Match of the Day at 60: Top 5 Moments

Match of the Day celebrates it's 60th anniversary next week and to mark the anniversary, I've decided to rank my top 5 moments from the show.

I've been watching Match of the Day for pretty much my entire life and have been a fan of the show ever since I first watched it. I was thinking about doing a top 10, but I couldn't think 10 moments so I did 5 instead.

And here they are...

5. No analysis for Leicester-West Ham following helicopter crash - 2018

Leicester's 1-1 draw with West Ham in 2018 was overshadowed by the death of then-Leicester chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, who died in a helicopter crash outside the King Power Stadium after the match.

When Match of the Day was aired later that evening, there was no analysis on the game itself. Gary Lineker later described that episode of Match of the Day as the toughest one he's ever done mainly because he's a Leicester fan and also, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha was the man behind Leicester's incredible title win in 2016.

I had to put this one here because of the emotion Gary Lineker must've felt going into the show and the brave decision he made in deciding not to do any analysis on the game between the Foxes and West Ham.

4. Alan Shearer singing - 2022

During the first two episodes of the 2022/23 season, regular pundit Alan Shearer decided to add some signing into his analysis.

In the first show of the season, he was analysing Southampton's defending against Spurs and notably defender Yan Valery. During his analysis he said that the defender had to come on over. After his co-pundit Ian Wright asked him who he was referring to, he sung Valery to the tune of Valerie by Amy Winehouse.

In the second show, he was analysing a game between Aston Villa and Everton and when he talked about a player giving the ball away, his co-pundit in Micah Richards asked him what his name was, and Shearer replied by singing Onana to the tune of What's my name by Rihanna.

I put this one because it was one of the funniest moments I've ever seen when watching Match of the Day and arguably one of the most iconic.

3. Barry Davies returns - 2014

As part of the show's 50th anniversary ten years ago, former commentator Barry Davies returned as part of the anniversary by being the commentator for a match between Crystal Palace and West Ham.

The editor even decided to bring back the old graphics from the show's early days to go with Davies' returns which made it more iconic.

Davies was a commentator on Match of the Day for 35 years and his return to show in 2014 had to be on this list.

2. Alan Hansen's "You can't win anything with kids" quote - 1995

After missing out on the Premier League title to Blackburn the season before, then-Man United boss Alex Ferguson decided to put his faith in his his younger players instead of going out to sign any big-name players.

The decision was beginning to backfire as his side lost their opening game of the 1995/96 season 3-1 to Aston Villa and on the first Match of the Day of the season, Alan Hansen criticized Fergie's decision not to sign players by saying that "You can't win anything with kids".

This quote arguably still remains the most iconic in Match of the Day history and it had to be near the top of this list.

1. Gary Lineker in his pants - 2016

In the lead up to the 2016/17 season, a lot of people will have been asking whether Gary Lineker was going to present the first Match of the Day of the season in his pants. This came after he put on Twitter in December 2015 that if Leicester were to win the Premier League, he would present the first Match of the Day of the following season in his pants.

And he was true to his word as Leicester went on to win the Premier League in 2016 and Lineker hosted the first Match of the Day of the following season in his pants.

This for me had to be no.1 because of the build up to the moment for many months.