Match of the Day (abbreviated to MOTD) is a football highlights programme, typically broadcast on BBC One on Saturday nights, during the Premier League season.

[8][1] The current presenter is former England international striker Gary Lineker with analysis from Danny Murphy, Micah Richards and Alan Shearer, among others.

[13][15] The first colour edition of Match of the Day on BBC1 was shown on 15 November 1969, where it featured a game between Liverpool and West Ham United.

League football highlights were not available to the BBC from 1988 as ITV had exclusive rights, though the programme remained on air for the FA Cup as Match of the Day: The Road to Wembley.

[13] Sky's emergence made the TV rights market more competitive, with the BBC losing European Cup matches after UEFA's revamping as the Champions League in 1992, although it did broadcast the 1994 final between A.C. Milan and FC Barcelona.

[18] In addition, Match of the Day 2 was launched, which showed highlights of the increasing number of Sunday fixtures, and was initially presented by Adrian Chiles.

In November 2011, Match of the Day moved from London to a brand new studio in Dock10, MediaCityUK as part of BBC Sport's relocation north, this allowed the programme to be recorded in high-definition.

[30] In July 2022, the BBC acquired the rights to show highlights of the men's UEFA Champions League on television, iPlayer and digitally from the 2024-25 to 2027-28 seasons.

[32] In March 2023, Lineker was suspended following political controversy over a tweet he had made criticising UK government policy, which the BBC argued breached guidelines over social media use by employees and freelancers.

[36] On 13 March, Lineker was reinstated as host of Match of the Day and the BBC began a review of its social media guidelines.

[40] Despite the programme's long running status there have been only five regular main presenters: Kenneth Wolstenholme (1964–1967), David Coleman (1967–1973), Jimmy Hill (1973–1988), Des Lynam (1988–1999) and Gary Lineker (1999–2025).

[44][45][46] Match of the Day uses a selection of BBC and freelance commentators, including: Guy Mowbray, Steve Wilson, Jonathan Pearce, Steve Bower, Simon Brotherton, Conor McNamara, Vicki Sparks, Alistair Mann, Martin Fisher, Mark Scott, John Roder, Chris Wise, Robyn Cowen, Steven Wyeth, Tom Gayle and Ben Andrews.

[13][47] Previous commentators have included Walley Barnes, Frank Bough, David Coleman, Jon Champion, Barry Davies, Tony Gubba, Stuart Hall, John Motson, Alan Parry, Idwal Robling, Gerald Sinstadt, Clive Tyldesley, Alan Weeks and Kenneth Wolstenholme.

[50] "Those fanfare harmonies give the music a gladiator feel," he wrote in 2014, "akin to entering the ancient games arena in Rome with all its expectations."

[51] The theme is often incorrectly labelled "Off Side", the group name used by musician Mike Vickers, for an alternative 1970 version of Stoller's tune, which was released as a 45 rpm gramophone single on the Pye label (7N 25534),[15] The original theme tune, entitled "Drum Majorette", was written by Major Leslie Statham, a former band member of the Welsh Guards under the pen-name Arnold Steck.