This is a timeline of the history of ITV Sport, provider of sports coverage for the British ITV network and ITV Digital Channels.
1950s and 1960s 1955 22 September – ITV is launched and sport - boxing - is part of the launch night's programmes. 12 October - ITV shows live football for the first time. They cover the second half of a floodlit friendly between Tottenham Hotspur and Vasas Budapest from White Hart Lane, although the foggy weather may have affected the broadcast. 26 October - For the first time, a match in European competition is televised. ITV shows the second half of the Inter-Cities’ Fairs Cup tie between London and Frankfurt. This is also the first floodlit match at Wembley Stadium. The European Cup begins this season, though there is no television coverage of Scotland’s entrant Hibernian. England is not represented in the inaugural competition. 9 November - Wrestling debuts on ITV, with Kent Walton commentating, from West Ham Baths.https://itvwrestling.co.uk/55.html 30 November - ITV shows a home England international live from Wembley for the first time when Associated Rediffusion broadcasts their 4-1 victory over Spain, with Kent Walton commentating. October–November – ITV creates a rugby league tournament called the Independent Television Floodlit Trophy. Played under floodlights at various London football grounds, the tournament was shown live in the London area only because ITV had not launched in the sport's north of England heartlands. The second half of the matches are shown live. The competition was a one-off and did not return the following year.
1956 12 January - ITV broadcasts its first coverage of the FA Cup when it shows live the second half Third Round replay between non-league Bedford Town and Arsenal. The network covers two further replays that season. 17 March - ITV company ABC televises recorded highlights (on film) of the FA Cup Semi-Final between Birmingham City and Sunderland, the network’s first ever highlights programme. 5 May - The FA Cup Final is broadcast live simultaneously on BBC TV and ITV for the first time. ITV’s main commentator Peter Lloyd becomes the only broadcaster to commentate on the final for both BBC and ITV, having covered the 1949 and 1950 finals for BBC TV. England captain Billy Wright and former Manchester City and England goalkeeper Frank Swift join him in the commentary box for ITV’s first Cup Final broadcast. June – ITV's coverage of the The Wimbledon Tennis Championships debuts to complete with the BBC's coverage. 1957 25 April - A European Cup tie featuring a British side is televised live for the first time, on ITV. The second leg of the Manchester United v Real Madrid semi-final is broadcast from Old Trafford. The network takes coverage of the second half, but in the Granada region (covering the north of England) the whole match was shown with Gerry Loftus and Frank Swift commentating. 4 May - ITV declines the opportunity to cover the FA Cup Final. 18 September - Scotsport launches on Scottish Television, although the programme was initially called Sports Desk. 14 December - Scottish Television shows a club football match for the first time. Three days after the game was played, a ten minute film of Rangers’ European Cup tie away to AC Milan is broadcast on the Sports Desk programme.
1958 8–29 June – The 1958 FIFA World Cup is covered live by BBC Television and, for the first time, by ITV. Ten live matches are made available via Eurovision. All were shown by the BBC, while seven were taken by the commercial network. 13–19 July – ITV shows coverage of the Commonwealth Games. This is the only time that ITV has covered the event to compete with the BBC's coverage. 9 September - Scottish Television broadcasts live football for the first time. The European Cup Preliminary Round tie between Hearts and Standard Liège is also ITV’s first contribution to the Eurovision network.
1960 ITV agrees a deal worth £150,000 with the Football League to screen 26 matches; the very first live league match was on Saturday 10 September 1960 between Blackpool and Bolton Wanderers at Bloomfield Road. The match kicked off at 6:50 pm with live coverage starting at 7:30 under the title The Big Game. The game is played in front of a half-empty stadium. TV withdraws from the deal after first Arsenal and then Tottenham Hotspur refused them permission to shoot at their matches against Newcastle United and Aston Villa respectively, and the Football League demanded a dramatic increase in player appearance payments. 1 June – ITV and the BBC both show The Derby because it was a protected event which could not be exclusive to either channel. However, the rest of the Epsom events, including The Oaks, are broadcast exclusively on ITV.
1962 26 August - Tyne Tees Television becomes the first ITV regional company to broadcast weekly Football League highlights. Their programme Shoot showed filmed excerpts of matches in the north-east of England 30 September – ITV company Anglia Television launches Match of the Week, which shows highlights of matches from around East Anglia. It is often written that the first match shown was Ipswich Town's 3–2 defeat at the hands of Wolves at Portman Road on 22 September 1962.However, this was a pilot programme and was not transmitted. The first edition was shown a week later, featuring Norwich City’s match with Derby County. Anglia’s debut programme, directed by Bob Gardam, was a pioneering one. This was the first time an edited football match, recorded on videotape, had been shown on television anywhere in the world.
1963 ITV shows cricket for the first time, focussing initially on a new one-day event The Gillette Cup.
1965 2 January – The first edition of World of Sport is broadcast. The new programme incorporates ITV's coverage of wrestling, usually shown at 4pm as a weekly feature throughout the programme's run. although a midweek late evening slot would also continue until 1976. Another regular feature would be horse racing.
1966 The BBC and ITV share the rights to England's home cricket test matches. This arrangement continues until 1968, after which the full rights transfer back to the BBC. 11–30 July – The BBC and ITV are joint host broadcasters of the 1966 World Cup. ITV crews supply the pictures seen worldwide from Old Trafford, Villa Park, White City and Roker Park.
1968 24 June-6 July – The Wimbledon Championships are shown on ITV for the final time. ITV launches On the Ball, a lunchtime preview of the day's football fixtures. It is shown as a segment within World of Sport. 25 August – The first edition of The Big Match is broadcast. Originally shown primarily by London Weekend Television, the programme would eventually becomes the brand for all of ITV's domestic football coverage in the 1980s. 12–27 October – ITV shows the Olympic Games for the first time.
1969 6 September – After six years, ITV decides to stop showing cricket on a national basis. Some county games are occasionally shown on a regional basis for the next 25 years. 14 October – The first ITV Seven takes place, under the title of They’re Off!. The required number of races was obtained by televising races at two courses each week.
1970s 1970 2–7 July – ITV shows a home England Cricket Test Match for the final time - the 2nd Test v The Rest of the World at Trent Bridge. This is due to the BBC being committed to Wimbledon. 13 November – The Colour Strike begins when ITV staff refuse to work with colour television equipment following a dispute over pay with its management.
1971 3 February – After nearly three months, the ITV Colour Strike ends and programmes resume being made in colour.
1972 14–18 June - ITV covers the finals of the UEFA European Championship for the first time. ITV shows darts on a national basis for the first time as part of its World of Sport programme when it shows coverage of that year's News of the World Darts Championship.
1973 20–22 September - ITV shows the Ryder Cup for the first time.
1974 31 August – ITV shows the first edition of the World Masters (darts). It continues to show the event until it drops darts in 1988.
1975 4 June – ITV becomes the exclusive broadcaster of The Derby - the race had been shown by both ITV and the BBC since 1960.
1976 2 June - ITV is the exclusive broadcaster of The Derby for the second year in a row - The BBC had opted not to show the 1975 and 1976 Epsom Derbies due to budget cuts.
1977 23 June - Scottish Television and Grampian Television show overnight live coverage of the Brazil v Scotland friendly live from Rio de Janeiro from 12:45am–3:00am in the early hours of Friday 24 June.
1978 7 June - ITV is, once again, the exclusive broadcaster of The Derby as the BBC turned down the opportunity to show the race jointly with ITV. London Weekend Television wins exclusive rights to all league football coverage for ITV in a move termed "Snatch of the Day". Although the Office of Fair Trading blocked the move, the BBC is forced to allow ITV to take over the Saturday night slot in alternating seasons, beginning with the 1980-81 season.Tim Bradford When Saturday Comes, London: Penguin, 2005, p.882-83 30 August - The first edition of Midweek Sports Special is broadcast.
1979 10 August – No ITV programmes are broadcast for eleven successive weeks owing to a technicians' strike.
1980s 1980 4 June – ITV again takes over as the exclusive broadcaster of The Derby - the BBC had also shown the 1977 and 1979 races.
1981 2–8 March - ITV starts showing Snooker on a national basis with daily live and recorded coverage of the Yamaha Organs Trophy followed later in the year with the first Jameson International. From 1982 the Classic would get full daily national coverage and in 1983 a new tournament would be added to the schedule the World Doubles Championship replaced in 1988 with the World Matchplay which would give ITV four tournaments a year. Snooker on ITV before this was shown on a regional and semi networked basis with regionally televised tournaments and semi networked pro celebrity tournaments, all of which were pre-recorded.
1982 2 November - Channel 4 launches and ITV uses Channel 4 for extended coverage of sporting events.
1983 14 May – Regional coverage of football outside of Scotland on ITV ends, as, from the following season, LWT's The Big Match will become ITV's national football programme, with Scotsport continuing to air in Scotland. 21 May – ITV shows the FA Cup Final live under World Of Sport as usual but drops the networked Friday night preview and highlights shows although Granada and TVS (the regions of the 2 finalists Manchester United and Brighton) do show FA Cup Final Preview (The former under their usual Kick Off programme and the latter as Coast to Coast's Friday Sports preview slot Friday Sportshow) and highlights programmes. (Match Time/The Saturday Match and Sunday Sportsclub which was originally due to show live coverage of Brighton's homecoming). 7–14 August – ITV (and the BBC) show the first World Athletics Championships with highlights on Channel 4. 2 October – ITV shows a live top flight football match for the first time since 1960. This marks the start of English football being shown on a national basis rather than on a regional basis, resulting in The Big Match becoming a fully national programme.
1984 29 January - ITV televises live the FA Cup Fourth Round match between Brighton and Liverpool. The network had not shown a live match other than the final for 28 years, since a Sixth Round Replay between West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur in 1956. 22 March - Midweek Racing switches to Channel 4. However Racing would continue to be shown on ITV on Saturdays on World Of Sport and on Bank Holiday Mondays on Bank Holiday Sports Special until just before the end of World of Sport in September 1985.