Until 2007, the BBC had exclusive rights to top-flight football on national radio.
That changed on 11th August when talkSPORT aired live commentary
of Bolton Wanderers v Newcastle United from the Reebok Stadium. Jason
Bourne takes a look back at talkSPORT’s first season of live Premier League
coverage with lead-commentator Nigel Pearson.
The optimism of each club’s set of supporters reaches its peak on the opening
day of any football season. The possibilities of a new campaign, the chance to
win a trophy and the excitement of seeing new players for the first time ignites a
fragile optimism that could be severely dented just ninety minutes after kick-off. It
is these possibilities that enable listeners to be enthralled and engaged with the goings-on of a Premier League game on a Saturday afternoon giving talkSPORT the opportunity to be part of the matchday experience.
talkSPORT’s lead-commentator for their coverage this season was Nigel Pearson and remembers opening day clearly: “It was a great atmosphere and an ironic twist in the fixture list took Sam Allardyce back to the place where he did a magnificent job. Newcastle played well and deserved the win. Understandably it sparked high expectations, but the rest is history. It was a proud moment for the station, everyone was up for it and I was privileged to commentate on the first Premier League commentary ever on national commercial radio.”
Alongside Pearson throughout the season was Alvin Martin and says that the former West Ham defender works well with just about anyone on commentary matches: “His combination with Jim Proudfoot is excellent on European nights so we hit it off superbly up and down the country as the season progressed. It's all about the passion and excitement of the occasion and Alvin combines that superbly with technical analysis.”
Due to the nature of the deal with the Premier League, talkSPORT only had second choice pick of three o’clock fixtures on a Saturday afternoon giving BBC Radio Five Live first choice. However, this wasn’t a deciding factor as to which game gave the best entertainment to listeners as talkSPORT enjoyed a number of headline-grabbing games. Pearson singles out the beginning of Fulham’s attempt to climb out of the relegation spaces at Eastlands as one of his favourites: “Fulham looked doomed, but we did commentary on the start of their revival, a last gasp win at Manchester City with Diomansay Kamara scoring twice for Roy Hodgson’s men.”
On the final day of the season, live commentary came from Chelsea v Bolton in what could have been the deciding game in the Premier League title race, but with drama going on elsewhere, talkSPORT went into their “around-the-grounds” mode: “I thoroughly enjoyed the last day of the season, commentating at Stamford Bridge at the same time as spinning around the grounds on a regular basis with the table changing regularly. It was a day of high drama and we brought it all to our listeners,” says Pearson.
But with his West Bromwich Albion being promoted to the Premier League, Pearson is looking forward to commentating on them for talkSPORT but feels that there will be no bias in his commentary towards his team: “Naturally I'm delighted to see the Baggies in the Premier League and I look forward to commentating on them on talkSPORT. But I’ll probably be more critical with them than other teams and that's the nature of the business when you are covering your team, I feel.”
With at least another two seasons of Premier League commentaries, talkSPORT look set to compliment their live coverage of Champions League, Carling Cup Final and Football League Play-Off Finals with rights to the FA Cup and England home internationals. The station’s portfolio is getting ever larger as they aim to provide a competitive alternative to BBC Radio Five Live.
Making History
The Premier League on talkSPORT
May 2008 |
