Sunday Sportshow
and
The Saturday Match

TVS Football Highlights 1982-1983
TVS [TeleVision South] ran the South of England ITV service from 1st January 1982 having won the franchise at the expense of Southern Television, a change that many believed to be an injustice. The switch did at least offer an improved service as far as local sport was concerned, TVS would produce a Sunday afternoon highlights show each weekend (Southern, more often than not, had merely relayed London Weekend's The Big Match) and though a local home match could not always be guaranteed, there was now a stronger emphasis on the South in terms of the news round-up and the choice of matches taken from other region's. As the title suggested, Sunday Sportshow was not exclusively concerned with football, but football was the priority*. The programme was launched on 3rd January 1982, the first local match was covered two weeks later (Brighton & Hove Albion v West Ham United). For season 1982/83 it was the turn of the ITV region's to show highlights on a Saturday night and this saw TVS introduce The Saturday Match.

*There was also a regular Friday preview show (6:30-7:00pm) called The Friday Sportshow.

Presenter and commentator
Fred Dineage had presented Yorkshire Television's Sunday football highlights throughout the 1970's, but he was well known to viewers in the South having worked on various Southern TV programmes long before he took on the role of presenting weekend sport on TVS. By 1983, Dineage was being joined in the studio by George Best (now playing for Bournemouth) who provided analysis. The TVS football commentator was Gerald Sinstadt, locally born in Folkestone, he had been one of ITV's top commentators in the 1970's voicing matches for Granada as well as the Olympics and many high profile mid-week matches, Sinstadt left Granada at the end of the 1980/81 season and moved back to his home region in order to produce televised opera which formed a part of TVS's early commitment to upmarket ITV's programming.
 

The TVS region's league teams 1982-1983
In terms of prospects for regional football success, TVS took over from Southern at a good time. Top flight Southampton, with Kevin Keegan in their ranks, were in 2nd position at the time, whilst Brighton were not far behind in 9th. The Seagulls went on to reach the FA Cup final in 1983 and were unfortunate not to emulate the Saints feat of 1976 in beating Manchester United at the final hurdle. Portsmouth, the South's traditional super power, had faded badly in the 1970's, to the point of spending time in the 4th Division, but they were now well on the road to recovery and Pompey would win the 3rd tier championship in 1983. Bournemouth were another success story, winning promotion from the 4th tier in 1982.
The 1st January 1982 re-allocation of the UHF transmitter at Bluebell Hill to the South ITV region meant that 3rd tier clubs Gillingham and Southend United were now more widely recognised as bona-fide TVS clubs*, Southend achieved their highest finish since the 1950's in 1982 and Gillingham also registered one of their then best ever final positions that same year. The two TVS clubs in the North of the region, Reading and Aldershot, were less conspicuous, Reading were relegated in 1983 to join the struggling Shots in the 4th Division.

*The transmitter on Bluebell Hill had previously relayed London Weekend Television and Thames. Coverage of Southend continued to be shared with Anglia Television as many viewers in that area received their TV signals from the Sudbury mast.

What matches were shown
The following lists detail all known matches recorded by TVS cameras for local highlights. Given dates are for when the fixture was played (not the broadcast). Known mid-week & pre-season TVS based matches are included in grey, networked ITV coverage of other matches of interest are in italics. Blank dates denote that there was a TVS programme that weekend in which they probably showed other region's games only (but we don't have the details).

<<<<< Southern coverage 1968/69 - 1981/82

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

Season 1981/82
"Sunday Sportshow" first aired on Sunday 03/Jan/1982 at 4:30-5:30pm, it then moved to a 3:30-4:40pm slot the following week before settling on a  2:30-3:30pm window from 07/Feb. The last edition of the series co-incided with the end of the league season on 16/May.
02/Jan    Showed Watford 1 (Lohman) Manchester United 0 [FA Cup 3rd Round] *Gerald Sinstadt commentating
05/Jan    Brighton 3 (Thomas, Case, McNab(pen)) Barnet 1 (Sargent) [FA Cup R3 Replay] *Brian Moore comm for "Midweek Sports Special" (cameras arrived at last minute after Middlesbrough v QPR was PPd)
09/Jan     Showed another region's game *most of the games selected for ITV highlights this weekend were postponed
16/Jan     Brighton & Hove Albion 1 (Ritchie) West Ham United 0
23/Jan     Gillingham 0 West Bromwich Albion 1 (Statham) [FA Cup 4th Round]
30/Jan     No programme this weekend, showed LWT's "The Big Match"
06/Feb    Brighton & Hove Albion 3 (Grealish, Ryan, Foster) Everton 1 (Heath)
13/Feb    Showed LWT's FA Cup 5th Round tie
20/Feb    Showed LWT's match
27/Feb    Southampton 3 (Keegan, G.Baker 2) Birmingham City 1 (Worthington(pen))
06/Mar
13/Mar    League Cup Final *Networked highlights
20/Mar
27/Mar    Southampton 4 (Waldron, Armstrong, Channon, Whitlock) Stoke City 3 (Biley, Watson, McIlroy)
03/Apr     Brighton & Hove Albion 1 (McNab(pen)) Southampton 1 (Keegan)
10/Apr     Showed LWT's match
17/Apr     Showed Granada's match *Yorkshire coverage of Leeds 1 (Worthington) Southampton 3 (Armstrong, Keegan 2) was probably shown too
24/Apr    Southampton 2 (Channon, Keegan (pen)) Liverpool 3 (Rush, Whelan 2) *Sinstadt comm for TVS, Brian Moore for LWT
01/May   Showed Tyne Tees coverage of Sunderland 3 (Rowell 2(1pen), West) Brighton & Hove Albion 0
08/May   Brighton & Hove Albion 0 Ipswich Town 1 (Mariner)
15/May   Bournemouth 1 (Funnell) Hereford United 1 (Showers)

Lawrie McMenemy's Southampton's return to Europe in the UEFA cup had been short lived, losing out to Sporting Lisbon in the 2nd round, but the Saints recovered to qualify for Europe again by finishing 7th and Kevin Keegan was the top flight's leading scorer on 26. Brighton, now managed by Mike Bailey, registered their highest ever top flight finish in 13th whilst in the 3rd tier; Gillingham were 6th, Southend 7th, Reading 12th and Portsmouth 13th. In the 4th tier; David Webb's Bournemouth won promotion in 4th, Aldershot finished 16th.

Season 1982/83
Football highlights returned on TVS on Saturday night's as "The Saturday Match" on 28/Aug/1982 at 10:30-11:30pm.
28/Aug    Brighton & Hove Albion 1 (Ritchie) Ipswich Town 1 (Gates)
04/Sep
11/Sep    Bournemouth 0 Sheffield United 0
18/Sep
25/Sep    Probably showed Grananda coverage of Liverpool 5 (Whelan 2, Lawrenson 2, Souness) Southampton 0
02/Oct    Reading 2 (Dixon 2) Preston North End 3 (Elliott 2, Bruce)
09/Oct    Brighton & Hove Albion 1 (Foster) Swansea City 1 (Lewis)
16/Oct    Portsmouth 0 Bournemouth 2 (Funnell, Heffernan)
23/Oct
30/Oct    Probably showed HTV coverage of Cardiff City 1 (Hemmerman) Portsmouth 0
06/Nov   Brighton & Hove Albion 1 (Ward) Manchester United 0
13/Nov   Southampton 1 (Moran(pen)) Nottingham Forest 1 (Wallace)
20/Nov
24/Nov    Southampton 4 (Williams, Moran, Puckett, Holmes) Manchester City 0 [League Cup 3rd Round Replay] *networked 'Midweek Sports Special'
27/Nov
04/Dec
11/Dec
18/Dec    Southampton 4 (Wallace, Armstrong, Moran, Puckett) West Bromwich Albion 1 (Regis)
01/Jan     Brighton & Hove Albion 1 (Ward) Watford 1 (Jackett)
08/Jan
15/Jan
22/Jan
29/Jan
05/Feb    Southampton 4 (Williams, Holmes, Wallace, Moran) Norwich City 0
12/Feb
19/Feb
26/Feb    Bournemouth 0 Portsmouth 2 (Aizelwood(pen), Biley)
05/Mar
12/Mar    Brighton & Hove Albion 1 (Case) Norwich City 0 [FA Cup QF]
19/Mar    Southampton 4 (Moran 3, Baird) Manchester City 1 (Reeves)
26/Mar    Portsmouth 1 (Tait) Bristol Rovers 0
02/Apr    Brighton & Hove Albion 2 (Gatting, Ryan) Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Roberts) +M/L
09/Apr    Probably showed Granada coverage of Manchester United 1 (Robson) Southampton 1 (Foyle)
16/Apr    Brighton 2 (Case, Robinson) Sheffield Wednesday 1 (Mirocevic) [FA Cup SF] *at Highbury, Gerald Sinstadt commentated for TVS viewers only
23/Apr    Bournemouth 1 (Morgan) Lincoln City 0
30/Apr    Southampton 2 (Wright, Armstrong) Luton Town 2 (Agboola(og), Antic)
07/May   Portsmouth 2 (Dillon, Biley) Southend United 0
14/May   Showed other region's matches - L/M/G
21/May   FA Cup Final - Brighton 2 (Smith, Stevens) Man Utd 2 (Stapleton, Wilkins) AET *Networked live
                   *"Welcome Home Brighton" was scheduled for TVS Sunday 2-3pm, but as it was a draw they probably showed highlights only.
26/May   FA Cup Final Replay - Brighton 0 Man Utd 4 (Robson 2, Whiteside, Muhren(pen)) [Wembley] *Networked live

Another disappointingly early exit from the UEFA Cup saw Southampton go out to Norrkoping on away goals in the 1st round, and, having sold Kevin Keegan, the Saints also dropped to a 12th placed finish in the league. Brighton found themselves in the odd position of fighting a desperate relegation battle whilst earning their first appearance in the FA Cup final. Jimmy Melia had replaced Mike Bailey as manager in December but relegation as the bottom placed club had already been confirmed by the time Melia led the team out onto the Wembley turf to face Manchester United, the Seagulls came very close to banishing the pain of the drop with what would have been a legendary cup final victory, sadly - at 2-2 - a late chance to win the cup was squandered and Brighton had nothing left to offer in the replay which was lost 4-0. There was some joy elsewhere in the region as 3rd tier Portsmouth (managed by Bobby Campbell) won promotion as champions. Gillingham dropped to 13th, Bournemouth consolidated in 14th (replacing manager David Webb after a 9-0 defeat in December with Don Megson) and Southend were 15th. Reading's Kerry Dixon was the top scorer at this level with 26, but his goals could not prevent his team being relegated in 21st and Dixon then joined Chelsea. In the 4th tier Aldershot finished 18th with Dale Banton netting 24 goals.

Regular TVS football highlights proved to be short lived due to ITV sport's decision to introduce live league games on Sunday afternoon's during the course of the 1983/84 season. TVS did however produce their own programme for the 14/Apr/1984 FA Cup Semi-final clash between Southampton and Everton, this was billed in the Times as "Sunday Sportsclub" (other region's saw the game as part of The Big Match).

TVS football links
23/Apr/1983 - Brighton programme article - inlcudes a section on ITV's FA Cup SF coverage

TVS stuff
TV Ark - TVS section
TVS Television

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 November 2009