Match of the Day Live Stream Online in 2024

Match of the Day is by far the oldest football show on the TV anywhere. It’s changed quite a bit since it’s first broadcast was in 1964 and it’s been on UK Televisions ever since. For one thing it’s now shown in colour rather than black and white ! There have been a few breaks when the BBC couldn’t pay the huge fees demanded for broadcasting rights. In the 1980s the highlights moved to ITV for a short period, although Match of the Day still remained for FA Cup coverage.

For those of us who love football though and follow the English Premiership, it’s without doubt a hugely important TV show. The presenters have obviously changed through the years and have featured a mix of commentators, journalists and ex-players. Currently the most famous presenter is ex-England striker Gary Lineker who started on the show in 1999.

The classic Match of the Day format was just shown on a Saturday night showing the highlights from all the games that day. Nowadays though football is played on virtually every night of the week so the programme has extended into spin offs such as Match of the Day 2. Most of the Premiership games are highlights, although currently the BBC does have the rights to broadcast live FA Cup games.

The show is also broadcast online over the internet and can be accessed using the BBC iPlayer. It’s not as widely available as most programmes on the BBC iPlayer – you can watch it live or the next day for a short period. These do change though and you should check out on the Match of the Day programme page.

How to Watch Match of the Day Online

So if you’re based in the United Kingdom, you can watch Match of the Day without a problem using BBC iPlayer. However as you’re probably aware for anyone located physically outside the United Kingdom this unfortunately won’t work.

The reason is a technology called geo-targeting which restricts access based on your location.

For example, if you’re in the United States and try to access Match of the Day through BBC iPlayer then you’ll be told that it’s unavailable. This is because Match of the Day isn’t available outside of its home country so geo-targeting blocks anyone from watching it who can’t show a UK IP address.  It’s not due to distance either, travel a few miles to Ireland and you can’t watch BBC from there either.

It’s not just the football, BBC iPlayer doesn’t work at all from outside the UK which is a huge blow for fans of British TV. To be fair, it should be noted that virtually every large media site does exactly the same. None of the major US networks will allow access to their shows online from outside the USA too.  Cross the border into Canada and the very same thing happens – you can no longer access US TV.

Using a VPN to Watch Match of the Day Online

However there is a solution – you can use a VPN to get around the geo-targeting.

A VPN or Virtual Private Network is usually used by companies and individuals who need access to private networks from remote locations, but it also has other uses including unblocking content that’s not available in your region. The beauty of a VPN online is that you’ll appear like you are in the same location as the VPN server. So you can switch your location whenever you need to. Sounds complicated but it really isn’t – lets have a demonstration.

That’s all there is to it, simply install the VPN app or program on your device and then select a UK server to connect to. Nothing else is required and while connected you’ll be able to access all UK only content. So the BBC iPlayer will work perfectly and so will all the other UK TV stations online like ITV Hub and All 4.

Not Just the BBC – Watch Live TV From Anywhere in the World

The same applies to other countries, a VPN will allow you to access content from anywhere in the world. You can basically forget about these country based restrictions, just change your IP address using the VPN whenever you like. For example connect to a US server and listen to the US only station – Pandora. Afterwards, you can disconnect and listen to the BBC News on BBC iPlayer by switching to a UK server. Then perhaps click on a Canadian server and watch something on one of the great Canadian TV channels that broadcast online.

Your actual location is irrelevant you could be in US, Australia or Thailand – it doesn’t matter as the only location that is seen is that of the VPN server. What’s more the best VPN providers have subscriptions with servers all over the world, so you’ll normally have no problem accessing a site even in smaller locations.

A VPN is perfect for accessing restricted TV channels and streaming sites when abroad. It’s also an excellent tool to use if you’re worried about your privacy online – using one prevents websites or advertisers from logging exactly where you are.

Choosing the Right VPN for TV Access

Most of the professional VPNs i.e. those you pay for are pretty secure.  However when it comes to bypassing these geo restrictions, there are other aspects that are important.   First of all, the IP addresses which are assigned – if these are blocked or restricted on your target  site then you won’t get far.  Typically this happens from abuse or assigning to too many users to a single address.  This is why none of the free proxies or VPNs will work with most major platforms like the BBC.

Over the last decade or more, I’ve tried virtually every major VPN and in the end always use the same two.  Identity Cloaker is a smaller, super secure VPN program which always works with the major sites – it’s certainly super reliable with the BBC iPlayer.  The drawback is that it’s a little more expensive than some, plus it only has PC/MAC versions of the client software.  You can configure to work on other devices like phones and tablets but you won’t get a neat little app.

The second is more mainstream – NordVPN is probably the biggest name in the VPN industry and has one of the largest networks.  It’s got servers all over the world including many in the UK and the US.  With so many users there’s always a risk of individual IPs being blocked but it’s also simple to simply choose another that does work.

In fact they have a specific range of servers where they try and maintain 100% access to the BBC iPlayer.  You will find the odd address that doesn’t work ocassionally but it’s a simple process to disconnect and try one of the other several hundred UK addresses.

Either of these services will work very well for the BBC iPLayer, Nord is easier if you want apps to use on other devices.  However Identity Cloaker is probably the most reliable VPN you can get if you’re just going to use on a PC/laptop.