On the Ball
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On the Ball refers to two football (soccer) related television shows, one in the UK & the other in Australia.
[edit] United Kingdom
On the Ball is the weekly Saturday lunchtime football round-up shown as part of World of Sport on ITV for many years until 1985. It was initially fronted by Brian Moore and later by Ian St John and Jimmy Greaves, who fronted a continuation of the show under the title Saint and Greavsie until 1992. The show then disappeared but ITV occasionally broadcast a Champions League show at Saturday lunchtimes.
The show was revived from the beginning of the 1998/99 season, presented by Gabby Logan, initially co-presented by Barry Venison. The programme was quietly dropped when ITV Sport lost the rights to Premiership highlights to BBC Sport.
The show was long-term rival to Football Focus on the BBC, which has also been a long-running Saturday lunchtime preview and round-up show.
[edit] Australia
In Australia, this was a talk show that aired from around 1984 until 2002 on SBS when it was replaced with The World Game. It was mainly hosted by Les Murray & Johnny Warren, but were often joined by other hosts & analysts, including Stephanie Brantz & Francis Awaritefe amongst others. It was well-known for promoting the game of football in Australia & endorsing candidates for the Socceroos coaching job & for the board of Soccer Australia (since replaced by the Football Federation Australia).
