*ABC Television had provided a weekend commercial service for both the Midlands and North from 1956 - July 1968, they began producing a football highlights show called World of Soccer during the 1965/66 season - see here.

The Yorkshire region's teams 1968-1983
YTV's football coverage quickly became synonymous with Don Revie's Leeds United who were arguably the best side in the entire country until well into the mid-1970's. In stark contrast to Leeds, the region's other top clubs Sheffield Wednesday, Sheffield United and Huddersfield Town would all sink into the 3rd tier for the first time in their respective histories, the latter pair even spent time in the 4th, yet all three still enjoyed their success stories and each played their part in making YTV football history (promotion was not something Leeds were able to celebrate in those days).
Many of the region's other clubs also enjoyed the good times, none more so than Hull City who spent more than a decade in the 2nd tier, briefly to be joined by Mansfield Town for one single season before both were relegated in 1978. Rotherham United and Barnsley then had their turn competing in the upper echelons of the football league after achieving promotion together in 1981.
Sadly the region lost one of its' league members in 1970 when Bradford Park Avenue failed to gain re-election following a succession of calamitous campaigns at the foot of the 4th division (the one Park Avenue match known to have been covered by YTV on 21/Dec/1968 survives in the archives). Becoming the only club in town had no positive effect on Bradford City who, after relegation in 1972, languished in the 4th division for 9 of the next 10 season's. But the region was to add another three league clubs to its' roster in July 1974 when ITV signals from the high powered Belmont transmitter in Lincolnshire began to relay Yorkshire signals instead of those previously relayed from Anglia;* Grimsby Town, Scunthorpe United and Lincoln City were all now YTV clubs whilst the ITV regional preference of Hull City supporters no longer had to be fought for.
Another club who YTV 'shared' was Middlesbrough - Odd considering that the coverage area maps of the day suggest households beyond Northallerton would have struggled to pull in satisfactory YTV signals, whilst Middlebrough itself was clearly well within the Tyne Tees boundary**, yet ITV stations were competing to maximize advertising potential in fringe/overlap areas and, as Middlesbrough was still in the county of North Yorkshire in 1968, there was enough of an excuse to send YTV cameras to Ayresome Park. York City too found themselves attracting the attention of both YTV and Tyne Tees, especially after they won promotion to the 2nd tier in 1974.
Largely ignored over the years were Doncaster Rovers, Halifax Town and Chesterfield who were unable to climb out of the lower league's, although the Shaymen went close in 1971 as did the Spireites in 1980. That same year saw Grimsby Town prove to be the most successful 'Belmont' acquisition when they were promoted as champions of the 3rd tier. Sadly the final season of regular regional highlights in 1982/83 saw YTV unable to cover a top flight club, Leeds United's glory days had very much deserted them and it was Sheffield Wednesday who would soon be flying the flag for the region at the highest level in a new era in which live coverage superseded highlights.

*Anglia Television (based in Norwich) continued to broadcast to a smaller region after relinquishing the Lincolnshire mast to YTV (the switchover date is often cited as 01/Jan/1974, but in fact the switch did not occur until 30th July 1974). Some homes around the Chesterfield, Mansfield and Lincoln areas received ATV/Central who would occasionally feature the clubs from those towns on Star Soccer, but all three were primarily recognised as YTV teams.
**In March 1971 a new high powered transmitter on Bilsdale West Moor (positioned 20 miles south of Middlesbrough), was added to the growing family of colour TV masts - Although original plans designated this to be a Yorkshire Television mast, by October 1970 it had been agreed that the transmitter would relay a Tyne Tees signal. Colour reception of Yorkshire Television was first made available via the Emley Moor mast near Huddersfield on 15th November 1969 (Huddersfield v Portsmouth was presumably Yorkshire's first colour match, although some earlier games were recorded in colour for test purposes).

Yorkshire football commentators & presenters
The original YTV commentator was ex-professional footballer Danny Blanchflower, a very fine player in his day with Barnsley, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur who had also captained Northern Ireland to the Quarter-Finals of the World Cup in 1958, but it soon became obvious to Yorkshire viewers that he wasn't so useful with the microphone as he had been with the ball and by the end of the 1968/69 season YTV had 'let him go'*. His replacement was Keith Macklin, already well known in the region having appeared on BBC North as a newsreader during the first half of the 1960's, YTV had possibly employed Macklin as a Rugby commentator as he had described Rugby League matches for the BBC's North of England home service in the 1950's & '60's as well as presenting televised Rugby Union in 1967, nevertheless he became the voice of Yorkshire football from 1969 until the early stages of the 1976/77 season and he was also a member of the ITV commentary team that covered the 1974 World Cup in West Germany. In 1982 Macklin joined Red Rose Radio where he continued to work until shortly before his death in 2009 aged 78.
Replacing Macklin in 1976 came 31 year old Martin Tyler who had previously worked behind the scenes on LWT's The Big Match before taking up a place in the gantry on behalf of Southern Television (see 1976 article here). Whilst with Yorkshire, Tyler commentated at the 1978 World Cup finals in Argentina and eventually became recognised as the network's no.2 behind Brian Moore**. When Tyler left YTV to join Granada for the start of 1981/82*** a 39 year old John Helm took over, Helm was a born and bred Yorkshireman who had worked for BBC Radio Leeds before joining the national BBC Radio Sports department, his party piece was the ability to rattle through the names of all 92 league clubs in record breaking time (around 26 seconds).

The main presenter of Yorkshire football highlights was Fred Dineage, chiefly associated outside the region with Southern TV's children's programme How, although he also popped up hosting the likes of World of Sport and Anglia's quiz show Gambit. Towards the end of regular regional highlights, ex-player Derek Dougan was employed by YTV as a post match summariser (Like Jimmy Greaves at ATV, Dougan had not served any club in the region in which he now worked, but this fact did at least grant him an air of impartiality)***. Dineage left YTV to present to TVS highlights in 1982 and, following the relegation of the region's last remaining top flight clubs, Yorkshire's football coverage was severely cut for the final season of regional highlights in 1982/83.

* Danny Blanchflower had first commentated for Rediffusion on the Southern Junior Floodlit Cup Final between West Ham and Chelsea on 3rd January 1956 and later worked for CBS television in the USA on their National Professional Soccer League games in 1967. Back in 1961 he became notorious for turning down an appearance on the hugely popular TV show This Is Your Life by walking away from the host Eamon Andrews and his big red book (live on air) whilst protesting "I consider this programme to be an invasion of privacy. Nobody is going to press gang me into anything." He died in December 1993.
**In 2007 Martin Tyler was asked for his most embarrassing moment, he recalled; "When an injury-stricken player was being taken from the field, I noted that it was a 'sad sight for Sheffield Wednesday fans'. Unfortunately, I inserted a stray H into the second word."
***Terry Neill may also have been a regular summariser for YTV around 1973/74.

What matches were shown
The following lists detail all the matches recorded by Yorkshire Television cameras for local highlights, the re-edits of other region's games are not included. For full details of networked Wembley Cup finals go here, for networked European finals see here. Given dates are for when the match was played (not the broadcast). Blanks* denote that we don't know what game was shown (if one was shown at all), winter postponements may have forced YTV to occasionally schedule an alternate non-football programme. Known mid-week & pre-season Yorkshire based matches are included in grey, networked ITV coverage of other matches of interest are in italics.

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

Season 1968/69
All "Football Special" programmes for this season were broadcast in 405-line black & white on VHF only.
10/Aug     Showed ATV coverage of West Bromwich Albion 0 Sheffield Wednesday 0
17/Aug     Showed Granada's match
24/Aug     Sheffield United 1 (Addison) Millwall 0
31/Aug     Leeds United 1 (Jones) Liverpool 0
07/Sep     Sheffield Wednesday 2 (Whitam, Eustace) Ipswich Town 1 (Crawford)
14/Sep     Rotherham United 1 (Leggat) Torquay United 0
21/Sep     Hull City 1 (Wagstaff) Bolton Wanderers 0
28/Sep     Showed Granada coverage of Manchester City 3 (Bell 2, Young) Leeds United 1 (O'Grady)
05/Oct     Sheffield Wednesday 1 (Whitham) Sunderland 1 (Palmer)
12/Oct     Leeds United 2 (Lorimer, Giles(pen)) West Ham United 0
19/Oct     Huddersfield Town 1 (Aiimson) Sheffield United 0
23/Oct     Leeds United 3 (Charlton, Lorimer, Bremner) Standard Liege 2 (Gapriro, Hostini) [Fairs Cup] *Blanchflower for YTV, Davies for network
26/Oct     Leeds United 0 West Bromwich Albion 0
02/Nov    Showed Granada coverage of Man Utd 0 Leeds Utd 0 *YTV intended to show Sheffield Wed v Arsenal but match was postponed
09/Nov    Leeds United 0 Tottenham Hotspur 0
16/Nov    Sheffield Wednesday 1 (McCalliog) Liverpool 2 (Lawler, Callaghan)
23/Nov    Sheffield United 4 (Tudor 2, McNab(og), Reece) Preston North End 0
30/Nov    Middlesbrough 2 (Coddington, Downing) Blackburn Rovers 0 *Note: Tyne Tees were at Newcastle
07/Dec     Leeds United 2 (Lorimer 2) Sheffield Wednesday 0
14/Dec     Huddersfield Town 0 Hull City 3 (Chilton 2, Lill)
21/Dec     Bradford Park Avenue 2 (Draper, Andrews) Doncaster Rovers 1 (Webber)
28/Dec     Sheffield Wednesday 0 Southampton 0
04/Jan      Sheffield Wednesday 1 (Ritchie) Leeds United 1 (Lorimer(pen)) [FA Cup 3rd Round]
11/Jan      Leeds United 2 (Jones, O'Grady) Manchester United 1 (Charlton) *a portion of this show exists on vt
18/Jan      Bradford City 1 (Bannister) Halifax Town 1 (Flower)
25/Jan      Huddersfield Town 0 West Ham United 2 (Peters, Hurst) [FA Cup 4th Round]
01/Feb     Sheffield United 5 (Tudor 3, Woodward, Hemsley) Bury 0
08/Feb     Showed Southern coverage of Portsmouth 1 (Hiron) Hull City 0
15/Feb     Showed LWT's match
22/Feb     Showed LWT's match
01/Mar    Showed Granada's FA Cup QF
08/Mar    Middlesbrough 1 (Crossan) Portsmouth 0
15/Mar    League Cup Final *Nerworked highlights of LWT's coverage
22/Mar    FA Cup SF *Networked, but YTV may have still been off air after collapse of Emley Moor mast on 19th March
29/Mar    Barnsley 2 (King (og), Earnshaw) Tranmere Rovers 2 (Rowland, King)
05/Apr     Leeds United 1 (Giles) Manchester City 0
12/Apr     Huddersfield Town 0 Charlton Athletic 0
19/Apr     Sheffield Wednesday 2 (Ritchie, Woodall) Everton 2 (Hurst, Husband)
26/Apr     FA Cup Final *Networked live, Yorkshire had their own presentation of Sunday highlights

Within their very first year of covering the region's football, YTV were able to share in the glory of a top flight championship winning season as Leeds finished 1st (United's first ever league title at this level and they only lost 2 league games all season). Sheffield Wednesday, the region's only other old 1st division club, finished 15th. In the 2nd tier Huddersfield Town and Sheffield United both finished in the top half, as did fringe YTV area clubs Middlesbrough and Hull City (the latter were then shared with Anglia TV), the Tigers' Ken Wagstaff was runner-up in his league's goalscoring charts with 20. Doncaster Rovers, Halifax Town and Bradford City all won promotion from the 4th (Doncaster as champions under Lawrie McMenemy), but Bradford Park Avenue again ended the campaign rock bottom of the 92.

Season 1969/70
All Yorkshire highlights programmes up to 8th November 1969 were broadcast in 405 line black & white on VHF only. Shows went out at 2:15-3:15pm Sundays.
09/Aug    Showed Granada coverage of Manchester City 4 (Young 2, Bell, Lee) Sheff Wednesday 1 (Eustace)
16/Aug    Middlesbrough 2 (Laidlaw, Hickton) Leicester City 1 (Lochead)
23/Aug    Leeds United 1 (Jones) Newcastle United 1 (Scott)
30/Aug    Sheffield Wednesday 1 (Warboys) Liverpool 1 (Lawler)
06/Sep    Leeds United 2 (Sadler(og), Bremner) Manchester United 2 (Best 2) *Recorded in colour but broadcast in b&w
13/Sep    Sheffield Wednesday 1 (Burton) Leeds United 2 (Gray, Clarke) *Recorded in colour but broadcast in b&w
20/Sep    Showed ATV's match *Macklin commentating, at least for YTV
27/Sep    Showed ATV coverage of Coventry 1 (Hunt) Leeds 2 (Clarke, Gray) *Macklin commentating, at least for YTV
04/Oct    Showed ATV's match
11/Oct    Showed ATV's match
18/Oct    Sheffield United 2 (Woodward, Currie) Blackpool 3 (Burns, Pickering 2)
25/Oct    Hull City 2 (Butler, Wilkinson) Huddersfield Town 3 (Worthington 2, Hoy)
01/Nov   Sheffield United 4 (Currie, Woodward, Addison, Badger) Blackburn Rovers 0
08/Nov   Showed Anglia coverage of Norwich 1 (Bryceland) Huddersfield 2 (Hoy, Dobson)
12/Nov    Leeds United 3 (Giles, Jones,2) Ferencvarosi 0 [European Cup 2nd Round 1st Leg]
From 15th November 1969 YTV began broadcasting on 625 line PAL colour on UHF, highlights were videotaped and broadcast in colour from this point onwards.
15/Nov    Huddersfield Town 4 (Hunt, Hoy, Dobson, Cherry) Portsmouth 0
22/Nov    Leeds United 1 (Giles(pen)) Liverpool 1 (Yeats) *Surviving tape is in b&w
29/Nov     Intended match Sheffield Wednesday v Coventry City was postponed, showed Granada match instead
06/Dec     Sheffield United 1 (Reece) Leicester City 0
13/Dec     Leeds United 2 (Clarke 2) Sheffield Wednesday 0
20/Dec     Sheffield Wednesday 1 (Whitham) Arsenal 1 (Sammels) *played in snow, intended match Huddersfield v QPR was postponed
27/Dec     Barnsley 2 (Bettany, Dean) Doncaster Rovers 1 (Briggs)
03/Jan      Sheffield United 2 (Reece, Addison) Everton 1 (Ball(pen)) [FA Cup 3rd Round]
10/Jan      Showed Granada and LWT games
17/Jan      Showed Anglia's match
24/Jan      Showed ATV's Derby 3 (O'Hare 2, Durbon) Sheff Utd 0 [FA Cup R4], Anglia covered Sheff Wed 1 (Whitham) Scunthorpe 2 (Barker, Cassidy) in b&w
31/Jan      Sheffield Wednesday 2 (Smith, Sinclair) Ipswich Town 2 (Mills, Hill) *Anglia covered Hull v Sheffield Utd
07/Feb     Showed other region's FA Cup 5th Round games
14/Feb     Showed LWT coverage of Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Cooper(og)) Leeds 1 (Lorimer) *Intended match Huddersfield v Oxford was postponed
21/Feb     Middlesbrough 1 (Hickton) Manchester United 1 (Sutton) [FA Cup Quarter Final]
28/Feb     Leeds United 2 (Jones 2) Crystal Palace 0 *LWT logs incorrectly say YTV were at Sheff Wed.
04/Mar    Standard Liege 0 Leeds United 1 (Lorimer) [European Cup QF 1st Leg]
07/Mar    League Cup Final *Yorkshire had their own highlights presentation of LWT's coverage
14/Mar    FA Cup SF *Networked highlights of Chelsea/Watford, the Leeds FA Cup S/F was on BBC
21/Mar    Huddersfield Town 2 (Lawson 2) Birmingham City 0
23/Mar    Leeds United 0 Manchester United 0 [FA Cup SF Replay] *Most regions showed this
28/Mar    Showed Granada's match
01/Apr    Leeds United 0 Celtic 1 (Connelly) [European Cup SF 1st Leg] *Brian Moore commentated for network
04/Apr    Leeds United 2 (E. Gray 2) Burnley 1 (Faulkner(og))
11/Apr    FA Cup Final - Leeds United 2 (Charlton, Jones) Chelsea 2 (Houseman, Hutchinson) AET *Nerworked live, YTV has own Sunday highlights show
29/Apr    Leeds United 1 (Jones) Chelsea 2 (Osgood, Webb) [Old Trafford] AET *Networked live

Billy Bremner was named 'Footballer of the year' but 1969/70 turned out to be a frustrating 'very nearly' season for his team Leeds United who were runners-up in both League and FA Cup and they also reached the Semi-finals of the European Cup (In which they were drawn to play Celtic, the first leg at Elland Road was covered by ITV - Leeds lost 1-0 to a goal scored in 40 seconds, the away leg was televised by the BBC - Leeds lost again, 2-1, in front of a crowd of 136,505 at Hampden). A disastrous campaign for Sheffield Wednesday saw them finish bottom, but all was not lost for the region as Huddersfield Town (managed by Ian Greaves) were crowned champions of the 2nd tier and so Yorkshire would still have two top flight clubs. Jimmy McGuigan's Chesterfield won the 4th division, but it was the end of the road for Bradford Park Avenue who finished bottom of the 92 for the third year running and were not re-elected in the vote (Cambridge United would take their place).

Season 1970/71
Shows now went out at the slightly later time of 2:20-3:20pm Sundays.
05/Aug    Networked coverage of Hull City 1 (Chilton) Man Utd 1 (Law) [Watney Cup SF] *Utd won on pens, commentator Hugh Johns
15/Aug    Huddersfield Town 3 (Smith 2, Worthington(pen)) Blackpool 0
22/Aug    Leeds United 3 (Giles, Bremner 2) Everton 2 (Brown, Husband)
29/Aug    Sheffield Wednesday 1 (Prendergast) Blackburn Rovers 1 (Rogers)
05/Sep    Leeds United 1 (Clarke) Chelsea 0
12/Sep    Huddersfield Town 0 Crystal Palace 2 (Queen, Kember)
19/Sep    Sheffield United 1 (Dearden) Middlesbrough 1 (Hickton)
26/Sep    Barnsley 2 (Evans 2) Halifax Town 2 (Brearley 2)
03/Oct    Leeds United 2 (Lorimer 2(1pen)) Huddersfield Town 0
10/Oct    Sheffield Wednesday 1 (Sinclair) Luton Town 5 (MacDonald 3, Givens 2)
17/Oct    Leeds United 2 (J.Charlton, Belfitt), Manchester United 2 (Fizpatrick, B.Charlton)
24/Oct    Hull City 1 (Wagstaffe) Sheffield United 1 (Currie)
An ITV technicians colour strike affected programmes until mid-February, some highlights would now be recorded in black & white
31/Oct    Middlesbrough 2 (Laidlaw, Downing) Watford 2 (Scullion 2)
07/Nov   Sheffield Wednesday 1 (Todd) Millwall 0
14/Nov   Middlesbrough 3 (Hickton, Downing, McIlmoyle) Charlton Athletic 0
21/Nov   Huddersfield Town 2 (Lawson, Hutt) West Bromwich Albion 1 (Brown)
28/Nov   Leeds United 1 (Clarke) Manchester City 0
05/Dec   Hull City 3 (Chilton, Houghton, Butler) Leicester City 0
12/Dec   Showed Tyne Tees match *LWT logs say YTV covered Leeds United 0 Ipswich Town 0
19/Dec   Middlesbrough 1 (Hickton) Hull City 0
26/Dec   Leeds United 3 (Giles, Epens,Clarke) Newcastle United 0
02/Jan    Huddersfield Town 1 (Hoy) Birmingham City 1 (Summerill) [FA Cup 3rd Round]
09/Jan    Showed Anglia coverage of Hull City 4 (Chilton 3, Wagstaff) Sunderland 0
16/Jan    Showed Granada coverage of Bolton Wanderers 2 (Seddon, Fletcher) Sheffield United 1 (Tudor)
23/Jan    York City 3 (McMahon, Hewitt, Aimson) Southampton 3 (Gabriel, Channon, Davies) [FA Cup 4th Round]
30/Jan    Huddersfield Town 1 (Worthington(pen)) Manchester United 2 (Law, Aston)
ITV technicians colour strike now ended, all programmes in colour from now on
06/Feb   Sheffield United 2 (Woodward 2) Luton Town 1 (Jim Ryan)
13/Feb    Hull City 2 (Chilton, Houghton) Brentford 1 (Ross) [FA Cup 5th Round]
20/Feb    Middlesbrough 1 (Hickton) Sheffield Wednesday 0
27/Feb    League Cup Final *Nerworked highlights
06/Mar    Hull City 2 (Wagstaff 2) Stoke City 3 (Conroy, Ritchie 2) [FA Cup QF]
13/Mar    Huddersfield Town 0 Burnley 1 (Waldron)
20/Mar    Leeds United 2 (Giles, Lorimer) Crystal Palace 1 (Birchenall)
27/Mar    FA Cup SF *Nerworked highlights of Arsenal v Stoke
03/Apr    Sheffield United 0 Norwich City 0
10/Apr    Showed Tyne Tees coverage of Newcastle United 1 (Tudor) Leeds United 1 (Lorimer)
17/Apr    Halifax Town 1 (Lennard) Chesterfield 0
24/Apr    Middlesbrough 1 (Laidlaw) Sheffield United 1 (Dearden)
01/May   Leeds United 2 (Bremner, Lorimer) Nottingham Forest 0

Leeds were runners-up again in the league but United did manage to win something this year when the 2 leg Fairs Cup final v Juventus was won on away goals (The original 1st leg in Turin was abandoned due to a waterlogged pitch on 51 minutes with the score at 0-0, a replayed Italian leg saw Leeds come back home with a 2-2 draw, the 2nd leg at Elland Road finished 1-1). Huddersfield finished 15th in their first season back in the top flight since 1956. Hull City reached the Quarter-finals of the FA Cup but the region's big success story this season was John Harris's Sheffield United winning promotion to the top flight as runners-up. Halifax came close to reaching the 2nd tier for the first time ever by finishing 3rd (sadly only two clubs were promoted from that level in those days). Doncaster Rovers were relegated back down to the 4th, but one of the teams taking their place would be Tom Johnston's York City. 1970/71 was a good season for the region's strikers; Middlesbrough's John Hickton was the 2nd tier's top scorer with 25 goals, Hull's Chris Chilton wasn't far behind with 21 whilst in the other divisions, Paul Aimson of York notched up 26, Dudley Roberts of Mansfield netted 22 and Allan Clarke of Leeds and Kevin Randall of Chesterfield both scored 19.

Season 1971/72
Shows now scheduled for 2:30-3:30pm Sundays.
14/Aug    Huddersfield Town 2 (Worthington, Cherry) Leicester City 2 (Brown, Nish)
21/Aug    Halifax Town 3 (Lennard 2, Atkins) York City 1 (McMahon)
28/Aug    Sheffield United 0 West Bromwich Albion 0
04/Sep    Hull City 1 (Pearson) Blackpool 0
11/Sep    Sheffield United 2 (Dearden, Scullion) Tottenham Hotspur 2 (Peters, Gilzean)
18/Sep    Showed Granada's match
25/Sep    Huddersfield Town 2 (Lawson, Ellam) Leeds United 1 (Charlton)
02/Oct    Hull City 0 Luton Town 0 *LWT logs say YTV covered Leeds 0 West Ham 0, Anglia were at Norwich,
09/Oct    Huddersfield Town 0 Manchester United 3 (Best, Law, Charlton)
16/Oct    Rotherham United 2 (Gilbert 2) Blackburn Rovers 1 (Arentoft)
23/Oct    Sheffield Wednesday 1 (Sinclair) Swindon Town 0
30/Oct    Sheffield United (Currie) 1 Liverpool 1 (Keegan)
06/Nov    Leeds United 2 (Bremner, Lorimer) Leicester City 1 (Brown)
13/Nov    Showed Granada coverage of Preston North End 1 (Hepolette) Sheffield Wednesday 0
20/Nov    Leeds United 1 (Lorimer) Stoke City 0
27/Nov    Sheffield United 7 (Woodward 4(1pen), Reece, Badger, Dearden) Ipswich Town 0
04/Dec    Leeds United 3 (Giles 2, Lorimer) West Bromwich Albion 0
11/Dec    Hull City 4 (Kaye 2, Pearson, Banks) Middlesbrough 3 (Mills 2, Craggs)
18/Dec    Huddersfield Town 0 Southampton 2 (Davies, Stokes)
01/Jan     Showed Granada coverage of Liverpool 0 Leeds United 2 (Clarke, Jones)
08/Jan     Sheffield Wednesday 1 (Craig) Blackpool 2 (Burns, Dyson)
15/Jan     Leeds United 4 (Giles 2(1pen), Lorimer 2)  Bristol Rovers 1 (Allan) [FA Cup 3rd Round]
22/Jan     Leeds United 1 (Clarke) Sheffield United 0
29/Jan     Huddersfield Town 0 Newcastle United 0
05/Feb    Huddersfield Town 3 (Chapman, J.Lawson 2) Fulham 0 [FA Cup 4th Round]
09/Feb    Leeds United 2 (Clarke 2) Liverpool 0 [FA Cup 4th Round]
12/Feb    Huddersfield Town 0 Liverpool 1 (Whitham)
19/Feb    Hull City 3 (Wagstaff 2, Wilkinson) Preston North End 2 (Young, Tarbuck) *Dog on the pitch
26/Feb    Huddersfield Town 4 (J.Lawson, Dolan, D.Smith, Worthington) West Ham United 2 (Robson, Best) [FA Cup 5th Round]
04/Mar    League Cup Final *Nerworked highlights
11/Mar    Leeds United 1 (Charlton) Coventry City 0
18/Mar    Showed ATV coverage of Birmingham City 3 (Page, Latchford, Hatton) Huddersfield Town 1 (Cherry) [FA Cup QF]
25/Mar    Leeds United 3 (Clarke, Jones, Lorimer) Arsenal 0
01/Apr    Huddersfield Town 0 Everton 0
08/Apr    Sheffield United 0 Derby County 4 (Gemmill, MacKenzie(og), Hector, O'Hare)
15/Apr    FA Cup SF *Networked highlights of Arsenal/Stoke, the Leeds SF was on BBC
22/Apr    Hull City 1 (O'Riley) Sheffield Wednesday 0
29/Apr    Middlesbrough 3 (McMordie, Vincent, Mills) Hull City 0
06/May   FA Cup Final - Leeds 1 (Clarke) Arsenal 0 *Nerworked live & networked Sunday highlights

Leeds were banned from playing their opening four home league matches at Elland Road following last season's pitch invasion v WBA (prompted by a controversial refereeing decision) and United finished 1971/72 as league runners-up for the third year in a row, but their season ended in glory with an FA Cup final victory over Arsenal, and who better to score the winning goal than Allan Clarke! Yet it was Peter Lorimer who finished as Leeds top scorer in the league this term with 23 goals. Sheffield United finished 10th in their first season back in the top flight (having topped the table early on), but it was not a good campaign for other clubs in the region as the grim reaper of relegation came knocking on the door of Huddersfield Town (who finished bottom of the top tier) as well as Mansfield, Barnsley and Bradford City (who all took the drop to the 4th).

Season 1972/73
Programme was titled "Football Special" this season and scheduled for 2:30-3:30pm Sundays.
12/Aug    Middlesbrough 2 (Smith 2) Sunderland 1 (Latham)
19/Aug    Leeds United 2 (Clarke, Giles(pen)) West Bromwich Albion 0
26/Aug    Sheffield Wednesday 4 (Sunley, Joicey 2, Craig) Hull City 2 (Pearson 2)
02/Sep    Sheffield United 3 (Woodward, Dearden 2) Southampton 1 (Davies)
09/Sep    Huddersfield Town 1 (Smith) Oxford United 0
16/Sep    Sheffield United 2 (Dearden, Woodward(pen)) Chelsea 1 (Garland)
23/Sep    Showed Tyne Tees coverage of Middlesbrough 1 (Mills) Hull City 0
30/Sep    Leeds United 1 (Jones) Liverpool 2 (Lloyd, Boersma)
07/Oct    Showed Granada coverage of Preston North End 1 (Wilson) Sheffield Wednesday 1 (Eustace(pen))
14/Oct    York City 2 (Burrows, Rolls) Chesterfield 0 *Anglia were at Hull v Portsmouth
21/Oct    Sheffield United 0 Everton 1 (Whittle)
28/Oct    Sheffield Wednesday 1 (Sissons) Nottingham Forest 2 (Martin, Richardson)
04/Nov   Showed Anglia coverage of Ipswich 2 (Madeley(og), Wymark) Leeds 2 (Charlton, Lorimer) *Macklin commentary for YTV viewers
08/Nov    Leeds United 2 (Cherry, Jones) Carl Zeiss Jena 0 [Cup Winners Cup 2nd Round 2nd Leg] *tape is b&w
11/Nov    Showed ATV's match *Keith Macklin commentating
18/Nov    Sheffield Wednesday 2 (Mullen, T.Craig) Middlesbrough 1 (Hickton(pen)) *Wednesday missed two pens
25/Nov    Sheffied United 1 (Dearden) Wolverhampton W. 2 (Richards, Hibbitt)
02/Dec    Sheffield Wednesday 2 (Joicey, Wylde) Millwall 2 (Bolland 2)
09/Dec    Leeds United 1 (Jones) West Ham United 0
16/Dec    Showed Anglia coverage of Grimsby Town 4 (Wiggington, Gielson(og), Chatterley, Worthington) Brentford 0
23/Dec    Huddersfield Town 1 (Gowling) Hull City 3 (Wagstaff, Greenwood, Houghton(pen))
30/Dec    Sheffield Wednesday 3 (T.Craig, Sunley, Joicey) Queens Park Rangers 1 (Leach)
06/Jan      Leeds United 2 (Jones, Lorimer(pen)) Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Gilzean)
13/Jan      Sheffield Wednesday 2 (Prendergast, Joicey) Fulham 0 [FA Cup 3rd Round]
20/Jan      Huddersfield Town 1 (Hutt) Luton Town 2 (Butlin, Lyon(og))
27/Jan      Showed ATV and Granada games
03/Feb     Hull City 1 (Houghton) West Ham United 0 [FA Cup 4th Round] *Leeds 2 (Clarke, Bates) Plymouth 1 (Rickard) now thought to be newsreel
10/Feb     Middlesbrough 2 (Hickton, Boam) Bristol City 1 (Emanuel)
17/Feb     Leeds United 1 (Jones) Chelsea 1 (Osgood)
24/Feb     Sheffield Wednesday 1 (Coyle) Chelsea 2 (Garner, Osgood) [FA Cup 5th Round]
03/Mar    League Cup Final *Nerworked highlights
10/Mar    Sheffield United 0 West Ham United 0   *Woodward missed 2 pens for Blades
17/Mar    Derby County 0 Leeds United 1 (Lorimer) [FA Cup QF] *ATV Midlands match was Wolves v Coventry [FA Cup QF]
24/Mar    Leeds United 0 Wolverhampton W. 0
31/Mar    Sheffield Wednesday 2 (Sunley, Joicey) Orient 0
07/Apr     FA Cup SF *Sunderland/Arsenal at Hillsborough
14/Apr     Showed Anglia's match
21/Apr     Sheffield United 3 (Coop(og), Bone, Dearden) Coventry City 1 (Barry)
28/Apr     Huddersfield Town 2 (Fairclough, Summerill) Portsmouth 0
05/May    FA Cup Final - Leeds United 0 Sunderland 1 (Porterfield) *Nerworked live & networked Sunday highlights

Leeds slipped to 3rd position this time around and probably wished they hadn't reached a successive FA Cup final after 2nd tier Sunderland beat them 1-0 in one of the biggest cup final upsets of all time, Leeds were also losing finalists in the Cup-Winners Cup with AC Milan winning 1-0 (a BBC game). Sheffield United dropped to a final position of 14th in the top tier (Billy Dearden netting 20 league goals), Wednesday improved to 10th in the 2nd tier with Hull three places behind them.  Despite Alan Gowling's 17 goals, Huddersfield Town finished up with a poorer goal average than Cardiff City which saw the Terriers slip into the bottom two after Cardiff picked up a point from a game-in-hand played after Town had finished their season, Huddersfield were relegated to the 3rd tier for the first time in their history. Rotherham United suffered the same cruel fate in the division below in which four clubs ended the season with 41 points - Among the three fortunates to survive with the same points total as the Millers were York and Halifax, the Shaymen saving themselves with a game-in-hand victory played after Rotherham had completed their fixtures.

Season 1973/74
Now titled "Soccer Special"
25/Aug    Sheffield United 0 Burnley 2 (Collins, Dobson)
01/Sep    Sheffield Wednesday 0 Blackpool 0
08/Sep    Leeds United 3 (Lorimer 3(1pen)) Birmingham City 0
15/Sep    Middlesbrough 0 Aston Villa 0
22/Sep    Leeds United 0 Manchester United 0
29/Sep    Sheffield Wednesday 4 (Prendergast 3, Sunley) Crystal Palace 0
06/Oct     Sheffield United 1 (Woodward(pen)) Leicester City 1 (Weller)
13/Oct     Huddersfield Town 2 (S.Smith, Summerill) Plymouth Argyle 1 (Mariner)
20/Oct     Leeds United 1 (Jones) Liverpool 0
27/Oct     Sheffield Wednesday 0 Notts County 0
03/Nov    Leeds United 4 (Bates, Jones 2, Clarke) West Ham United 1 (McDougal)
10/Nov    Showed Anglia's match
17/Nov    Sheffield United 3 (Flynn, Woodward, Colquhoun) Derby County 0
24/Nov    Sheffield Wednesday 0 Oxford United 1 (Curran) *complete show is held by BFI. +M
01/Dec     Leeds United 2 (Bremner, Jones) Queens Park Rangers 2 (Thomas, Bowles)
08/Dec     Sheffield Wednesday 2 (Prendergast, Joicey) Middlesbrough 2 (Foggon, Mills) *Anglia at Hull
15/Dec     Showed Tyne Tees coverage of Middlesbrough 1 (Boam) Nottingham Forest 0
22/Dec     Leeds United 1 (Yorath) Norwich City 0
29/Dec     York City 1 (Pollard) Blackburn Rovers 0
05/Jan       Sheffield Wednesday 0 Coventry City 0 [FA Cup 3rd Round]
12/Jan       Sheffield United 2 (Eddy(pen), Cammack) Tottenham Hotspur 2 (Coates, Mcgrath)
19/Jan       Sheffield Wednesday 2 (Sunley, Potts) Swindon Town 1 (Eastoe)
26/Jan       Showed Anglia coverage of Peterborough United 1 (Cousins) Leeds United 4 (Lorimer, Jordan 2, Yorath) [FA Cup 4th Round]
02/Feb      Leeds United 1 (Cherry) Chelsea 1 (Garner)
09/Feb      Middlesbrough 0 Blackpool 0 *Granada coverage of Man Utd v Leeds was probably the main match, Tyne Tees at Newcastle
16/Feb      Showed other region's FA Cup 5th Round matches (none involving YTV clubs)
19/Feb      Leeds United 0 Bristol City 1 (Gillies) [FA Cup R5 Replay] *Played on a weekday afternoon due to "3 day week" preventing use of floodlights.
23/Feb      Sheffield Wednesday 0 Sunderland 1 (Halom)
02/Mar     League Cup Final *Nerworked highlights
09/Mar     Hull City 1 (O'Reilly) Luton Town 3 (West, Anderson, Aston) *possibly Anglia coverage
16/Mar     York City 2 (Jones, Holmes(pen)) Bristol Rovers 1 (Stephens)
23/Mar     Hull City 1 (Grimes) Carlisle United 1 (Owen) *possibly Anglia coverage
30/Mar     FA Cup SF *YTV at Hillsborough for Burnley/Newcastle, Macklin commentated (Moore for LWT viewers)
06/Apr     Showed Tyne Tees coverage of Middlesbrough 4 (Hickton, Needham(og), Armstrong, Foggon) Notts County 0
13/Apr     Showed Granada's match
20/Apr     Leeds United 3 (Lorimer, Bremner, Clarke) Ipswich Town 2 (Talbot, Hamilton)
27/Apr     York City 1 (Jones) Oldham Athletic 1 (Whittle)

1973/74 was a good season for the region; Leeds United - League champions! (Norman Hunter was named the PFA 'Player of the year'), fringe YTV club Middlesbrough (now managed by ex Leeds player Jack Charlton) champions of the 2nd tier! York City - Promoted from the 3rd tier for the first time! And no Yorkshire clubs relegated! Huddersfield's Alan Gowling was also among the top scorers with 24. There were managerial changes at the top however; Ken Furphy took charge of Sheffield United in December and Don Revie accepted the England job and left Leeds after the season's end in July. The YTV region would gain three new league clubs next season as the Belmont mast in Lincolnshire would be switched over from Anglia to YTV in July 1974; these being 3rd tier Grimsby Town (who'd just finished 6th) and 4th tier teams Lincoln City (12th) and Scunthorpe United (18th).

Season 1974/75
Shows moved to the earlier time of 2:00-3:00pm Sundays. Following the Belmont transmitter switchover, the programme was now seen across Lincolnshire and the North Western fringes of Norfolk.
17/Aug    Showed ATV coverage of Stoke City 3 (Mahoney, Cherry(og), Ritchie) Leeds United 0
24/Aug    Showed Tyne Tees coverage of Middlesbrough 1 (Mills) Luton Town 1 (Butlin)
31/Aug    Sheffield United 3 (Mills(og), Field 2) Ipswich Town 1 (Lambert)
07/Sep    Leeds United 1 (Clarke) Luton Town 1 (Butlin) *Full programme archived? (BFI says inserts only)
14/Sep    Halifax Town 0 Bury 1 (Spence)
18/Sep    Leeds United 4 (Clarke 2, Lorimer(pen), Jordan) FC Zurich 1 (Katic) [European Cup 1st Round 1st Leg]
21/Sep    Leeds United 5 (Clarke 2, McQueen, Lorimer(pen), Yorath) Sheffield United 1 (Dearden)
24/Sep    Leeds United 1 (Clarke) Huddersfield Town 1 (Gowling) [League Cup 2nd Round 2nd Leg] AET *2-2 on agg, replay required
28/Sep    Sheffield United 1 (Woodward) Liverpool 0
05/Oct    Showed LWT's match
12/Oct    Sheffield United 2 (Dearden, Woodward) Everton 2 (Lyons, Buckley)
19/Oct    Showed Tyne Tees coverage of Middlesbrough 4 (Souness 2, Mills, Foggon) Coventry City 4 (Stein, Cross, Holmes 2)
26/Oct    Hull City 3 (Horley, Wagstaff, Banks) Sunderland 1 (Robson)
02/Nov   Sheffield United 2 (Field 2) Carlisle United 1 (McIlmoyne)
06/Nov   Leeds United 3 (McQueen, Bremner, Yorath) Ujpest Dozsa 0 [European Cup 2nd Round 2nd Leg]
09/Nov   Sheffield Wednesday 3 (Ferguson, McMordie, Potts) York City 0
16/Nov   Leeds United 2 (McKenzie 2) Middlesbrough 2 (Boam, Smith)
23/Nov    Showed Granada's match
30/Nov    York City 1 (Seal) Norwich City 0
07/Dec    Sheffield Wednesday 4 (Sunley 2, Harvey, Shaw) Manchester United 4 (Houston, Macari 2, Pearson)
14/Dec    Leeds United 3 (McQueen, Lorimer,Yorath) Stoke City 1 (Moores)
21/Dec    Grimsby Town 1 (Barton) Charlton Athletic 1 (Goldthorpe)
28/Dec    Sheffield United 1 (Field) Arsenal 1 (George)
04/Jan     Leeds United 4 (E.Gray, Clarke 2, McKenzie) Cardiff City 1 (Showers) [FA Cup 3rd Round]
11/Jan     Sheffield United 1 (Dearden) Manchester City 1 (Booth)
18/Jan     Huddersfield Town 0 Preston North End 1 (Charlton)
25/Jan     Leeds United 0 Wimbledon 0 [FA Cup 4th Round] *Lorimer had penalty saved
01/Feb    Leeds United 0 Coventry City 0
08/Feb    Sheffield Wednesday 0 Blackpool 0
15/Feb    Derby v Leeds FA Cup match postponed, showed other region's ties
22/Feb    Hull City 0 Portsmouth 0
01/Mar   League Cup Final *Nerworked highlights
08/Mar    Showed FA Cup QF's including Anglia coverage of Ipswich 0 Leeds 0
15/Mar    Middlesbrough 3 (Hickton, Souness 2) Tottenham Hotspur 0
19/Mar    Anderlecht 0 Leeds United 1 (Bremner) [European Cup QF] *Networked "The Wednesday Special", commentator Brian Moore
22/Mar    Lincoln City 2 (Harding, Ward) Rotherham United 0
25/Mar    Leeds United 0 Ipswich Town 0 [FA Cup QF 2nd Replay] *at Filbert Street, networked highlights
29/Mar    Showed Tyne Tees coverage of Middlesbrough 2 (Murdoch, Foggon) Burnley 0
05/Apr    FA Cup SF *Nerworked highlights of Fulham/Birmingham
12/Apr    Showed ATV's match
19/Apr    Leeds United 2 (Cherry, Harris) Ipswich Town 1 (Talbot)
23/Apr    Barcelona 1 (Clares) Leeds 1 (Lorimer) [European Cup SF L2] *Gordon McQueen sent off but Leeds win 3-2 on agg, comm. Brian Moore
26/Apr    Sheffield United 4 (Bradford, Flynn, Currie, Eddie) Leicester City 0

It was a traumatic term for Leeds who finished 9th, easily their lowest position since winning promotion in 1964. New manager Brian Clough's rein lasted only 44 days before he was replaced by Jimmy Armfield, an FA Cup Quarter-final v Ipswich went to a 3rd replay which was lost, whilst a run in the European Cup took them all the way to the final (knocking out Barcelona in the semis) only for it to end in disaster in a match (shown live on the BBC) overshadowed by shocking refereeing decisions and crowd trouble, Leeds lost 2-0 to Bayern Munich and the mighty whites were banned from European competition for three years. Back home, in their return to the top flight, Middlesbrough finished 7th whilst Ken Furphy's Sheffield United were one place higher in 6th (their best finish in over a decade) but there was nothing but heartache for the blue & white half of Sheffield as the Owls finished bottom of the 2nd tier, a low point in their history which Huddersfield Town managed to outdo by ending the season bottom of the 3rd. There was brighter news from the 4th division as Mansfield Town (with 28 goals from Ray Clarke) were promoted as champions along with Rotherham United, Lincoln only just missed out on joining them. Scunthorpe finished rock bottom of the league but were re-elected.

Season 1975/76
09/Aug    Showed Grananda coverage of Manchester City 3 (Booth, Marsh, Leman) Sheffield United 1 (Woodward) [Anglo-Scottish Cup]
16/Aug    Showed ATV coverage of Aston Villa 1 (Phillips) Leeds United 2 (Lorimer 2(1pen))
23/Aug    Leeds United 1 (Lorimer) Ipswich Town 0
30/Aug    Sheffield United 0 Leeds United 2 (McKenzie, Clarke)
06/Sep    Showed Tyne Tees coverage of Middlesbrough 3 (Hickton, Mills 2) Stoke City 0
13/Sep    York City 1 (McMordie) Notts County 2 (Scanlon, McVay)
20/Sep     Leeds United 1 (Lorimer) Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Pratt)
27/Sep     Sheffield United 0 Norwich City 1 (McDougal)
04/Oct     Showed Tyne Tees match
11/Oct     Leeds United 1 (Clarke) Manchester United 2 (McIlroy 2)
18/Oct     Middlesbrough 3 (Souness, Armstrong, Foggon) West Ham United 0 *Tyne Tees were at Newcastle
25/Oct     Leeds United 2 (Yorath, Clarke) Coventry City 0
01/Nov    Sheffield United 2 (Eddie, Guthrie) Manchester City 2 (Booth, Barnes)
08/Nov    Leeds United 3 (McKenzie 2, Yorath) Newcastle United 0
15/Nov    Sheffield United 1 (Woodward) Leicester City 2 (Alderson, Rofe)
22/Nov    Hull City 1 (Galvin) Portsmouth 0
29/Nov    Leeds United 5 (Lorimer 2(1pen), Clarke 2, E.Gray) Everton 2 (Clements(pen), Latchford)
06/Dec     York City 1 (Seal) Hull City 2 (Fletcher, Greenwood)
13/Dec     Sheffield United 1 (Dearden) Manchester United 4 (Pearson 2, Hill, Macari)
20/Dec     Rotherham United 2 (Phillips, Spencer) Mansfield Town 1 (Hodgson)
27/Dec     Leeds United 4 (Clarke, McKenzie 2, Lorimer) Leicester City 0
03/Jan      Leicester City 3 (Garland 3) Sheffield United 0 [FA Cup 3rd Round] *This was YTV coverage despite being staged outside the region
10/Jan      Leeds United 2 (Mackenzie, Bremner) Stoke City 0
17/Jan      Sheffield United 0 Liverpool 0
24/Jan      Leeds United 0 Crystal Palace 1 (Swindlehurst) [FA Cup 4th Round]
31/Jan      Lincoln City 3 (Ward, Freeman, Fleming) Cambridge United 0
07/Feb     Huddersfield Town 1 (Gray) Doncaster Rovers 2 (Murray, O'Callaghan)
14/Feb     Showed ATV's FA Cup 5th Round match
21/Feb     Leeds United 0 Middlesbrough 2 (Hickton 2) *Clarke missed pen for Leeds
28/Feb     League Cup Final *Nerworked highlights
06/Mar    Showed Granada & LWT FA Cup QF's
13/Mar    Grimsby Town 1 (Hubbard) Crystal Palace 2 (Taylor 2)
20/Mar    Sheffield United 1 (Colquhoun) Ipswich Town 2 (Johnson, Mills)
27/Mar    Hull City 1 (Daniel(pen)) York City 1 (Cave)
03/Apr     Leeds United 2 (McKenzie, Hampton) Burnley 1 (Hampton)
10/Apr     Showed Anglia's match
17/Apr     Sheffield Wednesday 1 (Nimmo) Bury 0
24/Apr     Huddersfield Town 1 (Goldthorpe) Watford 0

Leeds improved on last season's disappointing league campaign by finishing 5th,  Sheffield United made a terrible start to the season and Ken Furphy was sacked in October, his replacement was Jimmy Sirrel but he could not improve the Blades position and they were relegated. York and Halifax also suffered relegations from their respective leagues, but among the clubs replacing Halifax in the 3rd would be Graham Taylor's Lincoln City who were crowned champions of the 4th division with 47 of their 111 league goals scored by a striking partnership of John Ward and Percy Freeman, the Imps won a record breaking 32 of their 46 games and only lost 4. Lowly Bradford City enjoyed an FA Cup run to the Quarter-finals, winning away at Norwich in the 5th round before losing 1-0 at home to Southampton who went on to lift the trophy in May.

Season 1976/77
21/Aug    Showed LWT's match
28/Aug    Sheffield United 1 (Guthrie) Hereford United 1 (Carter)
04/Sep    Leeds United 2 (Gray, Cherry) Derby County 0 *Martin Tyler commentated, became permanent from October
11/Sep    Showed Tyne Tees coverage of Middlesbrough 2 Sunderland 1 *Macklin commentating for Yorkshire viewers
18/Sep    Leeds United 2 (McNiven, Harris) Newcastle United 2 (Cassidy, Cannell) *Keith Macklin commentated
25/Sep    Showed ATV's match
02/Oct    Leeds United 0 Manchester United 2 (Daly, Coppell) *Nigel King commentated (Sinstadt for Granada)
09/Oct    Showed ATV coverage of Forest 6 Sheff Utd 1 and LWT's Charlton 3 Hull 1
16/Oct    Sheffield United 1 (Woodward) Fulham 1 (Mitchell)
23/Oct    Leeds United 1 (McNiven) Liverpool 1 (Kennedy)
30/Oct    Middlesbrough 0 Leicester City 1 (Worthington) *Tyne Tees at Newcastle
06/Nov   Hull City 2 (Daniel(pen), Haigh) Blackpool 2 (Walsh, Hatton)
13/Nov   Lincoln City 2 (Freeman 2)Tranmere Rovers 2 (Young 2)
20/Nov   Sheffield United 1 (Edwards) Orient 1 (Allen)
27/Nov   Leeds United 2 (Lorimer, McNiven) Leicester City 2 (Worthington, Earle)
04/Dec    Sheffield Wednesday 3 (Bradshaw, Henson(pen), Leman) Tranmere Rovers 1 (Allen(pen))
11/Dec    Leeds United 1 (McNiven) Aston Villa 3 (Gray 2, Cropley)
18/Dec    Sheffield United 2 (Woodward, Guthrie) Bristol Rovers 3 (Stanniforth, Warboys 2)
01/Jan     Showed LWT's match *Intended match Leeds v Everton was called off due to torrential rain.
08/Jan     Leeds United 5 (Clarke, Reaney, Jordan, McQueen, Hampton) Norwich City 2 (Suggett, Peters) [FA Cup 3rd Round]
15/Jan     Showed LWT coverage of Crystal Palace 2 (Chatterton, Silkman) Grimsby Town 1 (Wigg)
22/Jan     Showed ATV coverage of West Bromwich Albion 1 Leeds United 2 *Martin Tyler commentated for YTV viewers
29/Jan     Showed ATV coverage of Birmingham 1 (Burns) Leeds 2 (Jordan, Clarke) [FA Cup 4th Round] *Martin Tyler for YTV viewers
05/Feb    Showed Tyne Tees coverage of Middlesbrough 2 (Mills 2) Tottenham Hotspur 0
12/Feb    Sheffield United 2 (Edwards, Guthrie) Southampton 2 (Osgood, Channon)
19/Feb    Hull City 2 (Lyall, Daniel(pen)) Bolton Wanderers 2 (Reid, Whatmore)
26/Feb    Middlesbrough 4 (Mills 3, Armstrong) Arsenal 1 (MacDonald) [FA Cup 5th Round] *Martin Tyler commentated
05/Mar    Bradford City 0 Barnsley 0
12/Mar    League Cup Final *Nerworked highlights
19/Mar    Showed ATV Coverage of Wolverhampton W. 0 Leeds United 1 (Gray) [FA Cup QF]
26/Mar    York City 1 (Hinch) Grimsby Town 1 (Lewis)
02/Apr     Rotherham United 1 (Gwyther) Crystal Palace 1 (Harkouk)
09/Apr     Leeds United 1 (Cherry) Sunderland 1 (Lee)
16/Apr     Sheffield Wednesday 1 (Tynan) Preston North End 0
23/Apr     Leeds United 1 (Clarke(pen)) Manchester United 2 (Greenhoff, Coppell) [FA Cup SF] *at Hillsborough
30/Apr     Leeds United 2 (Thomas, E.Gray) Bristol City 0
07/May    Bradford City 1 (Cooke) Bournemouth 1 (Howarth)
14/May    Showed LWT coverage of Chelsea 4 Hull 0 & Anglia coverage of Colchester United 2 Bradford City 1

FA Cup semi-finalists Leeds dropped to 10th in this season's final table, two places ahead of FA Cup Quarter-finalists Middlesbrough who's manager Jack Charlton left at the end of the season hoping to take over the England job (which Don Revie had quit to coach in the Middle East). Mansfield Town (now managed by Peter Morris) won promotion to the 2nd tier for the first time in their history and claimed the 3rd tier league title in the process, Rotherham were unlucky not to join them by missing out on goal difference. It didn't make pretty reading for the region at the other end of the 3rd tier as Grimsby and York made up the bottom two, but there was joy for Bradford City who were promoted from the 4th. Barnsley's Brian Joicey was the basement division's leading scorer with 25, Doncaster's Peter Kitchen was runner-up with 23.

Season 1977/78
This season saw the programme return to a later time slot of 2:30-3:30pm.
20/Aug    Showed Tyne Tees coverage of Newcastle 3 (Burns 2, Kennedy) Leeds 2 (Hankin, Lorimer) *Martin Tyler commentated for YTV viewers
27/Aug    Middlesbrough 2 (Armstrong 2) Newcastle United 0
03/Sep    Hull City 0 Bolton Wanderers 0
10/Sep    Leeds United 2 (Hankin 2) Ipswich Town 1 (Mariner)
17/Sep    Sheffield United 0 Crystal Palace 2 (Swindlehurst, Harkouk)
24/Sep    Sheffield Wednesday 0 Peterborough United 1 (Cozens)
01/Oct    Rotherham United 2 (Rhodes, Breckin) Bradford City 1 (Watson)
08/Oct    Mansfield Town 1 (Aston) Sheffield United 1 (Wood(og))
15/Oct    Leeds United 1 (Thomas) Liverpool 2 (Case 2)
22/Oct    Middlesbrough 2 (Souness 2) Leeds United 1 (Harris) *Tyne Tees at Newcastle
29/Oct    Sheffield United 2 (Hamilton, Woodward) Fulham 1 (Gale)
05/Nov   Showed Tyne Tees coverage of Middlesbrough 1 (Hedley) Queens Park Rangers 1 (Busby)
12/Nov   Showed Granada coverage of Man City 2 (Channon, Barnes) Leeds 3 (Jordan, Graham, Hankin) *Martin Tyler commentated for YTV viewers
19/Nov    Middlesbrough 0 Wolverhampton W. 0
26/Nov    Sheffield United 1 (Hamilton) Bristol Rovers 1 (Powell)
03/Dec    Sheffield Wednesday 1 (Wylde) Colchester United 2 (Cook, Garwood)
10/Dec    Sheffield United 2 (Woodward, Hamilton) Blackburn Rovers 0
17/Dec    Leeds United 2 (McQueen, Cherry) Manchester City 0
24/Dec    No fixtures played
31/Dec    Hull City 2 (Bannister, Dobson) Sheffield United 3 (Stainrod 2, Edwards)
07/Jan     Sheffield United 0 Arsenal 5 (O'Leary, MacDonald 2, Stapleton 2) [FA Cup 3rd Round] *Blades missed pen
14/Jan     Mansfield Town 1 (Syrett) Southampton 2 (MacDougall 2(1pen)) *ATV showed this as their main game too
21/Jan     Showed Tyne Tees coverage of Sunderland 5 (Kerr, Rowell 2(1pen), Rostron, Elliott) Sheffield United 1 (Campbell)
28/Jan     Showed Tyne Tees coverage of Middlesbrough 3 (Mahoney, Mills 2) Everton 2 (Telfer, Lyons) [FA Cup 4th Round]
04/Feb    Hull City 1 (Hoult) Brighton & Hove Albion 1 (Poskett)
08/Feb    Leeds United 1 (E.Gray) Nottingham Forest 3 (Withe 2, O'Hare) [League Cup Semi-Final 1st Leg]
11/Feb    Sheffield Wednesday 3 (Leman, Mullen, Tynan) Port Vale 1 (Griffiths(pen))
18/Feb    Showed LWT & HTV's FA Cup 5th Round games
25/Feb    Showed Tyne Tees coverage of Middlesbrough 3 (Mills, Craggs, Mahoney) Derby 1 (Daly) *Martin Tyler was covering for Brian Moore on LWT
04/Mar    Sheffield United 2 (Edwards, Woodward) Mansfield Town 0
11/Mar    Showed Tyne Tees coverage of Middlesbrough 0 Orient 0 [FA Cup QF]
18/Mar    League Cup Final *Nerworked highlights
25/Mar    Rotherham United 1 (Finney) Sheffield Wednesday 2 (Johnson, Hornsby) *ATV covered Mansfield 3 Spurs 3
01/Apr    Hull City 1 (Roberts) Luton Town 1 (West)
08/Apr    FA Cup SF *Nerworked highlights of Arsenal/Orient
15/Apr    Barnsley 2 (Saunders, Joycie) Northampton Town 3 (Reilly, Christie, Farrington)
22/Apr    Leeds United 1 (Currie) Arsenal 3 (Stapleton, Hart(og), MacDonald)
29/Apr    Sheffield United 0 Cardiff City 1 (Evans)

Leeds back down to 9th this season (Ray Hankin netted 20 league goals). Middlesbrough, now managed by John Neil, finished 14th and again lost in the FA Cup QF's (this time to Orient in a replay). It was bad news for the region in all other divisions - Both Mansfield Town and Hull City were relegated leaving only Sheffield United behind to represent YTV in the 2nd tier next term. Like Mansfield, Bradford City failed to cope with life in a higher division following promotion and were immediately relegated back down to the 4th. Jack Charlton, having failed to land the England job, took charge of Sheffield Wednesday who finished a disappointing 14th in the 3rd tier. Leeds parted company with manager Jimmy Armfield in the summer.

Season 1978/79
Yorkshire highlights tx'd as "Football Special" 2:20pm-3:15pm Sundays this season introduced by Fred Dineage
19/Aug    Sheffield United 1 (Stainrod) Leyton Orient 2 (Mayo, Kitchen)
26/Aug    Showed LWT's match
02/Sep    Showed Tyne Tees coverage of Middlesbrough 0 Ipswich Town 0
09/Sep    Rotherham United 2 (Finney, Smith) Lincoln City 0
16/Sep    Leeds United 1 (Graham) Tottenham Hotspur 2 (Taylor, Lee)
23/Sep    Doncaster Rovers 2 (French, Habbin) Barnsley 2 (Millar, Riley)
30/Sep    Sheffield United 1 (Anderson) Luton Town 1 (Hatton)
07/Oct    Rotherham United 0 Sheffield Wednesday 1 (Wild)
14/Oct    Leeds United 1 (Stevenson) West Bromwich Albion 3 (T.Brown, Regis 2)
21/Oct    Chesterfield 0 Watford 2 (Jenkins, Blissett)
28/Oct    Leeds United 4 (Flynn, Hart, Hankin, Hawley) Derby County 0
04/Nov   Sheffield United 0 Brighton & Hove Albion 1 (Poskitt)
11/Nov   Showed ATV coverage of Coventry City 2 Middlesbrough 1
18/Nov   Showed Tyne Tees coverage of Middlesbrough 2 (Burns, Mills) Southampton 0
25/Nov   Leeds United 4 (Graham, Madeley, Currie, Golac(og)) Southampton 0
02/Dec    Showed Anglia coverage of Ipswich Town 2 (Beattie, Wark(pen)) Leeds United 3 (Hankin, Harris, Cherry)
09/Dec    Showed LWT's match
16/Dec    Showed Tyne Tees coverage of Middlesbrough 7 (Proctor, Burns 4, Armstrong, Cochrane) Chelsea 2 (Osgood, Bumstead)
23/Dec    Industrial strike, no highlights shown this week
30/Dec    Industrial strike, no highlights shown this week
06/Jan     Sheffield Wednesday 1 (Johnson) Arsenal 1 (Sunderland) [FA Cup 3rd Round] *Arsenal keeper pelted with snowballs, delays start of 2nd half
13/Jan     Leeds United 1 (Hawley) Manchester City 1 (Kidd)
20/Jan     Showed LWT's match *Intended YTV fixture was probably postponed
27/Jan     Showed Tyne Tees match *Martin Tyler commenating on Newcastle v Wolves, LWT's show credits the pictures as coming from YTV.
03/Feb    Leeds United 1 (Currie) Coventry City 0
10/Feb    Rotherham United 1 (Gwyther) Plymouth Argyle 0
17/Feb    Showed ATV's match *only 5 fixtures from all divisions played due to bad weather
24/Feb    Sheffield United 0 Millwall 2 (Walker, Seasman)
03/Mar    Leeds United 2 (Hawley 2) Norwich City 2 (Bond, Fashanu)
10/Mar    Showed LWT's FA Cup QF
17/Mar    League Cup Final *Nerworked highlights
24/Mar    Showed LWT's match
31/Mar    FA Cup SF *Networked highlights of Man Utd/Liverpool, Martin Tyler comm. for YTV viewers
07/Apr     Showed Granada's match
14/Apr     Leeds United 1 (Hart) Aston Villa 0
21/Apr     Showed ATV's match
28/Apr     Barnsley 0 Rochdale 3 (Owen 2, Hoy)
05/May    Grimsby Town 3 (Drinkell, Ford, Cumming) Doncaster Rovers 4 (Lewis 3, Laidlaw)

Jock Stein, considered by many to be the greatest British football manager of all time, was tempted south of the border to manage Leeds in August 1978, but his reign lasted just 45 days - Stein left Elland Road to take the Scotland job. Leeds replaced him with Jimmy Adamson (who'd turned down the England job in the '60s before it was given to Alf Ramsey). Leeds ended the season 5th, equalling their best finish since the Revie era and securing them a place in Europe. Elsewhere; Middlesbrough finished 12th and there was bad news in the 2nd tier - Sheffield United were relegated to the lower divisions for the first time in their history and the region would no longer be represented in the old Second Division. In the 3rd tier; Hull finished 8th with Keith Edwards netting 24 league goals, there was no sign of improvement for Sheffield Wednesday who again had to settle for 14th whilst Lincoln finished bottom. There was better news from the Fourth Division; Grimsby and Allan Clarke's Barnsley were both promoted, Barnsley's Derek Bell scored 21 including 3 for Halifax (who along with Doncaster had to apply for re-election).

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! (Yorkshire viewers only had BBC1 and BBC2 from the afternoon of 10th August until 24th October). This was the final season in which Yorkshire highlights were hosted by Fred Dineage and the last to go out under the "Football Special" banner.
27/Oct     Showed LWT's match
03/Nov    Sheffield Wednesday 0 Barnsley 2 (Riley, Foster)
10/Nov    Showed LWT's match
17/Nov    Leeds United 1 (Connor) West Bromwich Albion 0
24/Nov    Showed Tyne Tees' match
01/Dec    Leeds United 1 (Hird) Crystal Palace 0
08/Dec    Rotherham United 2 (Dawson, Stanicliffe) Gillingham 1 (Price)
15/Dec    Showed ATV's match
22/Dec    Showed Man Utd v Forest *All but 4 of this weekend's fixtures were played on Friday night, there were no Yorkshire home games on the Saturday
29/Dec    Sheffield United 1 (Bourne(pen)) Grimsby Town 1 (Cumming)
05/Jan     Halifax Town 1 (Hendrie) Manchester City 0 [FA Cup 3rd Round]
12/Jan     Huddersfield Town 3 (Robins, Kindon, Fletcher) Lincoln City 2 (Hartford, Cunningham)
19/Jan     Leeds United 1 (Connor) Nottingham Forest 2 (Birtles, Francis) *complete show archived by BFI.
26/Jan     Bolton Wanderers 2 (Greaves, Whatmore) Halifax Town 0 [FA Cup 4th Round] *Granada were at Everton 3 Wigan 0
02/Feb    Sheffield Wednesday 3 (Smith 2(2pens), Curran) Colchester United 0
09/Feb    Chesterfield 3 (Walker, Moss, Salmons) Rotherham United 0
16/Feb    Showed Granada FA Cup 5th Round tie
23/Feb    Leeds United 1 (Foster(og)) Brighton & Hove Albion 1 (Ward) *Hird missed pen for Leeds
01/Mar    Grimsby Town 1 (Drinkell) Gillingham 0
08/Mar    Showed Granada and LWT FA Cup QF's
15/Mar    League Cup Final *Nerworked highlights
22/Mar    Huddersfield Town 0 Bradford City 0
29/Mar    Sheffield United 0 Carlisle United 2 (McCartney(pen), McVitie)
05/Apr     Barnsley 0 Grimsby Town 1 (Brolly) *One source claims YTV covered Bradford C. 3 (Baines,Craig(og),Campbell) Darlington 0
12/Apr     FA Cup SF *Arsenal/Liverpool at Hillsborough
19/Apr     Sheffield Wednesday 3 (McCulloch, Taylor, Curran) Chester City 0 *The first goal was missed by the cameras/director
26/Apr     Mansfield Town 0 Grimsby Town 0
03/May    Showed ATV's match

Leeds United's return to European football saw them suffer a 2nd round UEFA Cup exit to Uni Craiova and they were nowhere near to qualifying for Europe again next season, finishing 11th. There was joy at last for Jack Charlton's Sheffield Wednesday, promoted after five season's in the old Third Division with Terry Curran top scorer at this level with 22 goals, yet it was George Kerr's Grimsby Town who emerged as the region's 2nd highest placed club as the Mariners were crowned champions of the 3rd tier. Making it a promotion triple for the region was Mick Buxton's Huddersfield Town who were champions of the Fourth Division with Ian Robins netting 25. Ronnie Glavin bagged 20 for 3rd tier Barnsley who finished ahead of Sheffield United in 12th. Ending on a sour note, Mansfield Town were relegated to the 4th.

Season 1980/81
Yorkshire highlights were now on Saturday nights, tx'd as "The Big Game" 10:15-11:30pm introduced by Derek Dougan.
16/Aug    Leeds United 1 (Stevenson(pen)) Aston Villa 2 (Morley, Shaw)
23/Aug    Grimsby Town 1 (Ford) Wrexham 0
30/Aug    Barnsley 2 (Glavin, Evans) Sheffield United 1 (Butlin)
06/Sep    Huddersfield Town 4 (Cowling, Kennedy(pen), Laverick, Stanton) Reading 1 (Wanklyn)
13/Sep    Leeds United 0 Tottenham Hotspur 0
20/Sep    Leeds United 0 Manchester United 0
27/Sep    Sheffield United 1 (Ryan) Rotherham United 2 (Finney, Rhodes)
04/Oct    Grimsby Town 1 (Drinkell) Bristol City 0
11/Oct    Sheffield Wednesday 2 (Hornsby, McCulloch) Cardiff City 0
18/Oct    Barnsley 2 (Aylott, Banks(pen)) Millwall 0
25/Oct    Sheffield Wednesday 2 (McCulloch, Mirocovic) Orient 2 (Moores, Chedozie)
01/Nov   Grimsby Town 0 Queens Park Rangers 0
08/Nov    Leeds United 0 Arsenal 5 (Hollins 2, Gatting, Talbot, Sunderland)
15/Nov    Huddersfield Town 2 (Kindon, Brown) Chesterfield 0
22/Nov    Middlesbrough 2 (Johnston(pen), Shearer) Wolverhampton W. 0
29/Nov    Sheffield Wednesday 1 (McCulloch) Watford 0
06/Dec    Chesterfield 3 (Bonnyman, Birch 2) Millwall 0
13/Dec    Leeds United 1 (Greenhoff) Nottingham Forest 0 *archived +E
20/Dec    Sheffield United 3 (Hatton 2, Tibbott) Hull City 1 (Edwards(pen))
27/Dec    Showed Tyne Tees coverage of Middlesbrough 1 (Ashcroft) Everton 0
03/Jan     Leeds United 1 (Hird(pen)) Coventry City 1 (Thomas) [FA Cup 3rd Round]
10/Jan     Lincoln City 1 (Turner) Bradford City 1 (Wood)
17/Jan     Chesterfield 0 Charlton Athletic 1 (Hales)
24/Jan     Barnsley 1 (Aylott) Enfield 1 (Burton) [FA Cup 4th Round]
31/Jan     Rotherham United 3 (Seasman 2, Towner) Portsmouth 0
07/Feb    Huddersfield Town 1 Barnsley 0 (Cowling)
14/Feb    Showed Tyne Tees coverage of Middlesbrough 2 (Proctor, Jancovic) Barnsley 1 (Lester) [FA Cup 5th Round] *Martin Tyler comm. for YTV viewers
21/Feb    Sheffield Wednesday 2 (Sterland, McCulloch) Swansea City 0
28/Feb    Sheffield United 2 (Hatton, Wiggan) Huddersfield Town 2 (Kindon 2)
07/Mar    Probably showed ATV and LWT's FA Cup QF games
14/Mar    Sheffield United 3 (Hatton, Garner, Givens) Charlton Athletic 2 (Walsh, Hales(pen))
21/Mar    Leeds United 1 (Harris) Wolverhampton W. 3 (Richards, Clarke, Gray)
28/Mar    Barnsley 3 (Glavin, Banks 2(1pen)) Burnley 2 (Phelan, Scott)
04/Apr    Leeds United 3 (Stevenson, Parlane, Flynn) Coventry City 0
11/Apr    FA Cup SF *Spurs/Wolves at Hillsborough, YTV had own presentation which is archived.
18/Apr    Grimsby Town 0 Oldham Athletic 0
25/Apr     Showed LWT's match
02/May    Rotherham United 2 (Moore, Fern) Plymouth Argyle 1 (Johnson) *Martin Tyler's last commentary for Yorkshire TV

Leeds made a very poor start to the season which cost manager Jimmy Adamson his job, he was replaced in October by Allan Clarke and Leeds went on to finish 9th. Both Grimsby and Sheffield Wednesday made a comfortable return to the 2nd tier finishing 7th and 10th, Andy McCulloch netted 18 goals for the Owls. Four of the top five clubs in the 3rd tier were from the YTV region; Ian Porterfield's Rotherham were champions (Ronnie Moore top scorer on 23) with Barnsley (now managed by Norman Hunter) runners-up, Huddersfield and Chesterfield just missed out on joining them on the up in 4th and 5th (Alan Birch grabbed 22 goals for the Spireites), but at the other end there was disaster for Sheffield United - they actually ended the season with a +3 goal difference (and had they gained two extra points they would have finished 15th) but the final table showed them in 21st and the Blades were relegated to the Fourth Division for the first time ever, they would be joined by Hull City who would also be playing in the 4th for the first time after finishing bottom. Coming up in the opposite direction would be Colin Murphy's Lincoln City and Billy Bremner's Doncaster Rovers, whilst at the foot of the Football League it was Halifax and York who made up the bottom two.

Season 1981/82
Yorkshire weekend highlights were back on Sunday afternoon's for this season (2:30-3:30pm), John Helm was now the YTV commentator, Derek Dougan continued as host.
29/Aug    Rotherham United 4 (Fern 2, Seasman, Moore) Norwich City 1 (Shepherd) *archived
05/Sep    Leeds United 3 (Graham 3) Wolverhampton W. 0 *archived
12/Sep    Grimsby Town 2 (Cumming 2) Queens Park Rangers 1 (Gregory) *archived
19/Sep    Sheffield Wednesday 1 (Megson) Derby County 1 (Powell) *archived
26/Sep    Barnsley 0 Cardiff City 1 (Stevens) *archived
03/Oct    Leeds United 1 (Balcombe) Aston Villa 1 (Shaw) *archived
10/Oct    Huddersfield Town 1 (Robins) Fulham 0 *archived
17/Oct    Barnsley 1 (Aylott) Newcastle United 0 *archived
24/Oct    Bradford City 0 Sheffield United 2 (Edwards, Neville) *archived +G
31/Oct    Rotherham United 6 (Breckin, Fern 3, Moore 2) Chelsea 0 *archived
07/Nov   Leeds United 1 (Butterworth) Notts County 0 *archived +L
14/Nov   Rotherham United 2 (Moore 2) Barnsley 4 (Banks 2(1pen), Glavin) *archived
21/Nov   Barnsley 2 (Parker 2) Wrexham 2 (Buxton, Carrudus) *archived
28/Nov   Showed Granada
05/Dec    Doncaster Rovers 0 Portsmouth 0 *archived
12/Dec    Leeds United 0 Tottenham Hotspur 0 *archived
19/Dec    Showed Granada's match *Intended match was pp'd, few fixtures played, archived  +X
26/Dec    Showed LWT match *Again, bad weather saw most fixtures postponed, archived
02/Jan     Rotherham United 1 (Towner) Sunderland 1 (Rowell) [FA Cup 3rd Round] *archived
09/Jan     Bradford City 1 (Staniforth) Hull City 1 (G.Roberts) *archived
16/Jan     Leeds United 2 (Stevenson, Butterworth) Swansea City 0 *archived
23/Jan     Showed other region's FA Cup 4th round ties T/E/S
30/Jan     Rotherham United 1 (Fern) Watford 2 (Bolton, Barnes) *archived
06/Feb    Sheffield Wednesday 3 (Pearson 2, Bannister) Luton Town 3 (White, Moss(pen), Stein) *archived
13/Feb    Showed Central FA Cup 5th Round tie *archived
20/Feb    Chesterfield 2 (Ridley, Crawford) Plymouth Argyle 2 (Sims, Cook) *archived +L
27/Feb    Leeds United 0 Liverpool 2 (Souness, Rush) *archived +S
06/Mar    Showed Central FA Cup QF *archived
13/Mar    League Cup Final *Nerworked highlights
20/Mar    Leeds United 1 (Worthington(pen)) Nottingham Forest 1 (Robertson) *archived
27/Mar    Rotherham United 1 (Seasman) Queens Park Rangers 0 *Three sent off in a very bad tempered match. *archived
03/Apr    FA Cup SF *Spurs/Leicester, YTV had own presenations, archived
10/Apr    Barnsley 0 Derby County 0 *archived
17/Apr    Leeds United 1 (Worthington) Southampton 3 (Armstrong, Keegan 2) *archived
24/Apr    Sheffield United 0 Bournemouth 0 *archived
01/May   Lincoln City 1 (Cockerill) Bristol Rovers 0 *archived
08/May   Bradford City 2 (Campbell 2) Bournemouth 2 (Crawford, Goddard) *archived +T
15/May    Leeds United 2 (Hamson, Hird) Brighton & Hove Albion 1 (Robinson) +T *Sheff Wed v Norwich was covered by Anglia

It was a shocking season for Leeds United who were relegated along with bottom club Middlesbrough, Leeds could have saved themselves had they won a post final-Saturday re-arranged fixture at WBA on May 18th, but they lost 2-0 and manager Allan Clarke then departed in the summer. In the 2nd tier, Sheffield Wednesday were close to winning promotion by finishing just one point behind the top three in 4th, Barnsley and Rotherham (in their first season following promotion from the 3rd tier) weren't far behind in 6th and 7th with the Millers now being managed by Emlyn Huges after Ian Porterfield had left in June 1981 to manage Fourth Division Sheffield United. Porterfield's Blades racked up a massive 96 points (this being the first season of 3 points for a win) to claim 1st place, they also scored 94 league goals with 36 of these courtesy of Keith Edwards (his being the highest tally in all leagues), Roy McFarland's Bradford City were also promoted from the 4th tier as runners-up with Bobby Campbell scoring 24.

Season 1982/83
"The Big Game" was back on Saturday night's, but only five editions were produced all season, otherwise Granada's "Match Time" was broadcast by YTV but they would occasionally contribute a match to this programme with John Helm commentating.
04/Sep    Sheffield United 2 (Edwards, Kenworth) Preston North End 1 (Kelly) *For Granada's "Match Time"
18/Sep    Barnsley 3 (Glavin 2, Parker) Burnley 0 *For Granada's "Match Time"
25/Sep    *Granada's "Match Time" included LWT coverage of Leeds away
16/Oct    Rotherham United 1 (Sedsman) Barnsley 0 *For Granada's "Match Time"
23/Oct    Sheffield Wednesday 2 (Lyons, Shelton) Grimsby Town 0 *Shown on YTV's "The Big Game", archived
10/Nov    Bradford City 0 Manchester United 0 [League Cup]
13/Nov    *Granada's "Match Time" included LWT coverage of Leeds away
27/Nov    Barnsley 2 (Campbell, Glavin(pen)) Leeds United 1 (Butterworth) *Shown on "The Big Game", archived
11/Dec    Rotherham United 0 Leeds United 1 (Gavin) *For Granada's "Match Time"
02/Feb    Leeds United 1 (Butterworth) Arsenal 1 (Rix) AET [FA Cup 4th Round Replay]
05/Feb    Barnsley 2 (Banks, Parker) Wolverhampton W. 1 (Smith) *For Granada's "Match Time" (intended match Leeds v Sheff Wed pp'd)
19/Mar    Grimsby Town 1 (Waters(pen)) Wolverhampton W. 1 (Eves) *For Granada's "Match Time"
26/Mar    Hull City 1 (Marwood) Port Vale 0 *For Granada's "Match Time"
02/Apr     Huddersfield Town 1 (Sutton) Lincoln City 1 (Hobson) *Shown on "The Big Game", archived
16/Apr     Sheffield Wednesday 1 (Mirocevic) Brighton & H.A. 2 (Case, Robinson) [FA Cup SF] *at Highbury, John Helm comm for "The Big Game"
14/May    Bradford City 3 (McCall, Jackson, Ellis) Huddersfield Town 1 (Wilson) *Shown on "The Big Game" +L

Sheffield Wednesday were now officially the region's top team finishing 6th in the 2nd tier ahead of Leeds (now managed by Eddie Gray) in 8th, the Owls also reached the Semi-finals of the FA Cup but manager Jack Charlton resigned at the end of the season (returning to Middlesbrough for a brief spell before taking on the Newcastle job). Barnsley finished 10th, Middlesbrough were 16th and Grimsby just avoided the drop in 19th but Rotherham were relegated in 20th. In the 3rd tier; Mick Buxton's Huddersfield were promoted but Doncaster and Chesterfield were both relegated. Bobby Campbell was Bradford's top scorer again with 25, Derek Bell bagged 23 for Lincoln in 6th. In the 4th Division - Colin Appleton's Hull City and John Duncan's Scunthorpe United both won promotion with the Iron's Steve Cammack the division's leading scorer on 25.

Goals On Sunday / Your Match
The promise of live Sunday afternoon league matches on the ITV network for the 1983/84 season resulted in all regional highlights programmes being axed, but Yorkshire TV eventually re-introduced a regualr local Sunday football show on 8th October 1989, broadcasting a half-hour programme Goals On Sunday around mid-day. Presented by John Helm (who also commentated) and Nick Powell, the show would include about 10 minutes of highlights from one locally based match (plus interviews) and then every goal scored in the games involving the region's other teams. Local mid-week highlights would go out under the title Your Match. The 1989-92 period was a particularly successful spell for region's clubs with Leeds and both Sheffield clubs winning promotion and competing in the top flight - Leeds were even crowned League champions again whilst Sheffield Wednesday won the League Cup before ITV lost the rights to show top flight football from 1992/93. Yorkshire continued to show local Sunday lunchtime highlights from the 2nd, 3rd and 4th tier's under a variety of titles, but unlike neighbours Central TV who's large roster of 2nd tier clubs justified a weekly live match, Yorkshire only had Barnsley and Grimsby Town playing at the higher level and so Your Match Live was a little more sporadic - this was presented by Ian St. John with John Helm commentating (occasionally on the odd 3rd tier clash). Yorkshire's live games came to an end in 1996, local Sunday lunchtime highlights were dropped in 2004.

Email
upthemaggies@hotmail.com

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

Yorkshire football 1968-83 links
An interview with Keith Macklin from the Lancashire Evening Post.
Martin Tyler article 1976 from Sheffield United matchday programme 20/11/76
My Life in Media - Martin Tyler an interview with The Independant.
Talk Football (Commentators) - Martin Tyler
Leeds United History - The Revie Years

Yorkshire Television stuff
TV Ark -YTV section
 

Page last updated November 2009