| Ford Monday Night Football | |
|---|---|
| Format | Sports |
| Starring | Ed Chamberlin Gary Neville Alan Parry |
| Opening theme | 1997-2001; 2010- Absurd by Fluke |
| Country of origin | UK |
| Production | |
| Running time | Variable |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Sky Sports |
| Picture format | 576i (PAL) (1992-2005) 1080i (HDTV) (2005-) |
| Original run | 17 August 1992 – present |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Ford Monday Night Football (MNF) is a football programme on Sky Sports which broadcasts live English football generally from the Premier League.
Contents |
Sky television's acquisition of rights to broadcast live Premier League football from the start of the 1992–93 season saw them attempt innovations such as digital on-screen graphics (DOG) and Monday Night live games. The first Monday Night Football game was between Manchester City and Queens Park Rangers on 17 August 1992.[1] To give the broadcasts a different look to the Ford Super Sunday broadcast Sky introduced the Sky Strikers, a dance troupe similar to American cheerleaders.[2] This pre-match and half-time entertainment was dropped after the first season.
The show had a number of different formats after its launch. The first change led to the merging of Andy Gray's Boot Room format into the show; analysing the previous weekends football matches utilising the latest computer technology combined with analyses from Andy himself. As the UEFA Champions League gained in importance for Premier League clubs, the number of games played on Monday night declined. Sky Sports then reverted to a format similar to that of Ford Super Sunday with a presenter (Jeff Stelling) and studio guests.
In 2004–05, the analysis section was then incorporated into an additional programme shown after Ford Super Sunday called Ford Super Sunday: The Last Word.
The show ended after the 2006–2007 season when Setanta and subsequently ESPN obtained the rights for Monday night Premier League games.
Monday Night Football returned from the 2010–2011 season after BSkyB regained the rights to Monday Night Premier League games. It will also be the first time the show is broadcast in High Definition on Sky Sports HD. Due to the structure of the broadcasting packages for the 2010–13 seasons, Sky will show a minimum of 12 live Premier League games on Monday nights.[3]
Before the departures of Richard Keys and Andy Gray, the programme had a different appearance to Super Sunday, presented by Keys and Gray from a purpose-built studio with Andy Gray's analysis also returning from its Sunday evening slot. Since the pair left Sky in January 2011, the first half hour of analysis has been dropped, and for the remainder of the season the show was presented from the stadium in largely the same format as Sunday or midweek Premier League matches with a rotation of presenters and pundits, although the distinct "MNF" branding and graphics were retained.
Ed Chamberlin has been given the presenting role for the 2011–12 season, with Gary Neville as the new analyst. The show also returned to its previous format in the purpose-built analysis studio, with Chamberlin and Neville carrying out the same roles as Keys and Gray the previous season.[4]