Arsenal - First team on television

Arsenal was the first club which ever attended a match which was shown on television. When BBC showed the first soccer match, it was a training match played on Highbury. It happened on the 16th of september 1937.

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• Pioneering Broadcast: The BBC had only launched its television service in 1936, and this was their first foray into live football. It was a technical experiment to demonstrate the capabilities of the new medium.

• Arsenal's Role: Arsenal, being a prominent club, was chosen for this historic event. They had also been involved in the first live football radio broadcast a decade earlier in 1927.

• Limited Audience: Television sets were extremely rare in 1937, with only a few hundred homes in the London area (specifically close to Alexandra Palace, where the BBC's studios were located) having access to the broadcast.

• Short Duration: The broadcast itself was modest, lasting only about 15 minutes. It featured an introduction to the team by manager George Allison and showed elements of a training session, including parts of a practice match.

• Technical Challenges: The picture quality was in black and white, and reports indicate that a looming rainstorm and dark skies made the picture duller as the broadcast progressed. However, despite these challenges, it was considered a technical success.

• Significance: This short broadcast paved the way for the future of televised football. It demonstrated the potential for live sports coverage, even if full matches weren't immediately possible due to technical limitations and opposition from the Football League. Following this, the BBC went on to broadcast the first live international match (England vs. Scotland) and the first FA Cup Final in 1938.