The British television sport programme Grandstand is one of the BBC's longest running sports shows, alongside BBC Sports Personality of the Year. It was created by Paul Fox and Bryan Cowgill and launched on October 11, 1958. Its first presenter was Peter Dimmock. Since then there have been only four main presenters of the programme David Coleman, who took over almost immediately from Dimmock, Frank Bough, Desmond Lynam, and Steve Rider. Other more occasional hosts have been Alan Weeks, Clare Balding, Hazel Irvine, Bob Wilson, David Vine, Dougie Donnelly, Harry Carpenter, John Inverdale, Tony Gubba, Helen Rollason, Ray Stubbs and Sue Barker. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC, sometimes also known as the Beeb or Auntie) is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world, founded in 1922. ... The BBC Sports Personality of the Year award has been given to one British sportsperson each year since 1954. ... Paul Fox is a British television executive, who spent much of his broadcasting career working for BBC Television, most prominently as the Controller of BBC One between 1967 and 1973. ... Bryan Cowgill is a British television executive, who initially worked in the sports department of BBC Television. ... October 11 is the 284th day of the year (285th in leap years). ... 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... David Coleman, OBE (born April 26, 1926) is a former British sports commentator and TV presenter. ... Frank Bough (IPA pronunciation of his last name: ) (born Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent, England, January 15th 1933) is a British television presenter who specialised in sports programmes. ... Desmond Lynam (born September 17, 1942 in Ennis, Ireland) is a sports presenter, television personality, and game show host on British television and radio. ... A well known BBC Sports presenter and was once the chief presenter on BBC Grandstand he now presents mainly Olympic and Golf sports coverage ... Clare Balding (born January 29, 1971) is a BBC sports presenter and journalist. ... Hazel Irvine (born May 26, 1965, St. ... Robert Bob Primrose Wilson (born October 30, 1941 in Chesterfield, England) was a goalkeeper for Arsenal F.C. of the Football League from 1963 to 1974. ... David Vine is a British television sports presenter. ... Dougie Donnelly (born June 7th 1953 in Glasgow) is a British television broadcaster best known for presenting football coverage for BBC Scotland Donnelly started his career with Radio Clyde in Glasgow in the 1970s where he was twice voted Scottish Radio Personality of the Year, he joined BBC Scotland... Harry Carpenter, b 17 October 1925 in London, was a BBC sports commentator from the early 1950s until his retirement in the 1990s. ... John Inverdale (born in Plymouth, England in 1957) is an English radio and television broadcaster who works for the BBC. Inverdale was educated at Clifton College in Bristol and at Southampton University, where he read history. ... Tony Gubba Tony Gubba (born September 23rd, 1943 in Manchester, England) is a BBC journalist and sports commentator. ... Helen Rollason (11 March 1956 - September 1999) was a British sports journalist and television presenter. ... Ray Stubbs is a broadcaster and former footballer. ... Sue Barker (born April 19, 1956, in Paignton, Devon, England) is a television presenter and former professional tennis player from the United Kingdom. ...

Overview

The show, whose iconic theme tune, composed especially for the programme by Keith Mansfield, is one of the most recognisable on British television, dominates Saturday afternoons on BBC One (just called BBC Television before 1964), and has covered nearly every major sporting event such as the Boat Race, Wimbledon, the FA Cup Final, the Olympic Games, the Commonwealth Games, the Grand National and the Football World Cup. There was a spin-off from the show launched in 1981 named Sunday Grandstand which runs on BBC Two. Keith Mansfield composes TV theme tunes, one of his most famous being the Grandstand theme tune for the BBC - a show which has been lately axed by the BBC. Category: ... BBC One (or BBC1 as it was formerly styled) is the oldest television station in the world. ... Boat Race Logo Exhausted crews at the finish of the 2002 Boat Race The Boat Race is a rowing race between the rowing clubs of the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. ... Wimbledon logo Wimbledon is the oldest and most prestigious event in the sport of tennis. ... The FA Cup - this is the fourth trophy, in use since 1992, and identical in design to the third trophy introduced in 1911. ... For months before the Olympic Games, runners relay the Olympic Flame from Olympia to the opening ceremony. ... Current flag of the Commonwealth Games Federation The Commonwealth Games is a multi-sport event held every four years involving the elite athletes of the Commonwealth of Nations. ... For the racing-themed rollercoaster of the same name, see Grand National (Roller coaster) The Grand National is the most valuable National Hunt handicap horse race in the United Kingdom. ... The Football World Cup (official name: FIFA World Cup) is the most important competition in international football (soccer). ...

Towards the end of full time in the late afternoon, the football results were once brought up on screen via a digital device dubbed the Teleprinter, with each character of the results displayed one by one. Although techonology has since improved, the modern-day graphics (the Videprinter) used by the programme still emulate the original typing system. The striker (wearing red jersey) has run past the defender (in white jersey) and is about to take a shot at the goal, while the goalkeeper positions himself to stop the ball. ...

One famous section of the programme called Final Score covers the main football results. It was introduced not only to update fans of the day's sporting results, but also to give the results of the football pools. Remarkably, only two people have regularly read out the classified football results on the programme: the Australian Len Martin (from the first programme until his death in 1995) and Tim Gudgin. Pool has several meanings: A planted garden pool at Mission San Juan Capistrano It is any of several games similar to billiards, distinguished by using a table that has one pocket at each corner and one in the middle of each of the two longer sides. ... Len Martin (1919-1995) was born in Australia. ... Tim Gudgin (1929–) is a radio presenter and voiceover artist. ...

Between 1965 and 1985 Grandstand faced competition from ITV's World of Sport, but ITV eventually decided to drop Saturday afternoon sport in favour of other programmes. ITVs Logo 2006—present Independent Television (ITV) is the name given to the original network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up to provide competition to the BBC. In England and Wales, the channel has been rebranded to ITV1 by ITV plc, the owners of the broadcasting licences for... World of Sport was a British television sport anthology programme launched on ITV on January 2, 1965 in response to Grandstand. ...

On 24th April 2006, after 48 years, the BBC announced the end of Grandstand on a Saturday afternoon, due to the increasing use of interactive services and the need to meet the challenges of the digital, on-demand world.^[1] This had been first hinted by the dropping of the "Grandstand" title from the BBC's coverage of the Commonwealth Games and Winter Olympics. The programme will conclude by 2009.

Historic, noteworthy or bizarre live events broadcast

• England's 4-2 victory over West Germany in the final of the 1966 FIFA World Cup
• Foinavon winning the 1967 Grand National at odds of 100/1 following a 7th fence pile up in which every other horse fell or was remounted
• Tony Jacklin first ever live televised hole in one during the 1967 British Open
• Gary Sobers first ever scorer of six sixes in an over in 1968
• Harvey Smith (showjumper) giving his notorious 2-fingered "V" salute in 1971
• That game, That try. One of the most memorable trys ever scored. The Barbarians match with the All Blacks at Cardiff Arms Park on January 27, 1973.

• First known streaker at a major sporting event during the 1974 England - France Rugby Union match at Twickenham.
• University Boat Race - Cambridge sinking in 1978 and again in 1984 after colliding with a stationary barge
• The Bradford City and Hillsborough soccer ground disasters of 1985 and 1989
• Horse racing - Frankie Dettori winning seven races in a day in 1996
• A fight breaking out between staff in the newsroom behind presenter Des Lynam while he was on air. This was later revealed to be an April Fool's Day Joke.

First international Scotland 0 - 0 England (Partick, Scotland; 30 November 1872) Largest win Ireland 0 - 13 England (Belfast, Ireland; 18 February 1882) Worst defeat Hungary 7 - 1 England (Budapest, Hungary; 23 May 1954) World Cup Appearances 12 (First in 1950) Best result Winners, 1966 European Championship Appearances 7 (First in... Qualifying countries 1966 was a year of triumph for the host nation, England, which won the final beating West Germany 4-2. ... Foinavon was a not a famous racehorse, but became famous as the result of an incident at Aintree Racecourse resulting in victory and the naming of a fence after the horse. ... For the racing-themed rollercoaster of the same name, see Grand National (Roller coaster) The Grand National is the most valuable National Hunt handicap horse race in the United Kingdom. ... Tony Jacklin (born July 7, 1944) is an English golfer, who was arguably the most successful UK player of his generation. ... A hole in one or hole-in-one (also known as an ace) is a phrase used for when a golf player hits the ball in the hole with one shot. ... 2005 Open Champion Tiger Woods holding the Claret Jug. ... Sir Garfield St Aubrun Sobers (born July 28, 1936 in Barbados), better known as Garry Sobers, was a West Indies cricket player. ... Boundary has two distinct meanings in the sport of cricket. ... In the sport of cricket an over is a series of six consecutive balls bowled by a single bowler. ... Harvey Smith (born ?) is a former showjumping champion. ... The original Barbarians Barbarian Football Club, typically referred to as Barbarians and nicknamed the Baa_Baas, are an invitational rugby union team. ... The original Barbarians Barbarian Football Club, typically referred to as Barbarians and nicknamed the Baa_Baas, are an invitational rugby union team. ... First international Australia 3 - 22 New Zealand (15 August 1903) Largest win New Zealand 145 - 17 Japan (4 June 1995) Worst defeat Australia 28 - 7 New Zealand (28 August 1999) World Cup Appearances 5 (First in 1987) Best result Champions, 1987 The international rugby union team of New Zealand are... Cardiff Arms Park is a stadium complex situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. ... Streaking is the non-sexual act of taking off ones clothes and running naked through a public place. ... General phase play in rugby union. ... Twickenham Stadium, located in Twickenham, southwest London, is currently the largest stadium in England and the United Kingdom with a capacity of 75,000. ... Boat Race Logo Exhausted crews at the finish of the 2002 Boat Race The Boat Race is a rowing race between the rowing clubs of the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. ... The Bradford City Disaster took place on May 11, 1985 when a flash fire occurred at the Valley Parade stadium of Bradford City F.C. during a football match against Lincoln City F.C.. On that day, Bradford City were celebrating winning of the Third Division Championship trophy. ... The Hillsborough disaster was a deadly human crush that occurred on April 15, 1989, at Hillsborough, a football stadium in Sheffield, England, resulting in the loss of 96 lives. ... Horse racing in the United Kingdom is generally of three types, and is a major contributor to the UK economy. ... Frankie Dettori in the parade ring at Glorious Goodwood in August 2004 Frankie Dettori in the parade ring at Newmarket after riding in the 2000 Guineas 2005 Frankie Dettori, (born December 15, 1970 in Milan, Italy) is a thoroughbred race horse jockey and celebrity. ... Desmond Lynam (born September 17, 1942 in Ennis, Ireland) is a sports presenter, television personality, and game show host on British television and radio. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Trivia

• It was first screened on 11 October 1958
• The show was the first time sport had been shown live every weekend
• The theme tune was composed by Keith Mansfield
• Events covered include the 1966 World Cup Final, FA Cup finals, Wimbledon finals and Grand Nationals

References

1. ^ "BBC is to scrap show Grandstand", BBC, 24 April 2006.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC, sometimes also known as the Beeb or Auntie) is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world, founded in 1922. ... April 24 is the 114th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (115th in leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Note

• The term Grandstand also refers the main seating structure for spectators at a sporting event - after which the BBC programme is named.

See also

• Broadcasting of sports events

The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ...

External links

• BBC Grandstand Official Website
• October 2003 - 45 and still going strong
• April 2006 - Why Grandstand is going
• Museum of Broadcasting