16 Top World Cup Theme Tunes (Part 2)

In the previous thrilling instalment, we embarked on British TV’s journey from library music to classic opera in its search for a decent World Cup theme tune. In this concluding part, we embrace synth pop, retro Krautrock and the Great American songbook plus much more besides...

‘America’ (BBC World Cup Grandstand 1994)
Leonard Bernstein

After the rip-roaring success of Luciano Pavarotti’s Nessun Dorma in 1990, the BBC knew it had a tough act to follow, so for its 1994 outing they went for something similarly enriched in national culture. Where Italy had its opera, the USA had its musicals, and what better a song to pluck from West End Story than the unashamedly shouty America.

As unrefined and brash as Nessun Dorma was pure and graceful, America was the perfect vehicle with which to make the nation sit up and take notice (as was essential for British football fans waiting until the wee small hours for some footy action).

Though never likely to be the commercial success (of sorts) that the BBC had four years earlier with Pavarotti, the song was nevertheless a perfect choice for its coverage and a country mile ahead of ITV’s selected theme...



‘Gloryland’ (ITV World Cup ’94)
Daryl Hall with The Sounds of Blackness

An apt name for Daryl Hall’s backing vocalists given the truly uninspiring nature to this ITV theme tune. From the clichéd saxophone breaks to the wailing soft rock crooning, this indigestible slice of American schmaltz had little to endear it to the public except The Sounds of Darkness themselves.

Having said all that, it did somewhat remarkably creep up to number 36 in the UK singles chart, after which we’re guessing it crept just as quietly back down again. To make matters worse, this piece of music was usually followed by Matthew Lorenzo in a media bunker trying (but failing) to generate some enthusiasm among the British public for a competition in which no home countries were involved. In a word, ‘forgettable’.



‘Pavane’ (BBC World Cup Match of the Day, 1998)
Composer: Gabriel Fauré; Sung by the Wimbledon Choral Society

By 1998, the BBC were showing they really had the happy knack for choosing the right sort of music when there was a World Cup on. Following the formula of ‘tradition + nationality = success’, they this time plumped for the orchestral piece Pavane by French composer Fauré.

Plaintive and haunting as it steadily built to a pleasing crescendo, this piece perfectly encapsulated the sense of anticipation that comes before a World Cup match or indeed the sombre reflection of former campaigns that ended in defeat. One might even proffer that the tumultuous choral ending is indicative of the determination to strive for glory through pain and suffering.

Either way, it was enhanced no end by a clever opening title sequence that was full of understated Frenchness and nostalgic imagery to satisfy even the most disillusioned football fan. The song alone reached number 20 in the UK charts – a suitably deserving achievement for a fine piece of musical scene-setting.



Rendez-Vous 98
Jean-Michel Jarre and Apollo 440

Yet as if to prove that you don’t need a brooding, historical musical epic to compliment your World Cup TV coverage, ITV put their Gloryland nightmare behind them with a classic French synth-fest courtesy of Jean-Michel Jarre.

Working with English group Apollo 440, Jarre recreated his zingy track from the mid-80’s to instantly add some much needed credibility to the ITV programming. No doubt appealing to the younger television audience, you can imagine revellers in their thousands raving to this in Ibiza or wherever the drunken European generation were likely to take their summer holidays.

An uplifting energy-fuelled piece, ITV knew they’d hit musical gold and duly released the by now requisite single. It got to number 12 in the charts, and rightly so – this was a great World Cup theme of the sort that the BBC would probably never choose in a million years. Or so you’d think...



‘Tarantula’ (BBC World Cup Match of the Day, 2002)
Faithless

Yes, the Beeb opted for modernity in an effort to reproduce the success of Rendez-Vous so a remix of Tarantula by Faithless was called for. With hints of the Orient punctuating every bar (and we’re not referring to the Leyton variety here), this was a musical mirror being held up to the host countries of the 2002 World Cup - Japan and South Korea.

Not immediately captivating to many, this was a tune that more than likely grew on you little by little with every listen. What was distinctive about it was its subtlety and measured approach to layering melodies and instrumentation one on top of the other. With that, hidden depths can be found and were heard every time the BBC’s World Cup coverage burst onto the TV, by now presented by Gary Lineker.

Perhaps not ranked as one of the great theme tunes of all time, Tarantula (or rather the BBC’s sampled version of the same) is nonetheless one that shouldn’t be overlooked too quickly. Of high tempo and modern to the last, it capably did its job doing what ITV had done so well in 1998. It’s just a shame that ITV forgot how to do it in 2002...



‘One Fine Day’ (ITV World Cup 2002)
Opera Babes

Ironically, ITV went in the opposite direction by adopting the old BBC tried and trusted method of having a traditional-sounding operatic theme. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to pay off as the tune they plumped for – One Fine Day by Opera Babes – lacked any kind of verve or soul.

Taken from Madame Butterfly, this classical piece was reasonable enough in its original context and certainly didn’t lack any oriental instrumentation, but it never really went anywhere. Compared to its far more melodic equivalent on ‘the other side’, One Fine Day (or One Fine Day We Shall See, to give it its proper translation from the original Italian) was the wrong piece of music for the wrong event.

A shame, then, that ITV’s recent ascendency in the World Cup theme tune stakes should be deflated quite so badly, but the use of Italian opera for an orientally-flavoured competition just wasn’t right somehow. Perhaps not the most heinous crime ever committed, but certainly a disappointing exercise in the application of music to sports TV programming - a sentence we duly admit you're unlikely to see on any other football blogsite.



‘Sports Prepare’ (BBC World Cup Match of the Day, 2006)
Composer: Carl Davis

Heading to Germany for the 2006 World Cup, both major UK broadcasters flipped back to their winning ways of old. BBC’s coverage had perhaps been lessened slightly by its dalliance with modern music in 2002, so back they went to the classics. This time they figured a composition by German-born Handel would do the trick, so Carl Davis was asked to conjure up some magic via the chorus of Judas Maccabaeus, namely See, The Conquering Hero Comes. Quite who it was that thought Sports Prepare was a good title remains a mystery.

In many ways the German equivalent to Pavane in 1998, this was a fine example of how to stir the emotions with close choral harmonies, trumpets and melody. Once again, it hoped to make classical music more appealing by putting it under the noses of ordinary punters up and down the country waiting for their footy to start, and whether it did so is open to debate. What it did confirm, however, was the BBC’s self-imposed duty to add some reverence to the world’s biggest football tournament by putting it on a pedestal along with some of the finest music the planet has ever heard.



‘Heroes’ (ITV World Cup ’06)
Kasabian

ITV’s last outing saw an interesting change of direction taken on a well-trodden path. For the 2006 World Cup, they wouldn’t just revert to modernity as had often been the case before – instead they went for something that was modern-ish and without any obvious traditional links to the host country.

David Bowie’s hit Heroes had been released in 1977 reaching 24 in the UK charts and was covered by many artists in the years that followed. With obvious lyrical references that were all too easy to absorb for glory-hungry football supporters, ITV figured it would be appreciated by ultra-partisan Sun-reading England fans and popular music aficionados alike. Whereas it might have been acceptable to trot out the original Bowie version, however, they couldn’t resist bringing it right up to date with a re-record by someone current.

And so it was that Kasabian were invited to perform their version of the song, and all things considered they didn’t do a bad job of it. Again, it probably won’t be remembered as a classic by any means, but this was miles better than ITV’s musical failure of 2002 and happily jumped on the Bowie retro bandwagon that had begun only a few months earlier with the BBC drama serial Life on Mars.



A respectable effort on which to end and the opening title sequence that accompanied it was a work of genius for which ITV should be congratulated. Whether they or the BBC will stumble upon the visuals or indeed the music to make 2010’s World Cup coverage memorable remains to be seen, but the answer won’t be long in coming now. Enjoy it when it comes.

16 Top World Cup Theme Tunes (Part 1)

Back in March, Terry brought you a popular and much needed retrospective on those top UK TV football theme tunes that filled the air of our halcyon days. As he explained at the time, however, his list was devoid of classic World Cup theme tunes - namely because we were saving them specifically for our World Cup Pull-Out. Now at last, that time has come.

With the 2010 World Cup only 16 days away, let's take a trip down memory lane and ponder awhile on those musical sig tunes that had us all humming along merrily… or not, as the case may be.

Here’s Part 1 of our guide to the Top World Cup TV Theme Tunes, and watch this space for Part 2 coming soon...

'Lap of Honour' (ITV World Cup Theme 1974)
London Stadium Orchestra

Back in the mists of time, the BBC and ITV would look no further than to plunder their sound library for a piece of music to accompany their World Cup coverage that sounded vaguely appropriate for the host country in question. England '66? That'll be something bold and brassy to reflect the bulldog spirit of old Blighty. Mexico '70? Something with lots of classical guitars and castanets. It really was that simple.

Come 1974, however, ITV were more than happy to cast off the shackles of international stereotyping by using a fairly generic piece of musical bluster to usher in the 10th World Cup in West Germany. Full of shouty brass, it's very much of its era – in fact one could argue it was still clinging onto the late-1960's by its fingertips – yet ITV would continue to plod on with it for another four years while the Beeb looked for something that sounded less dated.



'Argentine Melody' (BBC World Cup Grandstand 1978)
Performed by San Jose featuring Rodriguez Argentina (a.k.a. Rod Argent), composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber

With the 1978 World Cup in Argentina appearing on the horizon, the BBC had a very clever idea. Rather than dip into its music library for something neglected and dust-ridden, they made a call to the composer behind the hit West End musical Evita – Andrew Lloyd Webber.

With the sound of Latin American guitars still ringing in his ears, Lloyd Webber was ideally suited to conjure up the sound of Argentina for the purpose of the Beeb's World Cup coverage that year. In fact so successful was the tune he produced - Argentine Melody - that the BBC released it as a single which eventually reached number 14 in the UK charts.

ITV, meanwhile, re-recorded their theme from 1974 with some added synthesisers and considered it a job well done. We're not sure about that, but Action Argentina was certainly a job easily done.



'Jellicle Ball' (BBC World Cup Grandstand 1982)
Performed by The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber

Never ones to leave a winning formal well alone, the BBC arrived at the 1982 World Cup having bagged the rights to another Andrew Lloyd Webber composition, namely Jellicle Ball - an instrumental piece from the musical Cats.

Full of euphoric triumphalism and without a single castanet in sight, this brilliant orchestral composition is full of the energy and momentum that a team thrives on in pursuit of FIFA's famous gold trophy.

What's great about it is that it hasn't aged very much at all, mainly because it was never intended to be a product of its time. The Royal Philarmonic fills every second with tunefulness and melody by using every player in the orchestra to generate three minutes of unadulterated gusto.



'Matador' (ITV World Cup '82)
Jeff Wayne

The man behind the musical version of War of the Worlds and countless other TV and movie projects came up trumps with this effort which was a little sombre by comparison to the BBC's equivalent. It was, nonetheless, a brilliant combination of electric guitars, flutes and synthesisers that somehow conveyed that unmistakable air of Spanishness that 'the other side' didn't have.

Modern (in an early 80's kind of way) and nicely understated in its execution, this was a good follow-up for Wayne who composed Jubilation for ITV in 1980 – its theme to The Big Match (see previous article). More wistful and reflective in tone than Jellicle Ball, Matador's aim was to gently ease you into an evening of football from Bil-bay-oh (check Brian Moore for correct pronunciation) rather than have you on the edge of your seat before a ball was even kicked. For that very reason it was no bad thing.



'Aztec Lightning' (BBC World Cup Grandstand 1986)
Heads

The 1986 World Cup brought us two of the best themes to date from the BBC and ITV. This one by Paul Hart and Helmut Zacharias (better known as Heads, but only just mind you) had all the traditional Mexican instrumentation thrown into the mix along with the kitchen sink, we shouldn't wonder.

The main musical motif is a phalanx of horns which keep the melody chugging along and which also herald the start of the tune itself. With a synthesized bass providing a percussive backbeat and the occasional carnival whistle to remind us we’re in Latin America, this is an exercise in upbeat rabble rousing, but good though this was, many felt it had met its match in ITV's offering that same year...



'Aztec Gold' (ITV World Cup '86)
Performed by Silsoe, composed by Rod Argent

No, we haven't heard of Silsoe either, but that's to miss the point. Here was a theme tune that was so good, ITV used it for various projects many years after Mexico ‘86, most notably Saint and Greavsie.

With some similar elements to the BBC’s Aztec-oriented theme tune, ITV once again out-moderned its rivals with a piece of music that was brighter and some would say more melodic. Rife with the ubiquitous clickety-click of the castanets plus a searing electric guitar element that made it borderline soft-rock, the song was inevitably released as a single which reached number 48 in the UK charts. Probably not high enough, in our opinion, for this was a true 80’s classic.



'Nessun Dorma' (BBC World Cup Grandstand 1990)
Sung by Luciano Pavarotti

Not strictly a specifically commissioned piece of music for a World Cup TV programme, but the BBC does deserve the credit for recognising the beauty and passion that lies within this aria by Puccini.

Before 1990, no-one would have thought to plunder an operatic work to front its World Cup coverage, but the UK populous took to it like Gary Lineker to a penalty spot. Suddenly everyone knew who Luciano Pavarotti was, everyone was discovering opera and everyone understood the raw emotions it conveyed. For that reason alone it was the perfect choice of musical accompaniment for the four-yearly footballing rollercoaster that we all found ourselves on. Overlay some visuals of Gazza blubbing his eyes out and Marco Tardelli wheeling away after scoring a goal in a state of near orgasm and you have the true connoisseur’s choice of World Cup theme tune.



'Tutti Al Mondo' (ITV World Cup '90)
Composed by Rod Argent and Peter Van Hooke

Unfairly overshadowed by Pavarotti & Co, Tutti Al Mondo takes the operatic oeuvre and drags it kicking and screaming into the 1990's.

Blending the traditional towering Italian vocals and orchestral overtones into a tasteful hip-hop fusion, this concoction of funk and fortissimo was improved yet further by a brilliant computer-generated title sequence (see below). Put together, ITV had created a potent opening package for its Italia '90 programming, but even without the visuals this was a vibrant and enthralling musical piece that in any other World Cup year would have gained greater exposure and admiration. Of all the years to run into Pavarotti...




Coming up in Part 2: Synth pop, retro Krautrock and the Great American songbook plus much more besides...

Getting a decent presenter is Chiles Play for ITV

Adrian Chiles, it seems, has made his last appearance as presenter of Match of the Day 2. The BBC have today announced that Chiles will be moving to ITV to co-present GMTV and, of more significance to us, anchor the commercial channel’s World Cup coverage this year.

This is likely to bring about one of two distinctly different reactions in you: apathy bordering on abject relief, or contentment based on a secret admiration for the West Midlander.

Personally, I fall into the latter category. Chiles has an easy-going manner, very much that of the ordinary man on the street, approachable but knowledgeable and as comfortable discussing football as he is talking about knife crime or shopping habits on The One Show.

Some might say he’s a bit too ordinary and down-to-earth. Last week a feature in The Guardian suggested Chiles “never fails to give the impression of a Black Country labourer who has wandered into a television studio and doesn’t realise the camera is on.” Actually, is that such a bad thing? Sooner that than the clinical GQ magazine looks of Gary Lineker or the turgid shallowness of Richard Keys.

Speaking of looks, Adrian Chiles always seems to attract a little too much criticism where that’s concerned. Admittedly he’s no oil painting, but then again not many of us are, and those people that are oil paintings are probably having the piss taken out of them by the non-oil paintings anyway.

What can’t be disputed is the one thing that really sets Chiles apart from the vast majority of his peers – a genuine sense of humour. It’s this one aspect to his personality that particularly excites me about his move to ITV as he’s being installed as main anchor for their World Cup coverage ahead of Steve Rider, front man for the channel's Champions League coverage.

Rider, who turns 60 later this month, has never really exuded dynamism or a sparkling wit, and that’s just me using understated politeness. As professional as he undoubtedly must be, there’s something to be said for giving the viewer an appealing reason to watch its programmes and I think ITV will benefit for having Chiles on board. Unlike Rider, Chiles comes across as a genuine football fan who understands the game and can lighten the mood by dropping in the odd jocular aside here and there – just the sort of thing most footy fans will appreciate.

Quite who will replace Chiles on Match of the Day 2 remains to be seen, but our guess is that it'll be someone young with a two-dimensional personality and an awkward presenting style. Needless to say his absence will be all too noticeable for regular viewers of the programme.

So all that's left is to say 'well done ITV'. It seems you’ve finally made a wise choice for the job of presenting your World Cup coverage, and not before time. You’ve probably also ended up with someone who can bring some credibility to GMTV, but that was never going to be very difficult, was it?

'Clough'

I'm one of those who likes to read obituaries. I think most people who like sport do given the fact that when you're reading a paper from the back - as any right minded gentleman should - they're the first thing you come across after the sport.

On the other hand I don't have much time for biographies. On the face of it, you'd be forgiven for thinking I'm being deliberately difficult, but they aren't the same thing. Biographies and memoirs are made to be sold, they need a constant stream of drama and salacious encounters to excite the interest of the buying public. Obituaries, on the other hand, are usually an account of the achievements someone made in their life.

Timed to coincide with the release of 'The Damned United', if the cinema release is a biography, ITV Sport's documentary 'Clough' is an obituary. A mix of library footage cut with comments from his family, friends and former colleagues, it follows his career from joining Derby County, through Leeds United, to winning two European Cups with Nottingham Forest.

A section of the documentary is devoted to David Peace's novel, the work of "faction" from which the film takes its name. When released, the story was presented as an imagining of events behind Clough's 44-day reign as manager of Leeds United. However, the book was greeted by those who survive as a flawed portrayal of what actually happened - a feeling echoed in the courts when Johnny Giles successfully sued the publishers for libel; a justice not available to Brian Clough or Don Revie. The producers of the film are at pains to stress that the film is far more sympathetic to Clough and even market it as a true story.

The documentary focuses on the key highs and lows of his career - and hence almost entirely restricts itself to the seventies: his fued with Don Revie, the successful years of his working with Peter Taylor, and the FA's appointment of Ron Greenwood as England manager. Yes it's nostalgia, but it doesn't allow itself to become overly sentimental. The final section includes a sequence that cuts from Brian Clough as manager of Derby to his son Nigel arriving at the club over 35 years later. This sequence graphically highlights the way the game (and in some ways, society) has changed over the intervening years. There's little said on whether the changes to the game are good or bad. Rightly enough that's left for the viewer to decide.

'Clough' is on ITV1 at 10.35pm, Wednesday 25 March.
For more information and to see a classic clip of Brian Clough locking horns with Don Revie in a classic TV interview, visit the ITV.com website. Our thanks go to all the good folk at ITV for allowing us to use their archive photographs.

Catch the FA Cup 4th Round with ITV.com

Yes it's FA Cup Fourth Round weekend this weekend, so time for us to obligingly point all you UK football fans in the direction of our good friends at ITV.com.

As you may be aware, ITV have the rights to broadcast all the action from the FA Cup this season on TV, but their website has lots more exclusive stuff to get you in the mood before, during and after the matches take place.

Visit the site now and you'll find preview interviews with all the managers involved in FA Cup games this weekend as soon as they arrive from ITV's many and varied regional newsrooms. There’ll also be running text updates on team news and reports right up to the games, with team news as soon as its available.

Also today, there’ll be some classic Brian Clough moments online to mark the Notts Forest v Derby match that took place last night, as well as some classic cup upset clips.

Ahead of the Hartlepool v West Ham and Man United v Tottenham games that ITV1 are showing live this weekend, you'll find exclusive interviews with Ronaldo, James Collins and any other players ITV Sport speaks to ahead of the games. There’s also a ‘player to watch’ feature for both live matches and an exclusive extra 15 minutes of analysis after the Man United game which will only be available on ITV.com and via the interactive red button on your remote.

Finally, from midnight on Sunday there’ll be extended highlights of every game from the Fourth Round on ITV.com - even games that could only be broadcast for a few minutes due to running time on the Saturday evening highlights show will be available with up to 8 minutes of footage on ITV.com.

So there we are. Lots of reasons to visit ITV.com this weekend and in case you were wondering, no, we're not being paid to plug ITV. We just happen to think they're doing a bloomin' good job covering the competition and are providing a wonderful service for you, our humble audience.

Whether your team's playing in the FA Cup or not this weekend, enjoy your football!

Revisit Football's golden age...

Nostalgic football fans in the UK - can we have your attention please!

Some People Are On The Pitch are proud to announce that a new series of The Big Match Revisited is returning to ITV4 on January 1st 2009. Covering the final 20 weeks of the 1978/79 season, the first programme has an absolute gem of a game in the shape of West Bromwich Albion's 5-3 victory over Manchester United.

So if you want to hear plenty of this...



...see some of this...



…and wallow in the masterly presentation of this man...



…make sure you tune into ITV4 in the new year on Thursdays or Sundays for a huge helping of football 1970's-style.

The previous series (looking back at the 1982/83 season) was broadcast at the start of this year and was hugely successful - so much so that many people wrote about it at the time from national newspapers to… well, us, frankly.

And rightly so, in our opinion. There's little enough vintage football on our screens as it is these days and ITV4 have realised this by giving fans of a certain age plenty of what they're looking for.

Throughout the course of the second series of The Big Match Revisited, you can expect to hear lots about the league title race between Nottingham Forest and Liverpool, the dwindling fortunes of Chelsea, QPR and Derby and the race for promotion to Division 1 involving Crystal Palace, West Ham and Brighton.

And of course you can remind yourself of all the great players of the day that were doing the rounds. Names like Liam Brady, Steve Coppell, Mick Channon, Cyrille Regis and the recent arrivals at Spurs, Osvaldo Ardiles and Ricardo Villa are all there on show for your televisual entertainment.

So go on - immerse yourself in nostalgia. Make a note in your diary for New Year's Day on ITV4 - The Big Match Revisited is back on your screens again.



With thanks to our friends Laura Wootton and Gary Andrews at ITV for providing us with the above information.

Taylor's reign revisited

Hey folks - here's a quick and very belated note to let you know that ITV is tonight showing once again the landmark Graham Taylor documentary An Impossible Job.

An Impossible Job was broadcast by Channel 4 in 1994 and followed Taylor’s reign as England manager during qualification for the 1994 World Cup through to his dismissal after failing to guide the team to the finals in the USA. The film is one of the most well-known and best remembered football documentaries of all time, but has not been repeated on television since it was first shown fourteen years ago - and the full-length 90-minute version has never been shown on British television.

ITV has also commissioned a new documentary in which Taylor examines one of the toughest jobs in world football, that of England manager. The documentary, produced and directed by Don Perretta and Carey Dunn, features Taylor in conversation with ex-England players, managers and figures from the international game such as Slaven Bilic and Johann Cruyff, as well as an interview with current England manager, Fabio Capello.

An Impossible Job will be shown tonight on ITV4 at 11pm and again on Tuesday 7 October while the new documentary appears on ITV1 on Wednesday 8 October. England’s first World Cup 2010 qualifier at Wembley will be live on ITV1 on Saturday 11 October.

Attention all England fans in the UK!

If you're one of the many millions of people that missed out on the chance to see England beat Croatia 4-1 last night, fear not.

You now have a chance to see extended highlights on terrestrial TV this evening, thanks to ITV1.

Mark Sharman, Director of ITV News and Sport said: "We’re pleased to have secured the highlights of last night’s 4-1 victory. We know there is a huge demand to watch England and we’re glad we can offer fans a chance to see the action."

ITV holds the rights to broadcast live coverage of all of England’s competitive home fixtures until 2012 beginning with England v Kazakhstan live on ITV1 on October 11.

The one hour highlights programme will be broadcast immediately after News at Ten at 10.35 pm tonight, so if you want to see England's greatest footballing victory since the 5-1 win over Germany seven years ago, follow your nose and check out ITV1 this evening.

You'd be a fool not to...

The Road To Wembley (FC)

My day didn't start well. I had two clear options with regards to my journey to Wembley FC: either I could go by car or I could go by Tube. Both ways would take around 75 minutes to complete, and as I had no idea what sort of parking facilities were available when I got there, I thought it better and far more relaxing to go by Tube. I'd be able to take my seat, read my notes and generally build up the big match atmosphere on this first Saturday of the 2008/09 FA Cup competition. How stupid of me to think that.

Having left my house in a blind panic some fifteen minutes later than I intended to, I hurriedly dashed off to Becontree station to begin my journey. Within minutes, I was being ushered along the tracks at great speed, through the very heart of West Ham country. For those first few stops, many people got on in their claret and blue shirts, all of them on their way to Upton Park for the first game of the season at home to Wigan Athletic. Though I wished I could join them, I knew I had a special appointment to fulfil - to watch the match between Wembley FC and Royston Town.

Before long, Upton Park station was just a distant memory and I was heading for North Wembley... or so I thought. Someone at Chancery Lane station had ended up under a train rather than on it, thereby causing travel chaos for every Londoner, tourist and part-time football journalist. It severely delayed my journey, and by the time I walked through the turnstiles at Vale Farm, the teams were already out on the pitch having their photos taken alongside the beautiful silver FA Cup trophy.

Of all the faces I should see first as I hurriedly made my way in, I'd never have put Brian Barwick at the top of the list, but there he was. An imposing figure wearing casual jacket and trousers, it seemed somewhat surreal that he should be there, but then this was a big showpiece event to launch the one competition he must be most proud to be associated with as the FA's Chief Executive.

So there I was mingling with the 100 or so people that had made their way to witness this clash between Wembley and Royston Town. And here I must make my first admission - that this was the first time I'd ever been to see a non-league match of any kind. Though some of the performances I've seen my team produce at Upton Park have been staggeringly amateurish at times, I can honestly say I'd never seen a game between two amateur teams before. I pondered with some anticipation what it was that I was about to see.

Before that, though, I had the great good fortune to bump into a couple of ITV types who happened to be there covering the game for ITVLocal.com. I'd already noticed the reassuring presence of one or two cameramen located in different parts of the ground, so they obviously meant business when they said they wanted to cover as many games as possible from the early rounds of this year's FA Cup.

Very soon, I quickly found myself in the very pleasant company of Marc Webber (Head of Content for ITV.com), Gary Andrews (Web Editor, ITV) and Chris Nee (Writing Genius and All-Round Messiah at the popular football blogsite 'Two Footed Tackle'). We watched Royston Town dominate the early exchanges while swapping pleasantries about 'the magic of the FA Cup', what it was like to work for ITV, blogging and generally anything else that might make one or all of us laugh like the wizened old hacks we really were.

Mid-way through the first half, an extraordinary privilege suddenly came my way. Just as I thought my day was starting to look up, it got imperceivably better. Thanks to all the contacts Gary had with the various FA suits in attendance, he, Chris and I all had the honour and privilege of having our photos taken with the FA Cup trophy.

I mean can you imagine it - the real FA Cup trophy! I've only ever seen it on TV and even then it's always looked magical, but in real life... I was blinded by the sheer aura of the thing. It glistened with all the brightness of a million diamonds, and there I was standing next to it, devaluing the damn thing more than it's ever possible to do.

But I didn't care - this was an unforgettable moment, and one that would stay with me for a very long time. Shame I didn't get to pick it up and hoist it above my head in that we all do in our fantasies as a kid, but I guess that's a privilege saved for just one lucky player every May. One couldn't be too greedy at times like this.

Back at pitchside, Wembley were finally finding their foothold in the game, but it only served to neutralise any penetrative football that may have been due to arrive. Don't get me wrong though - this wasn't a boring match - far from it. Here were two teams that were very evenly matched and it was intriguing trying to work out who'd make the first breakthrough. In the end it came from Royston Town's Luke Robins in the 35th minute, scored from a free kick some twenty yards out to ensure the away side had a 1-0 lead at half time.

The mid-match break gave us all a chance to fill up on chips, hot dogs but no pies, curiously, before the second half began much as the first had ended. Royston, however, were in no position to savour their lead as Wembley scored an equaliser through Shane Sinclair after 53 minutes. It was a well-worked goal that would have graced any level of football and it was a signal for both teams to throw caution to the wind for a winning goal.

Some great play ensued as some neat passing and clever attacking came into its own from both sides, but in the end neither team could find that valuable winner, despite the sending off of Wembley's Andrew Walker for a second bookable offence mid-way through the second half. Both sets of fans seemed to accept the result with good grace and were, like us, very pleased with the match they'd just seen.

And that was about it, save for a quick pint in the club bar after the game. Despite the somewhat ominous start to the day, I'd had a really enjoyable time watching a match which did great credit to non-league football. Not only that but I'd done so in the company of three thoroughly decent blokes AND had my picture taken with that trophy.

What else could you possibly ask for (except for Brian Barwick's autograph)? Not much, say I - in fact if anyone now so much as suggests the FA Cup is a redundant dinosaur from a forgotten age of football, I for one will have to disagree in the strongest possible terms. What I saw yesterday thoroughly reawakened my love of football, and that, my friends, speaks for itself.

And if you want to see what the match was like for yourself, you can watch highlights of Wembley v Royston Town at ITV.com/Sport.

The FA Cup starts here

We begin with an apology.

When we said yesterday that these were exciting times and that various football competitions were going on around the world except for one which was about to start (i.e. the Premier League), we were being slightly economical with the truth.

Not that these aren't exciting times, etc, etc - it was just the bit at the end about 'one competition remaining that hadn't exploded into life yet'. We should have mentioned another one that you might have heard of - a competition that gets a bit of publicity from time to time and occasionally raises an eyebrow or two. We speak, of course, of the legend that is the FA Cup.

Believe it or not, the 2008/09 competition began tonight at 6.20pm (BST) with the very first match of them all - an Extra Preliminary Round tie between Wantage and Brading Town.

Now usually an event such as this involving two teams playing eight rungs below the Premier League on the football ladder would barely impact on the lives of the common man or woman, but this season is different. That's because the 2008/09 FA Cup is being covered by ITV and unlike the BBC who had the previous broadcasting rights, they'll be showing all the action from the Extra Preliminary Round onwards - not just from the start of the First Round Proper.

That means dozens of lower league clubs around England and Wales will finally get the publicity they deserve as they show the world who they are and the vital role they play in the fabric of the national game.

We think this is a bold and utterly fantastic move on the part of ITV, a move which leads us to wonder why nobody ever thought of doing it before. It's exactly the shot in the arm the competition needs, and if it doesn't motivate even more people to go along and support their local teams, nothing will.

So how are ITV able to cover so many matches involving so many teams at a stage of the competition when even the mere suggestion of the term 'league club' seems out of place? The answer lies in ITVLocal.com - a new website aimed at bringing news and information to people at a local level, because let's face it, if there's been an upsurge in crime in your area, you don't want to turn on your TV to hear what Robert Mugabe's up to in Zimbabwe or which parts of Georgia have been reclaimed by the Russians.

Again, it's a brilliant idea that keeps people right across the UK up to speed on the things that are going on right outside their front door, and as a part of that remit, sport is being covered in a similarly relevant way. Via the ITV Local website (plus ITV.com and TheFA.com), anyone anywhere can catch up with all the goals and all the excitement from the FA Cup games taking place at local team level.

A whopping 762 teams are hoping to reach Wembley this year and tomorrow afternoon will see 380 of them entering the field of battle, all hoping that they might one day do a giant-killing act on one of the professional clubs.

ITV will be sending its cameras out to cover as many of the games as possible - one of which will be Wembley FC v Royston Town, and that's where we'll be going tomorrow to soak up that unique atmosphere for SPAOTP.

We'll be bringing you a report on how the game panned out after the event, but for now just remember you can follow your own FA Cup trail by watching the action unfold at http://www.itvlocal.com/facup and http://www.itv.com/football.

Harry Redknapp, be warned - your grip on that lovely silver trophy is about to get that little bit weaker...

And in other news...

By way of a break from the African Nations Cup, here's a selection of some of the recent news stories from the world of football that made us laugh, cry or stamp on our computer keyboard in a fit of rage.

Dennis Wise goes to Newcastle
Yes, it's all very sad really. I know there are people out there - many people - who hate and despise Leeds United. I ought to be one myself as a West Ham fan, but then again I've never been a 'typical' West Ham fan in that I generally have an agreeable way with most people. Anyway, I digress.

Even if you do have a thing about Leeds, you can't have failed to admire the job that Dennis Wise and Gustavo Poyet did in getting the club off to such an amazing start this season. Having entered administration in May 2007, Leeds were relegated from the Championship and forced to begin their 2007/2008 League 1 campaign on -15 points, but Wise ensured the deficit wouldn't be big for long.

His team won their first seven league games on-the-trot and went on to complete a thirteen game unbeaten run until they succumbed at the hands of Carlisle United in November. As things currently stand, Leeds United have lost only four of their 28 League 1 games so far and currently sit fourth in the table. Were it not for the 15 point deduction, they'd be leading the table by three points by now.

And that's why it was such sad news when first Gus Poyet decided to jump ship to become second in command to Juande Ramos at Tottenham and now Dennis Wise himself has been tempted to become Director of Football at Newcastle. So much hard work done, so much progress achieved, and yet a matter of weeks into the new year Leeds find themselves without the managerial wizards that have put them within touching distance of a return to the Championship.

I know many of you will be sniggering and laughing up your sleeves about all this, but from the purists point of view, you have to feel a pang of sympathy for the Elland Road club. Whether they can finish in a play-off place or higher this season is now the sole responsibility of former player Gary McAllister, and I for one wish him well as it'll be a shame to see such fortitude in the squad go to ruin.

ITV and the almost complete coverage of Euro 2008
Here in the UK last week, the two main terrestrial broadcasters, the BBC and ITV announced their plans for which games they'll be showing during this summer's European Championships.

As usual, there was a fair degree of horse-trading between the two. The BBC have elected to show the opening game between Switzerland and the Czech Republic while ITV take the Turkey v Portugal match later on the same day. The fixture carve-up continues from there onwards with one company taking the stronger game on any particular day and the other taking the weaker game and vice-versa.

So far, so predictable, except when it comes to the Final, the BBC will be showing the tournament's climax live on June 29th while ITV... decide not to bother. They'll be showing highlights of the Final later in the evening.

Now before you say it, I know most people watch the big finals on BBC out of preference over ITV, but when you've gone to the bother of showing live games every day throughout the competition from Day 1, wouldn't you then show the Final live at the end too? I mean have they gone stark raving mad?!? It's like building a house and not bothering to put the roof on when you've finished.

I think now ITV have officially lost the plot. Their broadcasting output has been in freefall for many years now where entertainment's concerned, but this takes the biscuit. If they had any credibility in the eyes of football fans in this country before now, it's surely gone down the plughole once and for all with this news...

Open foot, insert mouth
Finally, we return to the African Nations Cup (well you knew we would eventually, didn't you?) Yes, our old friend Count Sepp von Blatter has been at it again. He's decided that the two-yearly tournament currently taking place over in Ghana could be the last to be held in its traditional January slot. Apparently it's clashing badly with the club football going on across Europe and many players are having to go absent from the Premier League, Serie A and elsewhere while it's going on.

His answer to this apparent crisis: to move the competition to June and July by 2016.

Well now, let's see. First of all, clubs don't have to buy African players. Manchester United have no African players and yet they're flying high in the Premier League. It therefore pays to say that any club that does buy an African player has to accept the fact that he (or they) will be absent every two Januarys for what would appear to be a damn good reason.

Secondly, what happens when an African Nations Cup held in the middle of the year coincides with the World Cup or European Championships? Ah, fear not. He's thought of that. It'd have to be moved to an odd-numbered year. So that's alright then.

Add to the equation that the climate for many African countries in June and July, according to CAF, is not suitable for playing football in and you have yet another hair-brained scheme from Dr. Blatter that's doomed to failure. We wonder why he bothers to open his mouth sometimes, but we think it's just to keep us all entertained, and that, we think you'll agree, is something we should all be grateful for.

While I was away...

Many of you won't be aware but I've been feeling a little poorly of late, hence the lack of new articles going on recently. First of all, may I pass on my apologies for the temporary drop in service levels on our part, however I'm able to reassure you that my recent period of convalescence hasn't been a completely useless exercise.

While confined to my sick bed, I was at least able to view the goings-on in world football through my laptop-shaped porthole so that I can now report back to you as I begin the long road to recovery.

A couple of things to begin with, then. First of all, we have Sir Alex Ferguson, knight of the realm and all-round curmudgeonly messiah of Old Trafford. He's decided that it's about time he could choose from seven substitutes during a Premier League match rather than the current five. That, it would seem, would solve all his problems and help Man United retain their number 1 spot in England.

Excellent, except those of us wearing our far-sighted spectacles can discern right now that Mr Ferguson will only end up moaning again. That's because he'll need more players ready to send into battle alongside him on that draughty stadium bench that ought to be recuperating from injury in the comfort of their own home (or at the very least up in one of the executive boxes). There'll be more potential for even greater numbers of injured players because more will be available for each match.

So here's the rub: whatever happened to picking a starting XI that could win a match regardless of which subs might come on? If the subs are any good, why not pick them in the starting XI anyway?

Moving on, the BBC have made a shock announcement that from 2009/10, they'll be showing live games and highlights of Football League Championship matches, as well as those in the Carling Cup. My first reaction was 'why?' but this was easily explained by their failure to retain the rights to show England and FA Cup matches.

I was then filled with a feeling of optimism. Although Sky have done more than anyone by showing countless Football League games in all their exciting and fascinating glory over the last few years, the BBC will undoubtedly increase the potential audience and interest in the sub-Premier League levels for a number of reasons.

For a start, not everyone subscribes to Sky. The BBC's two main channels, on the other hand, are freely available and show the biggest football programme in UK TV history - Match of the Day. It was and always has been known as 'appointment-to-view' TV - the ability to make people sit down at the same times on the same days every week to watch a highly desirable programme. By getting fans of the Championship and Leagues 1 and 2 to watch a similar brand-leading show, a real sea-change in viewing habits could be on the cards.

The real question to be answered, though, is when would their programme(s) be shown? Saturday night is out of the question as that's when Match of the Day takes to the air. Sunday afternoons are out too - that's when Sky show their live games. Sunday nights are now where you'll find Match of the Day 2, the BBC's mopping-up exercise for the Premier League action that didn't happen on any given Saturday, so that leaves Sunday morning… which is when ITV pigeon-holed their weekly programme, and only seven people in the UK used to watch that.

Even then, we're talking about when to schedule a highlights programme. The BBC also has the rights to show ten live games too. I wonder when they'll be shown and on which channel?

All being well, we'll get the answer sometime in the next two to three years.