The Big Match launched the media career of Jimmy Hill, who appeared on the programme as an analyst, and made Brian Moore one of the country's leading football commentators.
But in 1978, Michael Grade at London Weekend Television audaciously won exclusive rights to all league football coverage for ITV in a move termed "Snatch of the Day".
Although the Office of Fair Trading blocked the move, the BBC was forced to allow ITV to take over the Saturday night slot in alternating seasons.
Much of the coverage focused on the destiny of the First Division title, most memorably on 26 May 1989 when Arsenal's decisive 2–0 win at Liverpool won them the championship by the narrowest of margins at their opponents' expense.
From the start of the 1992/93 season, Welsby left ITV Sport to work for Granada Television full-time and was replaced as presenter by Ian St John.
ITV retained the rights to what was left of the Football League, but coverage was mainly shown on a regional basis.
In 2021, ITV won back the secondary rights to the FA Cup from BT Sport, however The Big Match branding was not used on air.
On 7 February 2008, ITV4 began showing old editions of The Big Match in its various regional and national forms on a Thursday afternoon, hoping to cash in on the sports TV nostalgia revival headed by the ESPN Classic channel.
Following the success of 'The Big Match Revisited', ITV commissioned 'Matchtime Revisted' which followed the same format, but using episodes of the Granada Television regional show 'Match Time', presented by Elton Welsby.
In April 2009 a series of Big Match titles were released on DVD for clubs including Manchester United[7] and Tottenham Hotspur.
Later editions in the series include discs centered on Everton, Manchester City, Aston Villa, Wolves, Sunderland A.F.C., two volumes of QPR and Leeds United matches and the England national team.
Viewers' Letters, and the surreal sight of Kevin Keegan, Mick Channon and Elton John presenting the show in December 1976.