Sky Sports News HQ executive editor Andy Cairns reveals the challenge behind 92Live - in which 21 crews visit the ground of every league football club in just 12 hours.

August is Sky Sports News’ favourite month.  It’s not only our birthday – we launched in August 1998 and then re-launched as Sky Sports News HQ in August last year – but it’s also when football returns.

One of our jobs on Sky Sports News HQ is to capture that excitement and help our viewers look forward to the new season. And this month will be the busiest ever.

Today it’s 92Live. We devote our coverage to a day in the life of English football with live reports from every club – from Chelsea to York, from Newcastle to Plymouth – as we go behind the scenes to see how football prepares for a new season.  We’ll be with the players, fans and see the work being done to get everything ready for the big kick-off.

92Live is a huge logistical challenge. 322 members of staff help complete the ambitious task. We have 21 crews criss-crossing the country to make sure we are live at every club between 7am and 7pm. It has taken a month of planning.

Senior news editor Keith James and producer Anna Edwards have co-ordinated the reporting teams, resources manager Helen Kemp and satellite operations manager Francesca Grosso have been co-ordinating cameras and working out how get the pictures back to Sky Sports. 

This year, we’re using a mix of satellite trucks and mobile backpacks which do just the same job as a satellite truck. These allow for nimble news-gathering but rely on strong mobile signals so we have enough bandwidth for live broadcasts from locations up and down the country. That’s meant 184 recces, so our crews can check positions at stadiums and training grounds ahead of today.

All that – and trying to move Jim White around the country in a helicopter as he visits the champions of each division from last season. And this year he’ll add another mode of transport to his schedule… boat.

But 92Live wasn’t only dreamed up to give our staff sleepless nights.  It’s a chance for the football family to celebrate the start of another season. Who knows what the 2015-16 season will bring?

Andy Cairns is executive editor of Sky Sports News HQ

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