We all know how dominant the Premier League is in football news, but it is depressing how media like the BBC contribute to that by failing to even mention important results in the domestic Leagues below. This happened last night when Spurs played Everton alongside the League 1 play-off semi-finals second legs. In the 10 o’clock BBC1 News a report on the PL match was followed by some European results one of which was a play-off which decided whether Werder Bremen would retain their place in the Bundesliga. There was no mention of the League 1 play-offs.
It is no wonder that so many football fans in England, who are likely to be a Premier League followers of some sort, know very little about lower league football. The BBC features instead, for example, Womens’ football (Super league average attendance: 3,401), County Cricket (where the low attendance figures are difficult to locate), NFL, Athletics and Gymnastics, yet virtually ignores EFL football except the FA Cup; even then, the focus and their encouragement seems heavily weighted towards the non-League sides. It is true that top level events in some of these sports are well attended, but week in, week out lower league football has a very significant following which extends beyond those who can regularly be at matches, yet the BBC systematically ignores it. So it is no wonder all the money and sponsorship goes to the Premier League.
The Wycombe/Fleetwood match was a far better advertisement for League 1 than the Oxford/Portsmouth one. Apart from last night, Oxford have put in some excellent performances this season. but my abiding impression of Portsmouth is that getting results is their main attribute; they rarely seem able to shine very brightly. I don’t think the Marquis we saw last night would have helped us a great deal in the season just gone, but Andrew not only scored for Fleetwood in a much more lively attractive match, but would have been very useful indeed. Oxford will have to do a good deal better if they are to get the better of Wycombe at Wembley. Nobody thought Bournemouth had any kind of future, even in the Championship, so it would be a serious mistake to write off Wycombe.
The BBC and English lower league football
posted on 7/7/20
Fully agree OP
You have to look hard to find L1 or L2 coverage on the BBC. It should be miles ahead of women's football
posted on 7/7/20
The push on women's football by the BBC is a bit nauseating but other than that they're just reporting on what people want. Is Oxford FC national news?
The website covered it plenty though as did the radio.
posted on 8/7/20
Over here in the USA my only real access to UK football is through the BBC website, and the coverage of L1 and L2 is "reasonable". I do follow some games on the live text. To watch one has to have a cable/satellite service and I do not. NBC do broadcast the late Premiership game in a "normal" season over-the-air, but games during these weeks are very few other than on their cable channel.
Here in self-proclaimed "Soccer City USA" where we have both a men's and women's professional teams, local TV coverage is sparse except on a cable channel, although a few of the Portland Timbers' (men's) games are carried over-the-air by the local Fox station. The only coverage for the Thorns has been streaming on their own website for home games and sometimes for away games. The mini-women's tournament going on now is being carried by CBS for the first time, but again most games are on their cable channels. There is real interest in women's game over here - mainly because the national team does far better than the men's national team! Our local ground holds 25218 and the Timbers sell-out every game (there are thousands on the season ticket wait list), and last season the Thorns averaged 20,098 per game - the women's league as a whole averaged 7337 per game and so you can see why we are called Soccer City USA!
Donaldo, my cousin and Oxford fan agrees the games against Pompey were somewhat boring, and the Fleetwood/Wycombe much more entertaining. He said Oxford played well below the standard they had just before the season halted.
Your comment about Marquis is interesting - I had noticed he has not started regularly and if he does he is substituted in some of the games.
I see the Dingles and Luton drew, so still very open at the bottom of the Championship, especially as Wigan have appealed the 12 point deduction. Now rumors have it that a senior EFL official was involved with the betting...!!!
posted on 9/7/20
Robbing Hoody: My point is just that; there IS national interest in the leagues below the PL and the BBC are denying it to their public. There is interest in the International level of the women’s game, but domestically, only one club, Spurs, get over 10,000 to watch regularly. The best of the rest struggle to attract more than 4000 with most less, around half the average in League 1 and also less than the average in League 2.
Portland is obviously a lively place to be and no doubt TV coverage shapes interest to a degree and in most countries this is driven by commercial influence, especially advertising which is probably more powerful than anything. But the BBC’S Charter obligations surely make it a duty to fill the gaps which business interests choose to ignore. Perhaps this is just an example of their fear of failing to be seen to be sufficiently diverse. To be fair, their website coverage does extend more generously towards that which is non-Premier League, but I get the impression that their broadcast journalists and their producers are ignorant of what happens in the lower echelons, possibly of all sports.