Except for Viewers in Scotland , livre ebook

Andrews UK - Ronnie McDevitt

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99 pages

English

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Are you a member of the Tartan Army? Do you follow the national team's progress around the world or tune in regularly to watch the latest matches on TV? Would you like to find out more about the history of televised football in Scotland? If so you are certain to enjoy Ronnie McDevitt's latest book which combines his love of football with his knowledge of archive television. Take a trip down memory lane and relive all your favourite footballing moments as you learn about the people and places that have played a part in the beautiful game in Scotland and how football has been presented to the watching fans over the years. Both informative and entertaining, this book is guaranteed to prove a fascinating read."Except for Viewers in Scotland..." is a must-have for all Scottish football supporters and anyone with an interest in the history of television in the UK, and specifically, north of the border. To find out how television history has impacted the viewing of football in Scotland order your copy now.

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Publié par	Andrews UK
Date de parution	03 septembre 2012
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781909143609
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0200€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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Title Page
“EXCEPT FOR VIEWERS IN SCOTLAND…”
The Story of Scottish Football on Television

By
Ronnie McDevitt

Publisher Information
First published as an ebook in 2012 by
Apex Publishing Ltd
PO Box 7086, Clacton on Sea,
Essex, CO15 5WN, England
www.apexpublishing.co.uk
Digital Edition converted and published by
Andrews UK Limited 2012
www.andrewsuk.com
Copyright © 2012 by Ronnie McDevitt
The author has asserted his moral rights
All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition, that no part of this book is to be reproduced, in any shape or form. Or by way of trade, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition, including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser, without prior permission of the copyright holder.

Chapter One
Television Comes To Scotland
‘Thousands of citizens crowded round sets in dealers’ windows,’
Glasgow Herald
To examine the story of Scotlands’ national game as seen on television it is first necessary to look at the wider picture of football coverage throughout the United Kingdom and, briefly, at the origins of television itself in Great Britain.
Television in the UK began at a time before World War Two, during a period when cinema was in its heyday and when radio, gramophone records and musical instruments were the most popular forms of home entertainment.
Helensburghs own John Logie Baird had previously transmitted the first moving images as early as 1924 and in 1930 the BBC decided to expand from radio broadcasts to capitalise on this new medium with their television service officially launched on 2 November 1936.
The first televised outside broadcasts had to take place close to the Alexandra Palace transmitter in North London with the camera connected to the control room by a heavy electrical Emitron cable which had a maximum length of 1,000 feet.
Demonstrations of golf, model aeroplanes, new cars, archery, sheep dog trials, anti-aircraft guns and a boxing match were amongst the early outdoor events covered from the grounds of Alexandra Park.
Arsenal Football Club declined an invitation to appear in February 1937 as they were unable to fit a visit into their schedule.
A couple of months later the Corporation invested in a mobile unit consisting of three vans to transport their equipment with their first major event the Coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in May. Cameras at Hyde Park Corner relayed part of the procession whilst the lions share of the route and the service from Westminster Abbey were described on radio only.
A few months later Arsenal agreed to allow the BBC access to their nearby Highbury stadium. In order to justify the cost of moving the apparatus - put at £35.00 - it was felt more than one broadcast was necessary and agreement was reached for three short transmissions on consecutive days.
The first ever live televised broadcast of football lasted just two minutes on the afternoon of Wednesday September 15 th 1937 in a magazine show called ` Picture Page ’ which featured the players in training. The following afternoon soccer had its own programme when John Snagge introduced ` Football At The Arsenal’ at 3.40pm listed in the BBC magazine Radio Times as ` A demonstration by members of the Arsenal team at the Arsenal Stadium, Highbury. ’ The fifteen minute programme introduced the clubs’ manager George Allison and again showed the players exercising. The final of the three transmissions on the Friday included the first player interviews as the Gunners staff were introduced to the camera and was relayed from Alexandra Palace transmitter on the 405 line system to those who had been able to purchase one of the early Televisors.
With the Marconiphone 702 model retailing at around £63 this was about the same price as a small car in those days and there are believed to have been in the region of 10,000 sets in the country at this point.
Such was the range of the BBCs only transmitter - forty to one hundred miles - these early images were only available to those living in the London area and this restricted further outside broadcasts to those taking place in the capital until more transmitters were in place throughout the country.
The oval ball game beat competitive football onto the small screen when the following years rugby match at Twickenham between England and Scotland was shown live in its entirety on March 19 th 1938. Reception of the Scots’ 21-16 Calcutta Cup victory was described as “ splendid ” by a BBC official speaking to the Glasgow Herald. Three cameras with telephoto lenses were used to cover the game where the King was apparently `clearly seen ’ in close-up as he shook hands with the players prior to the contest. The Radio Times later reported `slight interference’ which was traced to the Alexandra Palace transmitter.
Just three weeks later, and on the same day that the German Fuhrer Herr Hitler gave a speech in Vienna urging the Austrian people to vote in favour of a union between the two nations, the England V Scotland soccer match at Wembley Stadium was shown live on the BBC. The fixture on 9 th April was the first live football broadcast on television anywhere in the world with the coverage starting ten minutes before the 3pm kick-off. Those viewing saw Tommy Walkers’ early goal - controlling the ball from Frank O’Donnell’s back header before firing home after just six minutes - give the Scots victory and, following the rugby result, completed a Caledonian double for the cameras with reception picked up as far away as Kettering - 75 miles from London - and Harwich some seventy miles from the capital. Others making their television debuts that afternoon included future Liverpool manager Bill Shankly (earning his first cap) and the legendary (later Sir) Stanley Matthews.
The outside broadcast was made possible by two BBC vans at the stadium - one for scanning the pictures from cameras connected by lengths of cable to the van - and the other for transmitting the images. The requirement of a third vehicle housing a power generator was eliminated as a sub-station was found in a stand inside the stadium conveniently close to the transmitter. The required arial was placed on the flat roof between the two domes of Wembleys twin towers and a link at Highgate then picked up the vans short-wave transmissions and forward them by an existing underground cable to Alexandra Palace. The cable had been layed by the General Post Office prior to the previous years’ Coronation and linked key parts of the capital to the transmitter.
The early Emitron cameras used were optical electrical devices which contained no film and merely transmitted the pictures. At this point there was no way of recording the transmissions so sadly there are no existing examples of these early broadcasts - they were shown once then lost forever. Interestingly the radio commentaries for both the rugby and football internationals were also used for the respective telecasts with Thomas Woodroffe and George Allison describing the action from Wembley.
Ironically this fixture proved to be the first time England had failed to find the net in a Wembley international and one suspects the majority of those London viewers would have been far from impressed at what Henry Rose of the Daily Express considered to be “ the worst international I have seen for years; almost ever .” Twenty years later respected sports journalist Rose lost his life along with members of the Manchester United team in the Munich air crash. Writing in the Daily Mail F.M. Caruthers concurred with Rose describing /the game as “ the poorest of the long sequence of matches I have seen between the countries.” Not surprisingly the Glasgow Evening Times’ Alan Brecks assessment was less scathing commenting that “ Wembley of 1938 will be remembered for the cup-tie intensity of the play rather than for cultured football.” w hilst the Glasgow Heralds’ unnamed scribed concluded “the Scots were entitled to their narrow victory at Wembley.”
Commenting on the broadcast in the regular `Televison News’ column of Radio Times, `The Scanner’ seemed to have been impressed. `To me, and I expect to you, the transmission seemed perfect.’ The Scanner then promised that the live broadcast of the forthcoming FA Cup Final and the Derby from Epsom would be even better as the BBC stepped up its live sports coverage.
Football in Scotland had previously occasionally been recorded for cinema screenings by newsreel companies so there are certainly some earlier recorded images of the Scottish side in existence dating as far back as February 1921 and a Home International against Wales in Aberdeen. Newsreel footage of the Wembley 1938 game and the Walker goal does survive if not the historic television pictures. Live radio commentaries date back to April 1927 when the action from both the Scotland - England match and the Scottish Cup Final were relayed from Hampden Park.
Just prior to the start of the last war in 1939 there had been almost 16,000 television sets sold in the UK. Some of these early models were available in kit form to reduce production costs.
The BBC discontinued their television service for the duration of the conflict, broadcasting once again on radio only before resuming tv broadcasts on 7 th June 1946.
The last half hour of the 1947 drawn match between Scotland and England at Wembley was shown live on the BBC as was the whole of Scotlands’ 3-1 victory at the same venue in April1949 although again only in the London area.
The first Scottish