Off the Ball (radio series)

Off the Ball is a radio show broadcast on Saturdays and Sundays from 12:00pm – 2:00pm on BBC Radio Scotland. It takes a satirical and sideways view at football in Scotland, self-styling itself as "The most petty and ill-informed sports programme on radio!".

Off the Ball
Running time120 minutes
Country of originScotland
Language(s)English
Home stationBBC Radio Scotland
Hosted byStuart Cosgrove & Tam Cowan
Original release13 August 1994 – present
Opening theme"Let Me Clear My Throat" by DJ Kool
WebsiteOff the Ball
PodcastOff the Ball podcast

Background

The show began in 1994, and is currently (since 1995) presented by broadcaster and writer Stuart Cosgrove, a fan of St Johnstone, and newspaper columnist Tam Cowan, a Motherwell supporter, plus at least two weekly guests; usually one from the world of Scottish football and one from Scottish culture. When the show first began, it was hosted by Cowan and comedians Greg Hemphill and Sanjeev Kohli, who later acknowledged that they did not have the depth of football knowledge required to give credibility to the format in addition to its humorous aspects, which Cosgrove was successful in providing.[1]The show was known as On the Ball when it aired from 1:30pm until 2pm prior to the 3pm matches being played on Saturdays, with the post-football show being called Off the Ball.

Occasionally, other presenters will cover for Cosgrove or Cowan if they are not available, including Jane Lewis and Annie McGuire.

The BBC briefly suspended Cowan from the programme in 2013 following controversy over remarks he made about women's football in his Daily Record newspaper column.[2]

Features

Features of the show include the Team of the Week, where listeners are invited to contribute players for a subject suggested by Cowan. For example, if the subject was "The Female Fashion XI", then players such as Alan Bra-zil and Lionel Dress-i would be in the team. In a long-running joke, former Clyde player Tommy Ring is almost always included in the team.

Listener interaction is always encouraged on the show, with the presenters asking for contributions on a variety of football and non-football related topics. Limericks are often asked for, with the first line usually given by Tam or Stuart.

The Terracing Teaser is a weekly competition, with a question usually suggested by Tam, such as "If x is the answer, then what is the question?". Tam, Stuart and a guest choose a winner, and they win either an Off the Ball mug or face mask.

A song is always chosen to end the programme based on listeners' suggestions on a subject suggested by Cowan, usually related to a news event from that week. On the Sunday show, songs with a particular theme are chosen by the listeners and played in full.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, National Clinical Director of the Scottish Government, Professor Jason Leitch, is a regular guest on the Saturday programme, answering listeners' questions about the pandemic.

Podcast

A weekly podcast of the show is produced and is available on a Saturday. The show is also available on the BBC Sounds app for thirty days after the first broadcast. A podcast of the Sunday show is also produced and is made available during the following week.

Theme tune

The programme's theme tune is "Let Me Clear My Throat" by DJ Kool, followed by a snatch of the theme music from The Odd Couple.

References
  1. Off the Ball: Celebrating 25 years of the most petty and ill-informed football show, BBC Sport, 17 December 2019
  2. Castle, Jill. "Tam Cowan returns to Off the Ball after BBC lift suspension". The Herald. Glasgow. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.