Football television has been part of the fabric of the game for almost 70 years.
Shows have sprawled over every night of the week, ranging from prime-time panel slots, breaking news, analysis and comedy. All had their niche, and with that, the interest from the fans.
Trying to rank the greatest football programs of all time is no easy task. Some changed the way the game was discussed. Some entertained generations of supporters.
But who takes the cake as the best of the best?
These are the greatest footy shows ever produced.
10Tony Charlton's Football Show – Channel 9 – 1960's (Norm Smith Sacking)
To kick off, Tony Charlton's Football Show earns its spot almost entirely off one episode - but when that episode covers one of the biggest scandals in football history, that is more than enough.
In 1965, Melbourne's six-time premiership coach Norm Smith was sensationally sacked, a decision that still sits in the top tier of all-time footy bombshells. We are talking genuine “where were you when you heard?” territory; a club at the peak of its powers somehow blowing itself up in public.
Charlton landed the interview and delivered one of the most gripping pieces of football television ever produced. The full episode is still on YouTube and remarkably, it still holds up. Not as a quaint black-and-white curiosity, but as genuinely compelling TV.
When Charlton died in 2012, the tributes rightly focused on his rare gift: superb oratory, news sense and the ability to guide a subject through a huge moment. For the Norm Smith interview alone, this show belongs.
