta Sports 1. Wales, having already qualified for the play-offs, were live against Serbia and Montenegro on BBC Two Wales and S4C, who went on to show Brazilian Championship Football in the early hours, as did Channel 4. In the morning, there had been two showings of UEFA Champions League Weekly on Sky Sports 1. British Eurosport had their usual two-hour European Championship highlights programme, whilst Sky Sports News could be counted on for action from the afternoon's games in the Nationwide Football League.
Other England Internationals
Friday, 17th October 2003 - adidas Victory Shield (Under-16)
Nene Park, Irthlingborough
England 4 Northern Ireland 0
- Sky Sports 1
- 7:30pm - 10:00pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 12:00am - 2:00am - Saturday, 18th October (full game recording)
Friday, 31st October 2003 - adidas Victory Shield (Under-16)
Priestfield Stadium, Gillingham
England 4 Wales 2 - Sky Sports 1
- 7:30pm - 10:00pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 12:00am - 2:00am - Saturday, 1st November (full game recording)
Wednesday, 12th November 2003 - Under-17
Ashton Gate, Bristol
England 1 Switzerland 1 - Sky Sports 1
- 7:30pm - 10:00pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 12:30am - 2:30am - Thursday, 13th November (full game recording)
Sky Sports 1 - 12:30pm - 2:00pm - Thursday, 13th November (recorded highlights)
Thursday, 13th November 2003 - Women
Deepdale, Preston
England 5 Scotland 0 - Sky Sports 1
- 7:30pm - 10:00pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 12:00am - 2:00am and 12:00pm - 2:00pm - Friday, 14th November (full game recording)
Friday, 14th November 2003 - Under-20
Britannia Stadium, Stoke-on-Trent
England 2 Wales 0
- Sky Sports 1 - 7:00pm - 9:30pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 12:00am - 1:30am and 3:30am - 5:00am - Saturday, 15th November
(recorded highlights)


809

Sunday, 16 November 2003 - England 2 Denmark 3 [2-2]
Old Trafford, Stretford, Manchester - Kick-off 4.00pm GMT
International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 3:00pm - 6:30pm
commentators
Martin Tyler and Alan Shearer
Match of the Day (BBC One) - 10:55pm - 11:35pm
Match of the Day (BBC One Wales) - 11:25pm - 12:10am
commentators
John Motson and Trevor Brooking
(recorded highlights)
International Football - 11:00pm - 12:00am (Sky Sports 3), 11:00am - 12:00pm (Sky Sports 1) and 1:00pm - 2:00pm and 4:00pm - 5:00pm (Sky Sports 2) - Monday, 17th November (recorded highlights)
Notes Sky Sports 1 featured Goals on Sunday at noon, probably including Scotland's European Championship qualifying play-off with the Netherlands, shown live on the previous day, plus action from the Nationwide Football League which also appeared in Soccer Sunday in the Border, Central, Channel, Granada and Meridian regions of ITV1. Games featured included Derby County against Burnley in the first division. At 9:00pm, Sky Sports 3 broadcast the World Cup qualifier between Peru and Brazil live, and repeated it at midnight. British Eurosport dedicated five hours from 10:00am, to four of the previous day's five qualifying play-off first legs for Euro 2004 (excluding Scotland's) plus the friendly played during the week between Poland and Italy, before showing a live charity match between Bordeaux and the 1998 French World Cup-winning squad, and following it with a shortened version of the play-off highlights. S4C had late-night action from the Brazilian Championship, whilst Major League Soccer in the United States was shown on five.
Other England Internationals
Friday, 28th November 2003 - adidas Victory Shield (Under-16)
Hampden Park, Glasgow
Scotland 1 England 1
- Sky Sports 1
- 7:30pm - 10:00pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 12:00am - 1:30am - Saturday, 29th November (full game recording)
Saturday, 29th November 2003 - FIFA World Youth Championship
Al-Maktoum Stadium, Dubai
Japan 1 England 0 -
British Eurosport - 4:15pm - 6:15pm
commentator Dave Farrar
British Eurosport - 11:00pm - 12:30am
(recorded highlights)
Tuesday, 2nd December 2003 - FIFA World Youth Championship
Al-Maktoum Stadium, Dubai
England 0 Egypt 1 -
British Eurosport - 1:30pm - 3:30pm
commentator Dave Farrar
British Eurosport - 10:45pm - 12:15am
(recorded highlights)
Friday, 5th December 2003 - FIFA World Youth Championship
Al-Maktoum Stadium, Dubai
Colombia 0 England 0 -
British Eurosport - 1:30pm - 3:30pm
commentator Dave Farrar
Youth World Cup Today (British Eurosport) - 10:00pm - 11:45pm (recorded highlights)
Tuesday, 17th February 2004 - Under-21
Kingston Communications Stadium, Hull
England 3 Netherlands 2
- Sky Sports 1 - 7:30pm - 10:00pm
commentator Alan Parry
Sky Sports 1 - 12:30am - 2:30am and 11:30am - 1:30pm - Wednesday, 18th February (full game recording)


810

Wednesday, 18 February 2004 - Portugal 1 England 1 [0-0]
Estádio Algarve, Caliços, Almancil - Kick-off 9.15pm GMT
International Football (Sky Sports 2) - 8:00pm - 11:30pm
commentators
Martin Tyler and Alan Shearer
Match of the Day (BBC One) - 11:15pm - 12:15am
Match of the Day (BBC One Scotland) - 11:45pm - 12:45am
Match of the Day (BBC One Wales) - 11:55pm - 12:55am
(BBC Northern Ireland opted out)
commentators
John Motson and Mark Lawrenson
(recorded highlights)
International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 1:00am - 2:00am, 10:30am - 11:30am and 2:00pm - 3:00pm - Thursday, 19th February (recorded highlights)
Notes Sky Sports 1 had live coverage of the friendly between the Republic of Ireland and Brazil, with highlights at midnight. The channel also broadcast Netbusters three times, and Football Asia and Futbol Mundial twice each during the day. Wales met Scotland in a friendly and it was live on Match of the Day Wales Live on BBC Two Wales, on Sportscene on BBC Two Scotland and on S4C. Highlights from Northern Ireland's friendly with Norway were featured on BBC One Northern Ireland's Match of the Day from Northern Ireland at 11:05pm, with action from both games appearing on Match of the Day in Great Britain. British Eurosport had Eurogoals in the morning, and live coverage of the game between the Netherlands and the United States in the evening, with more international action at midnight. five featured action from the Argentine Primera División at 4:20am (Thursday).
Other England Internationals
Thursday, 19th February 2004 - Women
Fratton Park, Portsmouth
England 2 Denmark 0 -
Sky Sports 1 - 7:30pm - 9:30pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 11:30pm - 1:30am and Sky Sports 2 - 1:00pm - 3:00pm - Friday 20th February
(full game recording)
Tuesday, 30th March 2004 - Under-19
Eintracht-Sportpark, Celle
Germany 1 England 1 -
Sky Sports 1 - 5:30pm - 7:30pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 12:15am - 2:15am and 2:30pm - 4:30pm - Wednesday 31st March (full game recording)


811

Wednesday, 31 March 2004 - Sweden 1 England 0 [0-0]
Nya Ullevi Stadion, Heden, Göteborg  - Kick-off 8.45pm (7.45pm BST)
International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 7:00pm - 11:00pm
commentators
Martin Tyler and Alan Shearer
Match of the Day (BBC One) - 11:25pm - 12:15am
Match of the Day (BBC One Northern Ireland and Wales) - 11:55pm - 12:45am
Sportscene (BBC One Scotland) - 11:55pm - 12:50am
commentators
John Motson and Mark Lawrenson
(recorded highlights)
International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 1:00am - 2:00am, 8:00am - 9:00am and 2:30pm - 3:30pm - Thursday, 1st April
(recorded highlights)
Notes Sky Sports 2 had live coverage of the Republic of Ireland's game with the Czech Republic, after showing highlights from the previous night's under-21 international between Scotland and Romania, shown live on Sky Sports 1. The full international between them was live on Sky Sports 3 and the highlights from all three live Sky games were shown in the early hours on Sky Sports 1, with Scotland's game also on Match of the Day and Sportscene. Wales' friendly in Hungary was live in Match of the Day Wales Live on BBC Two Wales and S4C, and probably also appeared as highlights in Match of the Day on BBC One, with possibly also action from Northern Ireland's victory in Estonia. The latest edition of Futbol Mundial preceded England's game on Sky Sports 1. After Eurogoals in the morning, British Eurosport broadcast live coverage of Portugal's friendly with Italy from 9:30pm, and then followed it with more international highlights.
Other England Internationals
Thursday, 22nd April 2004 - Women
Madejski Stadium, Reading
England 0 Nigeria 3 -
Sky Sports 1 - 7:30pm - 9:30pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 2:00am - 4:00am and Sky Sports 3 - 8:00am - 10:00am - Friday 23rd April
(full game recording)
Sunday, 9th May 2004 - UEFA Under-17 Championship
Stade des Allées Jean-Leroi, Blois
England 1 Austria 0 - British Eurosport - 7:00pm - 8:45pm
commentator
Wednesday, 12th May 2004 - UEFA Under-17 Championship Semi-Final
Stade de la Vallée du Cher, Tour
England 1 Spain 2 - British Eurosport - 6:30pm - 8:15pm
commentator
British Eurosport - 10:30am - 12:00pm - Thursday, 13th May (recorded highlights)
Monday, 17th May 2004 - Martin Keown Testimonial
Arsenal Stadium, Highbury
Arsenal 6 England 0 - Sky Sports 1 - 10:15pm - 11:45pm, 2:45am - 4:15am, 10:30am - 12:00pm and 3:30pm - 5:00pm - Tuesday, 18th May
commentators Martin Tyler and Kenny Sansom
(recorded highlights)


812

Tuesday, 1 June 2004 - England 1 Japan 1 [1-0]
City of Manchester
Stadium, Eastlands - Kick-off 8.00pm BST
International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 7:00pm - 10:30pm
commentators
Martin Tyler and Ray Wilkins
Match of the Day (BBC One) - 10:35pm - 11:25pm
Match of the Day (BBC One Northern Ireland and Wales) - 11:05pm - 11:55pm
Match of the Day (BBC One Scotland) - 11:35pm - 12:25am
commentators
Steve Wilson and Mark Bright
(recorded highlights)
International Football - 12:00am - 2:00am and 10:30am - 12:30pm (Sky Sports 1) and 2:00pm - 4:00pm (Sky Sports 2) - Wednesday, 2nd June
(full game recording)
Notes The opening match of the tournament, between Iceland and Japan, in the same stadium, was shown live on Sky Sports 1, two days earlier. Both Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 2 showed highlights from the previous day's third-division promotion play-off final in the Nationwide Football League, shown live on Sky Sports 1, as Huddersfield Town beat Mansfield Town on penalties in Cardiff. Football Asia was shown on both Sky Sports 2 and Sky Sports Xtra. British Eurosport showed highlights from the weekend's Coupe de France Final, as Paris Saint-Germain beat Châteauroux, followed by recent international action, whilst S4C had action from the Copa Toyota Libertadores de América in the early hours.


813

Saturday, 5 June 2004 - England 6 Iceland 1 [3-1]
City of Manchester Stadium, Eastlands - Kick-off 3.30pm BST
International Football (Sky Sports 2) - 2:30pm - 6:00pm
commentators
Martin Tyler and Ray Wilkins
Match of the Day (BBC One) - 11:05pm - 11:55pm
Match of the Day (BBC One Scotland) - 11:35pm - 12:25am
commentators
Steve Wilson and Mark Bright
(recorded highlights)
International Football - 11:00pm - 12:30am (Sky Sports 2), and 3:00am - 4:30am and 7:00am - 8:30am (Sky Sports 1) - Sunday, 6th June
(recorded highlights)
Notes five had live coverage in the evening of the Republic of Ireland's victory against the Netherlands in Amsterdam, with British Eurosport providing highlights at 11:45pm. Meanwhile, Sky Sports 1 featured the over-35s' six-a-side Midlands Masters, live from the Coventry SkyDome Arena and repeated at midnight. It was won by Wolverhampton Wanderers, who went on to reach the national final. British Eurosport also showed highlights in the morning from two international friendlies played in midweek; between Czech Republic and Bulgaria, and Switzerland and Germany. Then at 5:00pm, they broadcast hosts, France's game with Colombia in the Toulon tournament live, on their way to the first of four successive titles.
European Championship Finals 2004

Portugal


814

 

Sunday, 13 June 2004 - France 2 England 1 [0-1]
Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, Bairro Dona Leonor, Lisboa  - Kick-off 7.45pm BST
Euro 2004 Live (ITV1 - all regions) - 7:15pm - 10:00pm
commentators
Clive Tyldesley and Sir Bobby Robson - see transcripts below
Match of the Day Euro 2004 (BBC One) - 10:55pm - 11:55pm
Match of the Day Euro 2004 (BBC One Scotland and Wales) - 11:25pm - 12:25am
commentators
John Motson and Joe Royle
(recorded highlights)
Euro 2004 Extra Time (British Eurosport) - 12:00am - 1:00am and 7:15am - 8:15am - Monday, 14th June
commentators
Dave Farrar and Paul Elliott
(recorded highlights)
Euro 2004 (ITV1 - all regions) - 1:10am - 2:50am - Monday, 14th June (full game recording)
Euro 2004 (British Eurosport) - 9:15am - 11:15am and 1:30pm - 3:30pm - Monday, 14th June

(full game recording)
Notes After showing the highlights from the previous day's opening games in the tournament, between Greece and hosts, Portugal, and Russia and Spain, plus an edition of Eurogoals, British Eurosport covered the opening match in England's group in the afternoon, between Croatia and Switzerland, as did BBC One in Match of the Day Live Euro 2004, with highlights in the later programmes. At 3:45am (Monday), Channel 4 and S4C showed the semi-final first leg of the Copa Toyota Libertadores de América played three nights earlier in the Buenos Aires Superclásico between Boca Juniors and River Plate. There was also an earlier programme of highlights from the competition at 6:35am.


815

 

Thursday, 17 June 2004 - England 3 Switzerland 0 [1-0]
Estádio Municipal, Fonteda Cheira, Coimbra - Kick-off 5.00pm BST
Euro 2004 Live (ITV1 - all regions) - 4:00pm - 7:00pm
commentators
Clive Tyldesley and Sir Bobby Robson
Euro 2004 Extra Time (British Eurosport) - 10:15pm - 11:15pm and 7:15am - 8:15am - Friday, 18th June
commentators
Dave Farrar and Paul Elliott
(recorded highlights)

Euro 2004 (ITV1
- all regions) - 11:00pm - 12:00am
(recorded highlights)
Euro 2004 (ITV1
- all regions) - 1:00am - 2:45am - Friday, 18th June (full game recording)
Match of the Day Euro 2004 Replay (BBC One) - 1:55am - 3:35am - Friday, 18th June
Match of the Day Euro 2004 Replay (BBC One Wales) - 2:25am - 4:05am - Friday, 18th June
commentators
John Motson and Joe Royle
(full game recording)
Euro 2004 (British Eurosport) - 9:15am - 11:15am and 1:30pm - 3:30pm - Friday, 18th June

(full game recording)
Notes BBC One's Match of the Day Live Euro 2004 broadcast Croatia against France in England's group in the evening and probably included some action from England's game. It was also shown live by British Eurosport, with highlights in the later programmes. They also repeated both of the previous day's games in full; between Greece and Spain, and Portugal and Russia. five dedicated all of their programmes after midnight to football, beginning with both of the recent UEFA Under-21 Championship semi-finals in Germany, with Serbia and Montenegro beating Sweden on penalties, after extra time, and the eventual winners, Italy defeating Portugal, followed by highlights from Argentina's Primera División and a game from Major League Soccer in the United States. S4C showed a recent match from the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A at 3:20am (Friday). Sky Sports 2 had two showings of Futbol Mundial, plus a third on Sky Sports 3.


816

 

Monday, 21 June 2004 - Croatia 2 England 4 [1-2]
Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, Bairro Dona Leonor, Lisboa - Kick-off 7.45pm BST
Match of the Day Live Euro 2004 (BBC One) - 7:30pm - 10:00pm
commentators
John Motson and Joe Royle
Euro 2004 Extra Time (British Eurosport) - 10:15pm - 11:15pm and 7:15am - 8:15am - Tuesday, 22nd June
commentators
Dave Farrar and Paul Elliott
(recorded highlights)

Euro 2004 (ITV1
- all regions) - 11:00pm - 12:00am
(recorded highlights)
Euro 2004 (ITV1
- all regions) - 1:20am - 3:05am - Tuesday, 22nd June
commentators
Jon Champion and Sir Bobby Robson
(full game recording)
Match of the Day Euro 2004 Replay (BBC One) - 2:40am - 4:20am - Tuesday, 22nd June
Match of the Day Euro 2004 Replay (BBC One Wales) - 3:10am - 4:50am - Tuesday, 22nd June
(full game recording)
Euro 2004 (British Eurosport) - 9:15am - 11:15am and 1:30pm - 3:30pm - Tuesday, 22nd June

(full game recording)
Notes Highlights of the other final game in the group, between France and Switzerland, which was shown live on the BBCi interactive service via the red button, were shown at full-time during the live coverage of England's game. It was also shown live on British Eurosport, with highlights in the later programmes. They also repeated both of the previous night's games in full; between Greece and Russia, and Portugal and Spain. S4C broadcast one of the previous week's semi-final second legs in the Copa Toyota Libertadores de América at 3:50am (Tuesday), whilst recent action from Argentina's Primera División was featured on five, half an hour later.


817

 

Thursday, 24 June 2004 - Portugal 2 England 2 [0-1]ᴭᵀ
6-5 on penalty-kicks
Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, Bairro Dona Leonor, Lisboa - Kick-off 7.45pm BST
Live Euro 2004 (British Eurosport) - 7:15pm - 11:00pm (approximately)
commentators
Dave Farrar and Paul Elliott

Match of the Day Live Euro 2004
(BBC One) - 7:30pm - 11:00pm (approximately)
commentators
John Motson and Joe Royle
Euro 2004 (ITV1) - 11:05pm - 12:05am
Anglia, Border, Central, Channel, Granada, London, Meridian, Tyne Tees, Ulster, Wales, West, Westcountry and Yorkshire
Grampian and Scottish
- 11:50pm - 12:50am

commentators
Clive Tyldesley and Andy Townsend
(recorded highlights)
Euro 2004 Extra Time (British Eurosport) - 11:15pm - 11:45pm and 7:45am - 8:15am - Friday, 25th June
(recorded highlights)

Euro 2004 (ITV1
- all regions) - 1:00am - 3:30am (approximately) - Friday, 25th June
(full game recording)
Match of the Day Euro 2004 Replay (BBC One) - 1:55am - 4:25am (approximately) - Friday, 25th June
Match of the Day Euro 2004 Replay (BBC One Wales) - 2:25am - 4:55am
(approximately) - Friday, 25th June
(full game recording)
Euro 2004 (British Eurosport) - 9:15am - 11:45am
(approximately) - Friday, 25th June
(full game recording)
Notes After midnight, five broadcast a repeat of the final of the UEFA Under-21 Championship between Italy, and Serbia and Montenegro, from two weeks earlier. This was followed by action from Argentina's Primera División, including Velez Sarsfield against San Lorenzo from four nights earlier, before rounding off with Major League Soccer from the United States. S4C, meanwhile, were showing action from the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A. Futbol Mundial was on Sky Sports 1.

Season 2004-05
Other England Internationals
Tuesday, 17th August 2004 - Under-21
Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough
England 3 Ukraine 1 -
Sky Sports 1 - 7:30pm - 10:30pm
commentator Martin Tyler
Sky Sports 1 - 12:00am - 1:30am, 10:00am - 11:30am and 1:00pm - 2:30pm - Wednesday, 18th August
(recorded highlights)


818

Wednesday, 18 August 2004 -
England 3 Ukraine 0 [1-0]
St James' Park, Gallowgate, Newcastle upon Tyne
- Kick-off 7.45pm BST
Match of the Day Live (BBC One) - 7:30pm - 9:55pm
commentators
John Motson and Mark Lawrenson
(BBC Northern Ireland opted out)
International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 10:30pm - 12:00am, 2:30am - 4:00am, 12:00pm - 1:30pm and 3:30pm - 5:00pm - Thursday, 19th August
commentators
Martin Tyler and Glenn Hoddle
(recorded highlights)
Notes Sky Sports 1 had two live games, beginning with Wales' trip to Latvia, followed by Scotland against Hungary which was repeated at 12:30am, whilst BBC One Scotland's Sportscene was showing highlights from midnight. There were also three showings of Football Asia and one of Futbol Mundial, and Sky Sports 2 had live coverage of the Republic of Ireland's game with Bulgaria, with BBC One Northern Ireland's Match of the Day from Northern Ireland showing their friendly in Switzerland live. Channel 4 broadcast a recent match from the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A at 2:30am (Thursday), whilst five replayed the previous month's annual Major League Soccer All-Stars game between the Eastern and Western Conferences in Washington.
Other England Internationals Thursday, 19th August 2004 - Women
Memorial Stadium, Bristol
England 1 Russia 2 -
Sky Sports 1 - 7:30pm - 9:30pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 12:00am - 2:00am, 7:00am - 9:00am and 2:00pm - 4:00pm - Friday 20th August
(full game recording)


819

Saturday, 4 September 2004 -
Austria 2 England 2 [0-1]
Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Leopoidstod, Wien - Kick-off 8.30pm (7:30pm BST)
International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 7:00pm - 10:00pm
commentators
Martin Tyler and Glenn Hoddle
International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 12:00am - 2:00am, 4:00am - 6:00am and 7:00am - 9:00am - Sunday, 5th September
(full game recording)
Notes After two showings of UEFA Champions League Weekly in the morning, Sky Sports 1 had three live games before the England game. Firstly, it was a goalless encounter between Carlisle United and Burton Albion in the Nationwide Conference, followed by two World Cup qualifiers; the Republic of Ireland against Cyprus, and Wales' trip to Azerbaijan. Highlights of all but the Irish game were shown later in the evening. BBC One broadcast Northern Ireland's opening qualifier with Poland in England's group in Match of the Day Live in the afternoon, with BBC One Northern Ireland producing its own programme (Match of the Day from Northern Ireland). Sky Sports 2 repeated highlights from the previous night's game in League 2 of the Coca-Cola Football League between Wycombe Wanderers and Oxford United. Goals from the afternoon's games in Leagues 1 and 2 would have appeared on Sky Sports News during the evening. S4C ended the day at 2:40am with action from the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A.
Other England Internationals
Tuesday, 7th September 2004 - UEFA Under-21 Championship Qualifying
Stadion Miejskiego Ośrodka Sportu i Rekreacji, Rybnik
Poland 1 England 3 -
Sky Sports 1 - 5:30pm - 7:30pm
commentator
Martin Tyler and Glenn Hoddle
Sky Sports 1 - 12:30am - 2:30am
, 10:00am - 12:00pm and 1:30pm - 3:30pm - Wednesday, 8th September
(full game recording)


820

Wednesday, 8 September 2004 - Poland 1 England 2 [0-1]
Stadion Śląski, Katowicka, Chorzów - Kick-off 8.30pm (7.30pm BST)
International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 6:00pm - 11:30pm
commentators
Martin Tyler and Glenn Hoddle
International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 1:30am - 4:00am, 6:30am - 9:00am and 12:30pm - 3:00pm - Thursday, 9th September
(recorded highlights)
Notes The programme also included the highlights from three other World Cup qualifiers shown live that night. These were Wales against Northern Ireland on Sky Sports 2, Scotland entertaining Slovenia on Sky Sports 3 and the Republic of Ireland's trip to Switzerland on Sky Sports Xtra. There were three showings of Football Asia on Sky Sports 1 and one on Sky Sports 2, and Futbol Mundial was also shown on Sky Sports 1. British Eurosport had a round-up of qualifying action at 10:15pm, including the game in Cardiff. Bravo had delayed coverage of the friendly between Germany and Brazil at 10:00pm, whilst the recent Eredivisie game between Vitesse Arnhem and Feyenoord was shown at 4:20am (Thursday) on five.
Other England Internationals Wednesday, 6th October 2004 - Under-19
Carrow Road, Norwich
England 1 Czech Republic 1
- Sky Sports 1 - 7:30pm - 10:00pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 12:30am - 2:00am and 12:00pm - 1:30pm - Thursday, 7th October (recorded highlights)
Friday, 8th October 2004 - UEFA Under-21 Championship Qualifying
Ewood Park, Blackburn
England 2 Wales 0
- Sky Sports 1 - 7:30pm - 10:00pm
commentator
Sky Sports 2 - 12:00am - 2:00am - Saturday 9th October (full game recording)


821

Saturday, 9 October 2004 -
England 2 Wales 0
[1-0]
Old Trafford, Stretford, Manchester
- Kick-off 3.00pm BST
Match of the Day Live (BBC One) - 2:30pm - 5:20pm
commentators
John Motson and Graeme Le Saux
Match of the Day Wales (BBC One Wales) - 2:30pm - 5:20pm commentator Ian Gwyn Hughes
Y Clwb Pel-Droed Rhyngwladol (S4C) - 2:35pm - 5:00pm
commentator
Nic Parry
International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 5:00pm - 5:30pm, 2:30am - 3:00am and 8:30am - 9:00am - Sunday, 10th October
commentator
Martin Tyler
(recorded highights)
Match of the Day Replay (BBC One) - 1:40am - 3:20am - Sunday, 10th October
(full game recording)
Notes UEFA Champions League Weekly was shown twice on Sky Sports 1 in the morning, before Barnet put five goals past Dagenham & Redbridge in the Nationwide Conference, followed by the World Cup qualifier between Scotland and Norway, and then Azerbaijan against Northern Ireland, and Austria versus Poland, the other two games played in England's group. Highlights were shown at midnight. BBC Two had live coverage of the Republic of Ireland's creditable draw against France in Paris in the evening. It was also covered live by British Eurosport, who followed it with the usual round-up of qualifying highlights. Sky Sports News may have shown the goals from the afternoon's six games in the Coca-Cola Football League. S4C finished the day with more action from the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A.
Other England Internationals Sunday, 10th October 2004 - Under-20
Galpharm Stadium, Huddersfield
England 1 Netherlands 0
- Sky Sports 2 - 12:30pm - 2:30pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 7:00pm - 8:00pm, 11:00pm - 12:00am, 6:00am - 7:00am, 8:00am - 9:00am and 1:30pm - 2:30pm - Monday, 11th October (recorded highlights)


822

Wednesday, 13 October 2004 -
 Azerbaijan 0 England 1
[0-1]
Tofiq Bəhramov adına Respublika Stadionu, Narimanov, Baku - Kick-off 9.30pm (5.30pm BST)
International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 5:00pm - 7:30pm
commentators
Martin Tyler and Glenn Hoddle
International Football (Sky Sports 1) 10:30pm - 11:30pm, 1:30am - 4:00am, 10:30am - 12:30pm and 1:30pm - 4:00pm - Thursday, 14th October
(recorded highlights)
Notes Sky Sports 1 followed England's game, with Wales against Poland in the same World Cup qualifying group, having covered the under-21 international between them live on the previous evening, with highlights being shown twice during the day, and also on Sky Sports 2 which also broadcast the Republic of Ireland's encounter with the Faroe Islands live. Wales' game was repeated on S4C at 10:30pm. Scotland's qualifier in Moldova was covered live by BBC One Scotland's Sportscene, whilst BBC Two Northern Ireland's Match of the Day from Northern Ireland broadcast their qualifier at home to Austria live. The latest edition of Football Asia was shown twice on Sky Sports 1 and once on Sky Sports 2. five ended the day by showing the recent goalless draw in the Eredivisie between Alkmaar and Ajax.
Other England Internationals
Thursday, 14th October 2004 - adidas Victory Shield (Under-16)
Parc Stebonheath, Llanelli
Wales 1 England 5 -
Sky Sports 1 - 7:30pm - 9:30pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 11:30pm - 1:30am, 10:00am - 12:00pm and 3:00pm - 5:00pm - Friday, 15th October
(full game recording)
Thursday, 4th November 2004 - adidas Victory Shield (Under-16)
Mourneview Park, Glenavon
Northern Ireland 1 England 3 -
Sky Sports 1 - 7:30pm - 9:30pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 12:00am - 2:00am and 7:00am - 9:00am - Friday, 5th November (full game recording)


823

Wednesday, 17 November 2004 - Spain 1 England 0 [1-0]
Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, Chamartín, Madrid - Kick-off 9.45pm (8.45pm GMT)
Match of the Day Live (BBC One) - 8:20pm - 10:45pm
commentators
John Motson and Mark Lawrenson
International Football - 11:00pm - 12:30am, 1:30am - 3:00am, 7:30am - 9:00am, 10:30am - 12:00pm and 4:00pm - 5:30pm (Sky Sports 1) and 1:30pm - 3:00pm (Sky Sports 2) - Thursday, 18th November
commentators
Martin Tyler and Glenn Hoddle
(recorded highlights)
Notes Sky Sports 1 had live coverage of Scotland's friendly with Sweden, with later highlights also appearing on BBC One Scotland's Sportscene. Earlier in the day, there were two showings on Sky Sports 1 of the previous night's live game on Sky Sports 2 between the Republic of Ireland and Croatia. Football Asia was shown on both Sky Sports 1 and 2, and Futbol Mundial appeared twice on Sky Sports 1. Bravo had delayed coverage of Ecuador's shock victory against defending champions, Brazil in a World Cup qualifier in Quito. British Eurosport repeated the previous day's match in the Women's Under-19 World Championship in Bangkok, where Canada came from three goals down against the eventual winners, Germany to draw. They also broadcast an edition of Eurogoals, plus two other football programmes, probably including Brazil's game with China in Bangkok which they had also shown live on the previous day. At 10:00pm, attention turned to Turkey's World Cup qualifier with Ukraine, played earlier in the evening. Channel 4 had action from the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A at 3:35am (Thursday), whilst five ended the night with Dutch football in the Eredivisie at 4:30am.
Other England Internationals Friday, 26th November 2004 - adidas Victory Shield (Under-16)
Bloomfield Road, Blackpool
England 0 Scotland 0 -
Sky Sports 1 - 7:30pm - 10:00pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 12:30am - 2:30am - Saturday, 27th November (full game recording)
Wednesday, 22nd December 2004 - Under-18
Victoria Park, Hartlepool
England 1 Scotland 0
- Sky Sports 1 - 6:00pm - 8:00pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 11:00pm - 1:00am and 12:00pm - 2:00pm - Thursday, 23rd December (full game recording)
Tuesday, 8th February 2005 - Under-21
Pride Park, Derby
England 1 Netherlands 2
- Sky Sports 1 - 7:30pm - 10:15pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 12:15am - 2:15am and 12:30pm - 2:30pm - Wednesday, 9th February (full game recording)


824

Wednesday, 9 February 2005 -
England 0
Netherlands 0
[0-0]
Villa Park, Aston, Birmingham - Kick-off 7.45pm GMT
Match of the Day Live (BBC One) - 7:30pm - 10:00pm
commentators
John Motson and Mark Lawrenson
International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 10:30pm - 11:30pm, 2:00am - 3:00am, 12:30pm - 1:30pm and 5:00pm - 6:00pm - Thursday, 10th February
commentators
Martin Tyler and Glenn Hoddle
(recorded highlights)
Match of the Day Replay (BBC One) - 12:45am - 2:25am - Thursday, 10th February
Match of the Day Replay (BBC One Wales) - 1:20am - 3:00am - Thursday, 10th February

(full game recording)
Notes British Eurosport had live coverage of the World Cup qualifier between Japan and North Korea at 10:30am (repeated in the afternoon), and then showed France's friendly with Sweden live in the evening. Sky Sports 1 replayed the previous night's under-21 international between Wales and Germany that had been shown live on Sky Sports 2, and presented the World Football Show and Futbol Mundial twice each. In the evening, Wales' friendly with Hungary was live on Sky Sports 1, with delayed coverage on S4C, and Sky Sports 2 had live coverage of the Republic of Ireland against Portugal. Highlights from both were shown on Sky Sports 1. BBC One Northern Ireland's Match of the Day from Northern Ireland showed highlights from their game with Canada. Viewers in the early hours of Thursday morning were entertained with action from Argentina's Primera División and the Eredivisie in the Netherlands on five.
Other England Internationals Friday, 25th March 2005 - UEFA Under-21 Championship Qualifying
Kingston Communications Stadium, Hull
England 2 Germany 2
-
Sky Sports 1 - 7:00pm - 10:00pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 1:30am - 3:00am and 7:30am - 9:00am - Saturday, 26th March (recorded highlights)


825

Saturday, 26 March 2005 - England 4 Northern Ireland 0 [0-0]
Old Trafford, Stretford, Manchester
- Kick-off 3.00pm GMT
Match of the Day Live (BBC One) - 2:30pm - 5:10pm
commentators
John Motson and Graeme Le Saux
Match of the Day from Northern Ireland (BBC One Northern Ireland) - 2:30pm - 5:10pm
commentator
Jackie Fullerton
International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 7:00pm - 8:30pm, 11:30pm - 2:00am BST, 3:30am - 5:00am and 7:30am - 9:00am - Sunday, 27th March
commentators
Martin Tyler and Glenn Hoddle
(recorded highights)
Match of the Day Replay (BBC One) - 2:10am - 3:50am - Sunday, 27th March
(full game recording)
Notes Sky Sports 1 began the day at 6:00am with highlights from the previous day's live under-21 international between Wales and Austria. The corresponding full international was also shown live at the same time as England's game, with later highlights shown twice, as well as delayed coverage in the evening on S4C. There were two other live matches on Sky Sports 1, beginning at 12:15pm with Boston United taking on Yeovil Town in the Nationwide Conference, and Poland playing Azerbaijan in England's group at 5:30pm. After 22 continuous hours of football on the channel, there was a further half-hour in UEFA Champions League Weekly at 5:00am, a programme that had earlier been broadcast on Sky Sports 2. The Republic of Ireland's World Cup qualifier in Israel was live on five at 5:50pm, with France taking on Switzerland in the same group at 8:00pm on Setanta Sports 1 and British Eurosport which had earlier shown World Cup qualifying action from the previous day in the Asian confederation involving the four nations that had already qualified for the following year's finals in Germany (Iran, Japan, Korea Republic and Saudi Arabia). Meanwhile, Scotland were in Milan to face Italy, and live on BBC One Scotland's Sportscene, whilst goals from the afternoon's League 1 and 2 games in the Coca-Cola Football League may have cropped up on Sky Sports News. Finally, Setanta Sports 1 twice showed highlights from the midweek Setanta Cup tie between Shelbourne and Portadown, along with recent highlights from the Italian Serie A TIM and the French Ligue 1.
Other England Internationals Tuesday, 29th March 2005 - UEFA Under-21 Championship Qualifying
Riverside Stadium, Middlesbrough
England 2 Azerbaijan 0 -
Sky Sports 2 - 7:30pm - 10:00pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 1:00am - 2:00am, 11:30am - 12:30pm and 3:00pm - 4:00pm - Wednesday, 30th March
(recorded highlights)


826

Wednesday, 30 March 2005 - England 2 Azerbaijan 0 [0-0]
St James' Park, Gallowgate, Newcastle upon Tyne
- Kick-off 7.45pm BST
Match of the Day Live (BBC One) - 7:30pm - 10:00pm
Match of the Day Live (BBC Two Scotland) - 7:30pm - 10:00pm
commentators
John Motson and Mark Lawrenson
International Football - 10:30pm - 11:30pm, 3:00am - 4:00am and 3:00pm - 4:00pm (Sky Sports 1) and 12:00pm - 1:00pm (Sky Sports 2) - Thursday, 31st March
commentators
Martin Tyler and Glenn Hoddle
(recorded highlights)
Match of the Day Replay (BBC One) - 1:25am - 3:10am - Thursday, 31st March
(full game recording)
Notes Sky Sports 1 had shown the previous night's friendly between the Republic of Ireland and China live, and repeated the highlights twice during the day. The World Football Show and Futbol Mundial were also on twice each. The two other matches in England's group were shown live in the evening; Austria against Wales on Sky Sports 1, and Poland versus Northern Ireland on Sky Sports 2. British Eurosport broadcast the World Cup qualifier between Japan and Bahrain live at 11:30am, whilst the new British Eurosport 2 channel was showing Korea Republic against Uzbekistan live, half-an-hour later. There was then the usual two-hour round-up of qualifying highlights on British Eurosport at 10:00pm. Setanta Sports 1 had live coverage of Israel against France in the Republic of Ireland's qualifying group, after repeating the weekend's game between France and Switzerland, and also showed highlights from the Setanta Cup game between Cork City and Shelbourne from two nights earlier. At 4:20am (Thursday) five had a re-run of PSV Eindhoven's recent stunning four-goal thrashing of Ajax in the Amsterdam ArenA in the Eredivisie, whilst Bravo recorded Uruguay's World Cup qualifier with Brazil for showing on the following evening.
Other England Internationals Thursday, 21st April 2005 - Women
Prenton Park, Birkenhead
England 2 Scotland 1
-
Sky Sports 3 - 7:30pm - 10:00pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 1:00am - 3:00am and 11:00am - 1:00pm Sky Sports Xtra - 3:00pm - 5:00pm - Friday, 22nd April
(full game recording)
Thursday, 5th May 2005 - UEFA Under-17 Championship
Stadio Ettori Mannucci, Pontedera
Turkey 3 England 2 - British Eurosport - 5:00pm - 6:45pm
commentator
Thursday, 26th May 2005 - Women
Bescot Stadium, Walsall
England 4 Czech Republic 1
-
Sky Sports 1 - 7:30pm - 10:00pm
commentator
Sky Sports 1 - 12:00am - 2:00am and 12:30pm - 2:30pm Sky Sports 3 - 4:00pm - 6:00pm - Friday, 27th May
(full game recording)


827

 

Saturday, 28 May 2005 - United States 1 England 2 [0-2]
Soldier Field, Near South Side, Chicago - Kick-off 2.05pm (8.05pm BST)
International Football (Sky Sports 1) - 7:30pm - 10:30pm
commentators
Martin Tyler and Trevor Francis
Match of the Day (BBC One) - 11:40pm - 12:20am
(may have been later on BBC One Scotland)
commentators
John Motson and Graeme Le Saux
(recorded highlights)
International Football (Sky Sports 1) 12:00am - 1:30am and 7:30am - 9:00am - Sunday, 29th May
(recorded highlights)
Notes BBC One Scotland's Sportscene and Sky Sports 1 broadcast live coverage in the afternoon of the Tennent's Scottish Cup Final between Celtic and Dundee United, whilst Sky Sports 2 was showing the promotion play-off final in League 2 of the Coca-Cola Football League between Lincoln City and Southend United from Cardiff. Highlights from both were shown in the early hours on Sky Sports 1, with highlights of the Scottish Cup Final in a later edition of Sportscene on BBC One Scotland. There were also three showings of UEFA Champions League Weekly on Sky Sports 1, in the week that Liverpool sensationally won the trophy on penalties. Channel 4 and S4C had a late-night programme of recent action from South America in the Copa Libertadores.


828

 

Tuesday, 31 May 2005 - Colombia 2 England 3 [1-2]
Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey - Kick-off 4.00pm (9.00pm BST)
Match of the Day Live (BBC One) - 8:55pm - 11:00pm
commentators
John Motson and Graeme Le Saux
International Football - 11:30pm - 1:30am, 7:00am - 9:00am, 1:00pm - 3:00pm and 7:00pm - 9:00pm (Sky Sports 1) and 3:30am - 5:30am (Sky Sports 2) - Wednesday, 1st June
commentators
Martin Tyler and Trevor Francis
(full game recording)
Notes During the day, Sky Sports 1 twice showed the highlights from the previous day's Coca-Cola Football League promotion play-off final in Cardiff between Preston North End and West Ham United, and they were also shown on Sky Sports 2, whilst Sky Sports 1 had three showings of recent Spanish action in Revista De La Liga, and two of Football Asia. British Eurosport showed Eurogoals twice, and had live coverage of France's game with Hungary in the evening.
Other England Internationals Thursday, 2nd June 2005 - Under-20
Stade Mayol, Toulon - Tournoi Espoirs de Toulon
Tunisia 0 England 2
- British Eurosport - 7:30pm - 9:30pm
commentato
r Dave Farrar
British Eurosport - 9:30am - 11:00am - Friday, 3rd June
(full game recording)
Saturday, 4th June 2005 - Under-20
Stade Victor Marquet, La Seyne-sur-Mer - Tournoi Espoirs de Toulon
Portugal 1 England 2
- British Eurosport - 5:00pm - 7:00pm
commentato
r Dave Farrar
Sunday, 5th June 2005 - UEFA Women's Championship
City of Manchester Stadium
England 3 Finland 2
Match of the Day Live Women's Euro 2005 (BBC Two) - 6:40pm - 9:00pm
commentators Steve Wilson and Marianne Spacey
(included highlights from the opening match at Blackpool, between Denmark and Sweden)
British
Eurosport - (approximately) 6:50pm - 9:30pm
commentator
British Eurosport - 10:30am - 12:00pm - Monday, 6th June
(recorded highlights)
Monday, 6th June 2005 - Under-20
Stade Victor Marquet, La Seyne-sur-Mer - Tournoi Espoirs de Toulon
Korea Republic 0 England 3
- British Eurosport - 4:00pm - 5:45pm
commentato
r Dave Farrar
Wednesday, 8th June 2005 - Under-20
Stade Mayol, Toulon - Tournoi Espoirs de Toulon Semi-Final
France 0 England 0
France won 5-4 on penalties
British Eurosport - 4:00pm - 5:45pm
commentato
r Dave Farrar
Wednesday, 8th June 2005 - UEFA Women's Championship
Ewood Park, Blackburn
England 1 Denmark 2
Match of the Day Live Women's Euro 2005 (BBC Two) - 5:45pm - 8:00pm
commentators Steve Wilson and Marianne Spacey
British
Eurosport - 5:45pm - 7:55pm (approximately)
commentator
British Eurosport - 8:00am - 9:00am - Thursday, 9th June
(recorded highlights)
Friday, 10th June 2005 - Under-20
Stade Mayol, Toulon - Tournoi Espoirs de Toulon Third-Place Play-Off
Mexico 1 England 1
England won 3-2 on penalties
British Eurosport - 5:00pm - 6:45pm
commentato
r Dave Farrar
Saturday, 11th June 2005 - UEFA Women's Championship
Ewood Park, Blackburn
England 0 Sweden 1
Match of the Day Live Women's Euro 2005 (BBC Two) - 5:45pm - 8:25pm
(included highlights from the other final match in the group at Blackpool, between Denmark and Finland)
Match of the Day Live Women's Euro 2005 (BBC Two Wales) - 5:45pm - 7:50pm
commentators Steve Wilson and Marianne Spacey
British
Eurosport - (approximately) 7:50pm - 10:00pm
commentator
(full game recording, assuming that Denmark v. Finland was shown live, otherwise live from 6:00pm to 8:00pm)
British Eurosport - 7:30am - 8:45am - Sunday, 12th June
(recorded highlights)

Saturday, 1 September 2001

WORLD CUP QUALIFYING

Germany 1 England 5

(BBC commentary transcript - John Motson)

As Germany took the lead in the sixth minute...

Hamann now sees an opportunity to put Ballack in possession, and Neuville to Jancker! It's a goal for Germany, and it's Carsten Jancker! Only six minutes gone and the Bayern Munich player strikes first on his home ground. The build-up was slow at first, but suddenly, they exploded from midfield.

As Michael Owen equalised, six minutes later...

Beckham takes, Gerrard waiting here! As, er, Campbell getting in first. Now, it's come all the way back to Neville. Now, are they offside? No, they're not! There's a chance of an equaliser here, and they've done it! Michael Owen, yet again, for England! It's the Germans' turn to stand like statues!

As Steven Gerrard scored in the fourth minute of added time at the end of the first half...

Beckham takes, not one of his better ones, but it's a second chance for him to get the ball in. Gerrard, ooh, it's in...in, yes! Gerrard's shot was deflected, but it's two-one, England!...First sightings, I thought maybe it just brushed Michael Owen as it went through, but I don't think anybody does get a touch. Barmby, who nearly touched it, but it's a goal for Gerrard.

As Owen scored England's third, in the third minute of the second half...

Beckham, now, can he finish? Heskey, oh, heads it down, Owen, again!...and England have gone into a three-one lead here in Munich! Michael Owen gets his second of the match! Oh, fantastic stuff.

As Owen completed his hat-trick in the 66th minute...

Oh, Owen's through again for England! What a chance for the hat-trick here! Owen! Oh, this is getting better and better and better! One-two-three for Michael Owen! England lead four-one in Germany! Pinch yourself, please.

As Emile Heskey scored the fifth in the 74th minute...

Rio Ferdinand to Scholes, Beckham, Scholes again. Now, Heskey's to his left, unmarked! Emile Heskey, could it be five?! Yes, it is! This is developing into one of the most memorable performances that an England team has put up in recent years.

Friday, 21 June 2002

WORLD CUP QUARTER-FINAL

Brazil 2 England 1

(BBC commentary transcript - John Motson)

As Michael Owen put England in front in the 23rd minute...

Heskey, Owen's sprinting away to the left, here, against Lúcio. Michael Owen for England, with a great chance, and he's scored! Michael Owen, against Brazil in the World Cup, in the twenty-third minute! England are in front! Michael Owen and England, sizzling in the heat of Shizuoka, and after this, the sausages'll be sizzling back home, I should think!

As Rivaldo equalised in the second minute of added time at the end of the first half... 

...and here's Ronaldinho, with Rivaldo making a run down the centre, and Ronaldo to his left. It's Ronaldinho! Oh, it's Rivaldo for Brazil, he's equalised! It's one-one, and it's Rivaldo! The goal came in the forty-seventh minute, and Brazil are level, and the Rs, there, ripped England apart!

As Ronaldinho lobbed David Seaman to give Brazil the lead, just four minutes into the second half...

Oh, and Seaman's been beaten, it's a goal! It's Ronaldinho, he's scored direct from the free kick! Ronaldinho has made it two-one, Brazil, and everybody was watching those in the penalty area! Maybe, Seaman was, as well, the ball went over his head!

(ITV commentary transcript - Clive Tyldesley)

Ronaldinho takes, and David Seaman's come off his line, and Brazil take the lead! Ronaldinho has scored, David Seaman is caught cold. A surprise, surprise goal from the Brazilian, a rueful moment for Seaman, and England must come from behind, somehow.

Sunday, 13 June 2004

EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP

France 2 England 1

(ITV commentary transcript - Clive Tyldesley)

As Frank Lampard put England in front in the 38th minute...

Sol Campbell is forward, King is in there, too. Beckham takes it, towards King, it's in! It's Frank Lampard for England! Beckham's free kick, turned in by Frank Lampard, and those three little words that mean so much, England lead France!

As England were awarded a penalty in the 72nd minute... 

...and Rooney has escaped Thuram. What a run by Wayne Rooney, it's Henry, who's chasing him. Oh, he's brought down, is he, by Silvestre?! He's given it, penalty to England! Wayne Rooney, fearless, ran at the heart of the French defence, committed Mikaël Silvestre, and has won a penalty, and England have a chance, here, to double their money. What a run!

SIR BOBBY ROBSON: I think, er, Silvestre might be even lucky to be on the pitch, because, I think, possibly, he's 'last man'. It could have been a red card, it's a certain penalty, wonderful run by Rooney!

David Beckham scored that critical penalty against Argentina. Oh, and Barthez has denied him! His former Manchester United team-mate, with a spectacular save, keeps out Beckham!

As Zidane took a free kick in the first minute of added time...

Zidane, oh, brilliant, absolutely brilliant! England have been denied by a touch of sorcery from the best player in the world, Zinedine Zidane, denied in the ninetieth minute. James never moved, total spectator to an unstoppable free kick.

As France were awarded a penalty, just over a minute later...

SIR BOBBY ROBSON: The important thing is, we mustn't lose this game, ohhh!

Gerrard's backpass, and here's Henry! He's been brought down by James, it has to be a penalty, and David James is yellow-carded!

SIR BOBBY ROBSON: I can't believe it, it cannot be!

The finest midfield player in the world has equalised, the finest forward in world football has won a penalty, and just about, the finest player in English football, this season, Steven Gerrard, has gifted it to Thierry Henry. James stays on the field to face the penalty, but England, now, are looking down the barrel at defeat. Who will be the hero, Zinedine Zidane or David James? Zidane, two goals in stoppage time, and France are going to start the tournament with a win.


GI