Match of the Day from Northern Ireland

Match of the Day from Northern Ireland is the name given to coverage of football matches involving local teams in Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland national football team, produced and broadcast by BBC Northern Ireland. It is shown on either BBC One Northern Ireland or BBC Two Northern Ireland depending on the match and availability in the schedule, while some of Northern Ireland's international matches have also been broadcast throughout the United Kingdom via the BBC Red Button interactive channels on Freeview and Sky Digital. The program first broadcast in the 1980s whenever BBC NI took over international football from UTV who used to show highlights, with the matches on BBC NI there was more Live action and highlights than before. The coverage was hosted by BBC NI sports presenters at the time including John Barrett and commentary was often done by Mark Robson. Jackie Fullerton became main commentator in 1993 whenever he moved to BBC NI from UTV with Mark Robson going in the opposite direction. Coverage declined in the 2008/2009 season with Northern Irelands home games on Sky Sports who bought the rights in 2008 and away games on Setanta Sports. That season the program has been limited to Northern Ireland highlights of all games, the Home highlights were shown on the night of the game and away highlights on the night after the game due to right restrictions. The only Northern Ireland match this season shown live on MOTD from NI was between San Marino and Northern Ireland in a 3-0 win for Northern Ireland. MOTD from NI also covers the Co-Operative Insurance Cup and JJB Sports Cup Finals live on BBC NI and the Milk Cup. The JJB Sports Cup has been shown live since 2000 and Co-Operative Insurance Cup since 2006 and the Milk Cup finals night has been shown since 2005.