OUT OF FOCUS
For so long an integral part of the BBC Holy Trinity of Saturday programming alongside Final Score and Match of the Day, Football Focus will leave our screens come season’s end. First aired back when the plot currently occupied by Stamford Bridge’s Matthew Harding Stand served as a matchday car park – as opposed to a seething mass of disgruntled Chelsea fans – the show’s longevity is undeniable. Now, it has fallen victim to the BBC’s ongoing pruning exercise – a casualty of a budget that is overseeing more trims than Marc Cucurella’s blabbermouth barber. For Football Daily, the news was somewhat bittersweet; throughout our childhood, youth and a significant chunk of our years as a hungover grown-up, the Saturday lunchtime show was appointment viewing. However, the announcement regarding its imminent demise only came as a surprise because it’s no longer part of our weekend routine and we presumed it had been binned off already.
“Football Focus has been a hugely important programme in the history of BBC Sport and has played a key role in telling the stories of the game for generations of viewers,” parped BBC Sport chief Alex Kay-Jelski. “This decision was made before last week’s wider BBC savings announcement, reflecting the continued shift in how audiences engage with football.” Football Focus was conceived in an era when most households were just getting to grips with phones and long before insider gossip, live scores, and match highlights became available at the touch of a button on those magic witch portals in our pockets. Consequently, the show has become something of an anachronism. It is a weekly preview show that often begins after the action is already under way, duty-bound to report on events that have already been exhaustively covered elsewhere.
“When this show began all those years ago, social media [disgraces] wasn’t a driving force, podcasts didn’t exist, and there was no instant access to information in the way there is today,” sighed the show’s current host, Alex Scott. “Now, by the time that we go on air, the reality is that you have already seen it, debated it and lived it across so many platforms. That shift has changed the whole industry. TV audiences have been declining for years, while digital and on demand viewing continues to grow. It is simply the right time for Football Focus to say goodbye.”
While the end was inevitable, perhaps the most disheartening thing about it being ushered towards the door marked “Do One” is that the army of online knuckleheads who viciously bullied Scott upon her appointment five years ago now see it as some sort of vindication of their Neanderthal views. “The lead-up to this announcement, not gonna lie, it has felt heavy and at times it has filled me with so much anxiety and dread,” added Scott, correctly anticipating the tsunami of unfair and unoriginal abuse she would ship in the wake of the BBC decision. Those trolls claiming she steered the ship on to the rocks are missing the point with their usual pinpoint inaccuracy – Football Focus isn’t being cancelled because of its presenter, it’s being cancelled because the media world has evolved in a way it seems Scott’s detractors who constantly wang on about everything being “woke” simply never will.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
“We accept the use of this image was an insensitive way to illustrate the historic problem of racism within football. We have apologised to Millwall Football Club for the improper use of their logo and for any offence caused. The booklet has been removed from circulation, and we are reviewing processes to ensure this doesn’t happen again” – Westminster City Council apologises to the Lions after it used the club’s badge in an illustration depicting a white supremacist hate group … in a children’s anti-racism booklet distributed in primary schools.
FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS
Congratulations on the Football Weekly pod squad selling out the Bowery Ballroom in New York. It’s a great venue and I hope you add more dates. I may not be the first person to point this out, but Vivid Seats, part-owned by Todd Boehly, are also excited about your visit and are asking as much as £157 for a ticket to your show. I’m sure it’s worth it and it’s still slightly cheaper than parking at a Geopolitics World Cup match” – Padhraig Higgins.
Re: Jon Fogden’s reference to Todd Boehly as the ‘second worst American on the planet’ (yesterday’s Football Daily letters). I believe that he is a bit over-rated (or under-rated). In addition to He Who Won’t be Named, there are assorted offspring, hangers-on, affiliated officials, and so on that would render the next available spot at around 30 or so. So, Todd may only be the 30th worst American on the planet” – Jim Driskell.
I was at that Birmingham 0-0 draw at Torquay when Rosenior Senior was manager (yesterday’s Memory Lane, full email edition). Torquay were done that day. They were the better side and had a goal ruled out for our keeper dropping the ball from a corner. The only bit of football I saw that day was seeing Xabi Alonso scoring from his own half v Luton while in Gordano services on the way home. Both Blues and Torquay were relegated that season” – Matt Robb.
If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day winner is … Padhraig Higgins. Terms and conditions for our competitions, when we run them, are here.
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