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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Barry Glendenning

The bittersweet demise of Football Focus in an era of magic witch portals

The Football Focus sofa in November 2005. From left: Manish Bhasin, John Motson, PM Tony Blair and Mark Lawrenson
The Football Focus sofa in November 2005. From left, naturally: Manish Bhasin, John Motson, PM Tony Blair and Mark Lawrenson. Photograph: Jeff Overs/BBC News & Current Affairs/Getty Images

OUT OF FOCUS

For so long an integral part of the BBC Holy Trinity of Saturday programming alongside Final Score and Match of the Day, Football Focus will leave our screens come season’s end. First aired back when the plot currently occupied by Stamford Bridge’s Matthew Harding Stand served as a matchday car park – as opposed to a seething mass of disgruntled Chelsea fans – the show’s longevity is undeniable. Now, it has fallen victim to the BBC’s ongoing pruning exercise – a casualty of a budget that is overseeing more trims than Marc Cucurella’s blabbermouth barber. For Football Daily, the news was somewhat bittersweet; throughout our childhood, youth and a significant chunk of our years as a hungover grown-up, the Saturday lunchtime show was appointment viewing. However, the announcement regarding its imminent demise only came as a surprise because it’s no longer part of our weekend routine and we presumed it had been binned off already.

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