The classic row over the Match of the Day running order is settled with cold hard facts
Every week, Gary Lineker tweets out the running order for Match of the Day. And, without fail, he gets pelters from fans saying their club are always last/never first, usually with some colourful language.
Now the folks at PA have crunched the numbers for the season so far and Sunderland fare worst, being shown last seven times. They hold that ignominious honour by one, from goal-shy Aston Villa, who have been last six times, and Crystal Palace have been last in the running order on five occasions.
As for top slot, Chelsea lead the way with seven appearances nice and early while Manchester City have been first up five times. QPR, probably due to the number of high-scoring games they have been in, have been first up four times while Newcastle, Hull and West Brom (three) have all been on first more often than Arsenal, Manchester United (two) and Liverpool (one).
BBC’s head of football, Mark Cole explains how the process works to the Guardian.
“At the start of the week the editor will have a plan of how he expects it to pan out and the length of each individual match to make sure you can fit it in that BBC1 slot. Then it’s constantly changing.
“At half-time you’ll perhaps have another look, and then at full-time. There’s also the added complication of a 5.30pm game most Saturdays so you’ll have a plan and then it can be thrown out of the window by what happens in that game.
“It’s a collective operation but essentially it’s the editor’s decision, so he’ll make that decision after talking to the presenter, the pundits, some of the match directors. What you’re trying to look at in a nutshell is what game do people sat at home at 10.30pm on a Saturday night want to watch most?
“There’s a combination of factors that go into that. People want to see the teams at the top, there’s interest in relegation battles, but also what the game’s been like. Goals do have a massive impact in where you are in the running order for Match of the Day.” That last line probably explains the lowly positions of Sunderland and Villa.
The full stats on where each team features most often is available here so the next time you unhappy at staying up to see your team, you’ll have the data to back up your ire.
