Fantasy Football League is a British television

British television

Public television broadcasting started in the United Kingdom in 1936, and now has a collection of free and subscription services over a variety of distribution media, through which there are over 480 channelsTaking the base Sky EPG TV Channels. A breakdown is impossible due to a) the number of...

 programme hosted by Frank Skinner

Frank Skinner

Frank Skinner is a British writer, comedian and actor. He is best known for his television presenting, often alongside David Baddiel, with whom he also collaborated for the football song "Three Lions."He is a radio presenter on the Saturday morning slot on Absolute Radio.-Youth and early career...

 and David Baddiel

David Baddiel

David Lionel Baddiel is an English comedian, novelist and television presenter.-Early life:Baddiel was born in New York, and moved to England when he was four months old. His father, Colin Brian Baddiel, was a Welsh research chemist with Unilever before being made redundant in the 1980s, after...

. The Programme began on BBC Radio 5

BBC Radio 5 (former)

BBC Radio 5 was a BBC radio network that carried sport, children's and educational programmes.It was transmitted via analogue radio on 693 and 909 kHz, and lasted for three years and eight months. The success of BBC Radio 4's coverage of the Gulf War, on a service known as Scud FM,...

 and was hosted by Dominik Diamond

Dominik Diamond

Paul Dominik Diamond is a Scottish television and radio presenter and newspaper columnist. He is best known as the original presenter of Channel 4's video gaming programme GamesMaster, as host of The Dominik Diamond Breakfast Show on Xfm Scotland and as a columnist for the Daily Star...

 before transferring to BBC 2

BBC Two

BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio...

, with three series being broadcast from January 1994 to May 1996 (followed by episodes during Euro 1996). The show then moved to ITV

ITV

ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

 for live specials on alternate nights throughout 1998 World Cup and then again through the 2004 European Championship

UEFA European Football Championship

The UEFA European Football Championship is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by UEFA . Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UEFA European Nations Cup, changing to the current...

.

It is not known if the show is ever likely to return. In its absence, Baddiel and Skinner instead went on to produce a series of podcasts for The Times

The Times

The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

, documenting their experiences while travelling across Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 at the 2006 World Cup

2006 FIFA World Cup

The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams representing 198 national football associations from all six...

. The success of these led to the duo being signed by Absolute Radio, where they hosted a similar show from South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 during the 2010 World Cup

2010 FIFA World Cup

The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...

.

Format

The format was originally heavily reliant on an actual fantasy football

Fantasy football (soccer)

Fantasy football is a game in which participants assemble an imaginary team of real life footballers and score points based on those players' actual statistical performance or their perceived contribution on the field of play. Usually players are selected from one specific division in a particular...

 league, made up of teams picked by regular guest celebrities at the point that the game became popular in the mid-1990s. Each week, one or more of the celebrities would appear on the show and chat about football and their fantasy line-ups. As the show progressed on television, however, the fantasy league was pushed to the background in favour of sketches and clips, and was eventually dropped altogether. The latter shows still had guest appearances, from the likes of Nick Hornby

Nick Hornby

Nick Hornby is an English novelist, essayist and screenwriter. He is best known for the novels High Fidelity, About a Boy, and for the football memoir Fever Pitch. His work frequently touches upon music, sport, and the aimless and obsessive natures of his protagonists.-Life and career:Hornby was...

, Damon Albarn

Damon Albarn

Damon Albarn is an English singer-songwriter and record producer who has been involved in many high profile projects, coming to prominence as the frontman and primary songwriter of Britpop band Blur...

, Peter Cook

Peter Cook

Peter Edward Cook was an English satirist, writer and comedian. An extremely influential figure in modern British comedy, he is regarded as the leading light of the British satire boom of the 1960s. He has been described by Stephen Fry as "the funniest man who ever drew breath," although Cook's...

 etc, although the departure of the fantasy team format meant it was less essential the guests had a decent football knowledge than before.

The television set was designed as a mock-up of the London flat where the hosts were purported to live (the two did indeed share a flat for some years, and the set was partially inspired by it), the idea being to represent the environment in which normal "lads" watch football at home. Celebrity guests would stand outside the "front door" of the set and ring the "doorbell" (always prompting Baddiel or Skinner to wonder out loud, "Who could that be?") before being let in and announced.

In the 'kitchen' area stood the third regular on the show, Angus Loughran

Angus Loughran

Angus Loughran is a British sports commentator and pundit. He appears regularly on television, newspapers and websites, usually concentrating on horse racing and football, such as the Daily Telegraph and online bookmaker Easyodds, writing tipping sections every day...

, referred to only as "Statto". Clad only in a dressing gown and pyjamas, he would dispense footballing facts and statistics on demand, particularly in the early shows when the fantasy league element was strongest. He was the butt of many of Frank and David's jokes, and was often made fun of for being apparently dull and naive, but quickly became an audience favourite (with chants of "Statto! Statto!" becoming common later in the run).

Other recurring moments in the show included:

• Phoenix from the Flames
  Phoenix from the Flames
  Phoenix from the Flames was a regular feature on the BBC/ITV show Fantasy Football League, which involved presenters David Baddiel and Frank Skinner recreating a famous moment from footballing history with one of the people involved at the time....
  
   - David and Frank recreate a famous moment from footballing history, usually with a retired pro or other famous footballing figure.
• Jeff Astle
  Jeff Astle
  Jeffrey "The King" Astle was an English footballer. He played 361 games for West Bromwich Albion, scoring 174 goals, and was one of the most iconic players in the history of the club...
  
   Sings - former West Bromwich Albion
  West Bromwich Albion F.C.
  West Bromwich Albion Football Club, also known as West Brom, The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion or WBA, are an English Premier League association football club based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands...
  
   player (and Frank's idol) Jeff Astle
  Jeff Astle
  Jeffrey "The King" Astle was an English footballer. He played 361 games for West Bromwich Albion, scoring 174 goals, and was one of the most iconic players in the history of the club...
  
   would come in at the end of the show and lead the guests in an improbable rendition of a classic song over the credits. A minute's silence was broadcast on the show in his memory in Euro 2004 due to his death two years earlier, and various ex-players (eg Simon Garner
  Simon Garner
  Simon Garner is an English former professional footballer. He is the record goal scorer for the English club Blackburn Rovers....
  
  , Brian Kilcline
  Brian Kilcline
  Brian Kilcline is an English former centre-half with Coventry City, Newcastle United, Notts County, Oldham Athletic, Swindon Town, Mansfield Town and Halifax Town, famous for his long hair and moustache....
  
  ) continued the tradition by singing on the show.
• The Big Hello - David and Frank would announce that they were going to say a 'Big Hello' to someone (usually some relatively obscure person with a connection to football) who would then say 'hello' on a pre-recorded video clip. The whole studio would then reply with a very loud (big!) "HELLO". After Germany
  Germany national football team
  The Germany national football team is the football team that has represented Germany in international competition since 1908. It is governed by the German Football Association , which was founded in 1900....
  
   were eliminated from Euro 2004, this was as a one-off changed to "A big goodbye" with the pre-recorded clip being the goal that knocked them out of the competition.
• A Few Things We've Noticed From Watching Football (this week/recently) - Amusing clips that may have gone unnoticed by the viewer when originally shown. These often provided the basis for sketches or other gags later in the episode.

Memorable moments

• Skinner and Baddiel performed a sketch with toys, using a Mr. Potato Head
  Mr. Potato Head
  Mr. Potato Head! is an American toy consisting of a plastic model of a potato which can be decorated with a variety of plastic parts that can attach to the main body. These parts usually include ears, eyes, shoes, a hat, a nose, and a mouth. The toy was invented and developed by George Lerner in...
  
   to portray Nottingham Forest manager Frank Clark and a toy footballer with a (genuine) pineapple on top to portray Forest striker Jason Lee
  Jason Lee (footballer)
  Jason Lee is an English footballer who plays as a forward for Boston United. He is currently also the club's joint manager.He has previously played in the Premier League for Nottingham Forest...
  
   and his unusual hairstyle. This led to Lee suffering torrents of abuse from fans at actual matches, including chants like "He's got a pineapple, on his head, he's got a pineapple, on his head!" (to the tune of He's Got The Whole World In His Hands
  He's Got the Whole World in His Hands
  "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" is a traditional American spiritual. It was first published in the paperbound hymnal Spirituals Triumphant, Old and New, in 1927. In 1933, it was collected by Frank Warner from the singing of Sue Thomas in North Carolina...
  
   by Laurie London). The frequent mention of his name first started, when In a Phoenix From The Flames sketch with Carlos Alberto
  Carlos Alberto Torres
  Carlos Alberto Torres is a former Brazilian footballer, one of the most highly regarded defenders of all time. He captained Brazil to victory in the 1970 World Cup and is a member of the World Team of the 20th Century, as well as the U.S...
  
  , the hosts started singing the theme song changing the words to "Pelé
  Pelé
  However, Pelé has always maintained that those are mistakes, that he was actually named Edson and that he was born on 23 October 1940.), best known by his nickname Pelé , is a retired Brazilian footballer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time...
  
   was shite, Pelé was shite 'e! he was worse than Jason Lee!". The following week a viewer who was a Nottingham Forest supporter, had a letter read out on the show saying it isn't right to insult him in such a way, with Frank then saying they'll never mention him again, only for Jeff Astle in his Jeff Astle Sings closing segment, to walk onto the set with an actual pineapple on his head, wearing a Nottingham Forest shirt.
• The programme featured a parody of Eric Cantona
  Eric Cantona
  Eric Daniel Pierre Cantona is a French actor and former French international footballer. He played for Auxerre, Martigues, Marseille, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Nîmes and Leeds United before ending his professional footballing career at Manchester United, where he won four Premier League titles in...
  
  's assault on a Crystal Palace
  Crystal Palace F.C.
  Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in...
  
   fan. In the sketch Frank said "Match of the Day
  Match of the Day
  Match of the Day is the BBC's main football television programme. Typically, it is shown on BBC One on Saturday evenings during the English football season, showing highlights of the day's matches in English football's top division, the Premier League...
  
  was boring!, all it was, was rugby
  Rugby football
  Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
  
  !", with Statto replying "Well, Five Nations Championship was quite good!". A member of the audience (who was part of the sketch) heckled him from the front row with a chant of "boring, boring Statto", and Statto flung himself slippers first into the audience.
• In the final series of the 1996 edition, Dave lost a bet with Frank, and as a forfeit a boxer dog named Boo-Boo had to lick off chocolate
  Chocolate
  Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...
  
   smothered on his face.
• During the later stages of the same episode, Jimmy Hill
  Jimmy Hill
  James William Thomas "Jimmy" Hill OBE is an English association football personality. His career has taken in virtually every role in football, including player, union leader, coach, manager, director, chairman, television executive, presenter, analyst and match official.-Early life:Hill was born...
  
   appeared on the show after returning from the Fulham F.C.
  Fulham F.C.
  Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...
  
   end of season dinner. As Jimmy was possibly drunk, Dave and Frank decided to confuse him about the short-ball game, by asking him questions about it, as it was famous that Hill favoured the long-ball instead.
• On one of the 1998 World Cup special episodes Johnny Rotten
  John Lydon
  John Joseph Lydon , also known by the former stage name Johnny Rotten, is a singer-songwriter and television presenter, best known as the lead singer of punk rock band the Sex Pistols from 1975 until 1978, and again for various revivals during the 1990s and 2000s...
  
   featured as a guest, but was ejected during the commercial break after becoming overly aggressive with the hosts.
• Jimmy Greaves
  Jimmy Greaves
  James Peter 'Jimmy' Greaves is an English former football player, England's third highest international goalscorer, the highest goalscorer in the history of Tottenham Hotspur football club, the highest goalscorer in the history of English top flight football and more recently a television pundit -...
  
   and Ian St John (Saint and Greavsie
  Saint and Greavsie
  Saint and Greavsie was a popular double act consisting of ex-footballers Ian St. John and Jimmy Greaves. It is best remembered for the ITV programme, Saint and Greavsie, that ran from 1985 to 1992. Previously the duo had presented "On the Ball" in the World of Sport show.-Format:Although Greaves...
  
  ) made a rare appearance back together as guests on the show during Euro 2004. St John admitted in his autobiography he had not enjoyed the experience.
• David Pleat
  David Pleat
  David John Pleat is an English football player turned manager and sports commentator.He is remembered by his contemporaries primarily for his career as manager of Tottenham Hotspur and Luton Town football clubs, and for an oft-televised clip of him running onto the pitch in 1983 to celebrate after...
  
   re-created his infamous dance around the Maine Road
  Maine Road
  Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England that was home to Manchester City F.C. from its construction in 1923 until 2003...
  
   pitch (after his Luton Town
  Luton Town F.C.
  Luton Town Football Club is an English professional football club based since 1905 at Kenilworth Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. The club currently competes in the fifth tier of English football, the Conference National, for the third consecutive season during the 2011–12 season.Formed in 1885, it was...
  
   team avoided relegation from the top flight there in April 1983) by galloping round the set
• The show commemorated the demolition of Liverpool F.C.
  Liverpool F.C.
  Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
  
  's Kop by staging a demolition of Statto's kitchen set during which the singer Jona Lewie
  Jona Lewie
  Jona Lewie is an English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.-Career:Jona Lewie joined his first group, The Johnston City Jazz Band, while still at school in 1963, and by 1968 had become a blues & boogie singer and piano player...
  
   appeared singing his 1980 hit "You Will Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Parties"
• Commentator John Motson
  John Motson
  John Walker Motson OBE ,AKA Motty, is an English football commentator on both television and radio as well a well known moter. He made his name as 'Moty' after he moted out the entire Huddersfield huddersfield cheerleaders team. writer.-Biography:The son of a Methodist minister, Motson was educated...
  
   appeared on the show with Birmingham City's young managing director Karren Brady
  Karren Brady
  Karren Brady is an English sporting executive, television broadcaster, newspaper columnist, author and novelist. She is the former managing director of Birmingham City Football Club and current vice-chairman of West Ham United...
  
   and appeared to be trying to chat her up. Brady treated his efforts with very obvious disdain.
• Until their relegation in 1994 many jokes were directed at Sheffield United for their long-ball playing style. Manager Dave Bassett
  Dave Bassett
  David Bassett , also frequently known by his nickname of Harry, is an English football manager and a former player....
  
   was not amused and referred contemptuously to "comedians" in subsequent interviews.
• In a one-off segment called The Video Shop, featuring Matt Le Tissier, the hosts also directed a long-ball joke at Wimbledon F.C in which Frank Skinner said it took him longer to get to the video shop than the length of a Wimbledon clearance. The sketch also made a joke aimed at Manchester United, when multiple copies of a fictional video of their history entitled The History of Manchester United came in various front cover designs, highlighting their continuous yearly change in strip colours. Skinner also read the blurb
  Blurb
  A blurb is a short summary or some words of praise accompanying a creative work, usually used on books without giving away any details, that is usually referring to the words on the back of the book jacket but also commonly seen on DVD and video cases, web portals, and news websites.- History :The...
  
   on the back of the video and sneered at the statement of Manchester United being The worlds most famous club. In recent years, Manchester United moved away from changing their shirt colours every year, to a fixtation with changing their shirt sponsor every season. Also, throughout that show Le Tissier was repeatedly heckled by a Portsmouth fan in the audience who shouted 'SCUMMER!'
  Southampton F.C.
  Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...
  
   at him, which is a name used by Portsmouth fans to insult southampton fans and players.
• Manchester United were the butt of another joke, in which Skinner and Baddiel played the parts of Alex Ferguson
  Alex Ferguson
  Sir Alexander Chapman "Alex" Ferguson, CBE is a Scottish association football manager and former player, currently managing Manchester United, where he has been in charge since 1986...
  
   and his then dugout assistant Brian Kidd
  Brian Kidd
  Brian Kidd is an English football coach and former player, who is currently Assistant Manager to Roberto Mancini at Manchester City....
  
  . The sketch made references to the teams then tendency to constantly rely on using young players, referred to in the media as the teams "Kids", in which toddlers were warming up on the sidelines by running up and down past the dugout. Ferguson and Kidd are at the same time arguing over the teams then grey shirts, claiming their players are having difficulty picking out their own players, due to the shirts colour mixing in with the crowd. This is a reference to an infamous excuse Alex Ferguson made in 1995, when his team were 3-0 down at half time to Southampton
  Southampton F.C.
  Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...
  
   in a Premier League match. In the sketch itself Brian Kidd says they paid a lot of money to Umbro
  Umbro
  Umbro is an English sportswear and football equipment supplier based in Cheadle, Greater Manchester, England. The company is now part of Nike. Umbro designs, sources, and markets sport-related apparel, footwear, and equipment...
  
   for the shirts, and suggests that at half time Southampton should wear different shirts (instead of Man Utd changing to blue and white like in the real game), only for Brian Kidd to hold up a shirt displaying a crowd scene.

Guests

The show was noted for its guests, which were a mixture of football people and celebrities. They included:

• Gary Megson
  Gary Megson
  Gary John Megson is an English former football player and is currently manager of Sheffield Wednesday.He has previously managed Norwich City, Blackpool, Stockport County, Stoke City, West Bromwich Albion, Nottingham Forest, Leicester City and Bolton Wanderers...
  
  
• Damon Albarn
  Damon Albarn
  Damon Albarn is an English singer-songwriter and record producer who has been involved in many high profile projects, coming to prominence as the frontman and primary songwriter of Britpop band Blur...
  
  
• Danny Baker
  Danny Baker
  Danny Baker is an English comedy writer, journalist, radio DJ and screenwriter. Since the late 1970s, he has worked for a wide range of publications and broadcasters including NME, LWT, the BBC, and Talk Radio....
  
  
• Zoë Ball
  Zoë Ball
  Zoë Louise Ball is an English television and radio personality, most famous for becoming the first female host of the BBC Radio 1 breakfast show and for her earlier work presenting the 1990s children's show, Live & Kicking.-TV career:The daughter of the children's TV presenter Johnny Ball and his...
  
  
• Sean Bean
  Sean Bean
  Shaun Mark "Sean" Bean is an English film and stage actor. Bean is best known for playing Boromir in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy and, previously, British Colonel Richard Sharpe in the ITV television series Sharpe...
  
  
• Dani Behr
  Dani Behr
  Dani Behr is an English singer, actress and television presenter.-Early life:Behr was born in Mill Hill London, of South African Jewish descent. Her father is a partner in London estate agents Behr & Butchoff...
  
  
• Karren Brady
  Karren Brady
  Karren Brady is an English sporting executive, television broadcaster, newspaper columnist, author and novelist. She is the former managing director of Birmingham City Football Club and current vice-chairman of West Ham United...
  
  
• Jo Brand
  Jo Brand
  Josephine Grace "Jo" Brand is a BAFTA winning British comedian, writer, and actor.- Early life :Jo Brand was born 23 July 1957 in Wandsworth, London. Her mother was a social worker. Brand is the middle of three children, with two brothers...
  
  
• Ian Broudie
  Ian Broudie
  Ian Broudie is a British singer-songwriter, musician and record producer from Liverpool, England. After emerging from the post punk scene in Liverpool in the late 1970s as a member of Big in Japan, Broudie went on to form the short-lived groups Original Mirrors and Care in the early 1980s as well...
  
  
• Basil Brush
  Basil Brush
  Basil Brush is a fictional anthropomorphic fox raconteur, best known for his appearances on daytime British children's television. He is primarily portrayed by a glove puppet, but has also been depicted in animated cartoon shorts and comic strips...
  
  
• Terry Christian
  Terry Christian
  Terry Christian is a British television and radio presenter whose credits include Channel 4's late night Youth Entertainment show The Word and ITV1 moral issues talk show It's My Life...
  
  
• Peter Cook
  Peter Cook
  Peter Edward Cook was an English satirist, writer and comedian. An extremely influential figure in modern British comedy, he is regarded as the leading light of the British satire boom of the 1960s. He has been described by Stephen Fry as "the funniest man who ever drew breath," although Cook's...
  
  
• Elvis Costello
  Elvis Costello
  Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
  
  
• Phil Daniels
  Phil Daniels
  Philip W. "Phil" Daniels is an English actor, most noted for film and television roles as "cockneys" such as Jimmy in Quadrophenia, Richards in Scum, Stewart in The Class of Miss MacMichael, Mark in Meantime, Kevin Wicks in EastEnders, DCS Frank Patterson in New Tricks and Edward Kitchener "Ted"...
  
  
• Alan Davies
  Alan Davies
  Alan Davies is an English comedian, writer and actor best known for starring in the TV mystery series Jonathan Creek and as the permanent panellist on the TV panel show QI.- Early life :...
  
  
• Dickie Davies
  Dickie Davies
  Richard "Dickie" Davies is a British television presenter, best known for presenting World of Sport from 1968 until 1985....
  
  
• Jennifer Ellison
  Jennifer Ellison
  Jennifer Lesley Ellison is an English actress, glamour model, television personality, dancer and singer...
  
  
• Noel Gallagher
  Noel Gallagher
  Noel Thomas David Gallagher is an English musician and singer-songwriter, formerly the lead guitarist, backing vocalist and principal songwriter of the English rock band Oasis. He is currently fronting his solo project, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds.Raised in Burnage, Manchester with his...
  
  
• Paul Gascoigne
  Paul Gascoigne
  Paul John Gascoigne , commonly referred to as Gazza, is a retired English professional footballer.Playing in the position of midfield, Gascoigne's career included spells at Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur, Lazio, Rangers, Middlesbrough, Everton and Gansu Tianma, where he scored at least a goal...
  
  
• Uri Geller
  Uri Geller
  Uri Geller is a self-proclaimed psychic known for his trademark television performances of spoon bending and other supposed psychic effects. Throughout the years, Geller has been accused of using simple conjuring tricks to achieve the effects of psychokinesis and telepathy...
  
  
• Michael Grade
  Michael Grade
  Michael Ian Grade, Baron Grade of Yarmouth CBE is a British broadcast executive and businessman. He was BBC chairman from 2004 to 2006 and executive chairman of ITV plc from 2007 to 2009.-Early life:...
  
  
• Russell Grant
  Russell Grant
  Russell John Dammerall Grant is a British astrologer and media personality. He has written several books on Astrology, provides syndicated newspaper horoscopes and operates premium rate astrology phone lines. In March 2010, he began offering a "Pet Psychic" service...
  
  
• Andy Gray
• Jimmy Greaves
  Jimmy Greaves
  James Peter 'Jimmy' Greaves is an English former football player, England's third highest international goalscorer, the highest goalscorer in the history of Tottenham Hotspur football club, the highest goalscorer in the history of English top flight football and more recently a television pundit -...
  
  
• Nick Hancock
• Alan Hansen
  Alan Hansen
  Alan David Hansen is a Scottish former football player and BBC television football pundit. He played as a central defender for Partick Thistle, Liverpool and Scotland...
  
  
• Roy Hattersley
  Roy Hattersley
  Roy Sydney George Hattersley, Baron Hattersley is a British Labour politician, author and journalist from Sheffield. He served as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party from 1983 to 1992.-Early life:...
  
  
• Jimmy Hill
  Jimmy Hill
  James William Thomas "Jimmy" Hill OBE is an English association football personality. His career has taken in virtually every role in football, including player, union leader, coach, manager, director, chairman, television executive, presenter, analyst and match official.-Early life:Hill was born...
  
  
• Nick Hornby
  Nick Hornby
  Nick Hornby is an English novelist, essayist and screenwriter. He is best known for the novels High Fidelity, About a Boy, and for the football memoir Fever Pitch. His work frequently touches upon music, sport, and the aimless and obsessive natures of his protagonists.-Life and career:Hornby was...
  
  
• Lorraine Kelly
  Lorraine Kelly
  Lorraine Kelly is a Scottish television presenter, journalist and actress, best known as a presenter for TV-am, and later GMTV and ITV Breakfast, on Lorraine.-Early life:...
  
  
• Willy van de Kerkhof
  Willy van de Kerkhof
  Wilhelmus "Willy" Antonius van de Kerkhof is a former Dutch footballer.van de Kerkhof and his twin brother René were squad members of the Dutch national team that made the World Cup final in 1974 and became key players in the team that made the 1978 final...
  
   and René van de Kerkhof
  René van de Kerkhof
  Reinier "René" Lambertus van de Kerkhof is a former Dutch football player, who played for FC Twente and PSV Eindhoven....
  
  
• Jodie Kidd
  Jodie Kidd
  Jodie Kidd is an English television personality and fashion model.-Early life:Jodie was a showjumper as a child and attended St Michael's School, Petworth.-Family:Jodie is the granddaughter from Hon...
  
  
• Ledley King
  Ledley King
  Ledley Brenton King is an English footballer who plays for Tottenham Hotspur. He is the longest serving player at the club and captained Spurs since 2005. He is currently contracted to Tottenham until 2012...
  
  
• Sylvia Kristel
  Sylvia Kristel
  Sylvia Kristel is a Dutch actress, model and singer. Her most famous role is in the French film Emmanuelle.- Early life :...
  
  
• Eddie Large
  Eddie Large
  Eddie Large is the stage name of Edward Hugh McGinnis, a British comedian. He is best known as a partner in the double act Little and Large, with Syd Little....
  
  
• Matt Le Tissier
• Denis Leary
  Denis Leary
  Denis Colin Leary is an Irish-American actor, comedian, writer and director. Leary is known for his biting, fast paced comedic style and chain smoking...
  
  
• Matt Lucas
  Matt Lucas
  Matthew Richard "Matt" Lucas is an English comedian, screenwriter and actor best known for his acclaimed work with David Walliams in the television show Little Britain; as well as for his portrayals of the scorekeeping baby George Dawes in the comedy panel game Shooting Stars, Tweedledee and...
  
  
• John Lydon
  John Lydon
  John Joseph Lydon , also known by the former stage name Johnny Rotten, is a singer-songwriter and television presenter, best known as the lead singer of punk rock band the Sex Pistols from 1975 until 1978, and again for various revivals during the 1990s and 2000s...
  
  
• Desmond Lynam
• Neil Morrissey
  Neil Morrissey
  Neil Anthony Morrissey is an English actor, media personality and businessman. He is best known for his role as Tony in Men Behaving Badly....
  
  
• Bob Mortimer
  Bob Mortimer
  Robert "Bob" Renwick Mortimer is an English comedian and actor, who is best known for his double act with Vic Reeves...
  
  
• John Motson
  John Motson
  John Walker Motson OBE ,AKA Motty, is an English football commentator on both television and radio as well a well known moter. He made his name as 'Moty' after he moted out the entire Huddersfield huddersfield cheerleaders team. writer.-Biography:The son of a Methodist minister, Motson was educated...
  
  
• Al Murray
  Al Murray
  Alastair James Hay "Al" Murray , is a British comedian best known for his stand-up persona, The Pub Landlord, a stereotypical xenophobic public house licensee. In 2003, he was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy...
  
  
• Trevor Nelson
  Trevor Nelson
  Trevor Nelson MBE is an English DJ and presenter.Born in Hackney to a family of St Lucian heritage, he attended Central Foundation Boys' Grammar School in Cowper St, Islington, London EC2 and Westminster Kingsway College...
  
  
• Dermot O'Leary
  Dermot O'Leary
  Dermot O'Leary is an English television and radio presenter. He established himself as a presenter of Big Brother's Little Brother on Channel 4 before moving on to The X Factor on ITV. O'Leary has also presented on the BBC and has his own radio show on BBC Radio 2...
  
  
• Nick Owen
  Nick Owen
  Nicholas "Nick" Corbishley Owen is an English television presenter and newsreader, best known for presenting the breakfast television programme TV-am and the BBC's local news show Midlands Today since 1997...
  
  
• Ian St John
• Jimmy Tarbuck
  Jimmy Tarbuck
  Jimmy Tarbuck OBE or Tarby is an English comedian. Growing up he was a schoolmate of John Lennon.His first television show was It's Tarbuck 65! on ITV in 1964. He has also hosted numerous quiz shows, including Winner Takes All, Full Swing, and Tarby's Frame Game...
  
  
• Willie Thorne
  Willie Thorne
  William Joseph "Willie" Thorne , is a former English professional snooker player and now a sports commentator.Thorne became national under-16 champion at both snooker and English billiards in 1970...
  
  
• Susan Tully
  Susan Tully
  Susan Tully is an English television producer, director and former actress.Her most prominent television roles to date have been those of single mother Michelle Fowler in the BBC soap opera EastEnders and her pivotal part in early Grange Hill...
  
  

Theme song

The show's theme song consisted of the words "Fantasy Football League" sung over and over to the tune of "Back Home

Back Home (England song)

Back Home was a popular song written by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter. It was recorded by the 1970 England World Cup squad and released on the single Pye 7N 17920. It was produced by Martin and Coulter. The arrangements were made by Phil Coulter...

", the England

England national football team

The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

 team's official song from the 1970 World Cup

1970 FIFA World Cup

The 1970 FIFA World Cup, the ninth staging of the World Cup, was held in Mexico, from 31 May to 21 June. The 1970 tournament was the first World Cup hosted in North America, and the first held outside South America and Europe. In a match-up of two-time World Cup champions, the final was won by...

. After the move to ITV for the 1998 World Cup

1998 FIFA World Cup

The 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 16th FIFA World Cup, was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. France was chosen as host nation by FIFA on 2 July 1992. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3-0 in the final...

, the theme was changed to that formerly used by the channel's World of Sport

World of Sport (UK TV series)

World of Sport was a British television sport anthology programme which ran on ITV between 2 January 1965 to 28 September 1985 in response to competition from BBC's Grandstand...

series. For the Euro 2004 series, the theme was changed again to the one formerly used on the Saint and Greavsie

Saint and Greavsie

Saint and Greavsie was a popular double act consisting of ex-footballers Ian St. John and Jimmy Greaves. It is best remembered for the ITV programme, Saint and Greavsie, that ran from 1985 to 1992. Previously the duo had presented "On the Ball" in the World of Sport show.-Format:Although Greaves...

show.

The various cutaway segments in the show (such as Phoenix From The Flames) would usually be introduced by having their titles sung over the show's main theme tune (though a few clip series had their own specific music). The names of the celebrity guests were also sung in this way as they made their way into the "flat".