Fantasy Football League was a British television programme hosted by David Baddiel and Frank Skinner. It began on BBC Radio 5 which was presented by Dominik Diamond prior to BBC 2. It consisted of three sequences broadcasted from January 1994 to May 1996. Later, the show shifted to ITV wherein these series broadcasted special live shows on alternate nights during 1998 world cup and then started again in 2004 European Championship. It is not sure as to whether the show will resume in the future although Skinner and Baddiel are continuing in the making of these projects.
Functions of Fantasy Football League:
The functions or the format of the Fantasy Football League was originally closely on the lines of the actual fantasy football league. It is made up of teams chosen by usual guest celebrities. At that point, the entertainment game became very popular in the middle of 1990s. Every week, one or more celebrities would come into the show and make conversation about their fantasy lineups and football. As the show stepped forward on television, the popularity of fantasy league dropped and pushed the conditions in favor of clips and sketches. Subsequent to it, the shows included guest appearances such as Nick Hornby, Damon Albarn, and Peter Cook. The shows had a theme song comprising the words “Fantasy Football League” sung again and again to the melody of English national football team’s official song from the 1970 World Cup. The show gained popularity with the audience because the guest list included a mixture of football players and celebrities such as Danny Baker, Jo Brand, Peter Cook, Basil Brush and so on.
Overview:
Fantasy Football League had some memorable episodes during the programme. In the 1998 World Cup, a special episode featured Johnny Rotten as a guest. However, he was evicted during break after becoming too aggressive with the crowd. At that time, fantasy football league was considered to be amongst the most entertaining programme.
