At the end of the Qingming holiday, a microblog by Liu Jianhong, a notorious commentator in the soccer world, awakened a tide of memories in countless fans.
Liu Jianhong in microblogging emotion: "25 years ago at this moment, soccer night in a panic and busy curtain. It was a wonderful TV era, and also the starting point of Chinese soccer innovation. Even though the years have passed, the green silk has turned gray, the media environment has changed drastically, and Chinese soccer is in deep trouble, I am still proud of my passion, dedication, responsibility and commitment back then! At this critical point, both TV and Chinese soccer need to have the courage to face up to the difficulties and the determination to make radical changes."
Soccer Night, a familiar name, a symbol carrying the emotions of Chinese fans, has unknowingly gone through 25 years of spring and fall.
Every Thursday night, the familiar music plays and the familiar tagline echoes, "The weekly festival for fans - Football Night - begins." It's a slice of life that every fan is all too familiar with.
On April 4, 1996, the first edition of Football Night debuted on CCTV. At that time, each program was nearly four hours long, covering both domestic and international soccer, and the nature of the live program made many Chinese fans willing to put off entertainment and stay in front of the TV.
The turn of the century was a pristine time, when online media had not yet emerged, and paper media and television were the most direct way for fans to perceive soccer.
As a result, Football Night reached its peak in the 1990s, and its ratings were among the highest among CCTV sports programs. In the hearts of fans, Football Night is the most viewers, the most influential and authoritative program, and its advertising price is second only to Focus Interview.
(first soccer night credits)
In the first few years of Football Night, there were only six or seven people in the program team, including Huang Jianxiang, Zhang Bin and Han Qiaosheng as hosts. Due to limited manpower, Liu Jianhong, who had just joined CCTV, had to run around in both A A and A B. The content of A B was almost undertaken by him alone, so he was jokingly called "Liu A B".
Later, Zhang Bin gradually withdrew, Han Qiaosheng and Huang Jianxiang had other work arrangements, and by around 2000, Liu Jianhong began to become the only host of Soccer Night, which was also labeled distinctly domestic soccer with the opening of its sister program, World Soccer.
Back then, Soccer Night made a name for itself when it covered China's World Qualifier 10 in 1997.
At that time, the soccer night, in 1998, fighting against the fake ball black whistle, and even once blocked by the Chinese Football Association (CFA).
Back then, Soccer Night, which covered the whole of the World Preliminary 10 in 2001, witnessed the jubilation of the national soccer team's first World Cup run.
At that time, the soccer night, accompanied the national football team through the entire World Cup in Korea and Japan, in the years that followed, accompanied the national football team through countless days and nights ......
As a result, whenever soccer night is brought up, fans are reminded of the familiar voice of Liu Jianhong, as well as the many matches of Chinese soccer and the controversial topics that come with them.
2007 Asian Cup, the national football team failed to get out of the group stage, the well-known publicist Li Chengpeng in the soccer night program bluntly said that the then chairman of the Football Association Xie Yalong is unqualified, "to become a pig factory director quite suitable", when Xie Yalong angrily called CCTV overnight for accountability.
On June 15, 2013, the national football team lost 1-5 to Thailand Youth Army at home, and Football Night launched a special program "Interrogate 1:5" to analyze the reasons for the defeat, and even bluntly raised the question: whether this "abnormal" game is related to gambling. The question was even asked bluntly: Is this "abnormal" match related to gambling?
This is the night of soccer, which faces up to the ills of the times and depicts the ups and downs of Chinese soccer with the most realistic strokes, just like a chronicle, step by step into the hearts of fans.
Now, with the change of times, the soccer night also had to make adjustments, the content changed to "to domestic soccer reports, taking into account the international soccer hot spots".
Nowadays, with the ever-changing nature of online media, soccer night is no longer fixed to Thursdays, but is adjusted to match times.
Now, accompanied by a generation of fans of youth Liu Jianhong also left the CCTV, leaving a piece of frustration.
Soccer in the development, the times are changing, when the copyright competition is increasingly fierce, CCTV is also struggling, the world soccer, soccer night and other classic columns in the torrent of time also continue to be impacted. But whether it is the peak or the trough, the sentiment or the expectation, they are always there, carrying our youth.
"China doesn't have the best soccer, but it has the best soccer program." This is a phrase that Chinese fans often talk about. And after 25 years, will you still be in front of the TV to watch soccer night?
