Match of the Day’s Troubles: 60th Birthday Overshadowed

It is one of the rare programmes whose theme tune can instantly put a smile on the face of generations.

Those familiar, jaunty opening blasts from the trumpet a resounding call to the living room rather than to arms.

Throughout the decades Match of the Day has been a Saturday night staple and it endures, despite the arrival of a digital age when chances are you will have already seen your team’s goals by the time those chords ring out.

Even now, with the mobile phone king of entertainment, its viewing figures are the stuff of dreams for those in the industry. No other broadcaster can get anywhere near the four million who routinely tune in.

Around 61 per cent of the British population will watch MOTD at some point during this season. On Sunday mornings, MOTD2 can pull in two million — double the average viewership of a live match on Sky Sports. And the best thing? It is free-to-air, giving that audience access to a sport from which many feel increasingly detached.

If you have access to a television and a licence, you’re in. No subscription needed, no obscenely-priced tickets or £14 cheeseburgers necessary, although for many it is best served with a takeout.

But on the same day it celebrated its 60th birthday amid a grand and deserved fanfare BBC bosses found themselves in familiar territory, trying to douse the flames of the latest crisis rather than light the candles on the cake.

This time it was not £1.35m-a-year Gary Lineker leading a mass revolt, but the veteran presenter’s widely-regarded replacement-in-waiting Jermaine Jenas, accused of sending ‘inappropriate messages’ to a BBC staffer.

In a scene that could have been lifted from W1A, the staggeringly accurate mockumentary about life at Auntie, workers at the Media City HQ in Manchester spent the day removing a giant poster featuring 41-year-old Jenas, Lineker and colleague Alex Scott. After the bunting, the punting.

In an interview which felt more like talkSPORT trying to save face rather than get to the bottom of the matter Jenas, who went on air minutes after the story broke, offered little explanation other than to say that there are two sides and that his lawyers would be taking it from here.

But the rapidity of the BBC’s decision, along with reports others have now come forward with similar complaints, not to mention MC Saatchi’s prompt removal of his profile from their website and subsequent confirmation that they no longer represent the ex-Tottenham player, would seem to point in a certain direction. That swiftness is also worthy of praise.

While time may say otherwise, this does not appear to be a drawn-out affair with new director of sport Alex Kay-Jelski’s one-sentence email to staff leaving little room for ambiguity. ‘I wanted to let you know that Jermaine Jenas is no longer working for the BBC,’ he wrote.

It would appear to be substantial progress from last year when MOTD endured its darkest hour, or at least 20 minutes, thanks largely to lack of the clarity shown in this latest scandal.

Lineker, who had been encouraged to address the human rights issues in Qatar ahead of the station’s World Cup coverage, was then suspended less than four months later for tweeting about the language used by ministers when discussing the government’s asylum policy, comparing it to ‘that used by Germany in the 30s’.

That move triggered a walkout with pundits, led by Ian Wright, refusing to appear. What followed was a narrative-less 20 minutes of action not even introduced by that famous theme tune with some calling for director Tim Davie’s head. That is how much Match of the Day means. This was an act of wanton vandalism to a national treasure. A huge own goal.

MOTD is part of the culture, dating back to Liverpool’s 3-2 victory over Arsenal at Anfield on August 22 1964, with Kenneth Wolstenholme front and centre. Alan Hansen doom propheting that ‘you can’t win anything with kids’, John Motson’s sheepskin, mum and dad letting you stay up only to fall asleep by the time Burnley come on are in the national consciousness.

In a time of polarised opinions and strife it is a welcome and warm distraction. It has evolved now shows more games and graphics. But football, simple, glorious football, is still front and centre. Lineker, who has now been at the helm for 25 years, is the fifth presenter in its entirety, which speaks volumes. It will survive Jenas and its latest venture into strife.

What happens next will be interesting. Some saw Jenas as a shoo-in successor to Lineker. There are already runners and riders. Mark Chapman, who presents MOTD2, would appear a natural replacement. Chapman’s podcast partner Gabby Logan also has admirers, although eyebrows were raised when BBC bosses learned she was to front Amazon’s Champions League coverage, despite being chosen ahead of Chapman to host the BBC’s own highlights in the same competition.

Former Lioness Alex Scott completes the three at the top of the field although viewing figures for Football Focus have plummeted on her watch.

In December, BBC bosses extended its deal to show MOTD to the end of the decade. The previous agreement, which includes the right to show Premier League highlights on Football Focus AND on spin-off MOTDx, cost around £71.5m a year. The new agreement is thought to be on similar terms. It is a snip. This is a programme that needs to be protected. Following the demise of Grandstand, it is one of the few remaining pillars of BBC Sport.

‘I’m not happy,’ Jenas told talkSPORT, who were quick to announce that he would not be returning to present Friday’s Drive Time programme.

Judging by the vast majority of responses since his firing, his is not a view shared by those who will tune in, as they have done for decades, tomorrow night as the duh duh duh duhs ring out.