More than 20 million UK viewers tuned in to watch the final of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. In stark contrast there is barely a trace of the early World Cups in BBC Genome's television and radio listings.

The first football World Cup was held in 1930. It was a humble affair, which didn’t get an outing on radio or TV in the UK. Scotland and England were invited but did not accept; a Radio Times article previewing the 1954 tournament suggested this was because they did not believe the opposition sides were good enough. After follow-up tournaments in 1934 and 1938, the contest was abandoned during World War Two.

The 1950 World Cup was held in Brazil and England participated for the first time. It was still a fairly amateur operation. Italy travelled to the tournament by boat, but the two-week voyage wasn’t particularly conducive to maintaining athletic fitness. Out of condition, they immediately lost their first game to Sweden and were effectively out of the tournament.

Coverage was very limited and the front page of Radio Times that week focused on tennis, with no mention of the tournament. Sporadic five-minute reports from games was all that was available on radio. Competing in their first World Cup, England had the nickname “Kings of Football” and were one of the favourites, having beaten Portugal 10–0 in Lisbon two weeks before the tournament. However, they were knocked out in the first round group stage, thanks to a 1-0 loss against a semi-professional US side, in one of the biggest shocks in the tournament's history.

Held in Switzerland, the 1954 tournament saw live World Cup television coverage on the BBC for the first time via the recently installed Eurovision network, which allowed television signals to be relayed across Europe. This only worked for tournaments held in Europe, however, and ahead of the 1962 tournament BBC reporter Kenneth Wolstenholme wrote a Radio Times article about the difficulties of broadcasting matches from Chile and the aspiration to get them to air within 48 hours of the match concluding.

Four years later, Wolstenholme and fellow commentator Brian Moore wrote a seven-page preview of the major sides before the 1966 tournament hosted in England. Later on in the edition, an article previewing the comprehensive BBC reporting of the upcoming tournament stated: “A feast of soccer on television is offered to BBC-1 viewers during the World Cup,” and promised more than 50 hours of coverage. England went on to win the tournament, with Wolstenholme providing one of the most famous moments in the history of sports broadcasting with his commentary on the final England goal.

England’s World Cup win earlier in the day dominated the news report that evening but it was a good day to bury bad news with the script showing that the second story on the Home Service 6.00pm bulletin that evening was a report about the government freezing wages.

Although many people were still watching in black and white, the 1970 World Cup was the first to be broadcast on colour television and you can watch Carlos Alberto’s famous goal as Brazil beat Italy in the final here. It was also the last World Cup to feature Pele, celebrated as one of the greatest players of all time. The Brazilian features in numerous BBC Genome listings and his “extraordinary life” was the subject of a BBC Two programme in 2002.

Scotland have played in eight World Cups and, although they have never progressed beyond the first round, one of their greatest World Cup moments was captured on BBC television in 1978 when they beat Holland with a superb goal from Archie Gemmill, described by commentator David Coleman here.

Coverage of the World Cup is on the government mandated "protected" list, meaning it must be shown on free-to-air terrestrial television. Throughout most of the competition’s history, BBC and ITV have jointly covered the tournament on UK television but the unpredictable nature of the competition means the allocation of matches happens at short notice. This can be a problem for Radio Times, which has to print the broadcasters’ alternative TV schedules for match days.

The BBC didn’t show England’s 1998 second-round match against Argentina, so instead broadcast their back-up schedule including Celebrity Ready, Steady, Cook and One Foot in the Grave. The football fans were more likely than Victor Meldrew to be exclaiming disbelief that night. A red card for David Beckham and a missed penalty from David Batty saw England get knocked out and a certain eight-year-old boy cry himself to sleep.

World Cup coverage in the 21st Century has seen more technological breakthroughs, with the 2006 tournament shown in high-definition for the first time, a decision Ofcom credited with giving a significant boost to the sales of HD-ready TV sets. There has also been an increase in the coverage of women’s football on television; in 2007 the BBC broadcast the Women’s World Cup with Gabby Logan presenting all England games live.

Coverage continues to evolve. The 2018 tournament sees fans able to watch in Ultra HD and virtual reality for the first time, through the BBC Sport's VR 2018 World Cup app - an even more interactive way for viewers to enjoy the euphoria or heartbreak of a penalty shoot-out. There's a lot to look forward to over the next month.

Tuesday 6 February 2018 marks the 60th anniversary of the Munich air disaster, when a plane carrying Manchester United players crashed while attempting to take off from Munich-Riem airport in Germany.

There were 23 fatalities in the crash and team manager Matt Busby was severely injured. Busby spent months in hospital and was so badly hurt that he was read his last rites by a Catholic priest, but he recovered and attended that year's FA Cup final. 

The tragedy occurred at 3.04pm and the script (pictured below) for that night's News bulletin broadcast on the BBC Light Programme showed that 23 passengers initially survived. Co-pilot Ken Rayment and star player Duncan Edwards later died in hospital.

The BBC has made a number of programmes about the crash in the past 60 years, including Surviving Disaster, a drama documentary retelling the story in 2006.

In 2008, to mark the 50th anniversary of the disaster, One Life on BBC One followed survivor and former Manchester United player Harry Gregg as he returned to the scene of the crash for the first time. The former goalkeeper met the son of a pregnant woman whom he had pulled from the wreckage to safety in 1958.

From eating breakfast with Beckham to watching Pele in your pyjamas, there’s always something special about a football tournament on television.

Every two years, millions of people put everything on hold to watch top players in action morning, noon and night. As Euro 2016 heads towards its climax, how has the BBC covered previous football tournaments?

Things have certainly changed since the early days of football on TV. Of the first European Championships, held in 1960, only the second half of the final was shown on British screens, quaintly and vaguely billed as “A European Sporting Event”.

At least it was broadcast live, though. For the 1962 World Cup, held in Chile, satellite broadcasting was still in its infancy, and the Radio Times explained the logistics of bringing the games to British TV screens:

"Each film must be flown from Santiago to Lima, Peru - from Lima to Panama - Panama to Miami and Miami to New York. That takes approximately 14 hours. Then the 90 minutes of film must be processed in New York and rushed to Idlewild Airport to be put on the first available transatlantic jet.”

The aim was to get them on air within 48 hours, “if there is no fog on the route”.

By the 1970s, coverage had expanded somewhat. One odd side-effect of the limited coverage of domestic football in that decade is that during an international tournament, you’d often see more live football in a week than you would for the rest of the year put together.

Both the BBC and ITV provided extensive coverage of the 1970 World Cup. BBC One Controller Paul Fox bullishly announced in the Radio Times that the channel would not alternate matches with ITV because “When BBC1 and ITV show the same event, the large majority of the public prefer to watch it on BBC1. Whichever set of figures you look at, this is an unchallengeable fact.”

This blanket coverage was quite different to the rest of the year. Fearful of the spectator deciding to abandon the terrace for the armchair, no live coverage of league football was permitted, bar the hour of Match of the Day on a Saturday night - plus a further hour on ITV the following afternoon. Only the biggest occasions like the FA Cup Final and the annual England v Scotland game could be seen live as they happened.

In the tournaments, there were no such problems – both the BBC and ITV could show as much as they liked, and they made the most of it. In 1978, the action from Argentina dominated the schedules and even the Nine O’clock News found itself demoted to BBC2. 

Such was the excitement over that tournament – especially in Scotland where Ally’s Army were flying the flag for the whole of the UK – that the Hamilton by-election was moved to a Wednesday to avoid voters staying at home glued to the TV.  

In the 1980s, though, British football was in the doldrums, with concerns over increased hooliganism and tumbling attendances, and none of the home nations qualified for the 1984 European Championships. This meant the tournament was virtually invisible on our screens, with only two live matches and the rest relegated to late night highlights. 

With England, Scotland and Northern Ireland all qualifying for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, coverage returned to more familiar levels – but a number of matches had only their second halves shown live on TV, ensuring BBC1 could screen regular ratings winners like Wogan.

After the twin successes of Italia 90 and football's homecoming in Euro 96, coverage was bigger than ever before. So when it came to Euro 2008 and no home nation representation, a full quota of matches was shown and there was no 1984-style snub.

But it’s not just the matches that are the lasting legacy of a tournament. The stars, the presenters and the theme tunes all make an impact, even among those who have no interest in football. Pavarotti gained a new fanbase when Nessun Dorma became the theme of the 1990 World Cup.  

The same tournament spawned a wave of Gazza-mania, but it also helped make a star of Des Lynam, whose constant appearances on screen saw him reach a new audience. Indeed, when Arthur Smith wrote a TV play set during Euro 96, the icon of the tournament was not Alan Shearer or Stuart Pearce, but Des himself.  

Major tournaments also see regular routines thrown out of the window as football swamps the schedules. In 1970 and 1986, it was a month of late nights for British football fans as the matches from Mexico ran late into the evening. The latter tournament saw a daily teatime show added to the schedules, partly so football crazy kids could keep up with the action.

It was back to the witching hour again with the 1994 World Cup from the USA with British fans operating in a totally different time zone for post-midnight kick-offs.

In 2002, it was Beckham for Breakfast as the World Cup in Japan and Korea saw bleary-eyed supporters set their alarms for the early hours. The normal breakfast fare of news, weather and travel was binned for Denmark v Senegal and many lives were turned upside down for a month.

The big challenge for Radio Times over the years has been explaining to its readers what’s actually being broadcast. The knockout stages mean schedules are subject to extensive changes at the last minute, and a host of alternative schedules are drawn up. 

Genome sometimes has trouble representing these listings thanks too the confusion caused by two programmes in the same slot. Those tuning in for religious series Sweet Inspiration during the 1994 World Cup, for example, weren’t sure whether it was being broadcast at teatime or bedtime.

With the exception of a few memorable moments, the home nations haven’t had much to cheer about in major tournaments. But the BBC have always made it to the final, and ended up on the winning side.

Steve Williams is an Editorial Curator for BBC iPlayer and writes about television for TV Cream.