Former Soccer Focus presenter Bob Wilson has condemned the BBC’s resolution to scrap the beloved present forward of subsequent season. A fixture within the schedules for generations of supporters, Soccer Focus first aired as a part of Grandstand in 1974.
“I simply cannot consider there aren’t individuals at midday on a Saturday who do not wish to watch a present that units up the weekend,” Wilson wrote for The Occasions. “Certainly another person will decide it up as an idea?
“I’m actually disillusioned it has come to this. The BBC has mentioned will probably be changed subsequent season by an interview present about what makes footballers tick. That’s loopy.
“Individuals wish to be instructed concerning the large video games of the weekend, the problems, the information of the week, dialogue, overlaying a variety of golf equipment and personalities. Not only one.” The 84-year-old fronted Soccer Focus for twenty years earlier than departing the BBC for ITV in 1994. The previous Arsenal goalkeeper mentioned he was “completely shocked” by the announcement to axe the programme.
He added: “It would really feel totally different after I subsequent watch Soccer Focus. It turned an establishment. And might be missed.”
Wilson’s sentiments had been mirrored by former Soccer Focus presenter Dan Walker, who helmed the present from 2009 till 2021. Posting on X, Walker mentioned: “Actually unhappy to listen to concerning the finish of Soccer Focus I liked that present rising up.”
He continued: “The soccer panorama is consistently altering, and it is disappointing that there is not area for a present that has meant a lot to so many individuals for thus a few years.”
A BBC press launch confirmed that the choice to scrap Soccer Focus was pushed by “altering viewers behaviours”. The broadcaster famous that followers are “consuming soccer content material in several methods” and the BBC wanted to “reply appropriately”.
In a press release, Director of BBC Sport Alex Kay-Jelski mentioned: “Soccer Focus has been a massively essential programme within the historical past of BBC Sport and has performed a key function in telling the tales of the sport for generations of viewers. This resolution was made earlier than final week’s wider BBC financial savings announcement, reflecting the continued shift in how audiences have interaction with soccer and our dedication to evolving how we ship content material to succeed in followers wherever they’re.”
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