Saint and Greavsie
| Saint and Greavsie | |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | UK |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV |
| Original release | 5 October 1985 – June 1992 |
Saint and Greavsie was a British television show in which former footballers Ian St John and Jimmy Greaves discussed current football themes such as the day's matches. It ran on ITV from 1985 to 1992.[1]
Format
Englishman Jimmy Greaves and Scotsman Ian St John were successful football players in the 1960s, but they did not play for the same club; Greaves spent the bulk of his career with Chelsea and Tottenham, while St John played mainly for Liverpool. Their collaboration as television football pundits started with "On the Ball" in the World of Sport show. The segment was highly popular, leading to the commissioning of Saint and Greavsie as a programme in its own right.[2] A key characteristic of the show was comedy, with St John prompting Greaves to jokes and jibes.
The 30 minute show was normally broadcast shortly after 12 noon on Saturdays, to coincide with the build-up to that afternoon's football matches. At various points in the show the goals of previous matches would be shown. The show included features on clubs in both English and Scottish leagues and discussion of that weekend's major games, emphasising matches that ITV planned to broadcast.
The series initially had a simple opening sequence showing a rotating rudimentary CGI-image of a football pitch revolving several times, before a still of the two presenters popped up at the end; the theme tune was initially identical to that used for the "On the Ball" segment of World of Sport. In later years, the introduction to the show began with St John and Greaves as cigarette cards from their playing days on the opening credits, and the theme tune was changed for a piece named "Aztec Gold" composed by Silsoe, which at the time was also used as the theme tune for ITV's The Big Match.
Although the show predominantly dealt with football, it also covered sports such as cricket and boxing, with interviewees including Mike Tyson and Chris Eubank. When Greaves was ill at Christmas 1990, he was replaced in successive episodes by a puppet modelled on him from Spitting Image, a show he had often featured on.
In 1991–92, the Rumbelows Cup draw was broadcast on Saint and Greavsie. The quarter-finals were drawn by Donald Trump when the duo were in America to film a programme looking at how the USA was preparing for World Cup 1994.
End of an era
In the summer of 1992 ITV lost the rights to broadcast top-tier English football matches as the newly formed Premier League contracted to Sky Sports. ITV then discontinued Saint and Greavsie.[2] The final programmes were broadcast from Sweden during Euro 92, with the pair singing "This could be the last time" in the final credits and making jokes at Sky's expense.[2]
The pair did not present under this name again but continued to link up together and remained in touch.[2] They occasionally presented Champions League preview shows together and both remained employed by ITV for several years. Together, they hosted the discussion show Sport in Question.[2] St John continued to be used by a co-commentator for the ITV network until the arrival of Jim Beglin, while Greaves continued to appear as a pundit and co-commentator in the Central region until the mid-1990s, when he was gradually phased out in favour of Ron Atkinson. Away from their work Greaves and St John rarely met due to living in Essex and on the Wirral respectively, but Greaves said they had a "lovely relationship".[2]
In 2004, Saint and Greavsie were studio guests in an episode of Fantasy Football Euro 2004, when they were described as the "godfathers" of football comedy by Frank Skinner and David Baddiel. In earlier years they had been parodied in sketches on the show. St John criticised Baddiel and Skinner in his autobiography and interviews, following their appearance on the show.[3]
Other formats
In 1989, Grandslam Entertainment released Saint and Greavsie, a football trivia quiz game, on a variety of computer platforms. It was developed by Core Design. In 2006, Saint and Greavsie released a DVD quiz, featuring retro football action, with a book, Saint and Greavsie's Funny Old Games, having also since been published.
On 22 May 2009, Setanta Sports announced that Saint & Greavsie were reforming their double act to star in a FA Cup Special on Cup Final Day 30 May. The Saint & Greavsie FA Cup Special was broken up into three separate mini-programmes appearing throughout the build up to the Everton v Chelsea final.[4]
