Football Focus on BBC

[Lago]

While watching football focus today I had a thought which was how can the BBC call a program football focus when it only reviews the English club game, premier league and to a lesser extent championship. Was there not a time when it did skate quickly over the top Scottish league or is my memory deceiving me.

[Danderhall Hibs]

Wondered the same about Sportsound when it only covers football...

[SaulGoodman]

While watching football focus today I had a thought which was how can the BBC call a program football focus when it only reviews the English club game, premier league and to a lesser extent championship. Was there not a time when it did skate quickly over the top Scottish league or is my memory deceiving me.

Scotland have their own one called Sportscene results, if you're watching in England or watching the English channels on Sky you won't get it

[LaMotta]

Match of the Day is misleading as well. It should clearly be re titled Matches of the Day.

And for midweek games it should change to Matches of the Night.

[easty]

There isnt even gin in a ginsters pie.

[ancient hibee]

There isnt even gin in a ginsters pie.


There's hardly any meat in a mince pie-that's life.

[Bishop Hibee]

Football Focus did indeed have UK wide coverage. Now BBC 'UK' couldn't care less about Scottish football. Far better coverage on BTSport and Sky.

[Phil D. Rolls]

Football Focus did indeed have UK wide coverage. Now BBC 'UK' couldn't care less about Scottish football. Far better coverage on BTSport and Sky.

They never cared, but in these days there wasn't enough footage to fill a whole programme, so they relied on dodgy European footage, and a 5 minute spot from Archie McPherson to pad out the show.

[Pretty Boy]

Let's be honest with the budget the BBC give Scottish football we can't even produce a decent highlights show. The Final Score show is poor as well. Imagine the quality if we tried to stretch that budget to a Football Focus on top of those.

The annoying thing is that decent coverage of Scottish football is possible on a tight budget. BBC Alba have proved that with their really interesting half time stories. Maybe we need to ditch the tired old formats and try something fresh and different, that's the case for a lot of things in Scottish football though and is unlikely to happen.

[Phil D. Rolls]

Let's be honest with the budget the BBC give Scottish football we can't even produce a decent highlights show. The Final Score show is poor as well. Imagine the quality if we tried to stratch that budget to a Football Focus on top of those.

The annoying thing is that decent coverage of Scottish football is possible on a tight budget. BBC Alba have proved that with their really interesting half time stories. Maybe we need to ditch the tired old formats and try something fresh and different, that's the case for a lot of things in Scottish football though and is unlikely to happen.

I feel creativity and originality are not things that Auntie Beeb encourages in Scotland. Whether it's sports and news coverage, or the Hogmanay show, they stick very close to a tried and tested format. The only area that bucks the trend is comedy.

[Bishop Hibee]

BBC paid well over £100 million for a share of 4 years rights to FA Cup games and another wad for highlights of English Premiership and Football League games. Imagine if a fraction of that budget was devolved to BBC Scotland to cover the national sport. Surely it would make a big difference to the quality of coverage.

[Lago]

BBC paid well over £100 million for a share of 4 years rights to FA Cup games and another wad for highlights of English Premiership and Football League games. Imagine if a fraction of that budget was devolved to BBC Scotland to cover the national sport. Surely it would make a big difference to the quality of coverage.
Correct.:agree:

[H18 SFR]

While watching football focus today I had a thought which was how can the BBC call a program football focus when it only reviews the English club game, premier league and to a lesser extent championship. Was there not a time when it did skate quickly over the top Scottish league or is my memory deceiving me.

The reason they don't cover Scottish football is because it is pish.

[bingo70]

The reason they don't cover Scottish football is because it is pish.

Why do you think that is?

We've been starved of money abd any positive media coverage while our closest neighbours have had the opposite, attracting fans from Scotland.

If we were to start getting our fair share from the media we pay for we may stand a chance of improving our game.

[judas]

While watching football focus today I had a thought which was how can the BBC call a program football focus when it only reviews the English club game, premier league and to a lesser extent championship. Was there not a time when it did skate quickly over the top Scottish league or is my memory deceiving me.

Er, because it 'focuses' on English football?

If it did cover the rest of the country, perhaps it could be named 'football overall', 'complete football' or 'football unfocused'

[H18 SFR]

Why do you think that is?

We've been starved of money abd any positive media coverage while our closest neighbours have had the opposite, attracting fans from Scotland.

If we were to start getting our fair share from the media we pay for we may stand a chance of improving our game.

My thoughts are probably quite simplistic, the standard of players has steadily dropped over the years whilst the standard of player playing in England has steadily improved.

[bingo70]

My thoughts are probably quite simplistic, the standard of players has steadily dropped over the years whilst the standard of player playing in England has steadily improved.

Yes but why do you think that's happened?

Media and the money they give us us the biggest and hugely significant factor.

[bingo70]

Er, because it 'focuses' on English football?

If it did cover the rest of the country, perhaps it could be named 'football overall', 'complete football' or 'football unfocused'

I don't get what you mean?

Its the British broadcasting corporation so they should focus on British football, including Wales and northern Ireland. If they only want to talk about English football it should be called English football focus. They could then produce a similar programme for each country within Britain.

[Michael]

For the EPL rights alone the BBC paid £204m. (http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jan/29/bbc-match-of-the-day-premier-league-highlights)

I don't know anything about the costs of the programme itself...so I'll ignore that for now.

Let's say that EPL highlights are of interest to not just England, but to the entire UK. The population of the UK is roughly 64m, and the population of Scotland is around 5m. Therefore, if we were to calculate what should be spent on Scottish football based on interested population...I'd estimate it to be about 16m over 4 years...or about 4m a year.

What do the BBC actually spend? I have no idea.

[bingo70]

For the EPL rights alone the BBC paid £204m. (http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jan/29/bbc-match-of-the-day-premier-league-highlights)

I don't know anything about the costs of the programme itself...so I'll ignore that for now.

Let's say that EPL highlights are of interest to not just England, but to the entire UK. The population of the UK is roughly 64m, and the population of Scotland is around 5m. Therefore, if we were to calculate what should be spent on Scottish football based on interested population...I'd estimate it to be about 16m over 4 years...or about 4m a year.

What do the BBC actually spend? I have no idea.

Don't know if it's true or not but I heard they paid Alan Hansen more than Scottish football last season. That might be a myth though.

[TrinityHibs]

I can't remember the last time I watched Football Focus so not bothered what they show.

[H18 SFR]

Yes but why do you think that's happened?

Media and the money they give us us the biggest and hugely significant factor.

Finances, poor facilities, poor coaching, the abolishment of schools football, win at all cost mentality in youth football and of course the poor standard of player we are able to recruit in Scotland.

[bingo70]

Finances, poor facilities, poor coaching, the abolishment of schools football, win at all cost mentality in youth football and of course the poor standard of player we are able to recruit in Scotland.

English football has the same issues but they're able to paper over the cracks because of the money the media put in. It annoys me we contribute towards the promotion and improvement of English football yet Scotland sees next to none of it.

[Scouse Hibee]

My thoughts are probably quite simplistic, the standard of players has steadily dropped over the years whilst the standard of player playing in England has steadily improved.

Players playing in England or English players?

[green.and.white]

Mark Chapman asking Phil Neville about Scottish football would just be cringeworthy. They have no knowledge or respect towards our game, so I'm fine with them ignoring it

[bingo70]

Mark Chapman asking Phil Neville about Scottish football would just be cringeworthy. They have no knowledge or respect towards our game, so I'm fine with them ignoring it

If they're paid by the BBC they should get some knowledge of it.

[H18 SFR]

[QUOTE=Scouse Hibee;4304443]Players playing in England or English

I've already answered that in my original post.

[Scouse Hibee]

[QUOTE=Scouse Hibee;4304443]Players playing in England or English

I've already answered that in my original post.

Sorry for asking for clarification!

[H18 SFR]

[QUOTE=Tommyrob;4304448]

Sorry for asking for clarification!

No need to apologise. I just couldn't reword it accordingly.

[Scouse Hibee]

[QUOTE=Scouse Hibee;4304454]

No need to apologise. I just couldn't reword it accordingly.

Oh yeah I can see that might have caused a problem, I blame the BBC.

[Hibby Bairn]

English football has the same issues but they're able to paper over the cracks because of the money the media put in. It annoys me we contribute towards the promotion and improvement of English football yet Scotland sees next to none of it.

That is actually a fair shout. I am surprised the SNP haven't made more noise about it.

[Green Cabbage 7]

According to the news last week the epl gets 68 million spent a season, while our re venue was according to stv news 15 million for all our tv rights ( sky, btsports, sportscene). Also we as tv lisence payers in Scotland are being short changed as we should be getting 10% and that apparently is not happening, it's way short!

[bingo70]

According to the news last week the epl gets 68 million spent a season, while our re venue was according to stv news 15 million for all our tv rights ( sky, btsports, sportscene). Also we as tv lisence payers in Scotland are being short changed as we should be getting 10% and that apparently is not happening, it's way short!

It's great that there's an awareness of this and people are starting to question it. First and foremost we need to start getting a fairer share of the money we contribute, secondly though we should be pushing for it to be backdated.

[Green Cabbage 7]

It's great that there's an awareness of this and people are starting to question it. First and foremost we need to start getting a fairer share of the money we contribute, secondly though we should be pushing for it to be backdated.



I agree, we've been treated second rate and have become to accustomed to it, maybe we should have our own TVs lisencing were all the money we generate is used by us, were we see fit! Then we wouldn't have to be thinking about why our money is spent down the road!

[ScottB]

It wouldn't be a straight split. The Beeb would likely argue, correctly, that Match of the Day attracts viewers both North and South of the border, while Sportscene is only watched up here. So they could probably justify spending some of Scotland's 'share' on that.

You'd then further subdivide the budget into English and Gaelic. I doubt that leaves enough for an increase big enough to actually make a noticeable difference?

[H18 SFR]

It wouldn't be a straight split. The Beeb would likely argue, correctly, that Match of the Day attracts viewers both North and South of the border, while Sportscene is only watched up here. So they could probably justify spending some of Scotland's 'share' on that.

You'd then further subdivide the budget into English and Gaelic. I doubt that leaves enough for an increase big enough to actually make a noticeable difference?

Agreed! I actually believe that there is more than enough money coming into Scottish football - granted even more would be welcome. The problem for me is the amount leaving the game to service debt which was built up through mismanagement. The problem is that in the main, the same folk are still running out game.

[Lago]

Agreed! I actually believe that there is more than enough money coming into Scottish football - granted even more would be welcome. The problem for me is the amount leaving the game to service debt which was built up through mismanagement. The problem is that in the main, the same folk are still running out game.
Not sure I completely agree that there is more than enough coming in, but you are right re debt and those runing the game, how ever I read today that if the BBC had televised Bradfords game against Sunderland they would have picked up approximately £250000, anyone know how much The Rangers Raith cup game cost the BBC here in Scotland ?

[Hibby Bairn]

Not sure I completely agree that there is more than enough coming in, but you are right re debt and those runing the game, how ever I read today that if the BBC had televised Bradfords game against Sunderland they would have picked up approximately £250000, anyone know how much The Rangers Raith cup game cost the BBC here in Scotland ?

A bizarre decision!! Why would they not have picked that game to cover? The main game where a shock was on the cards and particularly after Bradford putting out Chelsea.

Instead they chose Aston Villa v Leicester. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

[NAE NOOKIE]

Let's be honest with the budget the BBC give Scottish football we can't even produce a decent highlights show. The Final Score show is poor as well. Imagine the quality if we tried to stretch that budget to a Football Focus on top of those.

The annoying thing is that decent coverage of Scottish football is possible on a tight budget. BBC Alba have proved that with their really interesting half time stories. Maybe we need to ditch the tired old formats and try something fresh and different, that's the case for a lot of things in Scottish football though and is unlikely to happen.

ALBA blow Sportscene out of the water, as you said their half time slot is excellent.

[NAE NOOKIE]

A bizarre decision!! Why would they not have picked that game to cover? The main game where a shock was on the cards and particularly after Bradford putting out Chelsea.

Instead they chose Aston Villa v Leicester. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

They explained that last night. If an alien had watched the Villa v Leicester game ( 2 EPL Teams ) they would be asking what the hell all the fuss was about regarding the EPL .... it was eye wateringly bad.

[Lago]

A bizarre decision!! Why would they not have picked that game to cover? The main game where a shock was on the cards and particularly after Bradford putting out Chelsea.

Instead they chose Aston Villa v Leicester. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
Agree the game was a bore, even the pundits admitted that it was dross.

[Danderhall Hibs]

A bizarre decision!! Why would they not have picked that game to cover? The main game where a shock was on the cards and particularly after Bradford putting out Chelsea.

Instead they chose Aston Villa v Leicester. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

They explained it last night - apparently they had to choose their game before the replays were played, so they picked the best available from the known fixtures.

Sounds like a poor excuse though - I bet if Man U draw tonight they'd still pick their next round game for the tv in the hope that the yet through.

[hibbiedon]

The BBC have no respect for Scotland they have proven that time and time again unfortunately many scots are just as bad and meekly accept it

[Northern Hibby]

Why do you think that is?

We've been starved of money abd any positive media coverage while our closest neighbours have had the opposite, attracting fans from Scotland.

If we were to start getting our fair share from the media we pay for we may stand a chance of improving our game.

SFA did this when we left Sky and thought we could go it alone, then had to go back to Sky cap in hand, Scottish Football is not unattractive the SFA are (literally), the Scottish league is not competitive enough, or varied enough, we play each other 4 times a season not including cups/replays, we need a bigger league, managers can't afford to blood youngsters cause they are either fighting for Europe, or fighting against relegation with very little middle ground, what’s so big about a derby when it happens 4 times a year MINIMUM!!!

[NAE NOOKIE]

The BBC have no respect for Scotland they have proven that time and time again unfortunately many scots are just as bad and meekly accept it

Nae argument here :agree:

[NAE NOOKIE]

SFA did this when we left Sky and thought we could go it alone, then had to go back to Sky cap in hand, Scottish Football is not unattractive the SFA are (literally), the Scottish league is not competitive enough, or varied enough, we play each other 4 times a season not including cups/replays, we need a bigger league, managers can't afford to blood youngsters cause they are either fighting for Europe, or fighting against relegation with very little middle ground, what’s so big about a derby when it happens 4 times a year MINIMUM!!!

Its never going to be competitive at the top, not when one club can spend more on one player than the whole first team budget of any of the other clubs. But the fight for 2nd and the European places and to avoid the play offs can be. I'm all for a bigger league, and the sooner the better. I don't even have a problem with the split ... a 16 team league with 8/8 will do fine.

[Lago]

The BBC have no respect for Scotland they have proven that time and time again unfortunately many scots are just as bad and meekly accept it
Your spot on, spot on, we just shrug our shoulders and say ok I guess that will have to do.

[Hibby Bairn]

On a similar vein I notice that there is no pre game preview on the main BBC Sport website headlines of the Scotland v New Zealand match in the Cricket World Cup which starts in 40 mins time.

Unlike when England were playing at the weekend.

[libernian]

It's great that there's an awareness of this and people are starting to question it. First and foremost we need to start getting a fairer share of the money we contribute, secondly though we should be pushing for it to be backdated.

i totally agree with you mate... its wrong for a publicly funded organisation to do this...

[Green Cabbage 7]

SFA did this when we left Sky and thought we could go it alone, then had to go back to Sky cap in hand, Scottish Football is not unattractive the SFA are (literally), the Scottish league is not competitive enough, or varied enough, we play each other 4 times a season not including cups/replays, we need a bigger league, managers can't afford to blood youngsters cause they are either fighting for Europe, or fighting against relegation with very little middle ground, what’s so big about a derby when it happens 4 times a year MINIMUM!!!


Most of that is true, but if memory serves me correctly all the clubs had agreed to create the leagues own TV channel, only for it too be vetoed by the ugly sisters, I think it was for a bigger chunk of the revenue from Sky that got them.

[Lago]

It's great that there's an awareness of this and people are starting to question it. First and foremost we need to start getting a fairer share of the money we contribute, secondly though we should be pushing for it to be backdated.
Have just read the article in todays Sunday Mail where Steven Thomson of Dundee Utd says the BBC puts £130mil into English football against £1mil into Scottish, which he states is fundamentally wrong, its hard to disagree with him. Instead of banging on about selling beer at matches its time our political masters and so called football regulators started banging on about distribution of wealth!

[basehibby]

The BBC have no respect for Scotland they have proven that time and time again unfortunately many scots are just as bad and meekly accept it

:agree::agree::agree: It's always been the case - BBC pundits have been scornfully sneering at the Scottish game for as long as I can remember. That's one thing - they can sneer all they like and see how many sheights I give - but the disproportionate showering of OUR cash on an already bloated EPL while our game struggles is morally wrong and I would be glad to see this taken up at a political level.

[Lago]

:agree::agree::agree: It's always been the case - BBC pundits have been scornfully sneering at the Scottish game for as long as I can remember. That's one thing - they can sneer all they like and see how many sheights I give - but the disproportionate showering of OUR cash on an already bloated EPL while our game struggles is morally wrong and I would be glad to see this taken up at a political level.
:top marks

[NAE NOOKIE]

:agree::agree::agree: It's always been the case - BBC pundits have been scornfully sneering at the Scottish game for as long as I can remember. That's one thing - they can sneer all they like and see how many sheights I give - but the disproportionate showering of OUR cash on an already bloated EPL while our game struggles is morally wrong and I would be glad to see this taken up at a political level.

Couldn't agree more. The BBC has a duty as a publicly funded broadcaster to reflect the demographic of its licence payers. That's why we have ALBA even though less than 2% of the population of Scotland can speak Gaelic with any fluency.

In view of that the amount of money they spend on Scottish football should be proportionate to the money they spend on English football.

[LancsHibs]

Yeh if the Scots had actually grown a pair back in September we would gave to worry about the BBC for much longer!