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Grandstand (BBC)
Encyclopedia
Grandstand was a British television
sport
programme. Broadcast between 1958 and 2007, it was one of the BBC
's longest running sports shows, alongside BBC Sports Personality of the Year
.
Its first presenter was Peter Dimmock
. There were only four main presenters of the programme during its long history: David Coleman
(who took over from Dimmock after just three programmes), Frank Bough
, Des Lynam
, and Steve Rider
. Changes in the structure of the programme during its last few years, however, meant it did not have a regular main presenter during this time.
Among the more occasional hosts were Alan Weeks
, David Icke
, Clare Balding
, Hazel Irvine
, Bob Wilson, David Vine
, Barry Davies
, Dougie Donnelly
, Harry Carpenter
, Harry Gration
, John Inverdale
, Tony Gubba
, Helen Rollason
, Ray Stubbs
and Sue Barker
.
The last editions of Grandstand were broadcast over the weekend of 27–28 January 2007.
and launched on 11 October 1958. The show was one of the most recognisable on British television, dominating Saturday afternoons on the BBC's main channel and covering nearly every major sporting event in Britain such as the FA Cup
final, Wimbledon, the Grand National
and the University Boat Race, as well as major international events like the Olympic Games
, the Commonwealth Games
and the FIFA World Cup
. A Sunday edition, simply named Sunday Grandstand, launched in 1981 and ran on BBC Two. Until 1997, the Sunday edition was only broadcast during the summer months but from February 1998 Sunday Grandstand aired all year round, incorporating the Ski Sunday
and Rugby Special
programmes.
, was first heard on 11 October 1975 and remained until the end of the show's run. A re-recorded version of the theme was also introduced in 1999, but complaints caused it to be quickly reverted to the original.
and Scottish Football League
matches approaching full-time, the programme would draw to a close with Final Score
. This covered not only the results from all the matches, but also gave the results of the football pools
. Perhaps the segment's most famous feature is the Videprinter, a digital device at the bottom of the screen which printed out the results as they came through, with the characters in each result appearing one by one.
With Final Score now a programme in its own right, modern-day technology is used for displaying the results, but this still emulates the original typing system. Remarkably, only two people have regularly read out the classified results on Final Score in its history: the Australian Len Martin
(from the first programme until his death in 1995) and Tim Gudgin
.
's World of Sport
, but ITV eventually decided to drop Saturday afternoon sport in favour of other programmes.
section, having been the first feature on Grandstand since 1974, separated to become a programme in its own right. This meant that Grandstands start time was now 1300 rather than 1215.
At the same time, Final Score
was also separated from Grandstand, also becoming a programme in its own right, running from 1630 meaning that Grandstand only broadcast between 1300 and 1630 rather than 1215 to 1715. The half time sequence did remain within the Grandstand programme. In 2004, following the success of Sky Sports' Soccer Saturday
programme featuring reports from the afternoon's football matches, the BBC introduced its own football scores programme called Score. It ran for the full duration of the afternoon's football matches, beginning at 2.30pm, and was available as an add-on service on the Red Button until 1630 when BBC1 joined the programme and at that point Score would become Final Score.
It was originally intended that the show's cancellation would take place in 2009; however, with little or no notice, this was brought forward to 28 January 2007.
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...
sport
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
programme. Broadcast between 1958 and 2007, it was one of the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's longest running sports shows, alongside BBC Sports Personality of the Year
BBC Sports Personality of the Year
The BBC Sports Personality of the Year is an awards ceremony that takes place annually in December. Devised by Paul Fox in 1954, it originally consisted of one titular award. Several new awards have been introduced, and , eight awards are presented. The oldest of these are the Team of the Year and...
.
Its first presenter was Peter Dimmock
Peter Dimmock
Peter Harold Dimmock CBE, CVO is a pioneering former sports broadcaster of British television during its formative years in the 1950s. He was the first host of the BBC's long-running Grandstand and also the first host of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year awards.-Early life and career:Dimmock...
. There were only four main presenters of the programme during its long history: David Coleman
David Coleman
David Coleman, OBE is an English former sports commentator and TV presenter who worked for the BBC for almost fifty years. In 2000, he was awarded the Olympic Order, the highest honour of the Olympic movement....
(who took over from Dimmock after just three programmes), Frank Bough
Frank Bough
Frank Bough is a retired British television presenter who is best known as the former host of BBC sports and current affairs shows including Grandstand, Nationwide and Breakfast Time, which he fronted alongside Selina Scott.-Early life:...
, Des Lynam
Des Lynam
Desmond Michael "Des" Lynam, OBE is an Irish television and radio presenter based in the UK.He has hosted television coverage of high profile events for many years...
, and Steve Rider
Steve Rider
Stephen Rider is an English sports presenter, and was the anchorman of ITV's football coverage, which included the Champions League, England Internationals, the FA Cup and the 2006 World Cup. He anchored ITV's Formula One coverage from 2006 to 2008, and football coverage from 2006 to April 2010...
. Changes in the structure of the programme during its last few years, however, meant it did not have a regular main presenter during this time.
Among the more occasional hosts were Alan Weeks
Alan Weeks
Alan Frederick Weeks was a British television sports reporter and commentator.-Personal life:...
, David Icke
David Icke
David Vaughan Icke is an English writer and public speaker, best known for his views on what he calls "who and what is really controlling the world." Describing himself as the most controversial speaker in the world, he has written 18 books explaining his position, and has attracted a substantial...
, Clare Balding
Clare Balding
Clare Balding is a BBC sports presenter, journalist and jockey.-Early life:In 1989 and 1990, Balding was a leading amateur flat jockey and Champion Lady Rider in 1990....
, Hazel Irvine
Hazel Irvine
Hazel Irvine , is a television presenter from the United Kingdom.- Life and career :Educated at Hermitage Academy in Helensburgh, she achieved an M.A. in History of Art at the University of St. Andrews, and competed in golf, netball and athletics at university level. In her final year she was...
, Bob Wilson, David Vine
David Vine
David Martin Vine was a British television sports presenter. He presented a wide variety of shows from the 1960s onwards.-Early life:...
, Barry Davies
Barry Davies
Barry George Davies MBE is a British sports commentator. He has covered a wide range of sports in a long career, primarily for the BBC.-Broadcasting career:...
, Dougie Donnelly
Dougie Donnelly
Douglas "Dougie" Donnelly is a Scottish television broadcaster best known for presenting sports coverage for BBC Scotland....
, Harry Carpenter
Harry Carpenter
Harry Leonard Carpenter OBE was a British BBC sports commentator broadcasting from the early 1950s until his retirement in 1994. His speciality was boxing...
, Harry Gration
Harry Gration
Harry Gration is a television presenter based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. He is one of the main presenters for the BBC Yorkshire regional magazine programme Look North.-Early life:...
, John Inverdale
John Inverdale
John Inverdale , is an English radio and television broadcaster who works for the BBC, mainly covering sporting events.-Biography:...
, Tony Gubba
Tony Gubba
Tony Gubba is a British journalist and sports commentator. He was educated at Blackpool Grammar School in Blackpool, a coastal town in England's North West...
, Helen Rollason
Helen Rollason
Helen Frances Rollason MBE was a British sports journalist and television presenter.-Early life:Born 11 March 1956, Helen Rollason was an adopted child. She was born in London, grew up in Bath and studied at Chelsea School of Physical Education, Eastbourne and Dalhousie University, in Canada...
, Ray Stubbs
Ray Stubbs
Raymond "Ray" Stubbs is a broadcaster and former footballer. He works for ESPN, presenting live Premier League and Scottish Premier League matches, having joined the satellite sports channel from the BBC in 2009.-Football career:...
and Sue Barker
Sue Barker
Susan Barker, MBE is an English television presenter and former professional tennis player. During her tennis career, she won the women's singles title at the French Open and reached a career-high singles ranking of World No. 3...
.
The last editions of Grandstand were broadcast over the weekend of 27–28 January 2007.
Overview
It was created by Paul Fox and Bryan CowgillBryan Cowgill
Bryan Cowgill was a senior British television executive. He was Head of Sport for BBC Television from 1963–1973, Controller of BBC One from 1973–1977, and Managing Director of Thames TV from 1977-1985.-Early life:...
and launched on 11 October 1958. The show was one of the most recognisable on British television, dominating Saturday afternoons on the BBC's main channel and covering nearly every major sporting event in Britain such as the FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
final, Wimbledon, the Grand National
Grand National
The Grand National is a world-famous National Hunt horse race which is held annually at Aintree Racecourse, near Liverpool, England. It is a handicap chase run over a distance of four miles and 856 yards , with horses jumping thirty fences over two circuits of Aintree's National Course...
and the University Boat Race, as well as major international events like the Olympic Games
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
, the Commonwealth Games
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....
and the FIFA World Cup
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
. A Sunday edition, simply named Sunday Grandstand, launched in 1981 and ran on BBC Two. Until 1997, the Sunday edition was only broadcast during the summer months but from February 1998 Sunday Grandstand aired all year round, incorporating the Ski Sunday
Ski Sunday
Ski Sunday is the BBC Sports weekly magazine-style television show covering winter sports, broadcast in the United Kingdom on Sundays in a late afternoon or an early evening time-slot...
and Rugby Special
Rugby Special
Rugby Special was the main rugby union programme on the BBC in the UK. The show ran from 1966 and past presenters included David Vine, Keith Macklin, Cliff Morgan, Chris Rea, Nigel Starmer-Smith, Bill Beaumont and John Inverdale. The theme tune, "Holy Mackerel", was composed by The Shadows'...
programmes.
Theme tune
The original theme was "News Scoop" by Len Stevens, which was used until 1971. From 1971 to 1975, another, little-remembered tune was used. The show's most famous theme, composed especially for the programme by Keith MansfieldKeith Mansfield
Keith Mansfield is a British composer and arranger known for his creation of prominent television theme tunes, including the Grandstand theme for the BBC...
, was first heard on 11 October 1975 and remained until the end of the show's run. A re-recorded version of the theme was also introduced in 1999, but complaints caused it to be quickly reverted to the original.
Final Score
In the late afternoon, with many Football LeagueThe Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
and Scottish Football League
Scottish Football League
The Scottish Football League is a league of football teams in Scotland, comprising theScottish First Division, Scottish Second Division and Scottish Third Division. From the league's foundation in 1890 until the breakaway Scottish Premier League was formed in 1998, the Scottish Football League...
matches approaching full-time, the programme would draw to a close with Final Score
Final Score
Final Score is a BBC TV programme produced by BBC Sport. The programme is broadcast on late Saturday afternoons in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, usually on BBC ONE. BBC Northern Ireland opts away during the last ten minutes to cover local results, BBC Scotland runs a different programme...
. This covered not only the results from all the matches, but also gave the results of the football pools
Football pools
A football pool, often collectively referred to as "the pools", is a betting pool based on predicting the outcome of top-level association football matches set to take place in the coming week. The pools are typically cheap to enter, with the potential to win huge money. Entries were traditionally...
. Perhaps the segment's most famous feature is the Videprinter, a digital device at the bottom of the screen which printed out the results as they came through, with the characters in each result appearing one by one.
With Final Score now a programme in its own right, modern-day technology is used for displaying the results, but this still emulates the original typing system. Remarkably, only two people have regularly read out the classified results on Final Score in its history: the Australian Len Martin
Len Martin
The voice of Len Martin was famous in the UK for reading out the football results, associated football pools statistics and horse-racing results on the BBC's Saturday afternoon sports programme, Grandstand....
(from the first programme until his death in 1995) and Tim Gudgin
Tim Gudgin
Tim Gudgin is a retired British radio presenter and voiceover artist. He was best known for announcing the football results on the BBC sports programmes Grandstand and Final Score between 1995 and 2011...
.
Competition from ITV
Between 1965 and 1985 Grandstand faced competition from ITVITV
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...
'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...
, but ITV eventually decided to drop Saturday afternoon sport in favour of other programmes.
Later years and demise
In its final few years, the show was rarely presented from a studio and as such there was no longer a main presenter. The show tended to be broadcast from wherever the main event of the day was taking place, and the host would be associated with that feature - for example, if it was snooker then Hazel Irvine would host, if it was racing or rugby league then it would be Clare Balding, and if it was rugby union it would be John Inverdale.Football Focus and Final Score part company
In August 2001 the Football FocusFootball Focus
Football Focus is a BBC television show, broadcast on BBC One on Saturday lunchtimes, covering football, presented from the 2009/2010 season by Dan Walker...
section, having been the first feature on Grandstand since 1974, separated to become a programme in its own right. This meant that Grandstands start time was now 1300 rather than 1215.
At the same time, Final Score
Final Score
Final Score is a BBC TV programme produced by BBC Sport. The programme is broadcast on late Saturday afternoons in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, usually on BBC ONE. BBC Northern Ireland opts away during the last ten minutes to cover local results, BBC Scotland runs a different programme...
was also separated from Grandstand, also becoming a programme in its own right, running from 1630 meaning that Grandstand only broadcast between 1300 and 1630 rather than 1215 to 1715. The half time sequence did remain within the Grandstand programme. In 2004, following the success of Sky Sports' 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...
programme featuring reports from the afternoon's football matches, the BBC introduced its own football scores programme called Score. It ran for the full duration of the afternoon's football matches, beginning at 2.30pm, and was available as an add-on service on the Red Button until 1630 when BBC1 joined the programme and at that point Score would become Final Score.
2006 announcement
On 24 April 2006, the BBC announced that Grandstand would be gradually phased out after nearly half a century, due to the increasing use of interactive services and the need to meet the challenges of the digital, on-demand world. This had been hinted by the dropping of the "Grandstand" title from the BBC's coverage of the major international sporting events, like the World Cup as well as that year's Winter Olympics and Commonwealth Games.It was originally intended that the show's cancellation would take place in 2009; however, with little or no notice, this was brought forward to 28 January 2007.
After Grandstand ended
The final Saturday edition of Grandstand was broadcast on 27 January 2007, and the last edition of all after 48 years was broadcast the following day, 28 January 2007, a short tribute to the history of the show forming its final feature. Sport still features prominently on the BBC's programme schedules on Saturday afternoon as well as on BBC Red Button, the interactive service available on digital television.Historic, noteworthy or bizarre live events broadcast
- FoinavonFoinavonFoinavon was a relatively undistinguished Irish racehorse, until he became famous for winning the Grand National in 1967 after the rest of the field fell, refused or were hampered or brought down in a mêlée at the 23rd fence. He was at one time owned by Anne, Duchess of Westminster, whose colours...
winning the 1967 Grand NationalGrand NationalThe Grand National is a world-famous National Hunt horse race which is held annually at Aintree Racecourse, near Liverpool, England. It is a handicap chase run over a distance of four miles and 856 yards , with horses jumping thirty fences over two circuits of Aintree's National Course...
at odds of 100/1 following a 23rd fence pile up in which every other horse fell or was remounted - the fence was subsequently named in Foinavon's honour - Golfer Tony JacklinTony JacklinAnthony Jacklin CBE is an English golfer, who was the most successful British player of his generation. He was also the most successful European Ryder Cup captain ever.-Early life and education:...
hitting the first live televised hole in oneHole in oneIn golf, a hole in one or hole-in-one is when a player hits the ball directly from the tee into the cup with one shot. This is most possible on a par 3 hole. Longer hitters have accomplished this feat on shorter par 4 holes...
in Britain during the 1967 Dunlop Masters - West Indian cricketer Gary Sobers becoming the first ever scorer of six sixes in an overOver (cricket)In the sport of cricket, an over is a set of six consecutive balls bowled in succession. An over is normally bowled by a single bowler. However, in the event of injury preventing a bowler from completing an over, it is completed by a teammate....
in a match between Nottinghamshire and Glamorgan in 1968 - Showjumper Harvey SmithHarvey Smith (showjumper)Harvey Smith is a former British show jumping champion.Smith was born in the West Riding of Yorkshire, and still maintains his stables at Craiglands Farm, High Eldwick, Bingley, near Bradford. He stood out from the ranks of showjumpers because of his broad accent and blunt manner...
giving his notorious two-fingered "V" salute in 1971 - Gareth EdwardsGareth EdwardsGareth Owen Edwards CBE is a former Welsh rugby union footballer who played scrum-half and has been described by the BBC as "arguably the greatest player ever to don a Welsh jersey"....
scoring one of the most memorable tries in history, in the BarbariansBarbarian F.C.The Barbarian Football Club, usually referred to as the Barbarians and nicknamed the "Baa-Baas", is an invitational rugby union team based in Britain...
v All BlacksAll BlacksThe New Zealand men's national rugby union team, known as the All Blacks, represent New Zealand in what is regarded as its national sport....
Rugby UnionRugby unionRugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
match at Cardiff Arms ParkCardiff Arms ParkCardiff Arms Park , also known as The Arms Park, is primarily known as a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green, and is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. The Arms Park was host to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1958, and hosted four games in the 1991 Rugby World...
on 27 January 1973 - The first known streakerStreakingStreaking is the act of running nude through a public place.-History:On 5 July 1799, a Friday evening at 7 o'clock, a naked man was arrested at the Mansion House, London, and sent to the Poultry Compter...
at a major sporting event during an England v France Rugby Union match at TwickenhamTwickenham StadiumTwickenham Stadium is a stadium located in Twickenham, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is the largest rugby union stadium in the United Kingdom and has recently been enlarged to seat 82,000...
on 20 April 1974 - Cambridge sinking in the 1978 University Boat Race and again in 1984 after colliding with a stationary barge
- The Bradford City fire disaster on 11 May 1985
- A fight breaking out on air between staff in the newsroom behind presenter Des LynamDes LynamDesmond Michael "Des" Lynam, OBE is an Irish television and radio presenter based in the UK.He has hosted television coverage of high profile events for many years...
on 1 April 1989. This was later revealed to be an April Fool's Day joke - The HillsboroughHillsborough disasterThe Hillsborough disaster was a human crush that occurred on 15 April 1989 at Hillsborough, a football stadium, the home of Sheffield Wednesday F.C. in Sheffield, England, resulting in the deaths of 96 people, and 766 being injured, all fans of Liverpool F.C....
football ground disaster on 15 April 1989 - Ayrton SennaAyrton SennaAyrton Senna da Silva was a Brazilian racing driver. A three-time Formula One world champion, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time...
's fatal accidentDeath of Ayrton SennaThe death of three-time Formula One World Champion Ayrton Senna on May 1, 1994, occurred as a result of his car crashing into a concrete barrier while he was leading the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Italy. The previous day, Roland Ratzenberger had been killed...
during the San Marino Grand Prix1994 San Marino Grand PrixThe 1994 San Marino Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on May 1, 1994 at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola, Italy. It was the third race of the 1994 Formula One season...
on 1 May 1994 - Jockey Frankie DettoriFrankie DettoriLanfranco "Frankie" Dettori, MBE is an Italian horse racing jockey and celebrity. Dettori has been Champion Jockey on three occasions and has ridden the winners of more than 500 Group races.. He has had many successes in his role of stable jockey to Godolphin Racing...
winning all seven races at AscotAscot RacecourseAscot Racecourse is a famous English racecourse, located in the small town of Ascot, Berkshire, used for thoroughbred horse racing. It is one of the leading racecourses in the United Kingdom, hosting 9 of the UK's 32 annual Group 1 races...
on 28 September 1996 - One edition in the late 1970s saw the first few minutes of a Frank Bough-presented edition coming from the Multi-Coloured Swap ShopMulti-Coloured Swap ShopMulti-Coloured Swap Shop, more commonly known simply as Swap Shop, is a UK children's television programme. It was broadcast on Saturday mornings on BBC1 for 146 episodes in six series between 1976 and 1982...
studio. This was because Bough was a guest on Swap Shop that morning and didn't have time to get to the Grandstand studio in time
See also
- Wide World of Sports
- Broadcasting of sports eventsBroadcasting of sports eventsThe broadcasting of sports events is the coverage of sports as a television program, on radio and other broadcasting media. It usually involves one or more sports commentators describing the events as they happen.-United States:...
- ColemanballsColemanballsColemanballs is a term coined by Private Eye magazine to describe verbal gaffes perpetrated by sports commentators. The word Colemanballs probably borrows from Colemans Meatballs, once familiar in the UK and sold by the company ColemanNatural...
Note
- The term GrandstandGrandstandA grandstand is a large and normally permanent structure for seating spectators, most often at a racetrack. This includes both auto racing and horse racing. The grandstand is in essence like a single section of a stadium, but differs from a stadium in that it does not wrap all or most of the way...
also refers to the main seating structure for spectators at a sporting event - after which the programme was named
External links
- October 2003 - 45 and still going strong
- April 2006 - Why Grandstand is going
- Museum of Broadcasting