Television & sport is the ultimate marriage of convenience. The two circled each other warily for a while
- sport anxious the sofa-bound might spurn the live product TV reluctant in a limited channel world to hand over too much screen time to flannelled fools & muddied oafs. But they got together & stayed together for the sake of the money & now you cannot imagine one without the other. They are indivisible like an old couple sitting in a teashop finishing each others sentences & there is little doubt which is the dominant partner. You have only to think of the recent sports stars who have left their muddy fields to don sequins grab partners & tango their way across the stage in ultimate Saturday night television style to see how far the two have come on their journey together. In Sit Down & Cheer Martin Kelner traces the development of this relationship from its humble origins in the 1960 Olympics by way of the first-ever Match of the Day in 1964 through to the financial impact of Sky right up to the high-tech gadgetry of our present-day viewing. Insightful & very funny this is an entertaining exploration of two major national pastimes & not to be missed.