A week last Saturday Wales played England in one of the Euro 2012 qualifiers.

Now I know that the match was somewhat one-sided. England did what they were expected to do and won, while Wales also lived up to expectations and lost. There were two goals, and both were in the first fifteen minutes.

Those who were looking to put Fabio Capello in the Tower of London, were obliged to wait for another occasion.

I might or might not have wanted to watch this game, though given the performance of the English cricket team on the same day, it might have provided some solace. Trouble is, I didn’t get a chance.

I don’t have a contract with Sky, of course.

The less money that I put Mr Murdoch’s way, the better. (And anyway, I watch more football than is good for me, as it is.)

Most of the time I’m perfectly content to miss the live broadcast, try to avoid hearing the score, and then settle back (on the edge of my seat) to watch the highlights later. But there were none of these either. Not on BBC, ITV (1, 2 or 3) and not on Five either.

The terrestrial channels were full to the brim with sport, it has to be said, but with the exciting choice of the Boat Race (over before the first bend), the Grand Prix (over before it even starts) or yet another Olympic count-down programme, I had a sport-free day instead.

Somewhere in the blogosphere I read that S4C (a Welsh channel) showed the game, which only makes the lack of highlights in England even more bizarre.

As far as I can tell, there is nothing in Sky’s exclusive rights to show the England – Wales game live to prevent one of the terrestrial channels from screening them later. Simply that BBC and ITV chose not to.

But it’s a sure sign that we terrestrials will have to get used to second division sport, and the only place to see the “Crown Jewels” will be in the aforesaid Tower of London, next door to Mr Capello’s cell.

* Dr Chris Upton is kicking a ball around Newman University College in Birmingham.