SOCCER mad fans across the globe are following Wanderers' amazing Premiership adventure.

Such is the demand for action from the most popular league in the world that pictures from the Reebok are now beamed to an overseas audience measured in tens of millions.

So it is not surprising to learn that the team responsible for the pictures is a top-of-the-table outfit boasting a cast of experts and millions of pounds worth of equipment - a business which, less than a decade ago, was knocking out match videos for Blackpool Football Club.

Now Touchline Television - the production company which operates as Wanderers TV - employs more than 20 technicians on a six-camera operation at the Reebok, producing pictures through its state-of-the-art studio in the latest serial digital wide screen format, the best picture quality on the planet. Pictures which now feature on ITV's new Saturday night flagship programme, The Premiership.

Indeed the only footage the Touchline team are not responsible for is when Sky Sports broadcast a live game from the Reebok - as was the case when Wanderers enjoyed that sensational victory over Liverpool on Monday night.

"Producing a programme for the screens on the Reebok concourses and in the private boxes and corporate lounges is still a big part of the picture from Touchline's point of view," presenter Peter Smith insists, "but it's now a global operation.

"We're providing a service inside the stadium for an audience measured in thousands but the match action is being screened to millions and millions all over the world.

"For years, selected games have been broadcast live to Scandinavia but now those games are being shown in as many as 40 countries. And, now that Akinori Nishizawa is here, every Premiership game at the Reebok is being beamed to Japan."

Smith came up with the idea for the Wanderers TV project after seeing the services Arsenal and Chelsea provided for their fans but was determined to improve on it. Wanderers, who linked up with Touchline to incorporate a television facility when the Reebok was being built, subsequently became the first club in the Premiership (1997-98) to produce their own magazine-style programme. They are now exploring an expansion into cable, satellite and website accessibility.

Peter Myers, managing director of the Nelson-based Touchline TV, first became involved in football producing videos at Blackpool when Sam Allardyce was manager of the Tangerines.

He says: "Our target is to provide the best possible pictures for worldwide viewing and, of course, to embellish the enjoyment of a matchday visit to the Reebok. We've had a long and fruitful partnership with Bolton Wanderers and hope that it can continue for many, many years to come."

Smith, who fronts the media side of the business, hopes to weave Wanderers TV into the fabric of every fan's life.

"We want the programme to become part of every supporter's matchday in the same way that Football Focus is a ritual before they leave home," he says.

"We like to make the content newsworthy and punchy to give our fans as much of an insight as possible into what is really happening behind the scenes.

"We are proud to be going strong in our fifth season and look forward to having Wanderers TV made more readily available via other channels."