Like vinyl records and milk-float deliveries, the very concept of Football Focus still evokes fond memories – even though most of us have barely watched it for years, and its cancellation is unlikely to affect our Saturday routines one jot.
How different to the heyday of Bob Wilson’s reign, when the choice between Football Focus and ITV’s On The Ball felt like it said something about you. The button you pushed – one of four on the side of your cathode ray tube TV – was akin to a declaration of faith, like the equally existential decision of whether to watch the genial Multi-Coloured Swap Shop or the anarchic Tiswas.
In the mid-1980s, a typical Focus might include an interview with Ian Rush, a debate on England team selection featuring Jimmy “the Chin” Hill, and an update on Gary Pallister’s latest fitness battle for a top-of-the-table clash at Old Trafford.
Simple fare, perhaps, but it was all we knew. In an era where our entertainment options were limited to street football, Monopoly and the primitive computer game Pong, a behind-the-scenes glimpse of training at Highbury felt like the height of sophistication.
Like the Church of England, Football Focus was gentle, measured and paternalistic. Indeed, this was true of the majority of BBC Sport’s output, which went out of its way not to give offence. In his autobiography, the ever-dependable Wilson describes how he nearly lost his job at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics after daring to suggest that decathlon champion Daley Thompson – who chatted and whistled throughout the medal ceremony – could have shown more respect to the national anthem.
In a modern world of engagement and passionate debate, such moderation was never going to compete with the new attention-seekers, whether they be tactical anoraks, one-club obsessives, or quirky eccentrics like that qManchester United fan who refuses to cut his hair.
When I returned to Football Focus on TV review duty in December, I was amazed by how safe it felt, and how old-fashioned: more bland daytime filler, less vital bulletin from the sporting front lines.
Alex Scott made for a stilted presence in the presenter’s chair, and even though we heard some passable chat from the two pundits – retired defenders Ashley Williams and Stephen Warnock – there wasn’t much star wattage on offer.
In the circumstances, the loss of an estimated 40 per cent of Focus’s viewers since the departure of Dan Walker in 2021 – after a high that was artificially inflated by the Covid pandemic – seemed like a decent result for the BBC. With an average Focus sandwiched between Homes Under The Hammer and Bargain Hunt, I surmised that many TVs only stayed on in the background while their owners were preparing lunch.