Southern Soccer

Southern Football Highlights 1966-1981
Southern Television began broadcasting an ITV service to the Hampshire area in August 1958. Local football highlights first appeared on Sunday 6th November 1966 (2:45-3:30pm), by which time Southern had added the South East corner of England to their coverage area, indeed the 2nd game they recorded was Gillingham 1 Swindon Town 0 on 12th November 1966 (See the matchday programme article here). The station continued to turn up at a match on a weekly basis for the rest of the decade but coverage was severely cut for 1970/71, Southern viewers then saw London Weekend's The Big Match when their local service was not covering a match of their own. For 1973/74 Southern appear to have dropped Southern Soccer altogether and merely contributed the odd local game for LWT to screen as the 2nd feature on The Big Match. Following a trickle of local programmes thereafter, Brighton's promotion in 1979 meant that the region now had two top flight clubs and this encouraged Southern to revamp their local highlights as The Southern Big Match.

The Southern region's league teams 1966-1981
Southampton, Portsmouth, Brighton & Hove Albion*, Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic, Reading, Gillingham, Aldershot and Southend United**.
*LWT cameras also occasionally turned up at Brighton, whilst Reading and Aldershot may also have been considered LWT clubs before Southern added a TV mast in that area in 1971.
**Coverage of Southend United was shared with Anglia.

Southern commentators
Late 1966 - May 1968
Maurice Edelston - A former Reading centre forward (70 goals in 202 appearances 1946-52) who had also played in the infamous Berlin Olympics at the age of 18. By 1960 he was commentating for BBC radio and in 1968, following his spell with Southern, he presented Match of the Day whilst David Coleman was covering the Olympics. Edelston was still part of BBC Radio's team when he died in January 1976 having also covered Tennis.
Late 1960's
Simon Smith - A BBC radio football and boxing commentator for many years, he died in the mid-2000's.
Late 1960's - circa 1978
Gerry Williams - A West London born Crystal Palace fan who also covered football for the Daily Mail, he later became better known nationally as a BBC Tennis commentator before retiring circa 2005.
December 1974 - October 1976
Martin Tyler - First commentated for Southern on 28/Dec/1974 when Williams was unavailable, he was then asked back and may have become Southern's first choice commentator with Williams remaining with the station until 1978. Tyler commentated for Southern for the final time on 02/Oct/1976 before leaving for Yorkshire Television and going on to become the voice of football in the Granada region before joining Sky Sports.
Mid 1970's
Dave Lanning - From Poole, he was a darts commentator on ITV's World of Sport, but also commentated on at least one football match for Southern and is now covering darts for Sky Sports.
Mid-Late 1970's
Nigel King - His main ITV job was as a commentator on stock car racing (and other motor sport) for World Of Sport but he also commentated on a number of football matches for Southern.
Circa 1978 - December 1981
David Bobin - Joined Southern TV in 1975 having worked for local newspapers and radio in Oxford, he was also among the original cast of faces employed by Southern's successors TVS, but he was replaced by Gerald Sinstadt in the commentary box. Bobin also worked for Meridian before joining Sky.

*Note:- It has been suggested that Tony Gubba was 2nd choice commentator for Southern in the early days, but apparently he only presented at the time (he left Southern for BBC Sport in 1973).

What matches were shown
The following lists detail all known matches recorded by Southern cameras for local highlights, the re-edits of other region's matches are not included here (see the other region's pages for those). Given dates are for when the fixture was played (not the broadcast). Known mid-week & pre-season Southern based matches (not necessarily aired under the title Southern Soccer) are included in grey, networked ITV coverage of other matches of interest are in italics.

<<<<< Southern coverage 1966/67 - 1967/68

*Do please e-mail upthemaggies@hotmail.com if you are able to add any matches or fill in missing scorers.

Season 1968/69
There were no football highlights scheduled for Southern viewers until the weekend of 21st September. All editions of "Southern Soccer" continued to be broadcast in 405-line black & white on VHF only until December 1969.
21/Sep    Southampton 2 (Channon, Sydenham) Ipswich Town 2 (O'Rouke, Crawford)
28/Sep    Gillingham (Woodley) Mansfield Town 1 (Sharkey)
05/Oct    Portsmouth 3 (Trebilcock 2, Pointer) Oxford United 0
12/Oct    Brighton & Hove Albion 1 (Lawton) Swindon Town 3 (Smith, Rogers, Butler)
19/Oct    Bournemouth & Boscombe A. 2 (Hold., East) Southport 1 (Redrobe)
26/Oct    Southampton 1 (Davies) Sheffield Wednesday 1 (McCalliog)
02/Nov    Portsmouth 2 (Hiron, Pointer) Sheffield United 1 (Colguhoun)
09/Nov    Southend United 2 (Moore, Chambers) Doncaster Rovers 0 *Anglia were at Ipswich
16/Nov    Portsmouth 2 (Jennings 2) Aston Villa 0
23/Nov    Southampton 2 (Davies 2) Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Greaves)
30/Nov    Bournemouth & Boscombe A. 2 (Pound, Simmons) Gillingham 0
07/Dec    Southampton 1 (Channon) Nottingham Forest 1 (Lyons)
14/Dec    Portsmouth 1 (Pointer) Blackpool 0
21/Dec    Southampton 2 (Davies Channon) Manchester United 0
28/Dec    Portsmouth 1 (Brown) Bristol City 1 (Galley)
04/Jan     Portsmouth 3 (Jennings 2, McCann) Chesterfield 0 [FA Cup 3rd Round]
11/Jan     Brighton & Hove Albion 1 (K. Napier) Stockport County 1 (Young)
18/Jan     Portsmouth 3 (Trebilcock, Travers, Pointer) Fulham 1 (Haynes)
25/Jan     Southampton 2 (McGrath, Davies) Aston Villa 2 (Golfre, Hole)
01/Feb    Southampton 5 (Channon, Gabriel, Webb(og), Davies 2) Chelsea 0
08/Feb    Portsmouth 1 (Hiron) Hull City 0
15/Feb    Showed LWT's match
22/Feb    Portsmouth 2 (Hiron 2) Bolton Wanderers 2 (Wharton, Taylor)
01/Mar    Showed other region's FA Cup ties
08/Mar    Southampton 1 (Davies) Sunderland 0
15/Mar    League Cup Final *Networked highlights
22/Mar    FA Cup SF *Networked highlights of Man City/Everton
29/Mar    Portsmouth 4 (Jennings, Trebilcock(pen), McCann 2) Charlton Athletic 1 (Tees)
05/Apr     *No programme this week, Show Jumping from Hickstead was shown in the Sunday afternoon football slot
12/Apr     Portsmouth 5 (Hiron 4, Jennings) Norwich City 2 (Bennett, Foggo(pen))
19/Apr     Southampton 3 (Stokes, Paine, Judd) Manchester City 0

Southampton enjoyed their best season yet in the top flight finishing 7th and they also reached the League Cup QF's, 2nd tier Portsmouth dropped to 15th, 3rd tier Bournemouth (managed by Fred Cox) had a good season ending 4th, Brighton were 12th, Reading 14th and Gillingham 20th.

Season 1969/70
There were no football highlights scheduled for Southern viewers until the weekend of 13th September.
13/Sep
20/Sep
27/Sep
04/Oct    Brighton & Hove Albion 0 Bristol Rovers 3 (Stubbs, Graydon, B.Jones)
11/Oct
18/Oct    Southampton 0 Coventry City 0
25/Oct    Portsmouth 3 (Hiron, Ley, Pointer) Swindon Town 1 (Smart)
01/Nov
08/Nov
15/Nov
22/Nov
29/Nov   Southampton 1 (Gabriel) Crystal Palace 1 (Kember)
06/Dec
Southern began broadcasting in colour on 13th December 1969.
13/Dec    *Times lists the programme as b&w
20/Dec    Portsmouth 2 (Trebilcock 2) Leicester City 3 (Farrington, Fen 2) *Times lists the programme as b&w
27/Dec    *First colour edition (according to the Times)
03/Jan     Southampton 3 (Saul 2, Channon) Newcastle United 0 [FA Cup 3rd Round]
10/Jan     Portsmouth 1 (Jennings) Bolton Wanderers 1 (Byram) *Times says Southern showed "The Big Match Special", perhaps they joined LWT half way for WC draw?
17/Jan     Southampton 2 (Channon 2) Everton 1 (Morrisey)
24/Jan     Southampton 1 (Stokes) Leicester City 1 (Farrington) [FA Cup 4th Round]
31/Jan     Portsmouth 5 (Storrie, Hiron 3, McCann(pen)) Charlton Athletic 1 (Peacock)
07/Feb
14/Feb    Portsmouth 2 (McCann, Jennings) Blackpool 3 (Pickering, Green, Suddick)
21/Feb
28/Feb
07/Mar    League Cup Final *Networked highlights
14/Mar
21/Mar
28/Mar
04/Apr

Top flight Southampton dropped to an alarming 19th but enjoyed a run in the Fairs Cup (now UEFA cup) overcoming Rosenburg and Vitoria Guimaraes before going out to Newcastle on away goals in the 3rd round. 2nd tier Portsmouth were a poor 17th but there were better performances in the 3rd tier from Brighton who took 5th spot (manager Fred Goodwin then left for Birmingham) and Reading in 8th (with 24 goals from Les Chappell), Gillingham again finished just above the trapdoor in 20th but registered an appearance in the FA Cup 5th Round, Bournemouth however could not re-capture the form of the previous season and were a surprise relegation in 21st which saw the end of a 2nd spell in charge for manager Fred Cox.

Season 1970/71
From 2nd August to 6th September Southern showed LWT's "The Big Match"
01/Aug    LWT's "The Big Match" featuring Reading 2 (Habbin, Cumming) Man Utd 3 (Edwards, Charlton 2) [Watney Cup] *Brian Moore comm.
12/Sep    Southampton 4 (Davies 2, Channon 2) Derby County 0
19/Sep    Portsmouth 1 (Hiron) Birmingham City 0
Now showed LWT's "The Big Match" on weekends when no "Southern Soccer" was produced
31/Oct     Portsmouth 4 (Trebilcock 3, Pointer) Blackburn Rovers 1 (Knighton) *Recorded & broadcast in black & white due to a technicians 'colour strike'.
07/Nov    Southampton 2 (Channon, Gabriel) Newcastle United 0
An ITV technicians colour strike affected programmes until mid-February, some highlights would now be recorded in black & white
21/Nov    Southampton 1 (Gabriel) Manchester United 0
05/Dec    Southampton 4 (Davies 2, O'Neill(og), Jenkins) Nottingham Forest 1 (Cormack)
19/Dec    Brighton & Hove Albion 2 (Gilliver, K.Napier(pen)) Mansfield Town 0
26/Dec    Showed LWT coverage of Arsenal 0 Southampton 0
16/Jan     Portsmouth 1 (Youlden) Cardiff City 3 (Plurray, Warboys 2)
23/Jan     Showed Yorkshire's "Soccer" - York City 3 (McMahon, Hewitt, Aimson) Southampton 3 (Gabriel, Channon, Davies) [FA Cup R4]
ITV technicians colour strike now ended, all programmes in colour from now on
20/Feb    Bournemouth & Boscombe A. 0 Southport 1 (Kelley)
13/Mar    Southampton 1 (Paine) West Bromwich Albion 0
10/Apr    Southampton 1 (Paine) Arsenal 2 (Radford, McLintock) *LWT covered Gillingham 1 (Green) Fulham 3 (Johnson, Barrett, Conway)
01/May   ??? possibly Portsmouth 1 Leicester City 2 or Bournemouth 4 York City 0 ???

1970/71 was a much improved campaign for Southampton who finished 7th, but Portsmouth continued to underwhelm in the 2nd tier by finishing 16th - Towards the end of the season former player Ron Tindall was appointed Pompey team manager with George Smith staying on as general manager. There was bad news for the region in the 3rd tier with Reading and Gillingham both relegated whilst Brighton (now managed by Pat Saward) finished 14th. In the 4th tier, Bournemouth - inspired by new manager John Bond - were instantly promoted back up as runners-up, a massive 42 of their league goals were bagged by Ted MacDougall.

Season 1971/72
There was no football on Southern during the first 5 weekends of the season, "Southern Soccer" returned on 19/Sep/1971, then LWT's "The Big Match" was shown when there was no local match.
18/Sep    ??? possibly Southampton 3 Coventry City 1 ???
23/Oct     Probably Bournemouth 3 Aston Villa 0
13/Nov    Reading 1 (B.Wagstaff) Gillingham 2 (Knight, Tydeman)
20/Nov    Possibly Southend United 1 (Best) Aston Villa 0 [FA Cup 1st Round] *Times lists "The Big Match" for Southern, Southend game may have been on that
04/Dec    ??? possibly Portsmouth 0 Charlton Athletic 0 or Bournemouth 2 York City 2 ???
08/Jan      ??? possibly Southampton 1 Derby County 2 ???
15/Jan      Southampton 1 (Gabriel) Manchester United 1 (Charlton) [FA Cup 3rd Round] *included on "The Big Match" (no "Southern Soccer" billed)
05/Feb     Reading 1 (Wagstaffe) Arsenal 2 (Morgan(og), Rice) [FA Cup 4th Round] *this was the main game on LWT's "The Big Match", Brian Moore comm.
19/Feb     ??? possibly Portsmouth 1 Queens Park Rangers 0 ???
22/Apr     Brighton & Hove Albion 1 (Murray(pen)) Bolton Wanderers 1 (G.Jones(pen)) *LWT coverage with Brian Moore comm, "Southern Soccer" billed
29/Apr    ??? possibly Bournemouth 2 Oldham Athletic 0 or Gillingham 0 Southend United 0 ???

Southampton continued their unpredictable run in the top flight, crashing back down to 19th, last season's success earned them a UEFA Cup place but Saints lost out to Atletico Bilbao 3-2 on agg. 2nd tier Portsmouth remained frustratingly stable in 16th, but there was impressive Southern performances in the 3rd tier as Brighton were promoted as runners-up whilst Bournemouth were unlucky in 3rd (still only two up/two down at this stage), Cherries star striker Ted MacDougall was again the country's leading scorer with 35 goals, he also scored 9 times in an 11-0 FA Cup victory v Margate. Now in the 4th tier, both Reading and Gillingham were cushioned in mid-table, Southend won promotion as runners-up.

Season 1972/73
Southern ran LWT's "The Big Match" from the start of the season. The Times only bills 5 editions of "Southern Soccer".
30/Sep    Probably Portsmouth 2 Brighton & Hove Albion 0
11/Nov    ??? possibly Portsmouth 2 Luton Town 2 or Bournemouth 1 Wrexham 0 ???
02/Dec    Probably Southampton 1 Tottenham Hotspur 1
13/Jan     Brighton & Hove Albion 0 Chelsea 2 (Osgood 2) [FA Cup 3rd Round] *"The Big Match" main game with Jimmy Hill commentating
27/Jan     ??? possibly Bournemouth 2 York City 3 or Portsmouth 1 Sheffield Wednesday 0 ???
14/Apr     ??? possibly Southampton 1 Newcastle United 1 or Brighton 1 Orient 0 ???

Top flight Southampton finished 13th, 2nd tier Portsmouth a predictable 17th and sadly Brighton were unable to cope with life in the higher division and were relegated in last place. In the 3rd tier, Bournemouth slipped back to 7th following the sale of goal king Ted MacDougall to Manchester United in September, Southend were 14th. In the 4th tier, Aldershot took the final promotion place whilst Reading (7th) and Gillingham (9th) both improved on last season.

Season 1973/74
There were no editions of "Southern Soccer" billed all season, but Southern appear to have recorded a handful of games for inclusion as the 2nd game on LWT's "The Big Match" which Southern showed from the start of the campaign.
13/Oct     *Times bills "Soccer" this weekend, possibly Southern's favour to Westward  who had no direct line to YTV who showed Huddersfield v Plymouth.
01/Dec     Brighton & Hove Albion 2 (O'Sullivan, R.Howell) Bristol Rovers 8 (Bannister 3, Fearnley, Warboys 4) *"The Big Match" main game, Brian Moore comm.
29/Dec     Southampton 1 (Channon(pen)) Coventry City 1 (Craven) *included on "The Big Match"
16/Feb     Southampton 0 Wrexham 1 (Smallman) [FA Cup 5th Round] *The Times lists "The Big Match" for Southern, probably included on that.
23/Feb     Southampton 0 Manchester City 2 (Marsh, Law) *included on "The Big Match", LWT covered Gillingham 2 (Yeo, Wilks) Exeter City 1 (Bowker)

Southampton were early victims of an increase to three up/three down between the upper tiers - finishing 20th they were relegated after eight season's in the old First Division, this despite Mick Channon leading the top flight goal scoring charts with 21 as well as the signing of Peter Osgood from Chelsea in March and the appointment of Lawrie McMenemy as Team manager back in November (Ted Bates was now General Manager). 2nd tier Portsmouth had moved Ron Tindell into a 'General manager' role and John Mortimer was now Team manager, but the change made little difference as Pompey finished 15th. 3rd tier Aldershot finished 8th with 25 goals scored by Jack Howarth, Bournemouth were 11th after losing manager John Bond to Norwich in November. Southend finished 12th. A deflated Brighton sacked Pat Saward on 22nd October and ten days later they sensationally replaced him with Brian Clough (who had resigned from Derby a week earlier), but his time at Brighton proved to be an unhappy one and the Seagulls finished 19th before Clough moved on to Leeds, leaving behind his assistant Peter Taylor to take on the job of managing Brighton. 4th tier Gillingham were promoted as runners-up helped by the country's top scorer Brian Yeo with 31 goals, but manager Andy Nelson was then tempted away by Charlton Athletic. Reading were 6th with Les Chappell on target 24 times.

Season 1974/75
31/Aug    Gillingham 0 Charlton Athletic 1 (Peacock) *"The Big Match" main game, Brian Moore commentary
28/Dec    Southampton 0 Sheffield Wednesday 1 (Potts) *Martin Tyler's first commentary
04/Jan     Brighton & Hove Albion 0 Leatherhead 1 (Kelly) [FA Cup R3] *Gerry Williams commentary, Anglia at Southend
01/Feb    Anglia coverage of Southend United 1 (Brace) Preston North End 1 (Holden)  *shown on "The Big Match", Gerry Harrison
08/Feb    Southampton 3 (Channon 3(1pen)) Bristol Rovers 0 *Martin Tyler commentary
26/Apr    Portsmouth 0 Norwich City 3 (Maguire, Peters, Boyer) *Martin Tyler commentary

Southampton and Portsmouth were competing in the same division for the first time since 1966 and there was controversy in the first South coast derby match when a fan ran onto the pitch and pushed referee Clive Thomas (who then took out a summons alleging common assault). Pompey had 'suspended' manager John Mortimore back on 6th September and, unable to lure Alf Ramsey back into management, then appointed future ITV football presenter Ian St John, but 19 goals from Mick Channon helped Saints finish 13th ahead of Pompey in 17th (a lowly final position that they had barely deviated from in the last 7 years!). Saints also reached the two-leg final of the Texaco Cup but lost to Newcastle. In the 3rd tier, Gillingham were 10th whilst a trio of Southern clubs narrowly avoided the drop - Southend in 18th, Brighton 19th and Aldershot 20th - all at the expense of  Bournemouth who were relegated in 21st, the Cherries had sacked Trevor Hartley (the League's youngest manager at 27) on 2nd January, John Benson was then appointed player/manager. In the 4th tier, Reading finished 7th.

Season 1975/76
"Southern Soccer" returned this season on 28/Sep/1975, but this and 12/Oct/1975 are billed as "Southern Soccer and The Big Match", so they probably joined LWT's programme after showing the main game.
27/Sep     Southampton 4 (Channon 3, Peach) Portsmouth 0
11/Oct     Reading 2 (Murray, Hiron) Bradford City 1 (Cooke)
29/Nov    Portsmouth 0 Oxford United 2 (Tait 2)
06/Dec    Brighton & Hove Albion 4 (Binney, Mellor, Martin 2) Hereford United 2 (Tyler, Carter)
17/Jan     Southampton 0 Bolton Wanderers 0
31/Jan     Brighton & Hove Albion 1 (Machin) Mansfield Town 0
27/Mar    Portsmouth 0 West Bromwich Albion 1 (Cantello)
03/Apr    Southampton 2 (Gilchrist, Peach(pen)) Crystal Palace 0 [FA Cup SF] *Networked highlights from Stamford Bridge
24/Apr    Reading 3 (Friday, Dunphy, Nelson) Crewe Alexandra 1 (Purdie)
01/May   FA Cup Final - Southampton 1 (Stokes) Manchester United 0 *Networked live & networked Sunday highlights

1975/76 was a seismic season in the history of the region's football as Southampton won the FA Cup for the first time - and did so as a 2nd tier club versus a resurgent Manchester United - Bobby Stokes (born in Portsmouth) scored the only goal of the game in the 83rd minute. Saints finished 6th in the league and Mick Channon was again their leading scorer on 19 but it was a thoroughly depressing time for  Portsmouth who didn't win a home game until January and were relegated in last place. In the 3rd tier, Brighton just missed out on promotion in 4th with Fred Binney their top marksman on 23, Gillingham were 15th but Southend and Aldershot were both relegated. 4th tier Reading were promoted in 3rd whilst Bournemouth finished 6th.

Season 1976/77
Only one "Southern Soccer" programme is billed in the Times this season (14/Nov/1976), but there had to have been at least five editions. The 02/Oct match may have been seen in the South on LWT's "The Big Match" which continued to be screened on all of our unlisted weekends.
02/Oct    Southampton 4 (MacDougall 2, Blyth 2) Fulham 1 (Mitchell) *Tyler's last for Southern, LWT covereed Brighton 1 C. Palace 1 & also showed Soton v Fulham
13/Nov   Reading 0 Preston North End 2 (Elwiss, Bruce)
04/Dec    Southampton 2 (Holmes, Channon) Notts County 1 (Vinter) *TV Times bills "Southern Soccer"
15/Jan     Brighton & Hove Albion 3 (Cross(pen), Ward 2) Chester 0
26/Feb    Southampton 2 (Peach(pen), Holmes) Man Utd 2 (Macari, Hill) [FA Cup R3] *"Southern Soccer" billed, but LWT's main game also with Brian Moore comm.
02/Apr    Southampton 1 (Ball) Luton Town 0

2nd tier Southampton were unable to capitalise on their FA Cup triumph and, having waited until October to win their first league game, finished a disappointing 9th. Saints European qualification into the Cup-winners cup also threatened to turn sour in Marseille where crowd trouble suspended play for a period in the 2nd half and the Southampton party and supporters were attacked by French fans after the match, but Saints went through and reached the Quarter-finals which saw them lose 3-2 on agg to Anderlecht. Former Bournemouth star Ted MacDougall returned to the region - now playing for Saints he chipped in with 23 goals, England 1966 star Alan Ball also signed for Southampton in December. Brighton were this season's Southern success story - Following Peter Taylor's resignation in the summer, Alan Mullery was appointed manager and the Seagulls won promotion from the 3rd tier as runners-up with Peter Ward scoring 32 league goals (making him the country's top scorer). Gillingham were 12th but there was heart-break for Reading who were immediately relegated back down to the 4th tier. Portsmouth were close to going out of business early in the season and by the end of it there had been both a change of Chairman and Manager, ex long serving player Jimmy Dickinson was handed the job of managing the team in May.

Season 1977/78
22/Oct    Brighton & Hove Albion 1 (Mellor) Crystal Palace 1 (Hinshelwood) *shown on "The Big Match" as the 2nd game
29/Oct    Brighton & Hove Albion 4 (O'Sullivan, Mellor, Ward) Cardiff City 0 *Nigel King commentated
26/Nov   Southampton 2 (Neville, Holmes) Fulham 0
04/Feb    Portsmouth 0 Wrexham 1 (Whittle)
25/Feb    Brighton & Hove Albion 2 (Potts 2) Sunderland 1 (Clarke)
25/Mar   Aldershot 3 (Brodie, Dingworth 2(1pen)) Southend United 0
01/Apr    Gillingham 0 Wrexham 0 *main match on "The Big Match", Brian Moore commentary
29/Apr    Brighton & Hove Albion 2 (Ward, Horton(pen)) Blackpool 1 (Hatton) *Nigel King commentated

The region very nearly gained two top flight clubs as Southampton and Brighton battled for promotion this season - In the end, only the Saints made it (as runners-up) with Brighton missing out on goal difference to Spurs. Once again, success for Southampton compounded the depression for Portsmouth who, as the bottom placed club, were relegated to the Fourth Division for the first time in their history. Swapping places with them would be fringe club Southend United who were promoted as runners-up.

Season 1978/79
11/Nov    Brighton & Hove Albion 2 (Ryan, Horton) Wrexham 1 (Shinton) *Nigel King commentated
24/Feb     Reading 5 (Earles, Hetzke, Kearney, Bowman, Kearns) Northampton Town 1 (Reilly)
17/Mar     League Cup Final - Southampton 2 (Peach, Holmes) Nottingham Forest 3 (Birtles 2, Woodcock) *Networked highlights
03/Mar    Southampton 2 Arsenal 0 *Not 100%
28/Apr     Brighton & Hove Albion 2 (Maybank, Rollings) Blackburn Rovers 1 (Aston) *Smoke bombs during play, David Bobin commentated

Heady days for the Southern region. Southampton's return to the top flight saw them finish a comfortable 14th and make a return to Wembley in the League Cup final as well as reaching the FA Cup QF's, whilst Brighton overcame the bitter disappointment of the previous campaign by winning promotion to the top flight for the first time in their history - ending up 1 point behind the champions and 1 point ahead of 4th place in another tight finish, the Seagulls also reached the League Cup QF's. Gerry Summers' Gillingham enjoyed their best season ever, but they agonsingly missed out on promotion to the 2nd tier in 4th place by finshing only 2 points behind the champions. There was further success for the region in the basment league as Reading - now managed by Maurice Evans - claimed the Fourth Division championship, Portsmouth finished 7th, Aldershot reached the 5th round of the FA Cup and striker John Dungworth was the 4th tier top scorer on 26.

Season 1979/80
All ITV regions (except Channel TV) were taken off the air in early August 1979 due to a strike which lasted for almost three months! (South England viewers only had BBC1 and BBC2 from 10th August-24th October). When local football highlights returned, they were now billed as "Southern Big Match" with David Bobin as the regular commentator. LWT's "The Big Match" was shown when Southern were not covering a match of their own.
27/Oct    Brighton & Hove Albion 2 (Foster, Ryan) Norwich City 4 (Goble, Paddon, Taylor, Reeves)
10/Nov    Southampton 4 (Watson, Channon, Boyer 2) Nottingham Forest 1 (Birtles)
01/Dec    Portsmouth 3 (Brisley, Garwood, Laidlaw) Halifax Town 1 (Firth)
15/Dec    Southampton 1 (Boyer) Everton 0
29/Dec    Brighton & Hove Albion 4 (Clarke 2, Ward, Ryan) Manchester City 1 (Lee)
19/Jan     Intended to show Reading v Oxford United but the match was postponed
09/Feb    Southampton 5 (Watson, Channon, Boyer, Holmes, Hebberd) Brighton & Hove Albion 1 (Ward)
01/Mar    Brighton & Hove Albion 1 (Clarke) Coventry City 1 (English)
22/Mar    Portsmouth 1 (Hemmerman) Walsall 2 (Macken, Buckley(pen))
19/Apr     Southampton 0 Ipswich Town 1 (Muhren)

Southampton began to establish themselves as one of the country's leading clubs in 8th place, Phil Boyer was the top flight's leading scorer on 23. Brighton adapted well to life amongst the elite by finishing 16th. Reading enjoyed their highest finish in over a decade by finishing 7th in the 3rd tier, but Southend were relegated. In the 4th tier, Portsmouth took the final promotion position on goal difference -  Now managed by Frank Burrows Pompey scored 91 league goals including 17 from Colin Garwood who's further 10 goals for Aldershot saw him finish as the basement division's top scorer with 27.

Season 1980/81
16/Aug    Southampton 2 (Channon 2) Manchester City 0 *LWT coverage (Kevin Keegan's league debut for Saints), Brian Moore commentary
06/Sep    Southampton 3 (Williams, Baker, Golac) Brighton & Hove Albion 1 (Smith)
11/Oct    Brighton & Hove Albion 0 Nottingham Forest 1 (Wallace)
25/Oct    Brighton & Hove Albion 1 (Robinson) Manchester City 2 (Tueart 2)
08/Nov   Southampton 3 (Williams, Boyer, Moran) Ipswich Town 3 (Gates, Wark, Mariner)
10/Jan     Portsmouth 1 (Gregory(pen)) Sheffield United 0
31/Jan     Brighton & Hove Albion 0 Tottenham Hotspur 2 (Ardiles, Crooks)
14/Feb    Southampton 0 Everton 0 [FA Cup 5th round]
21/Feb    Brighton & Hove Albion 2 (Robinson, Smith) Liverpool 2 (Johnson, McDermott)
28/Mar    Reading 1 (Hetzke) Charlton Athletic 3 (Powell, Hales, Walsh)

Southampton were in the national spotlight this season thanks to the signing of England's star striker Kevin Keegan, the Saints continued to improve - finishing 6th this season, whilst Michael Robinson's 19 goals for Brighton proved crucial for them as the Seagulls only just hung on to their top flight status (one place above the drop), manager Alan Mullery then departed for Charlton Athletic. Portsmouth were now making inroads back into respectability, their return to the 3rd tier saw them finish 6th with Reading behind in 10th and Gillingham 15th. Southend were champions of the Fourth Division.

Season 1981/82
05/Sep    Possibly Southampton 1 (Keegan(pen)) Everton 0 *listed as Southern match in Yorkshire Evening Post
19/Sep    Showed Anglia coverage Southend United 2 (Spence, Gray) Portsmouth 0
03/Oct    Brighton & Hove Albion 4 (Robinson, Ritchie 2, Williams) Manchester City 1 (Reeves)
17/Oct    Brighton & Hove Albion 3 (Foster, Case, Ritchie) Liverpool 3 (Dalglish, R.Kennedy, McDermott) *Bobin comm for Southern, Briam Moore for LWT
31/Oct    Southampton 1 (Moran) Tottenham Hotspur 2 (Roberts, Corbett)
14/Nov   Portsmouth 1 (Hemmerman) Carlisle United 2 (Robson, Lee)
28/Nov   Showed Granada coverage of Liverpool 0 Southampton 1 (Moran)
05/Dec    Southampton 3 (Moran, Keegan, Armstrong) Manchester United 2 (Stapleton, Robson) *LWT coverage, Brian Moore commentary
Southern Television came to an end on 31st December 1981 having lost their ITV franchise to TVS.

TVS coverage January 1982 - May 1983 >>>

Southern football links
Interview with Gerry Williams - a 2004 interview for tennis4everyone.com
My Life in Media - Martin Tyler - a 2007 interview with The Independant.

Southern Television stuff
TV Ark - Southern section
Southern-tv.co.uk

Email
upthemaggies@hotmail.com

ITV regional football highlights 1968-83 home page
It’s up for grabs now! The history of football on ITV

Page last updated August 2009