Comments on: An official complaint to the BBC regarding Match of the Day 2

By: hindleyite

hindleyite — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:40:47 +0000

“It was not intended as a direct dig at Wigan in particular – it was more
that Rome is viewed as one of the world’s great cities as a destination,
and AS Roma probably the most glamourous of Fulham’s UEFA Cup opponents,
so nearly anyone they played after a trip like that would be an
anti-climax to the week, or a ‘culture shock’, to use Adrian’s words.
Only a date with the big four or a competitive London derby might match
it for the Fulham fans, so we were likely to go down the route we did if
it were any other Premier League team, be it from the Midlands, the
South Coast or the North East.”

—-

Hmm. I wonder if it would have been the same had it been Manchester United? I somehow doubt it.

Thanks for that comment, Karen! The reply was very… interesting. Personally, I did not ask for a reply, so they’ll probably sweep the thing under the carpet.

We have at least five complainants, and I should think a whole load more besides. Hoping it’ll make national television, if not teletext.

By: karen thompson

karen thompson — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:19:46 +0000

I also complained to bbc regarding this matter and I got a reply today! Here are the details:
COMMENTS:
Please could you inform Adrian Chiles that the people of Wigan dont take
too kindly to being put down on MOTD 2 re: coverage comments 8 November
2009. Please remind him that he needs to carefully consider his
comments about our local towns when comparing them to what he regards as
‘better than ours’ and he should remember his own roots !!
Regards from a very disgruntled Wigan Athletic supporter
————————————————–

Apologies for any offence you may have taken from our set-up to
Wigan-Fulham on Sunday’s Match of the Day 2.

The montage was intended as a light-hearted piece to show the contrast
in Fulham’s two trips last week.
It was not intended as a direct dig at Wigan in particular – it was more
that Rome is viewed as one of the world’s great cities as a destination,
and AS Roma probably the most glamourous of Fulham’s UEFA Cup opponents,
so nearly anyone they played after a trip like that would be an
anti-climax to the week, or a ‘culture shock’, to use Adrian’s words.
Only a date with the big four or a competitive London derby might match
it for the Fulham fans, so we were likely to go down the route we did if
it were any other Premier League team, be it from the Midlands, the
South Coast or the North East.

We fully appreciate the great contribution that Wigan make to the
Premier League and long may it continue.
In fact I look forward to making a similar montage in a season or so
about Roberto’s team making the glamorous midweek trips and ending the
week with a far from ideal journey to the Fulham Road.

Thanks again for watching,

Ron

By: hindleyite

hindleyite — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:32:34 +0000

Seems MOTD will be getting quite a few complaints this weekend. I really hope it makes the mainstream news and this increasing bias towards top-four clubs is highlighted. Course, in the interests of ‘fair reporting’, I doubt they will.

PS. I’ve corrected some of the clumsy grammar in both this post and the complaint itself. Apologies for not immediately proofreading the entry.

By: Adam

Adam — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:01:12 +0000

I’ve never made a formal complaint before. I did last night. Especially about the way the portrayed the town. Hobnobs

By: Ken Harvey

Ken Harvey — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:01:58 +0000

I sent a compaint to the BBC for their inferred derogatory comments about the town of Wigan by comparison with Rome