Good Friday - talkSPORT

Danny Kelly and Andy Jacobs, followed by Drive Time with Sam Matterface and Micky Quinn and Kick Off with Richard Keys and Andy Gray from Doha, Qatar

Championship
AFC Bournemouth v Sheffield Wednesday - Ian Abrahams
Charlton Athletic v Bolton Wanderers - Ian Danter
Huddersfield Town v Brighton & Hove Albion - Simon Humphreys
Wigan Athletic v Reading - Dom McGuinness
Blackpool v Burnley - Alan Biggs
Doncaster Rovers v Derby County - Graham Courtney

Rugby Union: Premiership
Harlequins v Leicester Tigers - Russell Hargreaves


Free Radio 80s

Tom Ross presented The Goalzone from Molineux

League One
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Rotherham United - Tom Ross and Andy Thompson (3pm commentary in Birmingham, the Black Country and Shropshire)

While Sam Matterface was incredibly enthusiastic about updating the results affecting Brentford's promotion prospects during the first hour of Drive Time this evening, I must say I thought it was a shame that talkSPORT didn't have reporters at the big games in Leagues One and Two to match their coverage of the bulk of the Championship games. Personally, on Good Friday and Easter Monday I'd rest H&J and Drive Time and stick a Matchday Live on between 1-5pm - perhaps with Ian Danter rather than Adrian Durham and Ray Parlour if that duo is doing the Saturday show - and maybe a Call Kelly-more between 5-7pm before returning to the normal schedule.

Elsewhere, it's incredibly poor that as holders of national radio commentary rights to the Football League, BBC Radio aren't broadcasting commentary on the key Doncaster Rovers v Derby County game either on Radio 5 Live Sports Extra (which in fairness is occupied by Harlequins v Leicester Tigers Premiership rugby union commentary) or Radio 5 Live (which is dedicated to Premier League football chat as usual).

I agree TD, it is a shame they're not doing it but I think the budget cuts have impacted their FL coverage. They used to have a lot more reporters at Saturday FL 3pm KOs but now sometimes you only got 3-4 games covered. A sign of the times I think.

They did have decent League 1 coverage today and fair play to having someone at the vital game in League 2 where that relegation is probably the worst thing to happen to a team in professional football.

I'm sorry, but I don't buy the usual "budget cuts" excuse in this particular case. I presume 5 Live have a reporter at the Keepmoat Stadium tonight, surely it's not going to cost the earth to send a co-commentator to Doncaster and replace studio discussion with a commentary, if anything you'd probably save money by giving this evening's three man studio panel of Rory Smith, Kevin Kilbane and Kevin Keen the night off. It's not as if they agreed commentary rights to the Football League on a game-by-game basis, so I don't see how covering a Championship game as a live commentary can be a major issue monetary-wise.

Call me a cynic, but I believe the primary reason as to why 5 Live have not provided commentary on tonight's game or Leicester City v Sheffield Wednesday the other week is because they are afraid of losing listeners by deviating away too heavily from Premier League discussion on their Friday night edition of 5 Live Sport. And I don't think this is good enough, to be blunt.

Fair enough, I've Tweeted Jonathan Wall to see if he can provide an answer

In other news, Ian Dennis has been off air for a while and is back soon after a break.

BBC Radio Manchester

Charlton Athletic v Bolton Wanderers - Jack Dearden and Mark Iles - 95.1 FM commentary
Wigan Athletic v Reading - Paul Rowley and Ian Cheeseman - DAB commentary
Colchester United v Oldham Athletic - Graham Miller - reports
Bury v Plymouth Argyle - Nathan Middleton - reports
Rochdale v Southend United - John Gilder - reports

BBC Radio Scotland, 18/4/14

Dougie Vipond presenting Sportsound from Scotstoun Stadium on 810MW and 92-95FM in the Highlands and North East.

Scottish Premiership Football (92-95FM Highlands/NE and online)
Inverness CT v Aberdeen (7.45pm) - Rob Maclean, John Robertson and Billy Dodds (commentary) with Chick Young pitchside

Pro12 Rugby Union (810MW)
Glasgow Warriors v Ulster (7.35pm) - Bill Johnstone and Peter Wright (commentary)

ABC Grandstand
Host Julian Abbott
Central Coast Mariners v Adelaide United Ned Hall and Laurie McKinnon (commentary)

Saturday 19th April

BBC WM

BBC WM Sport with Paul Franks Live from Villa Park

Premier League
Steve Hermon and Paul Franks: Aston Villa v Southampton

Championship
Mark Regan and Martin O'Connor: Nottingham Forrest v Birmingham City (Live on 95.6 FM and DAB)

UEFA Women's Champions League Semi Final First Leg
Rob Gurney: Birmingham City v Tyreso

I'll post full details of today's coverage in a bit, but here are talkSPORT's commentary teams for their three live matches this weekend:

Chelsea v Sunderland - Nigel Adderley and Stan Collymore
Norwich City v Liverpool - Sam Matterface and Alvin Martin
Hull City v Arsenal - Andrew McKenna and Stan Collymore

Also, talkSPORT will be broadcasting an edition of Matchday Live between 1-5pm on Easter Monday, followed by a Call Collymore. Adrian Durham will be presenting the former from Burnley v Wigan Athletic from Turf Moor.

BBC Bristol / Somerset

Geoff Twentyman (studio host)

Portsmouth v Bristol Rovers - Ian Randall and Keith Brookman (94.9FM / 1566MW / DAB)
Bath v Worcester Warriors (Aviva Premiership RU) - Andrew Sheridan and Tom Biggs (95.5FM / 104.6FM / 1548MW / Online)

Swansea Sound

Newcastle United v Swansea City - Steve Hunter (commentary)

Saturday 19th April - talkSPORT

Adrian Durham presenting Matchday Live from the Cardiff City Stadium with Ray Parlour at Villa Park and Michael Gray at St James' Park, followed by Call Collymore from Stamford Bridge

Premier League
Tottenham Hotspur v Fulham - Ian Danter
Aston Villa v Southampton - Nigel Pearson and Ray Parlour
Cardiff City v Stoke City - Dave Rowe and Adrian Durham
Newcastle United v Swansea City - Graham Courtney and Michael Gray
West Ham United v Crystal Palace - Ian Abrahams
Chelsea v Sunderland - Nigel Adderley and Stan Collymore (5.30pm commentary), with Mike Bovill at pitchside and Carl Ralley producing

Championship
Leicester City v Queens Park Rangers - Geoff Peters
Barnsley v Leeds United - Simon Humphreys
Middlesbrough v Millwall - Grahame Lloyd
Nottingham Forest v Birmingham City - Graham Beecroft
Watford v Ipswich Town - Elliot Cook

Rugby Union: Premiership
London Wasps v Gloucester (Twickenham) - Simon Ward


talkSPORT Live

Premier League
Tottenham Hotspur v Fulham - Richard Connelly and Matt Lawrence
Aston Villa v Southampton - Adam Bridge and David Armstrong (featured 3pm commentary on international radio stations)
Cardiff City v Stoke City - Keith Hall
Newcastle United v Swansea City - Dan Wheeler
West Ham United v Crystal Palace - James Fielden
Chelsea v Sunderland - Alex Crook and Adrian Clarke

Bundesliga
Eintracht Braunschweig v Bayern Munich - Tim Long


Absolute Radio

Russ Williams presenting Rock 'N' Roll Football Live alongside Alan Curbishley, followed by Ian Wright and Ian Stone on the phone-in

Premier League
Aston Villa v Southampton - Jim Proudfoot and Clarke Carlisle (3pm commentary)


Today FM

Michael McMullan presenting Premier League Live with Mark Lawrenson between 2-3pm, followed by Fanzone with Johnny Lyons

Premier League
Tottenham Hotspur v Fulham - Graham Miller
Aston Villa v Southampton - Ian Beach and Frank Stapleton (3pm commentary)
Cardiff City v Stoke City - Ron Jones
Newcastle United v Swansea City - Roger Tames
West Ham United v Crystal Palace - Russell Hargreaves


Newstalk 106-108FM

Adrian Barry presenting Off The Ball alongside Philip Egan

Premier League (as IRN)
Tottenham Hotspur v Fulham - Adam Lindsay
Aston Villa v Southampton - Clive Edwards
Cardiff City v Stoke City - Sam Fleet
Newcastle United v Swansea City - Nick Walsh
West Ham United v Crystal Palace - Guy Swindells


Free Radio 80s

Tom Ross presenting The Goalzone from the City Ground

Premier League
Aston Villa v Southampton - Chris Coles and Pat Heard (updates in Birmingham)

Championship
Nottingham Forest v Birmingham City - Tom Ross and Kevan Broadhurst (3pm commentary in Birmingham)

BBC Radio Five Live
Host Mark Pougatch at Cardiff
Tottenham v Fulham John Murray and Clive Allen (lunchtime commentary produced by Phil Wye)
Aston Villa v Southampton Ian Brown
Cardiff v Stoke Conor McNamara and Dean Saunders (commentary produced by Andy Gillies)
Newcastle v Swansea Pat Murphy (way outside his normal stomping ground)
West Ham v Crystal Palace Juliette Ferrington (also outside her normal stomping ground)
Chelsea v Sunderland Alistair Bruce-Ball
Leicester v QPR Jonathan Legard
Barnsley v Leeds Peter Slater
Middlesbrough v Millwall Alistair Yeomans
Nottingham Forest v Birmingham City Gary Flintoff
St Johnstone v Dundee United Roddy Forsyth

BBC Five Live Sports Extra
Leicester v QPR Ian Stringer (I assume) and Alan Young (lunchtime commentary from BBC Radio Leicester)
Watford v Ipswich Jon Marks and Derek Payne with Geoff Doyle (host) (commentary from BBC Three Counties Radio)

BBC London
Fulham v Tottenham Emma Jones and Bradley Allen (lunchtime commentary)
West Ham v Crystal Palace Nick Godwin (also host) and Martin Ling (commentary)
Leicester v QPR Jamie Reid
Middlesbrough v Millwall Andrea Warth (with Deano Standing commentating on the goals)
Watford v Ipswich Karl Bates
Chelsea v Sunderland Ankur Desai

BBC Suffolk
Watford v Ipswich Brenner Woolley and Mick Mills (commentary)

IRN
As Newstalk 106-108FM plus
Chelsea v Sunderland Andrew Cheal

As Ian has pointed out, it's very rare for Pat Murphy to be away from Midlands/Stoke. It's odd with Ian Brown at Villa Park and him at Newcastle.

There may be issues with Villa/press? I don't know but slightly odd

Juliette seems to have been in London judging from Twitter this week but does travel a bit for games

BBC Radio Five Live
Host Ian Payne
Norwich v Liverpool Mike Sewell and Mike Keen
Hull v Arsenal tba
Everton v Manchester United Mike Ingham, Alan Green and Kevin Kilbane (late afternoon commentary)

BBC Radio Norfolk
Norwich v Liverpool Chris Goreham and Darren Eadie (commentary)

BBC Radio Merseyside
Norwich v Liverpool Ian Kennedy and Neil Jones (of the Liverpool Echo) (lunchtime commentary)
Everton v Man Utd James Mountford and Ronnie Goodlass (late afternoon commentary)

Spot on.


Staggering isn't it? There's enough PL coverage on 5L and TS already. You'd expect 5L - as a public service broadcaster - to offer different things. There are 72 FL clubs, that's a lot of fans of the FL. Incredible also that 5L don't have a dedicated FL show when TS do, even if TS unfortunately bury it away in their schedules.

Easter Sunday - talkSPORT

Mark Saggers presented Sunday Exclusive from Carrow Road, followed by Call Collymore from the KC Stadium

Premier League
Norwich City v Liverpool - Sam Matterface and Alvin Martin (12noon commentary), with James Dodd producing
Hull City v Arsenal - Andrew McKenna and Stan Collymore (2.05pm commentary), with Carl Ralley producing
Everton v Manchester United - Graham Beecroft

Formula 1: Chinese Grand Prix
Shanghai International Circuit - Graham Courtney


talkSPORT Live

Premier League
Norwich City v Liverpool - Tom Rennie and Paul Hall
Hull City v Arsenal - Toby Gilles and Clive Walker
Everton v Manchester United - John Anderson and Chris Perry


Newstalk 106-108FM

Adrian Barry presenting Off The Ball alongside Philip Egan

Premier League
Norwich City v Liverpool - Mark Scott and Matt Holland (12noon commentary)
Hull City v Arsenal - Tim Long and John Anderson (2.05pm commentary)
Everton v Manchester United - Dave McIntyre and Kevin Sheedy (4.10pm commentary)

GAA: Allianz Hurling League Division One Semi-Finals
Kilkenny v Galway & Clare v Tipperary - Jamesie O'Connor

Last night, Today FM carried reports on the late Saturday game in the Premier League - Chelsea v Sunderland - from Jake Katborg. Sister station Newstalk didn't take IRN's updates on said game.

Posted this in the sport commentators thread by mistake!
Looking forward to the CL midweek fixtures, 5live are covering both games;

John Murray, Alan Green and Chris Waddle at Atletico Madrid vs Chelsea
John Murray and Chris Waddle at Real Madrid v Bayern Munich

Shame Alan Green is flying home after the Chelsea game, Phil Why hinting it has something to do with accreditation/availability.

Also possibly down to the 1 commentator commitment too

Better late than never...

BBC Radio Scotland, 19/4/14

Richard Gordon presenting Sportsound on all frequencies.

Scottish Premiership Commentaries (810MW)
Motherwell v Celtic (12.45pm) - Liam McLeod, Murdo MacLeod and Craig Paterson, with Jim Spence pitchside
St Mirren v Hibernian - John Barnes and Willie Miller

Open All Mics (92-95FM/103.5-105FM)
Hearts v Ross County - Allan Preston
Kilmarnock v Partick Thistle - Chick Young
St Johnstone v Dundee Utd - John Robertson
St Mirren v Hibernian - Billy Dodds
Hamilton Accies v Alloa - Jim Spence (eventually, after getting from Fir Park)
Morton v Dundee - Derek Ferguson
Stenhousemuir v The Rangers - Scott Davie

Radio City had Steve Hothersall and Ray Houghton at Norwich with the usual Everton team of Alan Irwin & Graeme Sharp at Goodison Park.

Great news that 5Live are covering both champions league semi finals this week. obviously it helps that they are both being held in the same city but 5Live still had to commit to purchasing rights/keeping the commentary team out there for an extra day etc. Talksport are also covering both games I believe.

Easter Monday - talkSPORT

Adrian Durham presenting Matchday Live from Turf Moor with Stan Collymore at the iPro Stadium, followed by Call Collymore from the iPro Stadium and then Mark Saggers presenting Kick Off: Monday Night Feist Night alongside Danny Higginbotham and Clive Allen

Premier League
Manchester City v West Bromwich Albion - Dom McGuinness

Championship
Birmingham City v Blackburn Rovers - Dave Rowe
Brighton & Hove Albion v Blackpool - Elliot Cook
Burnley v Wigan Athletic - Alan Biggs and Adrian Durham
Derby County v Barnsley - Geoff Peters and Stan Collymore
Ipswich Town v AFC Bournemouth - Grahame Lloyd
Millwall v Doncaster Rovers - Peter Hood
Queens Park Rangers v Watford - Tony Incenzo
Sheffield Wednesday v Charlton Athletic - Jack Woodward
Yeovil Town v Huddersfield Town - Ian Danter
Leeds United v Nottingham Forest - Graham Courtney


talkSPORT Live

Premier League
Manchester City v West Bromwich Albion - Tom Rennie and Sean Davis

To confirm what Steve has said above, talkSPORT are doing commentary on both of this week's Champions League Semi-Final First Legs. The Live commentaries on talkSPORT page of the station's website also states that they'll be broadcasting commentary on the second leg of the Bayern Munich v Real Madrid tie as well. Given that Chelsea are the only British side to have hosted European games which they've commentated on in recent seasons, it wouldn't surprise me if they picked up rights to the second leg of Chelsea v Atletico Madrid too. For their coverage of tomorrow's first leg, Sam Matterface, Ian Abrahams and Jon Norman have flown out to Madrid for them today.

BBC Radio 5 Live

Easter Monday

Jonathan Overend presenting from Turf Moor

The Burnley co-chairman & Alistair Campbell were interviewed as well as Mark Ogden on the David Moyes story

Burnley vs Wigan (3pm commentary) - Ian Brown & Jimmy Armfield
Ipswich vs Bournemouth - Alistair Bruce-Ball
Sheff Weds vs Charlton - Peter Slater
Derby vs Barnsley - Mike Sewell
QPR vs Watford - Simon Mann
Brighton vs Blackpool - John Southall
Milwall vs Doncaster - Peter Drury
Yeovil vs Huddersfield - Andy Gillies

Some details from the South-East this afternoon
BBC London Digital
Studio Jamie Reid
QPR v Watford Andy Rowley and Clive Walker (DAB commentary) with Emma Saunders
Millwall v Doncaster Andrea Warth
Sheff Wed v Charlton Emma Jones
Leyton Orient v Wolves (1300) Bradley Allen
Dagenham and Redbridge v Chesterfield Karl Bates
Plymouth v AFC Wimbledon Alan Seabrook

BBC Three Counties Radio
Host Geoff Doyle at Luton
QPR v Watford Jon Marks and Derek Payne (commentary on 98.0 and 103.8FM)
MK Dons v Brentford Paul Dixon and ? (104.5FM commentary)
Stevenage v Bristol City Steve Watkins and ? (103.5FM commentary)
Fleetwood v Wycombe Phil Catchpole
Luton v Forest Green Simon Oxley and ? (commentary on 1161 and 630AM)

BBC Essex
Host Ben Fryer
Crewe v Colchester Glen Speller and David Gregory (commentary on 10.3.5FM)
Southend v Accrington Nick Aliker and Adrian Clark (commentary on 95.3FM and 765AM)

BBC Radio Kent
Host Tim Addicott
Sheff Wed v Charlton Emma Jones (774AM commentary)
Walsall v Gillingham Matt Cole and (I assume) Peter Lloyd (FM commentary)
Dartford v Tamworth Matt Gerrard
Chelmsford v Tonbridge Peter Guise

BBC Sussex
Brighton v Blackpool Johnny Cantor and Adam Virgo (commentary)

BBC Surrey
Woking v Aldershot Jon Howick, Gavin Denison, John Moore and Mark Butler (lunchtime commentary)
Notts County v Crawley Town John Barnett and Warren Lucy (commentary)

With regards to the CL games, 5live producer Phil Why has flown out this morning to Spain, I am assuming Alan Green, John Murray and Chris Waddle are on the same flight.

Do the media use the same flight as the players, I remember previous games where BBC correspondents, have reported from the plane where the players are flying from.