The BBC has chosen Wales’s match with Poland ahead of England’s against Belgium for live coverage on Radio 5 Live on Tuesday night.
The decision has led to an analogue radio blackout of the Three Lions’ final outing before Gareth Southgate picks his squad for this summer’s European Championship.
Live coverage of England’s friendly against Belgium will only be available to listeners of digital station BBC 5 Live Sports Xtra after Wales’s Euro 2024 play-off final the same evening was given precedence.
With the former match being televised by Channel 4, it is unclear how many people will be affected by the analogue radio blackout. They may include those driving at the time or older listeners without a TV licence or access to digital services.
Wales’s match is also live on terrestrial television on S4C, the country’s equivalent of Channel 4.
Telegraph Sport reported in May 2022 that tens of thousands of people were in danger of being unable to tune in to Test Match Special after the BBC announced the closure of Radio 4 long wave.
Plans unveiled for the corporation to build a “digital-first public service media organisation” included scrapping the analogue arm of one of its most iconic stations. The move, branded “dreadful” by former England captain Sir Geoffrey Boycott, risked preventing people listening to TMS unless they have access to a digital radio or the internet, something millions of Britons still do not enjoy.
Boycott, who retired from TMS in 2020, told Telegraph Sport: “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.
“It’s a dreadful thing. But they have no idea, the people running the Beeb. Lots of good people work for the Beeb. But the bosses? My God. They wouldn’t get a job in the real world.”
Henry Blofeld, a TMS commentator for 45 years until his retirement in 2017, said: “Anything that restricts the coverage of TMS and the amount of people who are going to listen to it is extremely sad.
“It’s always been a little bit surprising that the BBC have such a programme that has been such a winner over such a long time but are still reluctant to showcase it as a winner.
“If another long-wave home is not found for it, this must be the case again, mustn’t it?”
