1983/84: Tottenham v Nottingham Forest

It was a move that divided opinion. When news broke in the summer of 1983 that Division One matches would be shown live on BBC and ITV, there was more anxiety than expectation. From this point in time, the relationship between the national game and television would change the sport forever.

The £5.2 million deal struck would see both channels allocated five league matches each, although the BBC only covered four due to a technicians' strike leading to the Watford-West Ham fixture being scrapped. There was certainly no chance of over exposure during the first full season of live coverage.

ITV had shown the only live league match in television history, a 1960 fixture between Blackpool and Bolton, but on Sunday October 2, 1983, the televised football revolution would begin in earnest. Tottenham v Nottingham Forest was the point of no return.

There was some doubt though as to whether live league football would work. With attendances already declining and television viewing figures dropping for highlights packages, was there really a market for this new product?

The Guardian's David Lacey pondered if the First Division clubs were aware of the dangers ahead, a Catch 22 as he described it. "An excellent match on television will persuade the fans that this is a better way to see soccer; a poor game will convince them that it is not worth paying money to watch it anyway."

Others saw it as an opportunity. Writing for his column in the Mirror, ITV's Jimmy Greaves urged it was time to embrace the national game. "Give TV soccer a chance. Let's USE it to promote the best things about our great game. We will be reaching an audience of millions, many of whom just might be attracted back to the grounds if they see we can still produce football that is worth watching."

The big issue with Greavsie's optimism was the state of football in the UK. The Sunday Times in 1985 would label football as "a slum sport played in slum stadiums and increasingly watched by slum people," which was a less than polite way of stating that football was unfashionable at the time. Were the television companies effectively flogging a dead horse?

Tottenham would make every effort to entice supporters to White Hart Lane for the first live league match of the new deal. Spending £2,500 on advertising, the main message behind the campaign being "It's not really live unless you're there." With appearances from Chas and Dave, Warren Mitchell (Alf Garnett), a marching band, and a parachute team, the club were putting on a show.

There were other incentives. Offering free transport from Ware, Hertford, Hoddesdon, Broxbourne, Cheshunt, Waltham Cross and Harlow, the first 1,000 under-16s through the gates would also receive a free programme, a Spurs pen, and an autographed photo of the team.

"The aim obviously is to get as many people out of their homes as early as possible," Tottenham Commercial Manager Mike Lewis declared. "If we don't get them out before lunch, they'll simply stay indoors and watch it on the television." But one man in particular was not impressed with the 2.35pm kick off on Sunday.

Tottenham manager Keith Burkinshaw was adamant that television should not be dictating terms to football clubs. "It's an outrage that we can be dictated to like this and I have no intention of standing for it. It is our home match and we will kick off when it suits us...not the television cameras. All our afternoon matches start at three o'clock. I see no reason for this one to be different and I will fight it all the way."

Burkinshaw's comments seem naïve in retrospect, yet you could certainly see his point of view. His views on how it would impact the club's supporters ring true for the present relationship between television companies and football fans.

"I still feel we are penalising our season ticket holders," Burkinshaw noted. "They bought their seats to watch soccer on a Saturday afternoon not a Sunday. I think sometimes we forget the people who stand by us on all occasions." Football without fans is nothing, apparently. But broadcasters will quite happily reschedule matches nowadays without consideration of those attending fixtures.

One of Burkinshaw's main concerns, along with many in football, was the potential impact on attendances. The Football League had set up a £300,000 pool which could be used as compensation for clubs if their gates were reduced. Tottenham planned to dip into it if the Forest game attracted less than 30,000. Fortunately they didn't need to.

The match itself was one of the more attractive fixtures on the football calendar. Burkinshaw and his opposite number Brian Clough liked football to be played on grass rather than in the air, and the two clubs really should have met in the UEFA Cup final later on in the season had it not been for some underhand tactics deployed by Anderlecht.

The crowd of 30,596 at the match would be the biggest crowd of the weekend in Division One, alleviating the initial fears of many. Tottenham Chairman Douglas Alexiou was delighted at the success of the day. "It was a super occasion, a super crowd. We tried to make it a day out for the family and we hope that some of them will come back and see us play again."

Strangely the main razzmatazz was limited for those who actually made their way to White Hart Lane. For television viewers the coverage started just five minutes before the kick off, with Jim Rosenthal presenting, Greaves assisting, and the excellent Brian Moore commentating alongside Ian St John.

For a struggling Tottenham team - just two wins in their opening seven league matches - the afternoon could not have got off to a worse start. After just five minutes a Steve Wigley backheel sent Viv Anderson free on the right and his cross was swept in by Colin Walsh. With Anderson, Colin Todd, and Paul Hart playing solidly at the back, Forest were threatening to gate crash the party.

When Tottenham did get through, they were thwarted by the excellent Hans van Breuklen, the Dutch keeper denying the superb Glenn Hoddle on multiple occasions. But the match would change when winger Gary Brooke replaced Alan Brazil just after the hour mark.

Brooke's fine cross from the right allowed new signing Gary Stevens to head home from close range in the 69th minute, and with five minutes remaining Brooke's free kick was headed across goal by Mark Falco, giving Steve Archibald a tap-in and handing Tottenham their first home league win of the campaign.

Generally the afternoon was seen as a success, but there were some reservations. Amusingly, St John commented, "It's better to be here than sitting at home in front of the TV," before Moore interjected, "I'm not sure you should be saying that." But St John was not alone in his opinion.

The Mirror's Frank McGhee was less than convinced: "TV soccer will always be slightly unsatisfying - a picture of steak and chips rather than a mouthful because two dimensions can't match three. Sight and sound can't be as real without the addition of taste and smell."

Lacey was also singing the praises of attending matches in the flesh. "Watching football is about noise and bustle and the smell of overcooked onions from the hot-dog stalls. Yesterday ITV offered us lager, chocolate bars and cigars - but only in the commercials."

Head of ITV Sport John Bromley was delighted with the 5,036,000 viewing figures. "An audience of this size on a Sunday afternoon is very encouraging. People are getting tired of highlights and this match proved there is nothing to be frightened of with live coverage." But with the recent England-Denmark match attracting 10,474,000 viewers, some were sceptical.

A BBC spokesman called the figure "very disappointing". "If that had happened to us we would have been crying our eyes out. Songs of Praise later the same Sunday drew just as big an audience." "Live television is an experiment and we'll have to wait and see how it goes," a Football League spokesman added with caution.

Love it or hate it, live league football was here to stay. The early tentative steps taken in 1983/84 laid the foundations for the future, but first football had to get its own house in order. It would take the tragedy of Hillsborough to improve spectator safety; the success of England at Italia 90 proved that on the pitch there was a product that could be sold.

Interestingly, just before the Tottenham-Forest match, news broke of Rupert Murdoch moving into the world of satellite television. With Tottenham also becoming the first club to sell shares on the London Stock Exchange, the shape of football was changing, not that we knew this at the time. Forest would feature in the first Premier League match to be show on Sky. By then it was a whole new ball game.