As England lost a narrow, nervy Women’s World Cup final, the BBC and ITV – without even a Lionesses goal to describe, let alone a chance to show them becoming world champions – were left playing a tight game with few opportunities to show any presenting or commentating flair. In the end, with its greater experience and depth of talent – as well as some curious tactical decisions from ITV – the Beeb edged it.
ITV started bullishly, opening its coverage 20 minutes before its rival and showcasing its pitchside dream team of analysts: Emma Hayes, Jill Scott and the tireless women’s football advocate Ian Wright, chatting to Katie Shanahan. Once their first segment had finished, however, the weakness in the way ITV had set up became clear. The camera cut back to the main presenter, Laura Woods, and a pair of summarisers, Eni Aluko and Karen Carney, who proceeded to dominate the coverage from the quiet confines of a studio.
This was the World Cup final! We wanted the buzz, the atmosphere, which the BBC gave us by having Gabby Logan host from the stands overlooking the pitch in Sydney, flanked by Alex Scott, Ellen White and Fara Williams. Scott, who is a fine presenter as well as a pundit, set the tone with a fun anecdote about Logan crying during a pre-match conversation with the father of the England striker Alessia Russo. Then we saw photos of White enjoying some sightseeing in Australia with her husband and their five-month-old baby.
Emotion and excitement and a sense of an extraordinary experience shared with those of us watching from thousands of miles away, alongside deep football knowledge: this was the mix the BBC effortlessly offered, which ITV struggled to match. Its buildup, led by a rather sober and stately Woods, was dry in comparison – plus of course, like any ITV broadcast, its momentum was regularly killed by the need to stop every 10 minutes to show adverts for oven chips.
ITV fell further behind once the game got under way. It had the excellent Lucy Ward on board as co-commentator but didn’t have a woman lined up to sit in the main hot seat, choosing Seb Hutchinson to lead the commentary. The BBC is a few years ahead of the competition in terms of giving female commentators their chance, so it had the familiar voice of Robyn Cowen calling the action.
Cowen isn’t afraid to let the thrill of the occasion take her over, greeting England goals in previous rounds with a simple, shouted “RUSSOOOOOO!” or just “OHHHHHHH!” Her knack for riding the same emotions as the viewers came out as Lauren Hemp went close for the Lionesses early in the first half: “Off the bar! How close can you get?” On ITV, Hutchinson’s tendency to maintain a cool distance between himself and the action caused him to sum up the same incident a little quaintly: “Off the crossbar! Goodness me! There was a gasp around the stadium, and a gasp from many watching, I should imagine.”
At half-time, Logan’s BBC team were bolstered by the calm, flat, Swedish tones of the Arsenal manager, Jonas Eidevall, explaining clearly how Spain were flooding central midfield, but with the flashing bulbs and distorted sound of Coldplay booming around the stadium behind him to ensure we stayed in touch with the vibe in Australia. Over on ITV, however, it was back to Woods and co, debating the action in the tense silence of the studio. Presumably the lights and noise prevented ITV from going pitchside to hear from Hayes, Scott and Wright, but it meant its team was ploughing on without the star players.
In the second half, as the forward Salma Paralluelo continued to cause problems for both the England backline and the English commentators – everyone knew there had to be a Y sound in there somewhere, but nobody was quite sure where – only a penalty save from Mary Earps (or as Hutchinson described it, “Earps! Swallows it!”) interrupted the feeling of gathering doom. When the game was over, the Beeb offered a wide-ranging discussion of the future of the women’s game, combined with raw emotional reaction to the loss, analysis of the winning Spain goal and a good bit of impulsive aftermath anger from Fara Williams as she laid into England’s tactics.
On ITV, Woods and co were left isolated for the best part of an hour before the pitchside trio finally returned. Their take on the match was as lively and informed as the BBC equivalent – but by then the game had gone.
