EURO 2012 ON ITV – DARE TO DREAM
ITV is set to bring football fans comprehensive coverage of what promises to be a fantastic tournament in Poland and Ukraine.
Coverage of the tournament on ITV kicks off on the opening day on June 8, and will include England’s opening game at Euro 2012 against France three days later.
Host Adrian Chiles is joined by an all-star pundit panel of Patrick Vieira, Roy Keane, Jamie Carragher, Roberto Martinez and Gordon Strachan with regulars Gareth Southgate and Andy Townsend to bring the event to ITV from Poland and Ukraine.
The ITV team will be based in a specially constructed studio in Warsaw.
Including the England v France group match in Donetsk on Monday 11 June and England’s match against Ukraine on Tuesday 19 June, ITV will be broadcasting a total of 14 live matches from Euro 2012 on ITV1 and ITV4 with live streaming on itv.com.
All games not covered live will be featured in highlights programmes, and all of our ITV1 live matches will also be shown on ITV1 HD. A range of highlights packages will be available on ITV.com.
Niall Sloane, ITV Director of Sport said: "I am delighted that we are bringing ITV viewers a fantastic panel of pundits, as well as being the only domestic terrestrial broadcaster with a full team based at the tournament.
“That means we can bring to life for fans the atmosphere and excitement which surrounds Europe’s major international football tournament.
'ITV1 will also be the home of some terrificclashesbetween the top teams in Europe including Spain v Ireland, Spain v Italy, Portugal v Holland and Ireland v Croatia.'”
Clive Tydesley will lead commentary for ITV at Euro 2012, with Gabriel Clarke and Ned Boulting providing roving reports.
Euro 2012 marks the first competitive test since Roy Hodgson’s appointment as England manager. It will prove an opportunity to blood new talent and perhaps a final test for a so-called ‘golden generation’ of English footballers who failed to produce at the last two World Cups.
Most of all, it is a chance for England’s players to fulfil their potential – and that’s what dreams are made of.
ITV LAUNCHES BRAND NEW EURO 2012 DIGITAL OFFERING
ITV today unveiled its brand new dedicated digital offering for Euro 2012.
The new site is the first iteration of the brand new digital sport product that will roll out in due course. The site utilises the real-time rolling news feature, which was launched as part of the new ITV News digital product earlier this year.
The new simple and effective design offers users the option of both a first and second screen experience. For users who are away from their TV and simply want to watch the tournament, ITV games will be streamed live to the website and featured at the top of the webpage, with the remaining content listed below. For those who want to use the site as a companion to main screen viewing for matches on both ITV and the BBC, the rolling timeline will include goal highlights, match reports and social media activity as the action happens. Contextually relevant statistics will also be available toward the right hand side of the website including group details, team statistics and historical match data.
The new site, which is optimised for use on mobiles and tablets, has been created in partnership withdigital innovation and service design experts Made by Many.
Julian March, Head of Digital Media, ITV News & Sport, said: “Having successfully launched the ITV News site earlier in the year, we are very excited about launching the Euro 2012 website to provide real-time coverage of the tournament. We believe the service is packed to the brim with everything the avid football fan will need, and we look forward to expanding the design of this product to our wider sport offering in due course.”
William Owen, founding partner at Made by Many, said: "This is another successful collaboration between ITV and Made by Many. The real time format developed originally for ITV News adds a rich layer of statistics, clips, team news and expert comment to ITV's live simulcast coverage of Euro 2012; it gives the ITV Sport editorial team the opportunity to respond quickly to events and build coverage before, during and after the match.”
ITV EURO 2012 TEASER SHOWS WHAT DREAMS ARE MADE OF
What if the Hand Of God got Diego Maradona sent off in '86?
What if Gareth Southgate had scored his penalty at Euro '96?
What if Steve McClaren's umbrella had become a symbol of England's finest hour in 2008?
To whet fans' appetites for the upcoming Euro 2012 championships in Ukraine and Poland, ITV has recreated some of England's most agonising football failures since 1966 and turned them around to show what might have been.
Imagine the glorious celebrations that could have happened if England had benefited from that little bit of luck at crucial moments in key matches - it's what dreams are made of.
The full advert revisits infamous moments from England's footballing past and shows what might have happened if everything had gone right for a change.
Gareth Southgate, now a pundit for ITV Sport's football coverage, memorably ended up making an advert for a pizza firm which sent up his penalty miss in the Euro '96 semi-final against Germany.
On ITV's recreation of that moment, linked above, Gareth said: "If only it was true and I had scored that penalty - I wouldn't have had to make those adverts!"
Certainly if Tomas Brolin's shot had flown wide of the post in Stockholm in 1992, it might have been a different story.
If Sol Campbell's disallowed last-minute winner against Portugal at Euro 2004 had been given, England might have won the tournament.
And if Scott Carson had stopped Croatia from scoring in 2008, then Steve McLaren's umbrella may have been a symbol of England's success rather than failure to qualify.
Perhaps if England had gone on to win the European Championships in 1992, the team would have been knighted – including nippy long-forgotten winger Andy Sinton.
These moments and more are among those re-imagined by ITV in its new campaign for Euro 2012.
ITV's Euro 2012 coverage of the tournament, which kicks off on June 8, features an all-star line-up with presenter Adrian Chiles and regulars Gareth Southgate and Andy Townsend joined by Patrick Vieira, Roy Keane, Jamie Carragher, Gordon Strachan and Roberto Martinez.
BIOGRAPHIES
Presenters & Pundits
ADRIAN CHILES
Adrian Chilesis one of television’s most versatile and sought after presenters.
He fronts ITV1’s football coverage (including the UEFA Champions League, FA Cup, UEFA European Football Championship, World Cup and all home England internationals) and is currently filming a third series of his successful That Sunday Night Show, also for ITV1.
Adrian also launched and presentedThe One Show,Match of the Day 2,The Apprentice: You’re Fired,Working Lunch and Daybreak.
ROY KEANE
Manchester United icon Roy Keane, 41, won seven Premier League titles and four FA cups at Old Trafford and captained the club for eight years.
An Irish international who won 67 caps for his country, Keane signed for United in 1993 for a then-record fee of £3.75 million from Nottingham Forest, leading them to asustained period of success including the treble in 1999. After leaving Old Trafford in 2005, he won the Scottish Premier League and Scottish Cup during a six-month spell at Celtic before retiring from playing.
As a manager at Sunderland, he won the Football League Championship in 2007, prior to a spell as manager of Ipswich Town. Roy has been a pundit for ITV for a number of high-profile matches, including the 2011 Champions League final between Manchester United and Barcelona.
PATRICK VIEIRA
Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira, 35, won the World Cup in 1998 and Euro 2000 with France during a glittering football career.
The midfielder played for the Gunners between 1996 and 2005, winning three Premier League titles and four FA Cups prior to spells at Juventus and Inter Milan, where he won four Italian league titles. He won 107 caps for France before retiring from the game in July 2011 after a spell at Manchester City.
Now football development executive at Manchester City, Patrick's work covers youth development, scouting players, community social responsibility andthe Etihad Campus project and supporting the clubs commercial partners among other areas. He previously appeared as a pundit for ITV at the World Cup 2010 in South Africa.
JAMIE CARRAGHER
Liverpool stalwart Jamie Carragher, 33, is one of the club's longest-serving players and was part of the team that won the Champions League in 2005.
Jamie made his professional debut during the 1996/7 season, winning a cup treble in 2001 of the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup. The defender won the FA Cup again in 2005/6 and the League Cup in 2012.
In an 11-year international career with England, Jamie won 38 caps, appearing at Euro 2004 and the World Cup 2006, and coming out of retirement to be selected for the World Cup 2010 squad.
GARETH SOUTHGATE
Regular ITV pundit Gareth Southgate, 41, won 57 caps for England and captained Aston Villa and Middlesborough to League Cup victory during an illustrious playing career.
His playing career ended in May 2006 after more than 500 league appearances, when he became Middlesbrough manager, where he remained until October 2009.
Since then he has worked for ITV Sport and is the FA's Head of Elite Development, working with Trevor Brooking.
ROBERTO MARTINEZ
Highly-rated Wigan Athletic manager Roberto Martinez is fresh from leading his team into rich vein of form, retaining their Premier League status for next season with stylish victories over Manchester United, Arsenal and Newcastle United in the final months of the season.
Roberto has been Wigan manager since June 2009, after taking Swansea City to the League One title the previous season. Previously, he was a regular first team player at Wigan, before switching to Motherwell, Walsall and Swansea City prior to moving into management.
He previously appeared as a pundit for ITV for the England v Spain international friendly in November 2011.
ANDY TOWNSEND
Renowned ITV pundit and co-commentator Andy Townsend has established himself as a highly regarded broadcaster since retiring from football in 2000.
During his playing career, Andy won 70 international caps for Ireland, played at Italia '90 and captained the squad at the 1994 World Cup in America.
He played for Southampton, Norwich City, Chelsea and Aston Villa, where he won the League Cup twice, before moving to Middlesbrough and finally West Bromwich Albion.
GORDON STRACHAN
Renowned manager and former player Gordon Strachan is one of the best-known faces in the domestic game.
During a playing career spanning 25 years, the midfielder won multiple domestic league and cup honours as well as the European Cup Winners' Cup and Super Cup at Aberdeen, the 1985 FA Cup at Manchester United, and captained Leeds United to the First Division title in 1991/92. He earned 50 caps for Scotland, playing at two World Cups in Spain 1982 and Mexico in 1986.
After five years as manager of Coventry City, he joined Southampton, guiding them to the 2003 FA Cup Final, later moving to Celtic, whom he guided to three successive league titles. His last job in management was in Middlesbrough. Since then he has been a regular ITV pundit on FA Cup and Champions League matches.