Granada TV (North West) Football Highlights 1968-83
Granada's Sunday afternoon highlights were originally billed as "Football", the title was changed to The Kick Off Match in 1975. When ITV won the Saturday night slot for season 1980/81 the North West highlights went out as Match Night, but was changed to Match Time the following season for the return to Sunday afternoons, this title stuck until the end of traditional regional highlights in May 1983.

*Note: Prior to July 1968, North West commercial TV viewers had been served by ABC (since 1956) who began producing a football highlights show during the 1965/66 season called World of Soccer with Gerry Loftus and Martin Locke commentating before Barry Davies took over for the 1966/67 season.

The Granadaland region's league teams 1968-1983
Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Everton, Burnley, Blackpool, Preston North End, Bolton Wanderers, Blackburn Rovers, Oldham Athletic, Bury, Stockport County, Rochdale, Tranmere Rovers, Chester, Crewe Alexandra, Southport, Barrow and Wigan Athletic.*

*Fringe clubs included Wrexham (shared with HTV Wales) and Port Vale and Stoke City (both primarily associated with ATV/Central).

Granada commentators and presenters
1968/69
Barry Davies was the man behind the mic when Granada began regular Sunday afternoon highlights in August 1968, the London born commentator had joined BBC Radio in 1963 working on Sports Report before moving into Television with Rediffusion (the then London weekday channel) in 1965 and this led to a position on the 1966 ITV World Cup commentary team. A move to ABC (weekend broadcasters to the Midlands an North) was cut short when they lost their ITV franchise in 1968 and Davies ended up at Granada, he was still only 27 at the time but attracted the attention of the BBC who lured him away for the start of the 1969/70 season, Davies was a regular voice on Match of the Day until 2004 (commentating on many other sports along the way).
1969/70 - 1980/81
Folkestone born Gerald Sinstadt became synonymous with Granadaland football throughout the 1970's having joined the channel from Anglia Television (where he had held the mic on their Match of the Week programme). Sinstadt was another commentator who had begun his broadcasting career with BBC Radio, he doubled up as a presenter on all Granada's football programmes which included the Friday night preview show Kick Off and a football gameshow Kick Off Quiz. Aged 39 when he joined the station, Sinstadt remained with Granada until the end of the 1980/81 campaign, he left due to his desire to produce opera programmes which saw him re-locate to the south where he also worked as a freelancer for TVS (ITV's station in the South 1982-92) before returning to the BBC.
1981/82 - 1982/83
Martin Tyler had previously commentated for Southern TV (1974-76) and then Yorkshire TV (1976-1981). Born in Chester, the move to his home region helped establish Tyler as the network's no.2 behind Brian Moore and at the age of 36 he was handed the job of commentating on the 1982 World Cup final. After the demise of traditional Sunday afternoon regional highlights, he remained with Granada/ITV until 1990 when he left to join BSB, they were soon swallowed up by SKY with whom Tyler continues to commentate to this day.
Presenters
Unlike Gerald Sinstadt, Martin Tyler did not initially present Granada highlights. Elton Welsby fronted the show in the early 1980's having first worked on Kick Off Match in January 1978 (he also did the odd commentary). Other faces in the studio, rounding up the local football news, included ex-Liverpool player Ian St. John (mid-late 1970's) and ex Manchester United/City man Dennis Law (early 1980's). St. John went on to become part of the popular Saint & Greavsie double act (which superseded ITV's long established Saturday football preview show On the Ball) whilst Welsby hosted networked live ITV fixtures on The Match (1988-92) as well as fronting Granada's regional sports output (including a revival of Kick Off) during the same period*.

*In the mid-late 1980's Granada occasionally showed football highlights under the First (or Second) Division Special banner, these were presented by Martin Tyler (but not, as I recall, from a studio, he'd voice-over shots of the ground and such like, these shows were sometimes broadcast by other regions too - depending on the North West opponents). Kick Off was revived in 1989. Clive Tyldesley became Granada's commentator after Tyler left.

What matches were shown
The following lists detail all the matches recorded by Granada cameras for local highlights, the re-edits of other region's matches are not included here (see the other region's pages for those). Given dates are for when the fixture was played (not the broadcast). Blanks* denote that we don't know what game was shown (if one was shown at all), winter postponements may have forced Granada to occasionally schedule an alternate non-football programme. Known mid-week & pre-season North West matches (not necessarily aired under the title Kick Off Match/Match Time) are included in grey, networked ITV coverage of other matches of interest are in italics.

*Do please e-mail [email protected] if you are able to fill in any blanks/missing scorers.

Season 1968/69
All "Football" programmes for this season were broadcast in 405-line black & white on VHF only.
10/Aug    Manchester United 2 (Best, Charlton) Everton 1 (Ball)
17/Aug    Everton 0 Tottenham Hotspur 2 (Greaves Chivers)
24/Aug    Showed LWT coverage of Queens Park Rangers 1 (Bridges) Manchester City 1 (Doyle)
31/Aug    Showed Yorkshire TV coverage of Leeds United 1 (Jones) Liverpool 0
07/Sep    Showed ATV coverage of Stoke City 1 (Conroy) Manchester City 0
14/Sep    Bolton Wanderers 1 (Bromley) Blackburn Rovers 1 (Darling)
21/Sep    Manchester United 3 (Best 2, Law) Newcastle United 1 (Gibb)
28/Sep    Manchester City 3 (Bell 2, Young) Leeds United 1 (O'Grady)
05/Oct    Burnley 0 Liverpool 4 (Hunt 2, Thompson, Strong)
12/Oct    Liverpool 2 (St.John, Evans) Manchester United 0
16/Oct    Manchester United 1 (Morgan) Estudiantes 1 (Vero) [World Club Championship Final 2nd Leg] *Hugh Johns commentated (Utd lost 2-1 on agg)
19/Oct    Bury 1 (Jones) Blackburn Rovers 3 (Sharples, Connelly, Darling)
26/Oct    Manchester City 3 (Bell, Young, Tlindley) Nottingham Forest 3 (Moore, Baker, Chapman)
02/Nov   Manchester United 0  Leeds United 0
09/Nov   Liverpool 2 (Callaghan, Smith) Chelsea 1 (Birchenall)
13/Nov   Manchester United 3 Anderlecht 0 [European Cup 2nd Round 1st leg]
16/Nov   Everton 4 (Morrisey, Harvey, Royle, Husband) Queens Park Rangers 0
23/Nov   Manchester City 5 (Young 2, Bell 2, Doyle) West Bromwich Albion 1 (Brown)
30/Nov   Preston North End 1 (Irvine) Bolton Wanderers 4 (Byrom 2, Rimmer, Williams)
07/Dec    Liverpool 2 (Hughes, Thompson) West Ham United 0
14/Dec    Manchester United 1 (Law) Liverpool 0
18/Dec    Burnley 2 Swindon Town 3 [League Cup SF R] *played at The Hawthorns, Granada coverage with Barry Davies commentating
21/Dec    Manchester City 4 (Clements(og), Curtis(og), Young 2) Coventry City 2 (Shepherd, Hateley)
28/Dec    Stockport County 3 (Atkins 2, Low) Southport 0
04/Jan     Manchester City 1 (Lee) Luton Town 0 [FA Cup 3rd Round]
11/Jan     Showed Yorkshire coverage of Leeds United 2 (Jones, O'Grady) Manchester United 1 (Charlton)
18/Jan     Everton 2 (Brown, Husband) Ipswich Town 2 (Crawford 2)
25/Jan     Probably showed a game from another region
01/Feb    Blackpool 2 (Brown, Suddick) Birmingham City 1 (James(og))
08/Feb    Bad weather *Only 4 fixtures played from all divisions
15/Feb    Arsenal 2 (Gould 2) Burnley 0 *Granada cameras venturing outside the region, LWT covered QPR v Spurs match
22/Feb    Showed LWT coverage of West Ham United 1 (Sisions) Liverpool 1 (Hunt)
01/Mar    Manchester City 1 (Lee) Tottenham Hotspur 0 [FA Cup]
08/Mar    Manchester United 0 Manchester City 1 (Summerbee)
15/Mar    Networked LWT coverage of the League Cup Final - Swindon Town 3 (Smart, Rogers 2) Arsenal 1 (Gould)
22/Mar    Manchester City 1 (Booth) Everton 0 [FA Cup Semi Final]
29/Mar    Showed Yorkshire coverage of Barnsley 2 (King (og), Earnshaw) Tranmere Rovers 2 (Rowland, King)
05/Apr    Blackburn Rovers 2 (Coddinigton, Rogers) Fulham 2 (Dear 2)
12/Apr    Manchester City 1 (Young) Sunderland 0
19/Apr    Manchester United 2 (Best, Waldron(og)) Burnley 0
26/Apr    Networked LIVE coverage of the FA Cup Final - Manchester City 1 (Young) Leicester City 0

Both Manchester clubs had qualified for this season's European Cup competition (Matt Busby's United as holders, Joe Mercer's City as league champions), it was the first time England had two clubs taking part - City were knocked out in the 1st round by Fenerbache (losing 2-1 in the 2nd leg after a 0-0 draw at Maine Road) whilst United reached the Semi-finals (unable to turn around a 1st Leg 2-0 away defeat to AC Milan, losing 2-1 on agg). Bill Shankly's Liverpool were knocked out of the Fairs Cup after a 3-3 agg 1st round tie was decided on a toss of a coin! But they did end the season as the North West's best placed league finishers as runners-up, Everton were 3rd (with Joe Royle netting 21 league goals), Man Utd were 11th and Burnley 14th. Manchester City made up for a disappointing league campaign (13th this term) by winning the FA Cup and Tony Book was named joint 'Footballer of the year'. In the 2nd tier, Blackpool finished 8th (after which Manager Stan Mortensen was surprisingly sacked), Preston were 14th, Bolton 17th and Blackburn 19th, Bury were relegated in 21st. In the 3rd tier Tranmere finished 7th, Southport 8th (George Andrews scored 19 league goals for them), Stockport 9th and Barrow 19th. Crewe and Oldham were relegated as the bottom two. Rochdale were the only club in the region to win promotion this season by claiming 3rd place in the 4th division, Chester were 14th but had the league's top scorer in Gary Talbot who found the back of the net 22 times.

Season 1969/70
All "Football" programmes up to 8th November 1969 were broadcast in 405 line black & white on VHF only.
09/Aug     Manchester City 4 (Young 2, Bell, Lee) Sheffield Wednesday 1 (Eustace)
16/Aug     Manchester United 1 (Morgan) Southampton 4 (Davies 3, Burns)
23/Aug     Bolton Wanderers 2 (Phillips, Wharton) Preston North End 0
30/Aug     Everton 3 (Husband, Royle 2) Leeds United 2 (Bremner, Clarke)
06/Sep     Manchester City 0 Chelsea 0
13/Sep     Manchester United 1 (Morgan) Liverpool 0
20/Sep     Liverpool 3 (Hunt, Hughes, Callaghan) Stoke City 1 (Burrows)
27/Sep     Stockport County 1 (Ogley) Fulham 4 (Earle 3, Conway)
01/Oct     Manchester City 3 (Oakes, Bell, Bowyer) Athletico Bilbao 0 [Cup-Winners Cup 1st Round 2nd Leg] *(City win 6-3 on agg), Brian Moore commentated
04/Oct     Liverpool 1 (Chapman(og)) Nottingham Forest 1 (Newton)
11/Oct     Everton 3 (Morrissey, Kendall, Royle) Sunderland 1 (Tueart)
18/Oct     May have shown Yorkshire's Sheffield Utd 2 (Woodward, Currie) Blackpool (Burns, Pickering 2) *Granada testing colour ob unit?
25/Oct     Manchester City 1 (Doyle(pen)) Wolverhampton W. 0
29/Oct     Manchester City 3 (Bell 2, Summerbee) Queens Park Rangers 0 [League Cup] *Brian Moore commentated
01/Nov    Burnley 0 Newcastle United 1 (Davies)
08/Nov    *No Granada match, probably testing colour equipment at an unscreened match
From 15th November 1969 Granada began broadcasting on 625 line PAL colour on UHF, "Football" may have remained b&w for a short while longer
15/Nov    Manchester City 4 (Young, Sadler(og), Bell 2) Manchester United 0
22/Nov    Manchester United 3 (Burns, Charlton 2) Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Chivers)
29/Nov    Liverpool 0 Arsenal 1 (Robertson)
03/Dec    Man City 2 (Bell, Lee(pen)) Man United 1 (Charlton) [League Cup SF 1st Leg] *tape is b&w, Brian Moore commentated (2nd leg was drawn 2-2)
06/Dec    Manchester United 0 Chelsea 2 (Hutchinson 2)
13/Dec    Blackpool 2 (Suddick, Craven) Huddersfield Town 0
20/Dec    Everton 1 (Ball) Derby County 0
27/Dec    Intended match Manchester City v Burnley was postponed, may have shown Tyne Tees's Sunderland 1 (Balcer) Man Utd 1 (Kidd)
03/Jan     Blackburn Rovers 0 Swindon Town 4 (Smith, Horsfield, Rogers, Butler) [FA Cup 3rd Round]
10/Jan     Manchester United 2 (Sartori, Morgan) Arsenal 1 (Marinello) *Programme was now in colour
17/Jan     Tranmere Rovers 0 Walsall 0
24/Jan     Manchester United 3 (Morgan(pen), Kidd 2) Manchester City 0 [FA Cup 4th Round]
31/Jan     Burnley 3 (Thomas, Kindon, Coates) West Ham United 2 (Eustace, Lindsay)
07/Feb    ATV coverage of Northampton T. 2 (McNeil, Large) Man Utd 8 (Best 6, Kidd 2) [FA Cup 5th Round] *Sinstadt commentated for Granada viewers
14/Feb    Bury 2 (Price, Jones) Rotherham United 1 (Phillips)
21/Feb    Probably networked coverage of two FA Cup Quarter Finals at QPR & Middlesbrough
28/Feb    May have shown Yorkshire coverage of Sheffield Wednesday 2 Burnley 0
07/Mar    Networked coverage of the League Cup Final - Man City 2 (Doyle Pardoe) W.B.A. 1 (Astle)
14/Mar    Networked LWT coverage of Chelsea 5 (Webb, Houseman 2, Osgood, Hutchinson) Watford 1 (Garbett) [FA Cup SF]
21/Mar    Liverpool 0 Everton 2 (Royle, Whittle)
28/Mar    Manchester United 1 (Kidd) Manchester City 2 (Lee(pen), Doyle)
04/Apr    Blackpool 1 (Craven) Queens Park Rangers 1 (Leach)
10/Apr    Networked coverage of Man United 2 (Kidd 2) Watford 0 [FA Cup 3rd Place Play Off] *at Highbury, probably shown as part of cup final build up
11/Apr    Networked LIVE coverage of the FA Cup Final - Chelsea 2 (Houseman, Hutchinson) Leeds United 2 (Charlton, Jones) AET
29/Apr    Networked LIVE coverage of the FA Cup Final Replay - Chelsea 2 (Osgood, Webb) Leeds United 1 (Jones) [Old Trafford] AET

Harry Catterick's Everton were crowned league champions! (and Joe Royle was runner-up in the top flight goalscoring charts with 23), but cameras were banned from Goodison for the 2nd half of the season (the ban was lifted for the start of next season). Manchester City added two new trophy's to the honours list, the League Cup was won in March and then the European Cup-Winners Cup in April (Gornik Zabrze were beaten 2-1 in the final in Vienna with goals from Neil Young and Francis Lee). Liverpool finished 5th (and were knocked out in the 2nd round of the Fairs Cup). Man Utd were now managed by Wilf McGuinness after Matt Busby had decided to retire, they ended the season in 8th. Burnley finished 14th with Jimmy Adamson replacing Harry Potts as team manager in February. In the 2nd tier; Les Shannon's Blackpool were promoted as runners-up, the promotion was sealed with a victory over arch-rivals Preston which effectively condemned North End to relegation to the 3rd tier for the first time in their history. Elsewhere, John Byrom scored 20 goals in an otherwise poor campaign for Bolton whilst Bury's George Jones was the 3rd division's top scorer with 26, but Southport, Barrow and Stockport were all relegated to the 4th.

Season 1970/71
15/Aug    Showed Yorkshire TV coverage of Huddersfield Town 3 (Smith 2 Worthington(pen)) Blackpool 0
22/Aug    Manchester City 0 Burnley 0
29/Aug    Manchester United 1 (Fizpatrick) West Ham United 1 (Hurst)
05/Sep    Manchester City 4 (Lee, Bell 2, Summerbee) West Bromwich Albion 1 (Hope)
12/Sep    Everton 2 (Whittle, Kendall) Ipswich Town 0
19/Sep    Blackburn Rovers 0 Bolton Wanderers 2 (Taylor, Byron)
26/Sep    Manchester United 1 (Best) Blackpool 1 (Burns)
03/Oct    Showed Tyne Tees coverage of Sunderland 4 (Porterfield, Harris, Park, Baker) Bolton Wanderers 1 (Fletcher)
10/Oct    Showed LWT coverage of Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Peters) Liverpool 0
17/Oct    Manchester City 1 (Lee) Southampton 1 (Davies)
24/Oct    Manchester United 2 (Law, Kidd) West Bromich Albion 1 (Brown)
31/Oct    Liverpool 2 (Smith(pen), Evans) Wolverhampton W. 0 *Recorded & broadcast in black & white due to a technicians 'colour strike'.
07/Nov   Everton 1 (Whittle) Nottingham Forest 0
14/Nov   Burnley 2 (West, Kindon) Huddersfield Town 3 (Hoy 2, Lawson) *Recorded & broadcast in black & white due to a technicians 'colour strike'.
18/Nov   Manchester United 4 (Fitzpatrick, Kidd 2, Charlton) Crystal Palace 2 (Queen, Taylor) [League Cup 5th Round] *black & white
21/Nov   Liverpool 3 (Heighway, Toshack, Lawler) Everton 2 (Whittle, Royle) *black & white
28/Nov   Blackburn Rovers 0 Sunderland 1 (Kerr) *black & white.
05/Dec    Burnley 1 (Kindon) West Bromwich Albion 1 (Brown) *black & white.
12/Dec    Manchester United 1 (Kidd) Manchester City 4 (Doyle, Lee 3) *black & white.
16/Dec    Manchester United 1 (Kidd) Aston Villa 1 (Lochhead) [League Cup SF 1st Leg] *black & white
19/Dec    Preston North End 2 (Ingram, Lyall) Torquay United 2 (Cave, Rudge) *black & white.
26/Dec    Showed ATV coverage of Wolverhampton W. 2 (Dougan 2) Everton 0 *black & white.
02/Jan     Manchester United 0 Middlesbrough 0 [FA Cup 3rd Round] *black & white.
09/Jan     Liverpool 2 (Heighway, Craven(og)) Blackpool 2 (Burns, Pickering) *black & white.
16/Jan     Bolton Wanderers 2 (Seddon, Fletcher) Sheffield United l (Tudor) *black & white.
23/Jan     Showed LWT coverage of Chelsea 0 Man City 3 (Bell 2, Bowyer) [FA Cup 4th Round] *b&w, Sinstadt commentated for Granada viewers
30/Jan     Manchester City 0 Leeds United 2 (Clarke Charlton) *black & white.
06/Feb    Blackpool 0 Wolverhampton W. 2 (Dougan, McCalliog) *black & white.
13/Feb    Everton 1 (Johnson) Derby County 0 [FA Cup 5th Round] *black & white???
20/Feb    Bury 3 (Jones, Rudd, White) Aston Villa 1 (Allen(og)) *Technicians strike ended, now back in colour
27/Feb    Networked LWT coverage of the League Cup Final - Tottenham Hotspur 2 (Chivers 2) Aston Villa 0
06/Mar    Liverpool 0 Tottenham Hotpsur 0 [FA Cup QF]
13/Mar    Everton 2 (Whitte, Royle) Stoke City 0
20/Mar    Liverpool 2 (MacKay(og), Lawler) Derby County 0
24/Mar    Manchester City 2 (Mellor, Doyle) Gornik Zabrze 0 [Cup Winners Cup QF 1st Leg]
27/Mar    Networked LWT coverage of Arsenal 2 (Storey 2(1pen)) Stoke City 2 (Smith, Ritchie) [FA Cup SF] *BBC covered Liverpool v Everton SF
03/Apr    Manchester City 3 (Doyle, Hill, Booth) Everton 0
10/Apr    Manchester United 1 (Law) Derby County 2 (O'Hare 2)
17/Apr    Liverpool 0 Tottenham Hotspur 0
24/Apr    Manchester United 3 (Best(pen),Charlton, Kidd) Ipswich Town 2 (Morris, Clarke)
01/May   Manchester City 0 Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Perryman)
08/May   Networked LIVE coverage of the FA Cup Final - Liverpool 1 (Heighway) Arsenal 2 (Kelly, George) AET

Liverpool were this season's best North West league finishers in 5th, they also reached the Semi's of the Fairs Cup (where they met Leeds but lost to a single goal scored in the Anfield 1st Leg), whilst in the FA Cup they beat Everton in the Semi's and then met the league champions Arsenal in the final, taking the lead in extra-time before conceding twice. Man Utd finished 8th after Wilf McGuinness had been sacked in December with Matt Busby then taking charge again until the end of the season, there was no silverwear for Man City this season who finished 11th,  Everton were a very disappointing 14th (As well as losing an FA Cup SF to Liverpool, there was a QF exit in the European Cup on away goals). Blackpool's return to the top flight proved to be short lived as the Seasiders finished bottom of the league having won only 4 league games all season (Les Shannon was duly sacked), Burnley took the drop too, leaving the region with only four clubs at the highest level next term. There was another double relegation for Granadaland in the 2nd tier as both Blackburn and Bolton dropped into the old 3rd division for the first time ever. Preston (now managed by Alan Ball senior, father of the 1966 World Cup star) immediately bounced back as champions of the 3rd tier with Gerry Ingram netting 22 times in the process, but at the other end Bury were demoted. In the 4th; Jimmy Frizzell (as player/manager) guided Oldham Athletic to promotion with Jim Fryatt helping out with 24 goals. Barrow finished rock bottom of the 92, but they survived the re-election process.

Season 1971/72
07/Aug    Networked coverage of Leicester City 1 (Whitworth) Liverpool 0 [Charity Shield] *Played at Filbert Street, Brian Moore commentated
14/Aug    Manchester City 0 Leeds United 1 (Lorimer)
21/Aug    Preston North End 2 (McIlmoyle 2) Fulham 0
28/Aug    Liverpool 3 (Heighway, Keegan, Toshack) Leicester City 2 (Fern, Farrington)
04/Sep    Showed Yorkshire coverage of Hull City 1 (Pearson) Blackpool 0
11/Sep    Blackpool 1 (Hatton) Norwich City 2 (Foggo, Howard)
18/Sep    Manchester United 4 (G.Best 3, Charlton) West Ham United 2 (C.Best, Brooking)
25/Sep    Manchester City 3 (Lee, Bell, Davies) Southampton 0
02/Oct    Burnley 0 Sunderland 1 (Watson)
09/Oct    Possibly showed Yorkshire coverage of Huddersfield Town 0 Manchester United 3 (Best, Law, Charlton)
16/Oct     Showed Yorkshire coverage of Rotherham Utd 2 (Gilbert 2) Blackburn Rovers 1 (Arrentoft)
23/Oct     Liverpool 2 (Smith(pen), Evans) Huddersfield Town 0
30/Oct     Everton 1 (Ball) Newcastle United 0
06/Nov    Manchester City 3 (Lee, Bell, Summerbee) Manchester United 3 (McIroy, Kidd, Aston)
13/Nov    Preston North End 1 (Hepolette) Sheffield Wednesday 0
20/Nov    Manchester United 3 (Kidd, Law 2) Leicester City 2 (Birchenhall, Glover)
27/Nov    Oldham Athletic 0 Aston Villa 6 (Lochead 3, Rioch 2, Anderson)
04/Dec    Manchester United 3 (Law, Kidd 2) Nottingham Forest 2 (O'Neill, Cormack)
11/Dec    Liverpool 3 (Whitham 3) Derby County 2 (O'Hare 2)
18/Dec    Manchester City 1 (Lee(pen)) Leicester City 1 (Weller)
01/Jan     Liverpool 0 Leeds United 2 (Clarke, Jones)
08/Jan     Manchester United 1 (McIlroy) Wolverhampton W. 3 (Dougan, Richards, McCalliog)
15/Jan     Showed Southern coverage of Southampton v Manchester United [FA Cup 3rd Round] *Sinstadt commentating for Granada viewers
22/Jan     Blackpool 1 (Suddick) Bristol City 0
29/Jan     Showed LWT coverage of Chelsea 4 (Osgood 2, Hollins(pen), Dempsey) 4 Everton 0 *Granada match postponed?
05/Feb    Everton 2 (Johnson, Whittle) Walsall (Evans) 1 [FA Cup 4th Round]
12/Feb    Manchester United 0 Newcastle United 2 (Tudor, Barraclough)
19/Feb    Manchester City 1 (Booth) Huddersfield Town 0
26/Feb    Everton 0 Tottenham Hotspur 2 (Gilzean, Peters) [FA Cup 5th Round]
04/Mar    Networked LWT coverage of the League Cup Final - Stoke City 2 (Conroy, Eastham) Chelsea 1 (Osgood)
11/Mar    Everton 1 (Lyons) Manchester City 2 (T.Wright(og), Hill)
18/Mar    Showed two FA Cup QF's, none involving North West teams
25/Mar    Preston North End 1 (Tarbuck) Queens Park Rangers 1 (O' Rouke)
01/Apr    Showed ATV coverage of Coventry 2 (Barry, Graham) Man Utd 3 (Moore, Charlton, Best) *Sinstadt commentated for Granada viewers
08/Apr    Liverpool 3 (Keegan, Smith(pen), Toshack) Coventry City 1 (Hunt)
12/Apr    Manchester United 1 (Buchan) Manchester City 3 (Lee 2, Marsh) *Mid-week
15/Apr    Networked coverage Stoke City 1 (Simpson(og)) Arsenal 1 (Armstrong) [FA Cup Semi-Final] *Sinstadt com. at least for Granada viewers
22/Apr    Liverpool 2 (Toshack 2) Ipswich Town 0
29/Apr    Manchester United 3 (Charlton, Moore, Best) Stoke City 0
06/May    Networked LIVE coverage of the FA Cup Final - Leeds 1 (Clarke) Arsenal 0

It was tight at the top with 4th placed Manchester City only 1 point worse off than champions Derby in the final reckoning, City's assistant manager Malcom Allison had become recognised as team boss from October with Joe Mercer now the 'General Manager', City player Francis Lee was the runaway leader in the top flight goalscoring charts with 33. Liverpool had gained entry into the European Cup-Winners Cup by virtue of Arsenal's double, but lost out to Bayern Munich in the 2nd round. In the league, Liverpool were again Granadaland's best placed finishers in 3rd, Man Utd (now under Frank O'Farrell) were 8th, Everton 15th. No North West club was promoted or relegated this season but sadly the region lost a league member as Barrow were, somewhat harshly, not re-elected - Barrow had finished third-bottom, 8 points ahead of Crewe and 5 above Stockport and they lost their league place to Hereford United on a 2nd ballot (This was just a matter of months after Hereford's famous Ronnie Radford goal helped them knock Newcastle out of the FA Cup, curiously Hereford had not won the Southern League since 1965 and only finished runners-up this term).

Season 1972/73
05/Aug    Networked coverage of Aston Villa 0 Manchester City 1 (Lee(pen)) [Charity Shield] *played at Villa Park
12/Aug    Manchester United 1 (Law) Ipswich Town 2 (Whymark, Hamilton)
19/Aug    Manchester City 3 (Lee 2, Bell) Norwich City 0
*Note:- Gerald Sinstadt missed some games during the 26/Aug-11/Sep period as he was commentating on the Munich Olympics
26/Aug    Burnley 4 (Collins, Fletcher, Casper, Dobson) Aston Villa 1 (Hamilton) *Gerry Harrison commentated
02/Sep    Everton 1 (Royle) West Bromwich Albion 0 *possibly George Taylor commentating
09/Sep    Liverpool 4 (Hughes, Cormack, Keegan, Smith(pen)) Wolverhampton W. 2 (Kindon, Richards) *Gerry Harrison commentated
16/Sep    Blackpool 1 (Burns) Orient 1 (Bullock)
23/Sep    Manchester United 3 (Moore, Davies, Morgan) Derby County 0
30/Sep    Showed Yorkshire coverage of Leeds United 1 (Jones) Liverpool 2 (Lloyd, Boersma) *Sinstadt commentated for Granada viewers
07/Oct    Preston North End 1 (Wilson) Sheffield Wednesday 1 (Eustace(pen))
14/Oct    Showed ATV coverage of Coventry City 3 (Stein, Aldeson, Carr) Manchester City 2 (Marsh, Summerbee)
21/Oct    Liverpool 2 (Hughes, Callaghan) Stoke City 1 (Greenhoff)
28/Oct    Showed LWT coverge of Arsenal 0 Man City 0 *Sinstadt commentated for Granada viewers
31/Oct    Liverpool 2 (Keegan, Toshack) Leeds United 2 (Jones, Lorrimer) [League Cup]
04/Nov   Liverpool 3 (Toshack 2, Keegan) Chelsea 1 (Baldwin)
11/Nov    Everton 2 (Belfitt, Kenyon) Manchester City 3 (Lee 2, Kenyon(og))
18/Nov    Manchester City 3 (Bell 2, Buchan(og)) Manchester United 0
25/Nov    Rochdale 1 (Buck) Chesterfield 2 (Large, Smith(og))
02/Dec    Manchester City 1 (Lee) Ipswich Town 1 (Johnson)
09/Dec    Manchester United 0 Stoke City 2 (Pejic, Ritchie)
13/Dec    Liverpool 3 (Boersma, Heighway, Toshack) Dynamo Berlin 1 (Netz) [UEFA Cup 3rd Round 2nd Leg]
16/Dec    Manchester City 2 (Marsh 2) Southampton 1 (Jeffries(og))
23/Dec    Liverpool 2 (Toshack 2) Coventry City 0
30/Dec    Showed LWT match with Sinstadt comm. *Several games called off due to flu epidemic incl. Man Utd v Everton (probably intended match)
06/Jan     Everton 2 (Buckley, Connolly) Stoke City 0
13/Jan     Manchester City 3 (Bell, Marsh, Summerbee) Stoke City 2 (Greenhoff 2) [FA Cup 3rd Round]
20/Jan     Liverpool 1 (Toshack) Derby County 1 (Davies)
27/Jan     Manchester City 1 (Donachie) Birmingham City 0
03/Feb    Everton 0 Millwall 2 (Cripps, Wood) [FA Cup 4th Round]
07/Feb    Manchester City 2 (Bell, Booth) Liverpool 0 [FA Cup 4th Round Replay]
10/Feb    Manchester United 2 (Charlton 2) Wolverhampton W. 1 (Hegan)
17/Feb    Manchester City 1 (Booth) Liverpool 1 (Boersma) *Tommy Smith sent off
24/Feb    Manchester City 2 (Towers, Montgomery(og)) Sunderland 2 (Horswill, Hughes) [FA Cup 5th Round]
03/Mar    Networked LWT coverage of the League Cup Final - Spurs 1 (Coates) Norwich City 0
10/Mar
17/Mar    Showed two FA Cup QF's not involving North West clubs
24/Mar    Manchester City 1 (Booth) Arsenal 2 (George, Kennedy)
31/Mar    Blackburn Rovers 2 (Field, Endean) Tranmere Rovers 2 (Young 2)
07/Apr    FA Cup SF *& possibly Birmingham 2 (Latchford, Hatton) Liverpool 1 (Smith) with Gerald Sinstadt commentating (at least for Granada viewers)
14/Apr
21/Apr     Blackpool 2 (Rafferty, Burns) Preston North End 0
28/Apr     Liverpool 0 Leicester City 0
05/May    Networked LIVE coverage of the FA Cup Final - Sunderland 1 (Porterfield) Leeds United 0
23/May    Networked coverage of Borussia Monchengladbach 2 (Heynckes 2) Liverpool 0 [UEFA Cup Final 2nd leg] *Liverpool win 3-2 on Agg

All four divisions were won by North West clubs in 1973, Bill Shankly's Liverpool were crowned top flight champions (their first league title since 1966) and they also won the UEFA cup (overcoming Spurs in the Semi-finals before a 3-0 home victory in the opening BBC televised leg v Borussia Monchengladbach in the final would prove just enough to secure their first European trophy, 3-2 on aggregate). It was a relatively poor season for the region's other top flight clubs; Man City finished 11th (manager Malcom Allison left at the end of March and was replaced by ex-City player Johnny Hart), Everton finished 17th (manager Harry Catterick was switched to a director's role in April) and Man Utd ended the campaign in 18th (easily their lowest finish in ten seasons, manager Frank O'Farrell had been replaced by Tommy Docherty in December). In the 2nd tier Jimmy Adamson's Burnley came out on top whilst Jimmy Armfield's Bolton won the Third Division (with John Byrom netting 20 of their league goals), Southport - managed by Jimmy Meadows - won the Fourth Division (with 21 goals from Drew Provan).

Season 1973/74
18/Aug    Probably networked coverage of Manchester City 0 Burnley 1 (Waldron) [Charity Shield] *played at Maine Road
25/Aug    Liverpool 1 (Heighway) Stoke City 0
01/Sep
08/Sep     Manchester City 2 (Lee, Bell) Norwich City 1 (Suggett)
15/Sep     Everton 1 (Lyons) Queens Park Rangers 0
22/Sep     Showed Yorkshire coverage of Leeds United 0 Manchester United 0
29/Sep
06/Oct     Blackpool 0 Notts County 1 (Mann)
13/Oct
20/Oct     Everton 1 (Clements(pen)) Burnley 0
27/Oct     Liverpool 1 (Keegan) Sheffield United 0
03/Nov    Manchester United 2 (Young, Greenhoff) Chelsea 2 (Baldwin, Osgood)
06/Nov    Liverpool 1 (Lawler) Red Star Belgrade 2 (Lazarevic, Jankovic) [European Cup 2nd Round 2nd Leg]*Red Star won 4-2 on agg
10/Nov    Manchester City 1 (Lee) Arsenal 2 (Kelly, Hornsby)
17/Nov    Liverpool 4 (Keegan 3(1pen), Cormack) Ipswich Town 2 (Johnson, Hamilton)
24/Nov    Manchester United 0 Norwich City 0
01/Dec     Liverpool 1 (Cormack) West Ham United 0
08/Dec     Everton 0 Liverpool 1 (Waddle)
15/Dec     Manchester United 2 (Best, Morgan) Coventry City 3 (Buchan(og), Alderson, Cross) *George Best's last ever goal for Man Utd.
22/Dec     Manchester City 2 (Bell, Doyle) Burnley 0
29/Dec     Oldham Athletic 0 Watford 3 (Morrissey 3(1pen))
05/Jan      Everton 3 (Harper, Hurst, Clements) Blackburn Rovers 0 [FA Cup 3rd Round]
12/Jan      Manchester City 2 (Law, Marsh) Leicester City 0
19/Jan      Manchester United 1 (James) Arsenal 1 (Kennedy)
26/Jan      [FA Cup 4th Round]
02/Feb     Blackpool 2 (Burns, Suddick) Oxford United 0
09/Feb     Manchester United 0 Leeds United 2 (Jones, Jordan)
16/Feb     [FA Cup 5th Round] *Burnley 1 (Fletcher) Aston Villa 0 was the only NW home tie but TV cameras were not welcomed at Turf Moor this season
23/Feb     Everton 1 (Hurst) Coventry City 0
02/Mar     Networked LWT coverage of the League Cup Final - Manchester City 1 (Bell) Wolves 2 (Hibbitt, Richards)
09/Mar     Showed HTV coverage of Bristol City 0 Liverpool 1 (Toshack) [FA Cup QF] *Sinstadt probably commentated for Granada viewers
16/Mar     Manchester City 0 Sheffield United 1 (Salmons)
23/Mar     Blackpool 3 (Alcock, Walsh, Suddick) Preston North End 0
30/Mar     Networked coverage of Newcastle United 2 (Macdonald 2) Burnley 0 [FA Cup SF]
06/Apr     Oldham Athletic 2 (Robins, Lochhead) Tranmere Rovers 2 (Whittle(og), Palios)
13/Apr     Preston North End 0 Oxford United 0
20/Apr     Manchester City 2 (Booth, Bell) West Ham United 1 (Gould)
27/Apr     Manchester United 0 Manchester City 1 (Law)
04/May    Networked LIVE coverage of the FA Cup Final - Liverpool 3 (Keegan 2, Heighway) Newcastle United 0

Liverpool finished 2nd this season and suffered a disappointing 2nd round exit in the European Cup, but the FA Cup was won with a memorable performance v Newcastle in the final and Ian Callaghan was named 'Footballer of the year'. Manager Bill Shankly then took the surprise decision to retire in July, leaving coach Bob Paisley to reluctantly succeed him. A long term fate similar to that of Manchester United must have been feared by some, the Red Devils had withered since Matt Busby's retirement and suffered a shocking campaign in 73/74. United entertained neighbours City on the final Saturday of the season staring relegation in the face (City were now managed by Tony Book following the sacking of Ron Saunders who'd overseen City's League Cup final defeat to Wolves), ironically it was ex-United player Dennis Law's apologetic back healed goal on 86 minutes that sent Manchester United down to the old Second Division, the goal sparked an ugly pitch invasion and the game had to be abandoned, but the 1-0 scoreline was allowed to stand as a result. Burnley finished 6th upon their return to the top flight, but sadly none of their home games were televised due to a dispute with the chairman. It was now three up/three down between the 1st&2nd and 2nd&3rd tiers, the increase made little difference to United who finished 2nd bottom, nor Preston North End who were relegated in a similar position from the 2nd tier. Jimmy Frizzell led Oldham Athletic to another promotion, this time as champions of the old Third Division, but Southport and Rochdale made up the bottom two. In the 4th, Bury won promotion, Stockport County finished rock bottom but both they and Crewe survived the re-election vote.

Season 1974/75
17/Aug    Preston North End 1 Plymouth Argyle 0
24/Aug    Blackpool 2 (Dyson, Ainscow) Bolton Wanderers 1 (Whatmore)
31/Aug    Manchester City 2 (Summerbee, Bell) Leeds United 1 (Clarke)
07/Sep    Manchester United 2 (Greenhoff, McIlroy) Nottingham Forest 2 (Bowyer, Cottam)
14/Sep    Preston North End 0 Blackburn Rovers 0
21/Sep    Port Vale 3 (William, Horton, Bailey) Hereford United 0 *ATV at Northampton, Anglia at Ipswich
28/Sep    Showed Yorkshire coverage of Sheffield United 1 (Woodward) Liverpool 0 *Sinstadt commentated for Granada viewers
05/Oct    Showed LWT coverage of Fulham 1 (Busby) Manchester United 2 (Pearson 2) *Sinstadt likely commentated for Granada viewers
12/Oct    Showed Yorkshire coverage of Sheffield United 2 (Dearden, Woodward) Everton 2 (Lyons, Buckley) *Sinstadt comm. for Granada
19/Oct    Manchester City 1 Luton Town 0
26/Oct     Liverpool 1 (Heighway) Leeds United 0
02/Nov    Manchester United 4 (Pearson 3 Macari) Oxford United 0
09/Nov
16/Nov    Manchester United 2 (Daly 2(1pen)) Aston Villa 1 (Hamilton)
23/Nov    Liverpool 1 (Smith) West Ham United 1 (Robson)
30/Nov    Showed Anglia coverage of Luton Town 2 Burnley 3 and Tyne Tees coverage of Newcastle United 2 Manchester City 1
07/Dec    Liverpool 2 (R.Kennedy, Heighway) Derby County 2 (Bourne, Davies)
14/Dec    Blackpool 2 (Hart, Walsh) Norwich City 1 (Boyer)
18/Dec    Manchester United 3 (Pearson, McIlroy, Macari) Middlesbrough 0 [League Cup QF Replay]
21/Dec
28/Dec    Everton 1 (Latchford) Middlesbrough 1 (Maddren)
04/Jan     Manchester City 0 Newcastle United 2 (Burns, Nulty) [FA Cup 3rd Round]
11/Jan     Manchester United 2 (McCalliog 2) Sheffield Wednesday 0
18/Jan     Liverpool 2 (Heighway, Keegan) Coventry City 1 (Alderson)
25/Jan     Showed Anglia coverage of Ipswich Town 1 (Mills) Liverpool 0 [FA Cup 4th Round] *Sinstadt commentated for Granada viewers
01/Feb    Manchester United 0 Bristol City 1 (Gillies)
08/Feb    Manchester City 2 (Bell, Tueart) Everton 1 (Horswill(og))
15/Feb    Everton 1 (Kenyon) Fulham 2 (Busby 2) [FA Cup 5th Round]
22/Feb    Burnley 2 (Noble, Fletcher) Sheffield United 1 (Woodward)
01/Mar   Networked LWT coverage of the League Cup Final - Aston Villa 1 (Graydon) Norwich City 0
08/Mar   Carlisle United 0 Fulham 1 (Barrett) [FA Cup QF]
15/Mar
22/Mar    Burnley 3 (Noble, Hankin, James) Arsenal 3 (Rostron, Hornsby 2)
29/Mar    Carlisle United 3 (Laidlaw, Martin, Clarke) Everton 0
05/Apr    Probably showed LWT coverage of Fulham 1 (Mitchell) Birmingham City 1 (Gallagher) [FA Cup SF]
12/Apr    Manchester United 1 (Daly) Fulham 0
19/Apr    Everton 2 (Smallman, Jones) Sheffield United 3 (Eddie, Dearden, Currie)
26/Apr    Liverpool 3 (Toshack 2, Keegan(pen)) Queens Park Rangers 1 (Francis(pen))
03/May   Networked LIVE coverage of the FA Cup Final - West Ham United 2 (A.Taylor 2) Fulham 0

Liverpool were runners-up again in the league and suffered a 2nd round exit in the Cup-winners cup (this after recording a club record victory in the 1st round home leg with an 11-0 victory v Stromsgodset). It was a good season for Everton under Billy Bingham who finished 4th, striker Bob Latchford netted 17 goals and the Toffees would have won the league had it not been for a poor run in the last five games. Tony Book's Manchester City finished 8th, Burnley (with cameras allowed back inside Turf Moor) were 10th. Manchester United won an immediate return to the top flight with ease and were crowned champions of the old Second Division, but their fans now had a reputation for being among the very worst behaved in the country as incidents of hooliganism in general had shown a marked increase over the last few season's. Blackburn Rovers were champions of the 3rd tier, but Tranmere were relegated. Chester won promotion from the Fourth Division.

Season 1975/76
Granada Sunday highlights now titled "Kick Off Match".
09/Aug    Manchester City 3 (Booth, Marsh, Leman) Sheffield United 1 (Woodward) [Anglo-Scottish Cup]
16/Aug    Showed ATV and Anglia matches
23/Aug    Blackburn Rovers 4 (Beamish, Martin, Metcalfe(pen), Parkes) Oldham Athletic 1 (Blair)
30/Aug    Showed Tyne Tees coverage of Sunderland 2 (Towers 2) Blackpool 0
06/Sep    Showed ATV coverage Derby County 3 (Lee, Gemmill, Hector) Burnley 0
13/Sep    Everton 3 (Latchford, Lyons, Clements) Newcastle United 0
20/Sep    Chester 1 (Crossley) Peterborough United 1 (Robson)
27/Sep    Manchester City 2 (Royle 2)  Manchester United 2 (McCreary, McCari)
04/Oct    Showed LWT coverage of West Ham United 0 Everton 1 (Jones)
11/Oct    Manchester City 0 Burnley 0
18/Oct    Preston North End 0 Crystal Palace 0
25/Oct    Liverpool 1 (Toshack) Derby County 1 (Lee)
01/Nov    Burnley 0 Stoke City 1 (Moores)
08/Nov    Blackpool 0 West Bromwich Albion 1 (Johnston)
15/Nov    Everton 1 (Telfer) Manchester City 1 (Booth)
22/Nov    Liverpool 1 (Toshack) Coventry City 1 (Powell)
29/Nov    Manchester United 1 (Daly) Newcastle United 0
03/Dec    Burnley 0 Middlesbrough 2 (Mills, Maddren) [League Cup QF]
06/Dec    Everton 3 (Dobson 2, Latchford) Ipswich Town 3 (Lambert, Johnson, Clements(og))
10/Dec    Liverpool 3 (Case 3) Slask Wroclaw 0 [UEFA Cup 3rd Round 2nd leg] *Liverpool win 5-1 on agg
13/Dec    Burnley 2 (Hankin, Kennerley) West Ham United 0
20/Dec    Manchester United 1 (Hill) Wolverhampton W. 0
27/Dec    Bolton Wanderers 2 (Allardyce, Bryom) Sunderland 1 (Dunne(og))
03/Jan      Showed ATV coverage of Derby County 2 (George 2) Everton 1 (Jones) [FA Cup 3rd Round]
10/Jan      Liverpool 3 (Keegan 2, Case) Ipswich Town 3 (Wymark 2, Gates)
17/Jan      Burnley 1 (Fletcher) Derby County 2 (James, George)
21/Jan      Manchester City 4 (Keegan, Oakes, Barnes, Royle) Middlesbrough 0 [League Cup SF 2nd Leg] *Man City win 4-1 on agg
24/Jan      Showed ATV coverage of Derby County 1 (Davies) Liverpool 0 [FA Cup 4th Round]
31/Jan      Manchester United 3 (Forsyth, Macari, McIlroy) Birmingham City 1 (Withe)
07/Feb     Liverpool 2 (Keegan, Toshack) Leeds United 0
14/Feb     Showed ATV coverage of Leicester City 1 (Lee) Manchester United 2 (Macari, Daly) [FA Cup 5th Round]
21/Feb     Manchester City 3 (Hartford, Tueart(pen), Royle) Everton 0
28/Feb     Networked LWT coverage of the League Cup Final - Manchester City 2 (Barnes, Tueart) Newcastle United 1 (Gowling)
03/Mar    Networked coverage of Dynamo Dresden 0 Liverpool 0 [UEFA Cup QF 1st Leg] *"The Wednesday Special", Sinstadt commentated
06/Mar     Manchester United 1 (Daly) Wolverhampton W. 1 (Richards) [FA Cup QF]
13/Mar     Everton 0 Queens Park Rangers 2 (Bowles, Leach)
20/Mar     Oldham Athletic 1 (Bell) Sunderland 1 (Hughes)
27/Mar     Bolton Wanderers 2 (Hay(og), G.Wilkins(og)) Chelsea 1 (Britton)
03/Apr      Liverpool 1 (Fairclough) Everton 0
10/Apr      Manchester City 4 (Tueart 2, Royle, Power) Derby County 3 (Rioch 2, Todd)
17/Apr      Bolton Wanderers 4 (Greaves 2, Jones 2(2pens)) Oldham Athletic 0
24/Apr      Showed LWT coverage of QPR 2 (Thomas, Bowles) Leeds 0 *Sinstadt commentated (probably for Granada & YTV viewers)
28/Apr      Liverpool 3 (Kennedy, Case, Keegan(pen)) Bruges 2 (Lambert, Cools) [UEFA Cup Final 1st Leg]
01/May     Networked LIVE coverage of the FA Cup Final - Southampton 1 (Stokes) Manchester United 0

Liverpool' Kevin Keegan was named 'Footballer of the year' as the reds repeated their 1973 double by winning the league title and the UEFA cup again (this time v Bruges, the 1st leg was won 3-2 at Anfield, the 2nd leg drawn 1-1). Man Utd had a good return season to the top flight, finishing 3rd and making an appearance in the FA Cup final (for the first time in 13 years) but Utd surprisingly lost the cup final to 2nd tier Southampton. Man City won the League Cup - Peter Barnes, the scorer of the first goal in a 2-1 win v Newcastle in the final, was the PFA's young player of the year, Dennis Tueart scored the winner. City finished 8th in the league, Everton were 11th and Burnley were relegated. In the 2nd tier; Bolton (under Ian Greaves) were just 1 point short of promotion in 4th. John King's Tranmere were promoted from the Fourth Division with 34 of their league goals scored by Ronnie Moore, whilst at the wrong end of the table Stockport and Southport both survived re-election.

Season 1976/77
21/Aug    Tranmere Rovers 0 Chester 1 (Philpotts(og))
28/Aug    Showed HTV coverage of Cardiff 2 (Alston, Showers) Blackburn 1 (Mitchell) *Granada & Sinstadt were covering Roses Cricket
04/Sep    Showed YTV & ATV matches
11/Sep    Everton 3 (Telfer 2, Latchford) Stoke City 0
18/Sep    Showed Tyne Tees coverage of Sunderland 0 Manchester City 2 (Tueart, Royle) *Gordon Burns commentated for Granada viewers
25/Sep    Blackpool 0 Chelsea 1 (Finnieston)
29/Sep    Manchester United 2 (Macari, McIlroy) Ajax 0 [UEFA Cup 1st Round 2nd Leg] *United win 2-1 on agg
02/Oct    Showed YTV coverage of Leeds 0 Man Utd 2 (Daly, Coppell) *Sinstadt commentating for Granada viewers
09/Oct    Bury 3 (Woolfall 2, Spence) Brighton & Hove Albion 0
16/Oct    Liverpool 3 (Heighway, Neal(pen), Toshack) Everton 1 (Dobson)
23/Oct    Oldham Athletic 2 (Halom, Wood) Bolton Wanderers 2 (Greaves, Taylor)
30/Oct    Manchester United 0 Ipswich Town 1 (Woods)
06/Nov    Manchester City 0 Newcastle United 0
13/Nov    Blackpool 1 (Walsh) Sheffield United 0
20/Nov    Everton 2 (King, Latchford) Derby County 0
27/Nov    Manchester United 0 West Ham United 2 (Brooking, Jennings)
01/Dec    Manchester United 0 Everton 3 (King 2, Dobson) [League Cup QF]
04/Dec    Manchester City 3 (Kidd 2, Tueart) Derby County 2 (James 2)
11/Dec    Liverpool 3 (Toshack, Keegan, Kennedy) Queens Park Rangers 1 (Eastoe)
18/Dec    Burnley 1 (Cockrane) Millwall 3 (Hazell, Seasman, Fairbrother)
01/Jan     Liverpool 2 (Kennedy, Thompson) Sunderland 0
08/Jan     Everton 2 (Lyons, McKenzie(pen)) Stoke City 0 [FA Cup 3rd Round]
15/Jan     Oldham Athletic 1 (Irving) Blackpool 0
22/Jan     Bolton Wanderers 3 (Whatmore 2, Reid) Blackburn Rovers 1 (Waddington)
29/Jan     Probably HTV coverage of Swindon Town 2 (Syrett, Stroud) Everton 2 (McKenzie, Latchford) [FA Cup 4th Round]
05/Feb    Liverpool 4 (Neal(pen), Heighway 2, Toshack) Birmingham City 1 (Burns)
12/Feb    Everton 1 (Latchford) Leicester City 2 (Earle, Alderson)
19/Feb    Manchester United 3 (Greenhoff 3) Newcastle United 1 (Nulty)
26/Feb    Liverpool 3 (Keegan, Case, Neal) Oldham Athletic 1 (Shaw) [FA Cup 5th Round]
05/Mar    Manchester United 3 (Pearson, Hill, Coppell) Manchester City 1 (Royle)
16/Mar    Liverpool 3 (Keegan, Kennedy, Fairclough) St Etienne 1 (Bathena) [European Cup QF 2nd Leg] *tx'd as "The Midweek Match", Liverpool win 3-2 on agg
12/Mar    Networked LWT coverage of the League Cup Final - Aston Villa 0 Everton 0
19/Mar    Liverpool 2 (Fairclough, Keegan) Middlesbrough 0 [FA Cup QF]
26/Mar    Showed ATV coverage of Nottm Forest 3 (Withe 2, Woodcock) Blackpool 0 *Sinstadt commentating for Granada viewers
02/Apr    Manchester City 2 (Kidd, Watson) Ipswich Town 1 (Whymark)
09/Apr    Liverpool 2 (Keegan, Heighway) Manchester City 1 (Kidd)
16/Apr    Bolton Wanderers 3 (Whatmore 2, Jones(pen)) Southampton 0
20/Apr    Liverpool 3 (Case 2, Keegan) FC Zurich 0 [European Cup SF 2nd Leg] *Liverpool win 6-1 on agg
23/Apr     Networked coverage of Man Utd 2 (Greenhoff, Coppell) Leeds United 1 (Clarke(pen)) [FA Cup SF] *at Hillsborough
30/Apr     Liverpool 2 (Kennedy, Keegan) Ipswich Town 1 (Wark(pen))
07/May    Manchester City 5 (Booth, Barnes, Kidd, Tueart, Hartford) Tottenham Hotspur 0
14/May    Bolton Wanderers 0 Wolverhampton W. 1 (Hibbitt)
21/May    Networked LIVE coverage of the FA Cup Final - Manchester United 2 (Pearson, J.Greenhoff) Liverpool 1 (Case)
25/May    Liverpool 3 (McDermott, Smith, Neal(pen)) Borussia Monchengladbach 1 (Simonsen) [European Cup Final] *highlights from Rome (live on BBC1) Martin Tyler commentated for ITV

What a season it was for Bob Paisley's Liverpool, they retained their league championship title and won the European Cup - a unique double for an English club which so nearly became a treble. Captain Emlyn Hughes was named 'Footballer of the year' but he was denied the chance to lift three trophies in one season by the resurgent Manchester United who beat Liverpool 2-1 in the FA Cup final, Tommy Docherty's team finished 6th in the league and lost out to Juventus in the 2nd round of the UEFA cup after overcoming Ajax in the opening round. Neighbours Manchester City were league runners up, just 1 point behind Liverpool, Brian Kidd - now wearing the sky blue - netted 21 goals. A poor run over the new year period saw Everton sack Billy Bingham and replace him with Gordon Lee, they went on to lose the League Cup final in a 2nd replay to Aston Villa before meeting Liverpool in the Semi-finals of the FA Cup, only to be cruelly robbed of a 2nd shot at Wembley glory by an inexplicable decision by the referee which ruled out a late winner, Liverpool won the replay 3-0 and Everton finished 9th in the league. In the 2nd tier, both Bolton and Blackpool finished just 1 point behind the last promotion place, it was tough on Bolton who had also just missed out in the previous campaign (and they would surely have gone on to achieve promotion this time around had they won their Granada televised final home game of the season v Wolves). Blackpool's Mick Walsh was top scorer in this division with 26, Bolton's Neil Whatmore was only 1 behind on 25. Down in the Fourth Division Southport again survived re-election.

Season 1977/78
20/Aug    Burnley 0 Bolton Wanderers 1 (Greaves)
27/Aug    Manchester United 0 Ipswich Town 0
03/Sep    Showed Yorkshire coverage of Hull City 0 Bolton Wanderers 0 *Sinstadt commentated for Granada viewers
10/Sep    Manchester City 3 (Kidd 2, Channon) Manchester United 1 (Nicholl)
17/Sep    Showed LWT coverage of Queens Park Rangers 1 (Francis) Manchester City 1 (Royle)
24/Sep    Bury 0 Shrewsbury Town 3 (McGuire, Atkins(pen), Hornsby)
01/Oct    Everton 1 (Latchford) Manchester City 1 (Hartford)
08/Oct    Liverpool 2 (Dalglish, Fairclough) Chelsea 0
15/Oct    Showed Yorkshire coverage of Leeds United 1 (Thomas) Liverpool 2 (Case 2)
19/Oct    Liverpool 5 (Hansen, Case 2, Neal(pen), Kennedy) Dynamo Dresden 1 (Hafner) [European Cup 2nd Round 1st Leg]
22/Oct    Blackpool 2 (Ronson, Ainscow) Luton Town 1 (Husband)
29/Oct    Manchester City 3 (Kidd, Channon, Royle) Liverpool 1 (Fairclough)
05/Nov   Oldham Athletic 1 (Taylor) Crystal Palace 1 (Perrin)
12/Nov   Manchester City 2 (Channon, Barnes) Leeds United 3 (Jordan, Graham, Hankin)
19/Nov   Manchester United 1 (Pearson) Norwich City 0
23/Nov   SV Hamburg (Keller) 1 Liverpool 1 (Fairclough) [European Super Cup 1st Leg]
26/Nov   Everton 6 (Dobson, Latchford 3, Pearson, King) Coventry City 0
30/Nov   Bolton Wanderers 1 (G. Jones) Leeds United 3 (Graham, Jordan, F.Gray) [League Cup 4th Round]
03/Dec    Showed ATV coverage of Derby County 2 (Hughes, Ryan) Manchester City 1 (Power) *Sinstadt commentated for Granada viewers
06/Dec    Liverpool 6 (Thompson, McDermott 3, Fairclough, Dalglish) SV Hamburg 0 [European Super Cup 2nd Leg] *Liverpool win 7-1 on agg
10/Dec
17/Dec    Liverpool 1 (Neal(pen)) Queens Park Rangers 0
24/Dec    No fixtures played
31/Dec    Everton 2 (Latchford, King) Arsenal 0
07/Jan     Everton 4 (King, Ross(pen), McKenzie, Latchford) Aston Villa 1 (Gray) [FA Cup 3rd Round]
14/Jan     Showed LWT coverage Luton Town 0 Oldham Athletic 1 (Taylor) *Sinstadt commentated on this, Brian Moore was in Argentina for WC draw
21/Jan     Manchester United 4 (Hill 2(1pen), Pearson, Buchan) Derby County 0
28/Jan     Probably showed other region's FA Cup 4th Round games incl Tyne Tees coverage of Middlesbrough 3 Everton 2
04/Feb    Blackpool 5 (Waldron, Hatton 4) Blackburn Rovers 2 (Waddington, Hird(pen))
11/Feb    Intended match may have been postponed (only 4 top flight fixtures played)
18/Feb    Probably showed other region's FA Cup 5th Round games
25/Feb     Manchester City 1 (Kidd) Everton 0
04/Mar    Oldham Athletic 1 (Taylor) Tottenham Hotspur 1 (McNab)
11/Mar    HTV coverage of Wrexham 2 (McNeal, Whittle) Arsenal 3 (Stapleton, Sunderland, Young) [FA Cup QF]*Brian Moore comm. for non HTV regions
18/Mar    Networked LWT coverage of the League Cup Final - Liverpool 0 Nottingham Forest 0 AET
22/Mar    Networked coverage of the League Cup Final Replay - Liverpool 0 Nottm Forest 1 (Robertson(pen)) *at Old Trafford, Sinstadt commentating
25/Mar    Bolton Wanderers 2 (Reid, P.Jones) Blackpool 1 (Walsh(pen))
01/Apr    Burnley 2 (Ingham, Noble) Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Taylor)
08/Apr    Networked coverage of Arsenal 3 (Macdonald 2, Rix) Orient 0 [FA Cup Semi Final]
12/Apr    Liverpool 3 (Kennedy, Dalglish, Case) Borussia Moenchengladbach 0 [European Cup SF 2nd Leg] *Liverpool win 4-2 on agg
15/Apr    Preston North End 4 (Robinson, Baxter, Bruce, Coleman) Lincoln City 0
22/Apr    Manchester United 3 (Grimes(pen), McIlroy, Pearson) West Ham United 0
29/Apr    Bolton Wanderers 0 Fulham 0
06/May   Networked LIVE coverage of the FA Cup Final - Ipswich Town 1 (Osborne) Arsenal 0
10/May   Networked LIVE coverage of the European Cup Final - Liverpool 1 (Dalglish) FC Bruges 0 *at Wembley, Brian Moore commentated

Three North West clubs were among the top four this season; Liverpool, following two successive championship campaigns, were runners-up but retained the European Cup (the first British club to do so), this time they won it at Wembley stadium with a goal by Kenny Dalglish (who had been bought from Celtic the previous summer to replace Kevin Keegan). Everton finished 3rd and Manchester City were 4th. Man United were unable to build on last season's FA Cup success after the boat had been rocked in July 1977 when manager Tommy Docherty was sacked over an affair with the physio's wife, United then appointed Dave Sexton and they went on to finish a disappointing 10th. In the 2nd tier; Ian Greaves' Bolton Wanderers were finally promoted (as champions) but Blackpool were relegated to the lower divisions for the first time in their history (Had they been 1 point better off, they'd have finished 14th!). One of the teams taking Blackpool's place would be Preston (now managed by Nobby Stiles)who were promoted along with 3rd tier champions Wrexham. In the Fourth Division; Rochdale finished rock bottom but it was next-to-bottom Southport who lost their league place (it was the third season running that Southport had finished 91st in the 92), another North West club replaced them - Wigan Athletic.

Season 1978/79
19/Aug    Burnley 2 (Fletcher, Noble) Leicester City 2 (Hughes, Christie)
26/Aug    Showed LWT's match *Granada cameras thought to be covering Cricket this weekend
30/Aug    Stockport County 2 (Thompson(pen), Park) Manchester United 3 (Jordan, McIlroy, J.Greenhoff(pen)) [League Cup 2nd Round] *not 100% confirmed
02/Sep    Liverpool 7 (Dalglish 2, Johnson 2, Kennedy, Neal, McDermott) Tottenham Hotspur 0
09/Sep    Bolton Wanderers 2 (Gowling 2) Derby County 1 (Daly)
16/Sep    ??? Oldham 2 Preston 0, Liverpool 1 Coventry 0 ???
23/Sep    Everton 2 (Latchford, King(pen)) Wolverhampton W. 0
30/Sep    Manchester United 1 (Jordan) Manchester City 0
07/Oct    Burnley 1 (Smith) Oldham Athletic 0
14/Oct    Liverpool 5 (Johnson, Kennedy 2, Dalglish 2) Derby County 0
21/Oct    May have been forced to take LWT's "The Big Match" from 22/Oct - 03/Dec due to some sort of strike action
28/Oct
04/Nov
11/Nov
18/Nov
25/Nov
02/Dec
09/Dec    Manchester City 1 (Power) Southampton 2 (Viljoen(og), Bowyer)
16/Dec    Everton 1 (Ross) Leeds United 1 (Hawley)
23/Dec    Blackpool 3 (Spence 2, Kellow) Chester 0
30/Dec    Manchester United 3 (Greenhoff, McQueen, McIlroy) West Bromwich Albion 5 (Brown, Cantello, Cunningham, Regis 2)
06/Jan     Showed abandoned ATV coverage of Stoke v Oldham [FA Cup 3rd Round] *Sinstadt comm. for Granada viewers
13/Jan     Showed YTV coverage of Leeds United 1 (Hawley) Manchester City 1 (Kidd) *Sinstadt comm. for Granada viewers
20/Jan     Manchester City 2 (Power, Futcher) Chelsea 3 (McKenzie, Osgood, Walker)
27/Jan     Showed other regions FA Cup 4th Round matches
03/Feb    Manchester United 0 Arsenal 2 (Sunderland 2) *Elton Welsby commentated
10/Feb    Everton 4 (King 3, Wright) Bristol City 1 (Whitehead) *Elton Welsby commentated, this was a late switch after Bolton v Liverpool was postponed.
17/Feb    Bad weather *only 5 fixtures from all divisions played
21/Feb    Wrexham 2 (Davies, McNeil) Tottenham Hotpsur 3 (Jones 3) [FA Cup 4th Round Replay]
24/Feb    Everton 0 Ipswich Town 1 (Mariner)
03/Mar    Manchester City 2 (Channon, Owen(og)) Bolton Wanderers 1 (Worthington)
10/Mar    Showed LWT coverage of Tottenham Hotpsur 1 (Ardiles) Manchester United 1 (Thomas) [FA Cup QF]
17/Mar    Networked LWT coverage of the League Cup Final - Nottingham Forest 3 (Birtles 2, Woodcock) Southampton 2 (Peach, Holmes)
24/Mar    Blackburn Rovers 0 Preston North End 1 (Bruce)
31/Mar    Manchester United 2 (Jordan, B.Greenhoff) Liverpool 2 (Dalglish, Hansen) [FA Cup Semi Final]*at Maine Road, Sinstadt comm. for Granada
07/Apr     Liverpool 3 (Case, Dalglish, McDermott) Arsenal 0
14/Apr    Manchester City 0 Everton 0
21/Apr    Bolton Wanderers 2 (Worthington, Allardyce) Ipswich Town 3 (Brazil 2, Wark)
28/Apr    ??? Manchester United 0 Derby County 0 ???
05/May    Wrexham 1 (Jones) Sunderland 2 (Rostron, Brown)
12/May    Networked LIVE coverage of the FA Cup Final - Man Utd 2 (McQueen, McIlroy) Arsenal 3 (Talbot, Stapleton, Sunderland)

1978/79 was a record breaking top flight championship season for Liverpool who won 30, lost just 4 and conceded only 16 goals in their 42 matches (Kenny Dalglish was the red's leading scorer on 21 and was named 'Footballer of the year'), but their run of European Cup success was brought to an end in the 1st round after losing 2-0 on agg to Forest. Everton finished 4th and were knocked out of the UEFA Cup in the 2nd round whilst Man United were 9th but they reached the FA Cup final - knocking out Liverpool in a SF replay 1-0 before an astonishing comeback (from 2-0 down) in the last five minutes of the Wembley clash with Arsenal was ruined by another Gunners goal at the death. Manchester City's final position of 15th was their lowest since 1967 although they had a decent run in the UEFA cup by reaching the QF's (dumping out AC Milan along the way). Bolton's return to the top flight (after an absence of 24 years) saw them stay up in 17th with Frank Worthington the top flight's leading scorer on 24. Preston had a decent season back up in the 2nd tier finishing 7th with Alex Bruce netting 21 league goals, but Blackburn were relegated as the bottom placed club. Tranmere were another relegation story for the region in the 3rd tier whilst Crewe finished rock bottom of the Fourth Division.

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! (North West viewers only had BBC1 and BBC2 from 10th August-24th October).
27/Oct     Everton 0 Manchester United 0
03/Nov    Oldham Athletic 1 (Clements) Newcastle United 0
10/Nov    Everton 0 Middlesbrough 2 (Johnston 2)
17/Nov    Bolton Wanderers 0 Manchester City 1 (Daley)
24/Nov    Everton 1 (Latchford) Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Jones)
01/Dec    Manchester City 2 (Palmer, Deyna) Wolverhampton W. 3 (Gray, Hibbitt, Daniel)
08/Dec    Burnley 1 (Burke) Watford 0
15/Dec    Liverpool 3 (Case, Dalglish, McDermott) Crystal Palace 0
22/Dec    Everton 1 (Kidd) Manchester City 2 (Daley, Henry) *ATV covered Man Utd v Forest
29/Dec    Manchester United 3 (McQueen, Jordan, McIlroy(pen)) Arsenal 0
05/Jan     Burnley 1 (Dobson(pen)) Stoke City 0 [FA Cup 3rd Round]
12/Jan     Liverpool 1 (McDermott) Southampton 1 (Boyer)
19/Jan     Showed LWT and Yorkshire matches *Intended match Oldham v Burnley was postponed
26/Jan     Everton 3 (McBride, Latchford, Kidd) Wigan Athletic 0 [FA Cup 4th Round] *Yorkshire covered Bolton 2 Halifax 0
02/Feb    Burnley 2 (Burke, James) Fulham 1 (Gale)
09/Feb    Manchester United 0 Wolverhampton W. 1 (Eves)
12/Feb    Liverpool 1 (Fairclough) Nottingham Forest 1 (Robertson(pen)) [League Cup SF 2nd Leg] *Forest won 2-1 on agg
16/Feb    Bolton Wanderers 1 (Allardyce) Arsenal 1 (Stapleton) [FA Cup 5th Round]
23/Feb    Preston North End 0 Queens Park Rangers 3 (Allen, Roeder, Goddard)
01/Mar    Burnley 1 (Dixon) Preston North End 1 (McGee)
08/Mar    Everton 2 (Latchford, Kidd) Ipswich Town 1 (Beattie) [FA Cup QF]
15/Mar    Networked LWT coverage of the League Cup Final - Wolves 1 (Gray) Nottingham Forest 0
22/Mar    Liverpool 1 (Hansen) Brighton & Hove Albion 0
29/Mar    Manchester City 2 (Tueart 2) Bolton Wanderers 2 (Whatmore, Reid(pen))
05/Apr     Manchester United 2 (Thomas, Greenhoff) Liverpool 1 (Dalglish)
12/Apr     Showed LWT coverage of Liverpool 0 Arsenal 0 [FA Cup SF] *at Hillsborough, 1st replay was on BBC1 (not ITV as previously thought)
19/Apr     Liverpool 1 (Dalglish) Arsenal 1 (Talbot)
26/Apr     Burnley 0 Birmingham City 0
28/Apr     Networked coverage of Liverpool 1 (Dalglish) Arsenal 1 (Sunderland) [FA Cup SF 2nd Replay] AET **at Villa Park, Brian Moore commentated
01/May     Networked coverage of Liverpool 0 Arsenal 1 (Talbot) [FA Cup SF 3rd Replay] **at Highfield Road, Brian Moore commentated
03/May    Blackburn Rovers 1 (Garner) Bury 2 (Johnstone 2)
10/May    Networked LIVE coverage of the FA Cup Final - West Ham United 1 (Brooking) Arsenal 0

Liverpool's Terry McDermott was named both 'Footballer of the year' and the PFA's 'Player of the year' in yet another league title winning season for the reds, but it was David Johnson who emerged as their leading scorer on 21. The cup competitions again proved to be a source of frustration for Liverpool, there were semi-final exits in both the League Cup and FA Cup (the latter only being settled after a 3rd replay) whilst there was another 1st round exit in the European Cup (this time to Dynamo Tbilisi). Only two points behind Liverpool in the league was Manchester United, the runners-up spot was their best finish since 1968, but it was a poor campaign for the region's other top flight clubs - Everton in particular who slumped from last season's 4th placed finish to 19th! (and lost an FA Cup SF replay to 2nd Division West Ham) whilst Man City welcomed back Malcom Allison as manager only to finish 17th. Bolton finished rock bottom and manager Ian Greaves was sacked and replaced by Stan Anderson. Elsewhere, Burnley were relegated to the 3rd tier for the first time in their history which doubled the joy for arch-rivals Blackburn (now managed by Howard Kendall) who were promoted to the 2nd . Bury were demoted to the 4th tier where Crewe and Rochdale made up the bottom two.

Season 1980/81
Granada weekend highlights were now broadcast on Saturday nights under the new title "Match Night", a new theme tune was also introduced featuring a brass band - but this only lasted until November/December, Granada then adopted "Jubilation" by Jeff Wayne (which had also been used by LWT as their football highlights theme since August).
09/Aug    Networked coverage of Liverpool 1 (McDermott) West Ham United 0 [Charity Shield] *at Wembley, Brian Moore commentated
16/Aug    Liverpool 3 (Dalglish, R.Kennedy, A.Kennedy) Crystal Palace 0
23/Aug    Bolton Wanderers 4 (Kidd 3, Whatmore) Newcastle United 0
27/Aug    Manchester United 0 Coventry City 1 (English) [League Cup 2nd Round 1st Leg] *Coventry also won 2nd leg 1-0
30/Aug    Manchester United 1 (Jovanovic) Sunderland 1 (A.Brown)
06/Sep    Manchester City 1 (Tueart(pen)) Arsenal 1 (Young)
13/Sep    Liverpool 4 (McDermott(pen), Souness, Fairclough 2) West Bromwich Albion 0
20/Sep    Wigan Athletic 2 (Gore 2) Bury 1 (Johnson)
27/Sep    Oldham Athletic 1 (Stainrod) Bolton Wanderers 1 (Cantello)
04/Oct    Manchester City 0 Liverpool 3 (Dalglish, Souness, Lee)
11/Oct    Manchester United 0 Arsenal 0
18/Oct    Showed LWT's "The Big Match" *scheduled coverage of Everton v Liverpool cancelled (due to a technicians dispute?), pics show teams in sponsored shirts.
25/Oct    Liverpool 1 (Souness) Arsenal 1 (Sunderland)
01/Nov   Manchester City 1 (Power) Norwich City 0 *played two weeks after John Bond had left Norwich to manage Man City
05/Nov    Liverpool 4 (Miller(og), Neal, Dalglish, Hansen) Aberdeen 0 [European Cup 2nd Round 2nd Leg] *Liverpool win 5-0 on agg
08/Nov    ??? Man United 0 Coventry 0 ???
15/Nov   Everton 2 (O'Keefe, Hartford) Sunderland 1 (Robson)
22/Nov   ??? Liverpool 2 Aston Villa 1 or Man City 3 Coventry 0 ???
29/Nov   Manchester United 1 (Jordan) Southampton 1 (Holmes)
06/Dec    Liverpool 2 (Johnson, R.Kennedy) Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Archibald)
13/Dec    Blackburn Rovers 0 West Ham United 0
20/Dec    Manchester City 1 (Reeves) Leeds United 0
27/Dec    Liverpool 0 Leeds United 0
03/Jan     Manchester City 4 (Reeves 2(1pen), Power, Boyer) Crystal Palace 0 [FA Cup 3rd Round]
10/Jan     Everton 1 (O'Keefe) Arsenal 2 (Vaesson, Gatting)
17/Jan     Manchester City 3 (McDonald, Reeves, Hutchison) Middlesbrough 2 (Hodgson, McAndrew)
24/Jan     Everton 2 (Eastoe, Varadi) Liverpool 1 (Case) [FA Cup 4th Round]
31/Jan     Manchester United 2 (Jordan, Macari) Birmingham City 0
07/Feb    Manchester City 1 (Power) Nottingham Forest 1 (Francis)
14/Feb    Liverpool 2 (Johnson, Neal) Birmingham City 2 (Evans, Ainscow)
21/Feb    Manchester City 1 (McKenzie) Manchester United 0
28/Feb    Liverpool 2 (R.Kennedy, McDermott) Southampton 0
07/Mar    Probably showed ATV and LWT's FA Cup QF games
14/Mar    Blackburn Rovers 3 (Speight, Kendall, Busby) Sheffield Wednesday 1 (McCulloch)
18/Mar    CSKA Sofia 0 Liverpool 1 (Johnson) [European Cup QF 2nd Leg] *Liverpool win 6-1 on agg
21/Mar    Manchester United 2 (Thomas, Nicholl) Ipswich Town 1 (Butcher)
28/Mar    Bolton Wanderers 1 (Whatmore) West Ham United 1 (Brooking)
01/Apr    Networked LIVE coverage of the League Cup Final Replay - Liverpool 2 (Dalglish, Hansen) West Ham 1 (Goddard) [Villa Park]
04/Apr    Preston North End 1 (Bruce) Oldham Athletic 2 (Wylde, Atkinson)
08/Apr    Liverpool 0 Bayern Munich 0 [European Cup SF 1st Leg] *2nd leg was drawn 1-1, Liverpool through on away goals
11/Apr    Blackburn Rovers 1 (Burke) Bristol City 0
18/Apr    Blackpool 0 Burnley 0
25/Apr    Blackburn Rovers 3 (Lowey(pen), Burke, Speight) Newcastle United 0
02/May   Manchester City 1 (Bennett) Crystal Palace 1 (Walsh) *Gerald Sinstadt's last commentary for Granada
09/May   Networked LIVE coverage of the FA Cup Final - Man City 1 (Hutchison) Spurs 1 (Hutchison(og)) AET
14/May   Networked LIVE coverage of FA Cup Final Replay - Man City 2 (MacKenzie, Reeves(pen) Spurs 3 (Villa 2, Crooks) [Wembley]
27/May   Liverpool 1 (A.Kennedy) Real Madrid 0 [European Cup Final] *highlights from Paris (live on BBC1), Martin Tyler commentated for ITV

Liverpool's final league position of 5th was their lowest for 10 years, but there was little cause for concern as the European Cup was brought home to Anfield for the third time following a victory over the mighty Real Madrid in the Paris final. The League Cup was also (finally) added to the Reds trophy cabinet, although it took a replay to see off 2nd tier West Ham at the final hurdle. It was a disappointing campaign for Man Utd who finished 8th and suffered a 1st Round UEFA Cup exit to Widzew Lodz on away goals, manager Dave Sexton - who'd failed to win a trophy since his appointment in 1977 - was dismissed on 30th April. Man City parted company with their manager Malcom Allison in October following a series of million pound 'flop' signings, they replaced him with John Bond, City finished 12th and were unlucky losers in a memorable Wembley FA Cup final replay with Spurs after Tommy Hutchison had scored 'at both ends' in the initial 1-1 draw. 15th place for Everton was a slight improvement but it was to be Gordon Lee's last season in charge. In the 2nd tier, Howard Kendall's Blackburn were unlucky to miss out on a memorable promotion double, Rovers finished 4th behind Swansea on goal difference, Preston were relegated in 20th. In the 3rd tier Blackpool were relegated to the 4th level for the first time in their history.

Season 1981/82
Granada weekend highlights were back on Sunday afternoon's for this season, the programme was now called "Match Time" with Martin Tyler commentating.
29/Aug    Everton 3 (Ainscow, Eastoe, Biley) Birmingham City 1 (Van Mierlo)
05/Sep    Liverpool 2 (McDermott, Johnson) Arsenal 0
12/Sep    Bury 2 (Madden 2) Stockport County 0
19/Sep    Bolton Wanderers 0 Oldham Athletic 2 (Palmer, Heaton)
26/Sep    Everton 1 (Lyons) West Bromwich Albion 0
03/Oct    Manchester United 5 (McIlroy 3, Stapleton, Birtles) Wolverhampton W. 0
10/Oct    Manchester City 0 Manchester United 0
17/Oct    Everton 2 (Ferguson, Stevens) Ipswich Town 1 (Gates)
24/Oct    Liverpool 1 (McDermott(pen)) Manchester United 2 (Moran, Albiston)
28/Oct    Manchester United 0 Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Hazard) [League Cup 2nd Round 2nd Leg] *Spurs win 2-0 on agg
31/Oct    Blackburn Rovers 0 Wrexham 0
07/Nov   Preston North End 0 Chester 1 (Storton)
14/Nov   Oldham Athletic 1 (Heaton) Chelsea 0
21/Nov   Manchester City 4 (Reeves 2, Tueart 2(1pen)) Swansea City 0
28/Nov   Liverpool 0 Southampton 1 (Moran)
05/Dec    Manchester City 1 (Tueart) Aston Villa 0
13/Dec    Liverpool 0 Flamengo 3 (Ardilio, Nunes 2) [World Club Championship] *played in Tokyo, Brian Moore commentated (Shown live + highlights)
19/Dec    Manchester City 2 (Francis 2) Sunderland 3 (Cummins, Rowell, Venison)
26/Dec    Oldham Athletic 0 Blackburn Rovers 3 (Garner, Stonhouse, Bell)
02/Jan     Watford 1 (Lohman) Manchester United 0 [FA Cup 3rd Round] *Granada coverage despite being outside the region, Sinstadt commentary
09/Jan     Oldham Athletic 1 (Palmer) Watford 1 (Jenkins)
16/Jan     Bolton Wanderers 2 (Foster, Henry) Chelsea 2 (Mayes, Bumstead)
23/Jan     Blackpool 0 Queens Park Rangers 0 [FA Cup 4th round]
30/Jan     Everton 1 (Sharp) Tottenham Hotpsur 1 (Villa)
06/Feb    Liverpool 4 (McDermott, Rush, Dalglish, Whelan) Ipswich Town 0
09/Feb    Liverpool 2 (Rush, Dalglish) Ipswich Town 2 (Gates, Brazil) [League Cup SF 2nd Leg] *Liverpool win 4-2 on agg
13/Feb    Showed FA Cup 5th Round ties from other regions *Martin Tyler commentated on Shrewsbury v Ipswich
20/Feb    Liverpool 4 (Souness, Lee, Rush, McDermott) Coventry City 0
27/Feb    Manchester United 1 (Moran) Manchester City 1 (Reeves)
03/Mar    Liverpool 1 (Whelan) CSKA Sofia 0 [European Cup QF 1st Leg] *Sofia won 2nd leg 2-0
06/Mar    Manchester City 0 Arsenal 0
13/Mar    Networked LWT coverage of the League Cup Final - Liverpool 3 (Whelan 2, Rush) Spurs 1 (Archibald) AET
20/Mar    Manchester City 1 (Bond) Everton 1 (Heath)
27/Mar    Everton 1 (Sharp) Liverpool 3 (Whelan, Souness, Johnston)
03/Apr    Burnley 3 (Hamilton 2, Young) Reading 0
10/Apr    Everton 3 (Sharp, Lyons, Heath) Manchester United 3 (Coppell 2, Grimes)
17/Apr    Manchester United 2 (Coppell(pen), McGarvey) Tottenham Hotspur 0
24/Apr    Manchester City 1 (Hartford) Ipswich Town 1 (Brazil)
01/May   Manchester United 1 (McGarvey) Southampton 0
08/May   Wigan Athletic 3 (O'Keefe 3(1pen)) Mansfield Town 1 (Burrows)
15/May    Possibly Tyne Tees coverage of Sunderland 1 (Buckley) Manchester City 0
22/May    Networked LIVE coverage of the FA Cup Final - Spurs 1 (Hoddle) QPR (Fenwick) 1 AET
27/May    Networked LIVE coverage of the FA Cup Final Replay - Spurs 1 (Hoddle(pen)) QPR 0 [Wembley]

Following last season's blip in the league, Liverpool restored order by claiming the top flight championship as well as winning the League Cup again. Manchester United had appointed Ron Atkinson as manager in June and they finished 3rd, Everton - who were now managed by Howard Kendall - were 8th with Man City in 10th. Brian Miller's Burnley were champions of the 3rd tier but Chester finished bottom whilst in the 4th tier Larry Lloyd's Wigan Athletic won promotion, Craig Madden scored 35 league goals for 9th placed Bury, Crewe finished rock bottom.

Season 1982/83
"Match Time" was on Saturday night's for its' final season.
21/Aug    Networked coverage of Liverpool 1 (Rush) Tottenham Hotspur 0 [Charity Shield] *at Wembley, Brian Moore commentated
28/Aug    Burnley 0 Bolton Wanderers 0
04/Sep    Everton 3 (Sheedy, Wright, McMahon) Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Archibald)
11/Sep    Liverpool 3 (Souness, Rush, Johnston) Luton Town 3 (Stein 2, Moss)
18/Sep    Manchester City 0 Aston Villa 1 (Shaw)
25/Sep    Liverpool 5 (Whelan 2, Lawrenson 2, Souness) Southampton 0
02/Oct    Showed LWT/Anglia coverage Luton Town 1 (Hill) Manchester United 1 (Grimes)
09/Oct    Manchester United 1 (Robson) Stoke City 0
16/Oct    Liverpool 0 Manchester United 0
23/Oct    Manchester United 2 (Stapleton 2) Manchester City 2 (Tueart, Cross)
30/Oct    Burnley 1 (Hamilton) Oldham Athletic 2 (Atkinson, Ryan)
06/Nov   Manchester City 2 (Reeves, McDonald) Southampton 0
13/Nov   Oldham Athletic 4 (Wylde 3, Ryan) Wolverhampton W. 1 (Hibbitt)
20/Nov   Everton 0 West Bromwich Albion 0
27/Nov   Liverpool 3 (Neal(pen), Dalglish 2) Tottenham Hotpsur 0
04/Dec    Wigan Athletic 3 (Lowe, Steel 2) Sheffield United 2 (Morris(pen), Trusson)
11/Dec    Manchester United 4 (Whiteside, Stapleton, Robson, Duxbury) Notts County 0
18/Dec    Everton 5 (Bailey, Sheedy, Curran, Heath 2) Luton Town 0
01/Jan     Burnley 4 (Taylor 3, Hamilton) Sheffield Wednesday 1 (McCulloch)
08/Jan     Blackburn Rovers 1 (Garner) Liverpool 2 (Hodgeson, Rush) [FA Cup 3rd Round]
15/Jan     Everton 1 (Johnson) Watford 0
19/Jan     Manchester United 4 (McQueen 2, Coppell, Robson) Nottingham Forest Forest 0 [League Cup QF] *Not 100% sure on this one
22/Jan     Manchester United 2 (Coppell(pen), Muhren) Nottingham Forest 0
29/Jan     Liverpool 2 (Dalglish, Rush) Stoke City 0 [FA Cup 4th Round]
05/Feb    Manchester City 2 (Tueart(pen), Cross) Tottenham Hotspur 2 (Gibson, Brooke(pen))
12/Feb    Liverpool 1 (Dalglish) Ipswich Town 0
19/Feb    Everton 2 (King, Sharp) Tottenham Hotspur 0 [FA Cup 5th Round]
23/Feb    Manchester Utd 2 (Coppell, Moran) Arsenal 1 (Meade) [League Cup SF 2nd Leg] *6-3 on agg, Sinstandt commentated (Tyler was doing Eng v Wales HI)
26/Feb    Manchester United 1 (Muhren) Liverpool 1 (Dalglish)
05/Mar    Liverpool 5 (Dalglish 2, Neal, Johnston, Souness) Stoke City 1 (Bracewell)
12/Mar    Manchester United 1 (Stapleton) Everton 0 [FA Cup QF]
16/Mar    Liverpool 3 (Neal(pen), Rush, Hodgson) Widzew Lodz 2 (Tlokinski(pen), Smolarek) [European Cup QF 2nd Leg] *Lodz win 4-3 on agg
19/Mar    Oldham Athletic 1 (Palmer) Fulham 0
26/Mar    Manchester City 0 Ipswich Town 1 (Wark)
02/Apr    Burnley 0 Wolverhampton W. 1 (Palmer)
09/Apr    Manchester United 1 (Robson) Southampton 1 (Foyle)
16/Apr    Manchester City 2 (McDonald, Tueart(pen)) West Ham United 0
23/Apr    Liverpool 0 Norwich City 2 (Lawrenson(og), O'Neill)
30/Apr    Manchester City 1 (Baker) Nottingham Forest 2 (Wallace, Davenport)
07/May   Oldham Athletic 1 (Palmer) Leicester City 2 (Jones, Ramsey)
14/May   Bury 1 (Parker) Wimbledon 3 (Evans, Downes, Fishenden)
21/May   Networked LIVE coverage of the FA Cup Final - Man Utd 2 (Stapleton, Wilkins) Brighton 2 (Smith, Stevens) AET
                    *Granada produced their own Cup final highlights edition of "Match Time"
26/May   Networked LIVE coverage of the FA Cup Final Replay - Man Utd 4 (Robson 2, Whiteside, Muhren(pen)) Brighton 0 [Wembley]

With 24 league goals Ian Rush was Liverpool's top scorer as the Reds retained both the League title and the League cup, it was the first time any club had won the latter three successive times and the latest triumph came at the expense of Manchester United who were defeated 2-1 in the Wembley final, but United returned to Wembley two months later for the FA Cup final where they met relegated Brighton, it took a replay to see off the Seagulls but the comprehensive 4-0 win brought silverware back to Old Trafford for the first time in six season's, this after finishing 3rd in the league, but there was disappointment for both Liverpool and United in Europe; Liverpool were knocked out of the European Cup at the QF stage whilst United suffered a 1st Round exit to Valencia in the UEFA Cup. Elsewhere, Everton finished 7th whilst Manchester City suffered a disastrous relegation, City had sacked manager John Bond on 3rd February and Assistant manager John Benson oversaw the remainder of an ill-fated campaign ending with a home defeat to Luton Town which saw the Hatters leapfrog City to send the Sky Blues down. Burnley only lasted one season in the 2nd tier and were relegated back down to the 3rd tier along with Bolton who finished bottom, Simon Garner scored 22 times for Blackburn. Wrexham suffered a successive relegation to the 4th Division, Blackpool and Crewe had to apply for re-election, Mickey Quinn netted 24 league goals for Stockport.

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

North West football 1968-83 links
Sep/1972 TVTimes article on Gerald Sinstadt
My Life in Media - Martin Tyler - an interview with The Independant.
Talk Football (Commentators) - Martin Tyler

YouTube Kick Off Match Clips
03/Dec/1969 - Man City 2 Manchester United 1 [League Cup SF L1] - Brian Moore commentated on this midweek game
06/Nov/1971 - Man City 3 Man Utd 3 - All 6 goals plus near misses & original Sinstadt commentary, great stuff!
27/Apr/1974 - Man Utd 0 Man City 1 - Dennis Law's goal sends United down.

Granada stuff
TV Ark - Granada section
 

Page last updated August 2008