Match of the Day: 50 years of broadcasting celebration

Packed with classic archive material, the programme charts the evolution of football's most famous programme and features new contributions from a host of footballing glitterati, including Jose Mourinho, Ryan Giggs, Thierry Henry, Gary Lineker, Wayne Rooney, Des Lynam and Alan Hansen.We look at some of the key facts and figures from six decades of the legendary programme:The first Match of the Day on 22 August, 1964 saw Liverpool beat Arsenal 3-2 at Anfield when the crowd inside the stadium outnumbered the audience on BBC Two - only available in London at the time - two to one.With the Beatles' hit song "She Loves You" bursting out of the Anfield PA system, presenter Kenneth Wolstenholme told viewers: "Welcome to Match of the Day, the first of a weekly series coming to you every Saturday on BBC Two. As you can hear we're in Beatleville."Match of the Day was originally intended as a one-off series, a trial run for the 1966 World Cup.In 1965 several clubs tried to block the programme's move to BBC One, which was available to many more viewers, for fear it would hit ground receipts. A compromise was reached and the BBC agreed not to reveal the televised Saturday match until all games had ended.Kenneth Wolstenholme was a former RAF bomber pilot, flying 100 missions in World War Two by the age of 23. He commentated on 23 consecutive FA Cup finals and five World Cups, coining the immortal phrase "they think it's all over… it is now".15 November 1969, the first colour broadcast, featured Liverpool's 2-0 win over West Ham.In 1969, the programme became live and studio based, rather than being pre-recorded at the ground of the featured match, and there were two games seen each week.Barry Stoller's classic theme tune "Match of the Day" was commissioned in 1970 to replace the original theme "Drum Majorette" by Major Leslie Statham, the former Welsh Guards' Director of Music. In 2010 a survey by the Performing Rights Society for Music placed it as the most recognisable British TV theme tune.1971 saw the first use of slow motion replays on the programme.The first live league game on the BBC was on 16 December 1983 between Manchester United and Spurs. The BBC originally showed its live matches on a Friday before switching to Sundays the following year.Following a period without league highlights, Match of the Day returned to witness the start of the Premier League era in 1992 with the suave Des Lynam in the chair.19 August 1995, the date when Alan Hansen said "you can't win anything with kids" after Aston Villa had beaten Manchester United 3-1. As Hansen would be reminded for his remaining 19 years with the BBC, United went on to win the double that season and countless other trophies with that group of young players.On 15 August 2004 MOTD2, a new accompaniment to the main programme, is broadcast for the first time, presented by Adrian Chiles.Stats guru Albert Sewell worked on MOTD for 37 years and having been regularly mentioned as "our man Albert" by Des Lynam, once appeared on the programme to prove he was a real person. When he retired in 2005 his personal records library included 24,000 player transfers and 6,400 managerial changes. John Motson described his pre-match briefings as "six pages of editorial gold dust".On 21 April 2007 Jacqui Oatley becomes Match of the Day's first female commentator - the game was Fulham v Blackburn. Celina Hinchcliffe became the first female presenter in February 2005 and Gabby Logan has since become a regular replacement for Gary Lineker.Earlier in 2014, Alan Hansen decides to step down after 22 years as MOTD's leading analyst. His first appearance was in 1992 and his last was broadcast on 11 May 2014.And this month, to mark the 50th anniversary season, the programme features a new title sequence, taking the audience on a journey through the last five decades of television football coverage. There will also be a few extra touches of nostalgia on the anniversary weekend itself on Saturday, 23 August.(BBC)Bakudaily.Az