Football First is an interactive television programme on Sky Sports

Sky Sports

Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...

 and since the 2010/11 season on Sky Sports HD and shows extended highlights of every Premier League match played on the day. It regularly airs on Saturdays at 8.25pm, and is currently presented by Sarah-Jane Mee. It is sponsored by Ford, who also sponsors the rest of Sky Sports English Premier League coverage and related programming.

Overview

The show first broadcasted on Saturday 14 August 2004, at 8.25pm with two main parts to the programme:

• GAME OF THE DAY: On-air at 8.25pm with the full 90 minutes of a match selected from the day's 3pm kick-offs. The decision on the Game of the Day is made after 5pm every Premier League match day, and announced on Soccer Saturday
  Soccer Saturday
  Gillette Soccer Saturday is a weekly television programme broadcast on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom and Ireland during the football season. The programme updates viewers on the progress of association football games in the United Kingdom and Ireland on Saturday afternoons. The current host is...
  
  by the Football First presenter.

• MATCH CHOICE: At 10.15 pm, a choice from extended highlights of every game played that day except matches shown live on ESPN
  ESPN (UK)
  ESPN is a sports television channel in the United Kingdom and Ireland owned by American sports broadcaster ESPN Inc. The channel launched on 3 August 2009...
  
   that day. Viewers on the Sky Digital
  Sky Digital (UK & Ireland)
  Sky is the brand name for British Sky Broadcasting's digital satellite television and radio service, transmitted from SES Astra satellites located at 28.2° east and Eutelsat's Eurobird 1 satellite at 28.5°E. The service was originally launched as Sky Digital, distinguishing it from the original...
  
  platform can choose extended highlights of up to eight games. Viewers who do not use the interactive service - or do not have Sky Digital - will see 50 minutes of highlights from one match.

After a full Match Choice, the programme's presenter along with a studio guest, usually a footballer such as John Salako

John Salako

John Salako is an English former professional football player who played for a variety of clubs and has also represented England at senior level. He was a part of the Crystal Palace team which reached the 1990 FA Cup Final. A severe knee injury sustained against Leeds United in 1991 put him out...

, Warren Barton

Warren Barton

Warren Dean Barton is a former English football player and a TV Pundit for Fox Soccer Channel.-Club career:...

, or Paul Walsh

Paul Walsh

Paul Anthony Walsh is a retired English footballer.Walsh was a diminutive and pacy centre forward who shot to fame in the 1980s during spells with Charlton, Luton, Liverpool and Tottenham.-Charlton Athletic:...

, discuss the main developments of the day.

The music currently used for the round-up of goals is a track from Kasabian - "Empire".

Restrictions

The match choice service is only available to UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and Republic of Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

 viewers, who subscribe to Sky Digital.

If more than eight matches are played on one match day, such as the final day of the season, one game is broadcast on the main channel (i.e. the one that non-interactive viewers watch) and is not included on the interactive service. If more than eight games still need to be offered, any games that were shown live on Sky Sports are not offered interactively.

Football First commentators

A number of commentators appear on Football First, including Sky's regulars such as Martin Tyler

Martin Tyler

Martin Tyler is an English football commentator who was voted as the FA Premier League Commentator of The Decade...

 and Rob Hawthorne

Rob Hawthorne

Rob Hawthorne is a football commentator currently working for Sky Sports. He is most notable for his commentating alongside Andy Gray in the 2005 UEFA Champions League Final in Istanbul.He was born in Dudley, Worcestershire now West Midlands...

. Others include John Anderson, Gary Weaver, Daniel Mann

Daniel Mann (football reporter)

Daniel Mann is a British television football commentator, working mainly for Sky Sports.Mann began his career in 1999 with Liverpool commercial station Radio City as a news presenter and football commentator....

, Gary Taphouse

Gary Taphouse

Gary Taphouse is a football commentator on TV and radio from Surrey, England. He mainly works for Sky Sports and Trans World International.He commentates on Barclays Premier League matches for Sky Sports' Football First programme most weekends during the football season and also covers World Cup...

 and Tony Jones

Tony Jones (football reporter)

Tony Jones is a football broadcaster based in England. He has contributed to all the commercial UK broadcasting outlets - Sky Sports, five, Channel 4 and ITV - commentating on everything from the UEFA Champions League to the English non-League.He was part of the Hostbroadcastservices team at...

. These are the same feeds as TWI uses for the international audience.