The big kick-off is almost upon us as the 2014/15 football season gets underway this weekend and our comprehensive viewing guide will help you find where you can watch your favourite teams and competitions this season across UK television.
From the riches of the Barclays Premier League and UEFA Champions League, and the spotlight of European Championship qualifiers, to the lower divisions, domestic cups and youth competitions, fans will once again be able to enjoy coverage of a wide variety of competitions across all major football networks, be it live games, highlights shows or magazine programmes.
The most significant change during the relatively short off-season is the transfer of free-to-air FA Cup rights from ITV to the BBC, while this season also sees the final year of ITV and Sky Sports’ current contract to screen UEFA Champions League matches before the rights switch to BT Sport.
From the BBC to ITV, Sky Sports to BT Sport and British Eurosport to S4C, Sport On The Box presents the following guide to where you can watch all major televised football this season.
Alternatively, click on the Football On The Box link below to see a complete list of all confirmed live televised games for the 2014/15 season.
Have we missed anything out from our 2014/15 football TV guide? Scroll down to leave a comment in the section below:
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FOOTBALL ON THE BOX – LATEST LIVE LISTINGS
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BBC Sport will follow the football season from start to finish with its familiar mix of highlights and magazine programmes, plus the return of live FA Cup football for the first time in six years.
Fans will once again be able to watch every league goal scored by all 92 clubs in England during the 2013-14 season the BBC via Match of the Day and The Football League Show, all in their usual Saturday night slots, while Match of the Day 2 on Sunday evening rounds off the weekend’s Premier League action.
Football Focus and Final Score also return for the new season on BBC One, as does the Sunday lunchtime discussion programme MOTD2 Extra, which made its debut last season.
New for this season sees The Football League Show being repeated on BBC Two at 9.00am on Sunday mornings, which follows the traditional early-morning Match of the Day repeat before it over on BBC One.
The familiar presenting line-ups across the BBC’s football output remains largely unchanged from last season, with the notable change being the absence of veteran pundit Alan Hansen, who decided to retire from his BBC role after more than 20 years following this summer’s World Cup.
The biggest change to the BBC’s football portfolio this year sees the return of live FA Cup matches to the corporation for the first time since 2008.
BBC One will follow the world’s most prestigious domestic cup competition from the first round proper in November to the final in May, with live games from every round and evening highlights.
It is though that the BBC has first pick of live games from rounds 1 and 2, the first and fourth pick games from rounds 3 to the quarter finals, one semi-final and the final (shared with BT Sport), plus first pick of replays from round 3 onwards.
In addition, BBC TV will also screen highlights from each round of the Capital One Cup, plus extended highlights of the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy final and the Football League play-off finals.
Women’s football will also continue to be broadcast by the BBC with live TV coverage of England’s remaining FIFA Women’s World Cup Qualifiers, plus the Women’s Football Show on BBC Three and the 2015 Women’s FA Cup final.
The BBC is also expected to screen the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup live from Canada next summer.
CLICK HERE for full details of the BBC’s football line-up for the 2014/15 season
WEBSITE: bbc.co.uk/football
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SUMMARY
– Barclays Premier League – Highlights in Match of the Day & Match of the Day 2
– FA Cup – 12 LIVE games (round 1 to final) + replays (round 3 onwards)
– Sky Bet Football League – Highlights in The Football League Show
– Capital One Cup – Highlights from Round 1 to Final in The League Cup Show
– Johnstone’s Paint Trophy – Highlights of the final on BBC TV
– FA Community Shield – Highlights
– England Women Internationals – LIVE
– FA Women’s Cup Final – LIVE
– FA WSL – Highlights in Women’s Football Show
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Despite the loss of live FA Cup rights this season, ITV Sport will continue to be the free-to-air home of the biggest European club and international matches.
More than 50 games will be broadcast live across ITV and ITV4, including UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League, as well as England internationals, Euro 2016 qualifiers and the UEFA Europa League.
ITV’s coverage of the new season kicks off with a pre-season friendly match between Tottenham and Schalke on August 10 on ITV4, followed three days later by live free-to-air coverage of the UEFA Super Cup, European football’s traditional curtain-raiser, between Real Madrid and Sevilla, which is being staged at the Cardiff City Stadium.
From September to May, ITV will again be the place to watch all the action from Europe as its screens the pick of the Tuesday night clashes from the UEFA Champions League, while the Europa League takes centre stage on Thursdays on ITV4, in what is the final year of its current deal before BT Sport takes over exclusive live rights from 2015/16 onwards.
ITV will again screen the first pick of Tuesday night Champions League matches each matchday, plus a highlights show at 10.35pm, and will again share live coverage of the 2015 final from Berlin with Sky Sports.
In the Europa League, ITV Sport has the first two picks of live matches each matchday, including exclusive live coverage of the semi-finals and the final.
All England internationals, including friendlies and Euro 2016 home/away qualifiers, will be shown live on ITV throughout the season as Roy Hodgson’s team begin their bid to qualify for Euro 2016 in France, plus ITV4 will screen selected non-Home Nations’ qualifiers throughout the season.
Adrian Chiles and Matt Smith lead ITV’s largely unchanged presenting and commentary team throughout the season, with new signing Paul Scholes joining the team for its live Champions League games.
Beyond this season, with the loss of live Champions League and Europa League rights to BT Sport, ITV’s live football line-up will only consist of England’s international friendlies and Euro 2016 qualifiers, as well as the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups, but they will be screening terrestrial highlights of both UEFA European competitions from 2015/16 onwards.
WEBSITE: itv.com/football
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SUMMARY
– UEFA Champions League – 18 LIVE games (1st Pick, Tues) – Play-offs to Final
– England Internationals – Home & Away Friendlies
– UEFA Euro 2016 Qualifiers – Every England game LIVE – Selected non-home nations games LIVE on ITV4
– UEFA Europa League – 29 LIVE games (1st & 2nd picks each matchday)
– UEFA Super Cup – LIVE
– Bundesliga – Weekly highlights on ITV4
– Africa Cup of Nations 2015 – Coverage TBC
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From the Premier League to the Scottish Premiership, UEFA Champions League to the Football League, Sky Sports will be screening the majority of the biggest matches this season.
Subscribers will once again be able to watch 116 live Premier League fixtures during the season, featuring every club at least five times across Saturday evenings, Sunday double-headers, Monday nights and bank holidays.
All the usual weekend shows and familiar brands, such as Gillette Soccer Saturday, Monday Night Football, Saturday Night Football and FL72, as well as magazine programmes, such as Fantasy Football Club, all return for the new season, while all the familiar on-air team, including presenters Ed Chamberlin and Jeff Stelling, pundits Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher, and commentators Martin Tyler and Alan Parry also remain.
The biggest on-air changes this season sees the launch of Sky Sports 5, the network’s “new home of European football”, and Sky Sports News HQ, the new name for Sky’s rolling 24-hour sports news channel, both of which launch on August 12.
The European season’s traditional curtain-raiser, the UEFA Super Cup, marks the first live match to be broadcast on Sky Sports 5, which will offer up to 600 live European football matches during the 2014/15 season, including La Liga, Dutch Eredivise matches and Euro 2016 qualifiers.
Sky Sports will continue to showcase all but one game from each matchday of the UEFA Champions League, in its final year of the current contract before the rights pass over to BT Sport, with matches airing on the new Sky Sports 5 channel.
There will be the best of the action from the Scottish Premiership and Scottish Championship and Irish football, plus all internationals – qualifiers and friendlies – featuring Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, as well as highlights of England qualifiers, for the first time since 2008.
CLICK HERE to read SOTB’s Q&A with Sky’s Football League presenter Simon Thomas
WEBSITE: skysports.com/football
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SUMMARY
– Barclays Premier League – 116 LIVE games
– UEFA Champions League – 129 LIVE games (play-offs to final)
– Sky Bet Football League – 90 LIVE games (incl. Play-offs)
– Capital One Cup – 15 LIVE games (round 1 to final)
– Johnstone’s Paint Trophy – Selected LIVE games
– Scottish Premiership – 25 LIVE games
– Scottish Championship – 10 LIVE games
– Scottish Cup – LIVE (round 4 to final)
– Irish Premiership – Selected LIVE games
– La Liga / Copa Del Rey – Over 100 LIVE games
– Eredivise – LIVE
– Coppa Italia – LIVE
– UEFA Super Cup – LIVE
– International Football – Wales, Scotland, N. Ireland & Rep. of Ireland games LIVE
– UEFA Euro 2016 Qualifiers – Every Wales Scotland, N. Ireland & Rep. of Ireland game LIVE + Selected non-home nations games
– Sky Sports U-16 Victory Shield – Live
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Following its high-profile launch a year ago, BT Sport will again screen plenty of top live games throughout the 2014/15 season.
The channel confirmed earlier in the summer that its broadband customers will be able to continue watching BT Sport for free during the season, with fans able to enjoy live Premier League and FA Cup football, plus a wide mix of European domestic leagues, including Serie A, Bundesliga and Ligue 1.
Jake Humphrey leads BT Sport’s football coverage once again this season alongside regular faces including Michael Owen, Steve McManaman, Owen Hargreaves and David James, while new signings Jose Mourinho and Paul Scholes bolster its punditry line-up.
The channels will also show current champions Manchester City three times in the Barclays Premier League during its initial selection of TV matches, as well as their FA Community Shield match versus Arsenal on August 10.
New to BT Sport this season is Portugese Primeira Liga rights, which adds to its already strong line-up of European football throughout the season.
Whilst BT Sport will remain free with BT Broadband for the 2014/15 season, it is likely that the telecoms firm will introduce some form of subscription element to its service to factor in the £900m deal for exclusive Champions League and Europa League rights from 2015/16 onwards.
WEBSITE: btsport.com/football
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SUMMARY
– Barclays Premier League – 38 LIVE games
– FA Cup – up to 25 LIVE games
– UEFA Europa League – up to 24 LIVE games
– Vanarama Conference – 30 LIVE games
– Scottish Premiership – 25 live games
– Scottish Championship – 10 live games
– FA Community Shield – LIVE
– FA WSL – 6 live games
– Serie A – LIVE
– Bundesliga, German Cup – LIVE
– Ligue 1, French Cup, Coupe de la Ligue – LIVE
– Primeira Liga, Brasiliero, MLS, A-League, Copa Libertadores – LIVE
– England Under-21 Internationals – Live
– German Internationals – Home friendlies LIVE
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WEBSITE: premiersports.tv
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SUMMARY
– Belgian Jupiler Pro League – LIVE
– Pre-season Friendlies, Selected European Qualifiers – LIVE
– Copa Sudamericana, Copa do Brasil, Argentina Primera Division – LIVE
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Scottish football fans can continue to enjoy the best of the action from north of the border on BBC Scotland this season.
Regular highlights of the Scottish Premiership every Sunday night on BBC One Scotland in the flagship Sportscene programme, plus live coverage of the Scottish Cup from round four onwards and the Scottish League Cup.
The corporation’s Gaelic-language channel BBC Alba, available nationwide on Sky, Virgin and online via BBC iPlayer, will screen selected live games from the Scottish Premiership and Scottish Championship, as well as delayed games every Saturday at 5.30pm, plus key games from the SPFL Challenge Cup.
WEBSITE: bbc.co.uk/sport/scotland
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SUMMARY
– Scottish Premiership – Highlights on BBC Scotland in Sportscene, selected LIVE games on BBC Alba
– Scottish Championship – Selected LIVE games on BBC Alba
– Scottish Cup – 1 live game per round from Round 4 to Final on BBC Scotland
– Scottish League Cup – Selected live games on BBC Scotland
– SPFL Challenge Cup, Scottish Junior Cup – Selected live games on BBC Alba
– Scotland Internationals – Highlights of home friendlies
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WEBSITE: stv.tv/football
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SUMMARY
– Scotland Internationals – Highlights of Home/Away Euro 2016 qualifiers
– SPFL – online and television clip rights
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WEBSITE: s4c.co.uk/sgorio
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SUMMARY
– Welsh Premier League – LIVE games on Sundays, Highlights in Sgorio
– Welsh Cup – Live games from Round 3 to Final
– Cardiff City/Swansea City Pre-season Friendlies – LIVE
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WEBSITE: eurosport.co.uk/football
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SUMMARY
– UEFA Youth League – Selected LIVE games
– UEFA Women’s Champions League – Selected LIVE games
– FIFA / UEFA Junior Tournaments – LIVE
– Africa Cup of Nations 2015 – LIVE
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