Soccer Saturday
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| Soccer Saturday | |
|---|---|
| Format | Football news |
| Starring | Jeff Stelling |
| Opening theme | Requiem for a Tower by Corner Stone Cues |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Running time | 360 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Sky Sports |
| Original airing | 1992 |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
Gillette Soccer Saturday is a television programme broadcast on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland during the football season. Soccer Saturday grew out of Sports Saturday, which started in 1992 hosted by Paul Dempsey. Current host Jeff Stelling joined the programme in 1994 and became its sole presenter a year later, the programme's name changing in 1998. It has been sponsored for many years by Gillette.
[edit] Format
Soccer Saturday is a weekly programme that starts at 12PM on Saturdays, with a runtime of up to six hours. Jeff Stelling hosts a panel of four experts who begin the show by debating the games coming up and the current issues in the sport. When the football matches kick off at 3pm the pundits watch a game each, usually from the FA Premier League or FA Cup. They report on significant incidents as they occur. Also included are live reports from a number of reporters at grounds across the country, while Stelling provides other latest scores. On screen there is video of the presenter and analysts, as well as on screen graphics which display latest scores and match details. After the games finish the studio pundits discuss the games they have been watching, and post-match interviews with players and managers are shown.
The programme is also broadcast when there are a number of midweek games, usually in the UEFA Champions League, in which case it is known as Soccer Special, and is hosted by Ian Payne and occasionally Ed Chamberlain. During the summer the show is replaced with Sports Saturday which is more akin to the show's original format, concentrating on sports other than football due to the absence of competitive football during the summer. This again is presented by Chamberlain.
[edit] Presenters and experts
The Team on a Normal Saturday would be
Host: Jeff Stelling Pundits: Matt Le Tissier, Paul Merson, Phil Thompson, Charlie Nicholas & Paul Walsh
Other Pundits at matches include: Alan McInally, Alan Smith, Chris Kamara, Scott Minto, Tony Cottee, Tony Gale, Peter Beagrie, Iain Dowie and John Salako
Rodney Marsh was a regular pundit, known for his outspoken views, until being sacked by Sky Sports in early 2005 after a poor taste joke referencing the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami[1]. The late George Best was also a regular until leaving in 2004 to fight alcohol problems.[citation needed]
The football results at the end of the day's matches are read by Alan Lambourne.
