Saint and Greavsie

Saint and Greavsie
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Release
Original network	ITV
Original release	5 October 1985 – 27 June 1992

Saint and Greavsie was a British television show in which former footballers Ian St John and Jimmy Greaves discussed current football themes such as the day's matches. It ran on ITV from 1985 to 1992.

Englishman Jimmy Greaves and Scotsman Ian St John were successful football players in the 1960s, but they did not play for the same club; Greaves spent the bulk of his career with Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, while St John played mainly for Liverpool. Their collaboration as television football pundits started with "On the Ball" in the World of Sport show. Usually St John would host from the London studio and would cross over to Greaves who was elsewhere to get his views, but they would eventually be based in the same studio. The segment was highly popular, leading to the commissioning of Saint and Greavsie as a programme in its own right immediately after the demise of World of Sport in September 1985. A key characteristic of the show was comedy, with St John prompting Greaves to jokes and jibes.

The show was usually about 30 minutes long and was initially broadcast shortly after noon on Saturdays, to coincide with the build-up to that afternoon's football matches. In later years it usually went on air shortly after 1pm and in its final season was increased in length to a 45-minute slot. At various points in the show the goals of previous matches would be shown. The show included features on clubs in both English and Scottish leagues and discussion of that weekend's major games, emphasising matches that ITV planned to broadcast.

The series initially had a simple opening sequence showing a rotating rudimentary CGI-image of a football pitch revolving several times, before a still of the two presenters popped up at the end; the theme tune was initially identical to that used for the "On the Ball" segment of World of Sport. In later years, the introduction to the show began with St John and Greaves as cigarette cards from their playing days on the opening credits, and the theme tune was changed for a piece named "Aztec Gold" composed by Silsoe, which at the time was used as the theme tune for ITV's The Big Match from 1986 to 1988 after being the theme tune for the station's coverage of the 1986 World Cup.

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