I like my football on a Saturday
Roast beef on Sunday, all right
I go to Blackpool for my holidays
Sit in the open sunlight
- from ‘Autumn Almanac', The Kinks (1967) 

LIKE Ray Davies, many of us still prefer our football on a Saturday. And the more of it, the better.

In the modern era, however, TV networks and obliging administrators, both keen to maximise their earnings, have dictated that we receive our football in bite-size chunks. The likes of the AFL and the NRL spread their matches from Friday to Monday night, most of these stand-alone fixtures.

Back in Britain, fixture lists have also been fragmented, largely at the behest of Rupert Murdoch's SKY TV, but fortunately for some sentimental old fools, there remains a veritable feast of football on Saturday afternoons.

On Saturday six Premier League matches kicked off at 3pm, with Norwich and Chelsea at lunchtime and the late Bolton-Liverpool clash either side. The previous Saturday seven matches kicked off simultaneously.

And there to capture all this action, as well as that from the lower divisions and Scotland, and all the other big sporting events of the day, is BBC Radio 5. In an age of blanket TV, print and online coverage, radio remains an alluring medium for those wishing to get their regular football fix.  

This eight-hour football extravaganza on Radio 5 Live kicks off at midday when Mark Pougatch presents the news and build-up to the day's action. On Saturday this was followed by the live call of the 0-0 draw at Carrow Road followed by QPR's 3-1 win over Wigan at Loftus Road.

Graham Taylor, making a better fist as a pundit than he did as England manager in the early 1990s, provided the expert comments for the latter match, sensibly downplaying the significance of QPR's win against a toothless Wigan.

Former midfield bad boy Robbie Savage, a revelation on radio since his retirement, is another regular on Radio 5 Live, distinguishing himself in the recent Manchester derby by correctly calling a straight red for City captain Vincent Kompany "by the letter of the law" when others thought the two-footed challenge would not merit a card.    

During the live calls, there are constant crosses to other matches - Premier League, the Championship and the Scottish Premier League - for score checks and goal alerts.

Succinct half-time and post-match summaries from a top-notch team of correspondents, and updates on the day's other sport - we even caught the finish to the feature event at Ascot when Somersby dug deep to beat Finian's Rainbow in the Victor Chandler Chase - make for compelling listening that leaves you feeling you are right up to date with all the essential news, and more.

The depth and variety of the coverage evokes memories of the Saturday football coverage on Melbourne radio in the 1970s and 1980s (I am sure readers elsewhere in Australia, and beyond, following other football codes, may have similar memories).

Back then, Melbourne's winter airwaves were humming with the banter of Harry Beitzel, Tommy Lahiff ("are you there Harry?") and their around-the-grounds team at 3AW, and the mangled English of ‘Caption Blood' Jack Dyer and Ian Major (the Captain and Major) at 3KZ. Remember, 3KZ is football.

They, and broadcast teams at rival stations such as 3DB and the ABC's 3LO, covered six simultaneous VFL matches, offering a similar package of build-up and post-match reflection that Radio 5 provides today. The coverage, mostly by ex-players, may have lacked some of the polish of the BBC's professional broadcasters but was similarly energetic and informative.

Of course modern footy fans still get that blanket coverage from the likes of Fox, Triple M and SEN, but focused on one match at a time, it does not allow for that breadth of coverage, nor the sense of drama, when several contests are unfolding at the same time.

If you have missed the live call or are travelling home from watching another match, Radio 5s' Sports Report at 5pm is also a must, not least for James Alexander Gordon's classified check of results from every tier of the English and Scottish leagues.

In his inimitable style, the veteran broadcaster gives listeners a hint of the result by applying an upward (winner), downward (loser) or neutral (drawn match) inflection to the first-named team's score.

There follows one-minute match summaries of all the Premier Leagues matches and those featured from the lower divisions as well as an SPL summary. The one from north-of-England correspondent Stuart Hall - he claims to have coined the term, "the beautiful game" - is usually a gem, his over-the-top thespian's delivery often replete with references to Shakespeare yet still containing all the essential news.

There are interviews with all the afternoon's key actors. On Saturday we heard from Villa's on-loan striker Robbie Keane and fellow goalscorers Tommy Smith of QPR and Clint Dempsey of Fulham, as well as Rangers' new manager Mark Hughes and Wigan counterpart Roberto Martinez.

Summaries on the days racing at Ascot, the Masters snooker at London's Alexandra Palace, including an interview with Australian Neil Robertson after his semi-final win, and a report from Melbourne Park on Andy Murray and Lleyton Hewitt's progress to the last 16 closed out the hour

But like those K-tel ads on telly, there's more, always more. After the 6pm news is the 606 phone-in with Mark Chapman and Jason Roberts when fans have the chance to get it off their chest.

If all this talk has still not satisfied your hunger for all things football, just after 10pm you can watch extended highlights of all the day's Premier League matches - just like the old footy replays on Channel Seven - on the BBC's Match of the Day, hosted by Gary Lineker with analysis from Alan Hansen, Alan Shearer, Mark Lawrenson and Lee Dixon, also replayed on Sunday mornings.

The Brits are often admonished for being stuck in their ways, reluctant to change, but in their steadfast commitment to Saturday afternoon football, they continue to kick a goal.