Sports fans offered pick of Premiership

Irish sports fans are set for a feast of football this season with a new satellite television show dedicated to the English Premiership, it emerged today.

Armchair supporters will pick and choose who they watch when Sky Sports Football First hits the airwaves on the first day of the Premiership season, Saturday August 14 .

The two-part programme will offer full 90 minute coverage of one of the day’s eight games, Game of the Day.

And later viewers will have the chance to tune in and watch highlights of any of the league’s other matches on Match Choice.

“The days of some clubs’ games being restricted to a couple of minutes of highlights here and there are gone,” Vic Wakeling, Sky Sports managing director, said.

In the last week, cable channel Setanta also promised to bring viewers in Ireland live coverage of both the Premiership and the Scottish Premier league.

The broadcaster Setanta Sports, which screens sports events to pubs in the US and Australia, is launching the channel for 340,000 NTL customers on August 8.

In all a total of 138 live games are to shown on Sky Sports this season, with the other 242 games available on the highlights show.

The 50 minute highlights programme will give viewers the chance to watch their own team or any other featured game and is the most comprehensive show of its kind on any channel.

The programme, hosted by Claire Tomlinson, will also run any day Premiership matches are played.

The service unique to Sky Digital viewers will run through the interactive system, now in its fifth year.