On Tuesday the BBC confirmed Gary Lineker is to step down as the presenter of Match of the Day at the end of the season, sparking speculation about who is likely to step into his sizeable boots.
The top job at the BBC’s flagship football programme has not been available since Lineker took over from Des Lynam in 1999, when the show was the definitive word on football on terrestrial television.
A lot has changed since then, and MOTD – like all linear television programmes – has seen its number of viewers plummet. In a world of highlight clips delivered almost instantly across a range of digital platforms, will the BBC look for a safe replacement to their top-paid star, or look to break the mould? Here are some of the frontrunners.
Mark Chapman
Chappers, as he is presumably affectionately known, is seen as the obvious choice to replace Lineker. As the host of Match of the Day 2 for more than a decade he is a known quantity and a BBC staple, also hosting the Monday Night Club, a football debate show on BBC 5 Live.
The bookies’ favourite, Chapman is a familiar face and has filled in for Lineker on the main show. A warm presenter with an easy rapport with pundits, he has recently started hosting the BBC’s new midweek Champions League highlights show.
Gabby Logan
Logan is one of the best-known sports presenters on the BBC and won praise for her coverage of the Paris Olympics as one of the broadcaster’s main presenters. With more than 20 years’ experience hosting major football coverage across various networks, she has regularly stood in for Lineker on MOTD, as well as covering the Six Nations, the men’s and women’s football World Cup and this summer’s Euros.
Logan started her broadcasting career at Sky, before deputising for Lynam on The Premiership on ITV, the channel’s highlights show launched after they won the rights from the BBC between 2001 and 2004.
Logan later succeeded Lynam to front Champions League coverage on ITV, but left “under a cloud” in 2006 when her job as a World Cup anchor was given to a man. She joined the BBC the following year and currently also hosts live games on the streaming service Amazon Prime.
Alex Scott
Scott, a former England and Arsenal right-back, became the first female analyst to be taken to a men’s World Cup by the BBC in Russia in 2018, and became Sky Sports’ first female football pundit the same summer. She replaced Dan Walker as the host of the BBC’s Football Focus in 2021.
Kelly Cates
The Sky Sports presenter is a fan favourite for her authoritative knowledge of the sport and easy sense of humour. The daughter of the former Celtic and Liverpool player and manager Kenny Dalglish, Cates left Sky in 2006 but returned in 2016, and covers the Premier League’s biggest games in the studio alongside Gary Neville, Roy Keane and Jamie Carragher.
Jake Humphrey
Humphrey is an experienced sports broadcaster, and has presented Formula One, Football Focus, Final Score and MOTD.
The 46-year-old hosts the successful High Performance podcast, which looks at the lives of high-achieving individuals, but has previously said he would “never say never” to hosting the “legendary show”.
Gary Neville
The former Manchester United great has become a well-known pundit on Sky Sports since his retirement in 2011, with Lineker previously ruing that he did not feature on MOTD.
But if the BBC are looking for a less politically minded presenter, they may want to look elsewhere. Neville is a prominent Labour party supporter, and has a habit of making his own political remarks.
All of the above
With the BBC promising only that the replacement for Lineker will be announced “in due course”, the rumour mill has gone into overdrive. One potential new direction could be a Have I Got News For You format, where a revolving cast of MOTD hosts take it in turns to helm the show. Asked about the possibility, a source at the BBC said it was an “interesting idea”, adding: “Maybe we could just have a tub of lard”.
