Thanks for the info. Out of interest, how do the radio rights work for the FA Cup from this season?

Do both talkSPORT and 5 Live have the rights to broadcast all matches in the competition in the UK or do they each have a limited number of picks, as with TV?

Sunday 18th November - KIRO 97.3FM (Seattle, Washington)

Matt Johnson presented the Sounders Pre-Game and Post-Game shows from CenturyLink Field alongside Alan Hinton and Peter Fewing

Major League Soccer Western Conference Championship Second Leg
Seattle Sounders v Los Angeles Galaxy - Ross Fletcher and Kasey Keller (commentary)


Just picking up on this from the weekend regarding Barry Swain being back on BBC London - I don't think he ever went away as it were. I know he has covered a couple of games taking place in London for BBC Radio Devon so far this season, but he's a freelancer who has worked for quite a few stations as well as the Perform Group's livesport.tv and Watch&Bet services.

I do know of a slightly more permanent personnel move elsewhere - John Acres has left BBC Radio Stoke to join the World Service until December. Having heard John on Sportsworld the other day, I did a Google and going by a few Stoke City forums he's been on a secondment to Salford but will return to Radio Stoke, albeit in a non-sports role, in the new year. He's also been reporting for Radio 5 Live and commentating for 5 Live Sports Extra which could be where his future lies. If you are to believe what you read on those Stoke forums, apparently the reason why he was "swapped" with Matt Sandoz between Stoke and Vale was because the former club were not happy with a commentary he did on a Liverpool v Stoke game a couple of seasons ago.

Dan Wheeler has tweeted that he is out in Australia and won't be commentating for talkSPORT Live until January at the earliest. We haven't heard him for a while now so I presume he must be on a working holiday; and I'm wondering if this is a regular arrangement for him as during his last couple of seasons at BBC WM it had been the case that we'd hear little of him during the first half of the season before he'd become more of a regular in the second part of the campaign. I think it was the season before last when he covered just the one pre-season friendly until Christmas before doing a game a week in the New Year. If this is the case it might explain why he never really exceeded fifth choice in WM's commentary pecking order despite all the comings and goings during his 13 years with the station.

Tuesday 20th November 2012 - BBC Radio Devon

Alan Richardson presenting Radio Devon Sport from the Priestfield Stadium

League Two
Gillingham v Exeter City - Alan Richardson & Barry Fulls - Commentary on 990AM & 95.7FM in Exeter & East Devon, 801AM in North Devon (19:45)
Bradford City v Plymouth Argyle - Drew Savage & Chris Errington - Commentary on 95.7FM in Plymoth & West Devon, 1458AM in Torbay & South Devon, DAB Countywide (19:45)

Free Radio 80s

Joe Holt presenting The Goalzone from the Weston Homes Community Stadium

League One
Colchester v Coventry City - Joe Holt & Dave Bennet - Commentary on 1359AM & DAB in Coventry & Warwickshire (19:45)

Tuesday 20th November - talkSPORT

Richard Keys presenting Kick Off: Champions League Live from the Estadio da Luz alongside Andy Gray

UEFA Champions League Group Stage
Benfica v Celtic - Sam Matterface and Andy Gray (commentary), with Jon Norman producing
Galatasaray v Manchester United - Graham Beecroft
Juventus v Chelsea - Ian Abrahams


BBC WM

Mark Regan presenting WM Sport from Prenton Park

League One
Tranmere Rovers v Walsall - Mike Taylor and Mark Regan (commentary)

BBC Radio Wales

Braintree V Wrexham - Simon Davies (studio host) Mark Poyser and Iwan Roberts (North FM / Online)

BBC Radio Bristol / Somerset

Dan Albutt (studio host)

Crawley Town V Yeovil Town - Chris Spittles and Chris Sweet (95.5FM)
Port Vale V Bristol Rovers - Richard Hoskin and Keith Brookman (94.9FM / 104.6FM / 1566MW / DAB)

BBC London 94.9
Swindon Town v Leyton Orient Phil Parry and James Scowcroft (commentary)
Portsmouth v Leyton Orient
AFC Wimbledon v Southend
Barnet v Oxford Barry Swain


BBC Radio Five Live
Juventus v Chelsea John Murray and Danny Mills (commentary)
Benfica v Celtic Roddy Forsyth
Galatasaray v Manchester United Conor McNamara

I'm pretty sure the new deal sees both have non-exclusive rights so they can broadcast what they want, even though Media Guardian spun that as a disaster for Five Live in losing exclusive rights, even though it'll make no difference to their listeners as they'll still broadcast all the big games. And I'm presuming talkSPORT are doing that game in lieu of a Sunday lunchtime Premier League match that weekend.

Although the perfect deal for Five Live would be everything apart from the obligatory easy Chelsea home match at 3pm on the Sunday of the third round which they've done commentary on for the last three seasons despite every single one being a complete non-event.

BBC Radio Manchester

Scunthorpe United v Bury - Ian Cheeseman and Steve Eyre - commentary

Hartlepool United v Oldham United - Matt Newsom - reports

BBC Radio Scotland, 20/11/12

Richard Gordon presenting Sportsound on 810MW.

Benfica v Celtic - Liam McLeod, Murdo MacLeod and Owen Coyle (commentary)

That was the case the last time when both stations jointly held rights to the FA Cup between 1998 and 2002, and judging by the press releases that were issued at the time of the deal being announced, I'd imagine things will be the same this time around (although I don't think any reports explicitly stated this, it seemed to be implied that this would be the case). One other factor to note here is that the new deal allows talkSPORT Live to provide FA Cup commentaries on presumably a multitude of games, which like the FA Community Shield should be available in the UK via talkSPORT.com, so if they are able to do that for the British market as well as the non-EEC one, then I can't imagine anything stopping talkSPORT UK or Radio 5 Live from doing commentaries on as many games as they like.

And you are right on the second point, I've had a check of the fixture list on Sunday 2nd December, there's no pre-4pm Premier League fixtures that day so Wimbledon v Milton Keynes Dons will fill that timeslot better than the round table programme they usually do on Sundays like the one just gone would.

On the subject of talkSPORT's commentary scheduling, on this Sunday upcoming will they be able to pick up Southampton v Newcastle United at the conclusion of Swansea City v Liverpool? At present only the early game is listed as a commentary, but with Radio 5 Live doing commentary on Chelsea v Manchester City and Radio 5 Live Sports Extra covering the Brazilian Grand Prix while the second half of that game is taking place, normally in this circumstance the 3pm match would fall into talkSPORT's lap. And on Wednesday week, talkSPORT's live commentary game is scheduled to be Tottenham v Liverpool.

It turns out that Karl Bates (BBC London Barnet commentator/reporter) has taken ill (epileptic fit). Get better soon, Karl.

Wednesday 21st November - talkSPORT

Mark Saggers presenting Kick Off: Champions League Live with Stewart Robson from the Emirates Stadium and Michael Gray from the Etihad Stadium

UEFA Champions League Group Stage
Arsenal v Montpellier Herault - Mike Bovill and Stewart Robson
Manchester City v Real Madrid - Dom McGuinness and Michael Gray

I have not been listening to talkSPORT this afternoon - how have they been covering Roberto Di Matteo's dismissal as Chelsea manager? Did they send a reporter to Stamford Bridge and/or Cobham?


Talk Radio Europe and Global Radio Networks (Costa Del Sol)

Dom Aldworth presented The Champions League on TRE

UEFA Champions League Group C
Zenit Saint Petersburg v Malaga - Paul Breen-Turner and Richard Tilsley (5pm commentary)

5 Live - 21.11.12

With Mark Pougatch at The Emirates

Arsenal v Montpellier - Simon Brotherton + Martin Keown
Man City v Real Madrid - Alan Green, Robbie Savage + Mike Ingham

Thursday 22nd November - talkSPORT

Drive Time with Adrian Durham and Micky Quinn, followed by Danny Kelly presenting Kick Off alongside Gabriele Marcotti

UEFA Europa League Group Stage
SS Lazio v Tottenham Hotspur - Geoff Peters
Liverpool v BSC Young Boys - Graham Beecroft
Newcastle United v CS Maritimo - Graham Courtney

Rafael Benitez press conference at Stamford Bridge - Warren Haughton

I don't think that talkSPORT sent a reporter to the Bridge or Cobham yesterday (although they broke the news at 9.30am in the morning and were running with it throughout the day, there wasn't a particular "event" at the club to cover unlike today). Today talkSPORT carried around 10 to 15 minutes worth of Rafa's press conference live from about 5.55pm onwards, crediting the audio to Chelsea TV.

Is the Graham Courtney who works for TalkSport the same one who was Newcastle's press officer in the 90s?

Yes, it is.

Sunday 18th November - Newstalk 106-108FM

Ger Gilroy presented Newstalk Sport Sunday alongside Joe Molloy

Premier League
Fulham v Sunderland - Ken Early and Kenny Cunningham (4pm commentary)

It was Ger and Joe in the studio for Newstalk Sport Saturday, with them taking IRN's reports on the day's Premier League matches barring the late game as detailed by Ian F here while Liam Toland covered the Ireland XV v Fiji international rugby union match from the Aviva Stadium. Ross Lindsay reported on Ireland XV v Fiji for Newstalk's sister station Today FM.


4-4-2 has beaten me to confirming that the Graham Courtney who infamously read out Kevin Keegan's resignation letter back in 1997 is one and the same as talkSPORT's North-East football correspondent, but to add to this, prior to Graham's four years as Newcastle United's press officer (1996-2000), you might remember him being at Metro FM where he spent 16 years, much of that as their Newcastle United commentator. He has also worked for TFM in Middlesbrough (95/96) and as a motoring journalist, which is presumably why he's also talkSPORT regular reporter on Formula 1 Grand Prixs that take place on Sundays when he's not required to cover football games. This is his tenth season as talkSPORT's man in the North-East.

Saturday 24 November

BBC Radio Cumbria Sport 2.00-6.00pm Presented by Paul Newton (studio)

FM - League One: Yeovil Town v Carlisle United - James Phillips & Chris Lumsdon

AM/Online - FA Trophy: Hyde v Barrow - Garry Woodworth & Tommy Cassidy
Blue Square North: Workington Reds v Bradford Park Avenue - John Walsh
National Three North: Penrith v Birkenhead Park - James Clarke
National Three North: Kendal v Sandal - John Gibson

Saturday 24th November 2012 - BBC Radio Devon (1400 - 1800)

James Vickery presents Radio Devon Sport from the Plymouth Seymour road studios

League Two
Exeter City v Rotherham Utd - John Ayres & Adam Barge - 990am & 95.8 FM in Exeter & East Devon (1500)
York City v Torquay United - Julian Gaunt & Dave Thomas - 1458AM in Torbay & South Devon (1500)
Plymouth Argyle v Bradford City - Gordon Sparks & David Byrne - 95.7FM in Plymouth and West Devon, DAB Countywide (1500)

Championship (rugby)
Plymouth Albion v Bristol - Paddy Marsh - Updates on 103.4FM Countywide

On the road again today, so can't get get Free Radio 80s coverage

BBC Radio Wales

Simon Davies hosting pitchside from the Millennium Stadium

Barnsley V Cardiff City (1899-2012 RIP) - Mark Poyser and Jason Perry (SE FM / SW FM)
Wrexham V Rushall Olympic (FA Trophy 1st round) - James Pontin and Kevin Ratcliffe (North FM)
Welling United V Newport County (FA Trophy 1st round) - Luke Redding
The New Saints V Carmarthen Town - Dafydd Roberts
Horse racing from Haydock Park - Aly Rowell

BBC Radio Cymru

Eleri Siôn hosting from the Millennium Stadium

Barnsley V Cardiff City (1899-2012 RIP) - John Hardy and Iwan Roberts (commentary)
Wrexham V Rushall Olympic (FA Trophy 1st round) - Marc Lloyd Williams
The New Saints V Carmarthen Town - Dafydd Roberts

BBC Bristol / Somerset

Geoff Twentyman (studio host)

Middlesbrough V Bristol City - Ed Hadwin and Adam Baker (94.9FM / 104.6FM / 1566MW)
Yeovil Town V Carlisle United - Brendon Mitchell and Chris Spittles (95.5FM)
Bristol Rovers V Bradford City - Richard Hoskin and Keith Brookman (1548MW)
Plymouth Albion V Bristol (RFU Championship) - Damian Derrick and Mark Hoskins (DAB / Online)

With it being *almost* 10 years to the day of Bristol City beating Mansfield Town 5-4, there was a section of the programme devoted to interviews with players involved in that game, with Alistair Durden in the studio to talk about it.

Goal commentary of the winner has been uploaded to AudioBoo

Saturday 24th November - talkSPORT

Adrian Durham presenting Matchday Live from Goodison Park with Ray Parlour at the Britannia Stadium and Michael Gray at Old Trafford, followed by Matchday Exclusive and Call Collymore from Villa Park

Premier League
Sunderland v West Bromwich Albion - Graham Courtney
Everton v Norwich City - Graham Beecroft and Adrian Durham
Manchester United v Queens Park Rangers - Dom McGuinness and Michael Gray
Stoke City v Fulham - Ian Abrahams and Ray Parlour
Wigan Athletic v Reading - Nigel Pearson
Aston Villa v Arsenal - Sam Matterface and Stan Collymore (5.30pm commentary), with Dave Rowe at pitchside and Carl Ralley producing

Championship
Barnsley v Cardiff City - Grahame Lloyd
Brighton & Hove Albion v Bolton Wanderers - Elliot Cook
Charlton Athletic v Huddersfield Town - Ian Danter
Leeds United v Crystal Palace - John Temple
Sheffield Wednesday v Leicester City - Simon Humphreys
Derby County v Birmingham City - Geoff Peters

Rugby Union: Autumn Internationals
Ireland v Argentina - David Brady
England v South Africa - Andrew McKenna
Scotland v Tonga - Stuart Cameron
Wales v New Zealand - Hamish Stuart

Cricket: Second Test Match
India v England - Jack Bannister


talkSPORT Live

Premier League
Sunderland v West Bromwich Albion - Piers Edwards and Darren Eadie
Everton v Norwich City - Tim Long
Manchester United v Queens Park Rangers - Richard Connelly and Darren Eadie (featured 3pm commentary on international radio stations)
Stoke City v Fulham - Adam Bridge
Wigan Athletic v Reading - Keith Hall
Aston Villa v Arsenal - Alex Crook and Paul Mortimer


Absolute Radio

Russ Williams presenting Rock 'N' Roll Football Live alongside Perry Groves, followed by Ian Wright on the phone-in

Premier League
Everton v Norwich City - Jim Proudfoot and Stewart Robson (3pm commentary)

BBC Radio Scotland - Saturday 24th November

Sportsound presented by Richard Gordon live from pacific Quay

Commentary
12:45 Motherwell v. Hearts - John Barnes, Allan Preston and Craig Patterson
15:00 Celtic v. Inverness CT - Rob MacLean and Murdo MacLeod

Open All Mics
Celtic v. Inverness CT - Chick Young
Hibernian v. Aberdeen - Charlie Mann
Kilmarnock v. St Johnstone - Derek Ferguson
Ross County v. Dundee United - Billy Dodds
St Mirren v. Dundee - Jonathan Sutherland
Partick Thistle v. Livingston - Stephen Craigan

BBC Radio Leeds, and official websites of Huddersfield Town and Bradford City
host: Gareth Jones at the Valley
Bristol Rovers versus Bradford City (103.9 FM, AM, DAB and online)
commentator: Dave Fletcher
summariser: Graham Mitchell

(92.4, 95.3 and 102.7 FM, and official Huddersfield Town website)
Charlton Athletic versus Huddersfield Town
commentator: Paul Ogden
summariser: Kieran O'Regan
Leeds United versus Crystal Palace
reporter: Tim Steer


Yorkshire Radio (DAB), Minster FM and official Leeds United website
studio: Richard Stead
Leeds United versus Crystal Palace
host: Michael Weadock
commentator: Thom Kirwin
summariser: Eddy Gray


The Pulse
Bristol Roversversus Bradford City
host and commentator: Tim Thornton
summariser: Ian Ormondroyd

BBC Radio Manchester presented by Jimmy Wagg from Old Trafford

Man Utd v QPR - Bill Rice - reports

Wigan v Reading - Paul Rowley - reports

Brighton v Bolton - Jack Dearden with Simon Charlton - commentary

Bury v Bournemouth - Phil Kinsella - reports

Oldham v Shrewsbury - John Gilder - reports

Southend v Rochdale - Graham Miller - reports

Saturday 24th November - BBC WM

WM Sport presented by Paul Franks from the Stadium of Light, Daz Hale from Molineux and Richard Wilford from Pride Park

Premier League
Sunderland v West Bromwich Albion - Mark Regan and Paul Franks (12.45pm commentary)
Aston Villa v Arsenal - John Collins

Championship
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Nottingham Forest - Mike Taylor and Daz Hale (3pm commentary)
Derby County v Birmingham City - Rob Gurney and Richard Wilford (5.20pm commentary)

League One
Walsall v Hartlepool United - Andrew Dawkins


Free Radio 80s

Tom Ross presented The Goalzone from Pride Park

Premier League
Sunderland v West Bromwich Albion - Mikey Burrows and Tony Brown (12.45pm Birmingham, Black Country and Shropshire commentary)
Aston Villa v Arsenal - Nathan Alleyne and Pat Heard (5.30pm DAB in Birmingham commentary)

Championship
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Nottingham Forest - Steve Hermon and Matt Murray (3pm Black Country and Shropshire commentary)
Derby County v Birmingham City - Tom Ross and Geoff Horsfield (5.20pm 1152AM in Birmingham commentary)

League One
Coventry City v Portsmouth - Joe Holt and Dave Bennett (3pm Coventry & Warwickshire commentary)