Season 1984/85
The show celebrated its 20th anniversary and matches were still being broadcast on Fridays. Most other sports were now seen live on television so the production team wanted to continue the football experiment as well. Jonathan Martin, the Head of Sport at the time, recalled that the experiment was disappointing: "We only got six or seven million viewers on a Friday night which was poor for the slot so we moved to Sundays in the following year." This was to be the last time that Match of the Day contained weekly League highlights until the beginning of the 1992-93 season.
Episodes
1. 25th August 1984
Jimmy Hill presents action highlights from two First Division games on the opening day of the Football League season. Manchester United v Watford Aston Villa v Coventry City
2. 31st August 1984: Chelsea v Everton
Two of last season's prize-winners provide an intriguing clash in the first Canon League fixture of 1984-85 to be shown live.
3. 8th September 1984
Jimmy Hill presents action highlights from two First Division games, plus analysis and interviews. Arsenal v Liverpool Sheffield Wednesday v Tottenham Hotspur
4. 15th September 1984
Action highlights from First and Third Division matches plus analysis and interviews. Southampton v Norwich City Hull City v Preston North End
5. 22nd September 1984
Action highlights from two First Division matches plus analysis and interviews. Manchester United v Liverpool Aston Villa v Tottenham Hotspur
6. 29th September 1984
Action highlights from First and Second Division matches plus analysis and interviews. Also, the chance to win £100-worth of premium bonds in the August-September Goal of the Month competition. Manchester City v Crystal Palace Newcastle United v West Ham United
7. 6th October 1984
Jimmy Hill presents highlights from two First Division matches plus analysis and interviews. Also, the result of the August/September Goal of the Month competition. Aston Villa v Manchester United Nottingham Forest v Stoke City
8. 12th October 1984: Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool
Match of the Day's second live transmission of the season brings together the clubs who earned European honours for Britain last spring -Tottenham, UEFA Cup winners, and Liverpool, European Cup winners.
9. 20th October 1984
Action highlights from two first division matches plus analysis and interviews. Liverpool v Everton Ipswich Town v West Bromwich Albion
10. 27th October 1984
Action highlights from two First Division matches, plus analysis and interviews. There's also a chance to win E100 worth of Premium Bonds in the October Goal of the Month competition. West Ham United v Arsenal West Bromwich Albion v Southampton
11. 2nd November 1984: Manchester United v Arsenal
At the start of the season, opinion was widely held that if Liverpool were to be denied a fourth successive Championship, the prize would be most likely to go to Manchester United or Arsenal. Experts are sometimes right, and in the early months of 1984-85 United and Arsenal have gone above Liverpool in both the table and the odds.
12. 10th November 1984
Action highlights from Canon League First and Second Division matches. Plus news round-up and pools check. Nottingham Forest v Tottenham Hotspur Blackburn Rovers v Brighton & Hove Albion
13. 17th November 1984
Action highlights from Canon League First and Second Division matches. Plus news round-up and pools check. Watford v Sheffield Wednesday Charlton Athletic v Birmingham City
14. 24th November 1984
Action highlights from Canon League First and Second Division matches with analysis and interviews. Plus news round-up and pools check. Also a chance to win £100-worth of Premium Bonds in the November Goal of the Month competition. Sunderland v Manchester United Oxford United v Leeds United
15. 1st December 1984
Action highlights from Canon League First and Second Division matches with analysis, interviews, news round-up and pools check. Plus the result of the November Goal of the Month Competition. Arsenal v Luton Town Oldham Athletic v Manchester City
16. 8th December 1984
Action highlights from two Canon League First Division matches with analysis and interviews. Plus news round-up and pools check. Nottingham Forest v Manchester United Tottenham Hotspur v Newcastle United
17. 15th December 1984
Jimmy Hill presents highlights from two Canon League First Division matches. West Ham United v Sheffield Wednesday Coventry City v Southampton
18. 21st December 1984: Queens Park Rangers v Liverpool
Since spending £350,000 to install England's only artificial playing pitch in 1981, QPR have put together the finest home record of any club in the four divisions of the Football League-better even than that of Liverpool, champions for the past three seasons. Liverpool's one previous experience of this wall-to-wall carpet pitch brought no complaints-substitute Steve Nicol's lone goal earned them three points in October last year.
19. 29th December 1984
Action highlights from two Canon League First Division matches plus analysis and interviews. Plus News Round-up and Pools Check. Also, a chance to win £100 worth of Premium Bonds in the December Goal of the Month competition. Newcastle United v Arsenal Ipswich Town v Everton
20. 4th January 1985: FA Cup Third Round: Leeds United v Everton
Traditionally the most enthralling stage of the season, as First and Second Division clubs join the 20 survivors from the Leagues' lower reaches and beyond.
21. 12th January 1985
Action highlights from Canon League First and Second Division matches, with analysis and interviews, plus news round-up and pools check. Queens Park Rangers v Tottenham Hotspur Norwich City v Southampton
22. 19th January 1985
Highlights from two Canon League matches. Chelsea v Arsenal Manchester City v Wimbledon
23. 26th January 1985: FA Cup Fourth Round
Action highlights from three matches in the fourth round of the FA Cup. Also a chance to win £100 worth of Premium Bonds in the January Goal of the Month competition. York City v Arsenal Leyton Orient v Southampton Grimsby Town v Watford
24. 2nd February 1985
Action highlights from two Canon League First Division matches with analysis and interviews, plus the news round-up and pools check. Also in tonight's programme the result of the January Goal of the Month competition. Luton Town v Tottenham Hotspur Sheffield Wednesday v Liverpool
25. 9th February 1985
Action highlights from Canon League First and Second Division matches, with analysis and interviews, plus the news round-up and pools check. Manchester City v Carlisle United Barnsley v Portsmouth
26. 15th February 1985: FA Cup Fifth Round: Blackburn Rovers v Manchester United
The FA Cup Fifth Round begins with live coverage of a real 'Lancashire hotpot' tonight as Manchester United continue their bid for a sixth triumph in the competition that Blackburn have already won that many times.
27. 23rd February 1985
Action highlights from Canon League First and Second Division matches with analysis and interviews, plus the news round-up and pools check. Also a chance to win £100 worth of Premium Bonds in the February Goal of the Month competition. Leicester City v Everton Blackburn Rovers v Oxford United
28. 2nd March 1985
Action highlights from Canon League First and Third Division matches. Plus the results of the February Goal of the Month competition. Manchester United v Everton Bradford v Gillngham
29. 9th March 1985: FA Cup Sixth Round
Action highlights from this afternoon's games plus all the atmosphere and tension that surrounds the Cup. Manchester United v West Ham United Everton v Ipswich Town Luton Town v Watford
30. 15th March 1985: West Ham United v Manchester United
In the last of this season's live Canon League fixtures on BBC television, Manchester United's pursuit of their eighth championship takes them to one of the First Division's most compact grounds, Upton Park, the home of West Ham United, who often make life difficult for the best.
31. 24th March 1985: League Cup Final: Norwich City v Sunderland
North East meets East Anglia in a major final for the first time. Sunderland have travelled the hard path, needing to beat four First Division clubs on the way, whereas Norwich City faced lower division opponents in every round before the semi-final. The winners will receive £64,000 - the top team prize in British sport - and the chance of further rich rewards with a place in Europe next season in the UEFA Cup. BBC outside broadcast cameras bring you live coverage of the action and after-match scenes on this Silver Jubilee occasion -the 25th Final of the competition launched by the Football League in 1960.
32. 30th March 1985
Action highlights from two First Division matches. Also a chance to win £100 worth of Premium Bonds in the March Goal of the Month competition. Southampton v Everton Stoke City v Arsenal
33. 6th April 1985
Action highlights from Canon League First and Second Division matches plus analysis and interviews. Also, the result of the March Goal of the Month competition. Everton v Sunderland Portsmouth v Brighton & Hove Albion
34. 13th April 1985: FA Cup Semi-Final
Can Luton Town reach an FA Cup final for only the second time in the club's history, having last appeared there in 1959 ending as runners-up? They face the current Cup holders Everton, eager to retain the trophy, at Villa Park in one of this afternoon's FA Cup Semi-finals.
35. 20th April 1985
Action highlights from Canon League First and Second Division matches with analysis and interviews, plus the news round-up and pools check. Liverpool v Newcastle United Oxford United v Oldham Athletic
36. 27th April 1985
Action highlights from two Canon League First Division matches with analysis and interviews, plus the news round-up and pools check. Also in tonight's programme a chance to win £100 worth of Premium Bonds in the April Goal of the Month competition. Manchester United v Sunderland Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur
37. 4th May 1985
As the season draws to a close, Match of the Day cameras bring action highlights from two Canon League matches affecting championship honours, promotion and relegation. Plus the result of the April Goal of the Month competition. Sheffield Wednesday v Everton Blackburn Rovers v Portsmouth
38. 11th May 1985
On the last Saturday of the Canon League programme, Match of the Day cameras bring action highlights from two matches involving championship honours, promotion and relegation. Manchester City v Charlton Athletic Southampton v Coventry City
39. 18th May 1985: FA Cup Final: Everton v Manchester United
Jimmy Hill presents the best moments and follows the after-match celebrations of the winners.