Football fans have been left furious by Sky Sports ' decision to axe Soccer AM and replace it with The Saturday Social.
Soccer AM has been a staple of Saturday morning viewing since 1995, becoming a fan favourite thanks to its organised chaos vibe. Presenters Tim Lovejoy and Helen Chamberlain became household names for their work on the programme in its heyday.
But the decision has now been made to cut the show from the schedules after the end of the current Premier League season. In its place, The Saturday Social will move up from its current 9.30am slot to be Sky's 10.30am offering.
But the move has been lambasted by football supporters, who have taken aim at the programme, which features YouTubers each week. One said of Soccer AM: It isn’t even that bad, people just like to say it’s c*** because it’s not what it used to be. Saturday social is f***ing w*** however."
Another added: "Saturday Social is everything that's wrong with football these days. It's basically Twitter on TV. Get 2 people on who disagree with each other over every club, player etc. Absolute shocking TV."
A third said: "Pretty poor choice. Not once got up on a Saturday and wanted to watch Saturday Social or Football Focus on BBC, the laughs and chats on this [Soccer AM] have always been much better. Shame really."
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A fourth added: "Replacing it with Saturday Social?? I might be showing my age but that’s a horrendous decision. How can that survive and not Soccer AM?" A fifth fumed: "Soccer AM getting axed and replaced with Saturday Social. Sky have had absolutely Weston there."
While some admitted that it was the right time to bring Soccer AM to an end, fans still slammed the move to promote The Saturday Social to a prime slot in their Saturday morning schedule.
One said: "While Soccer AM is obviously past it’s sell-by date, replacing it with Saturday Social says everything about modern Broadcasting. Goals on Sunday, Revista de La Liga, Sunday supplement all axed in favour of listening to the likes of Thogden and Chunkz."
Another added: "Sky Sports getting rid of Soccer AM and replacing it with Saturday social is dumb, they're putting on more youtubers on tv who don't have a clue about football, no wonder people cancelling Sky."
A third concluded: "So Sky are taking Soccer AM off the air at the end of the season and replacing it with Saturday Social. I don't watch Saturday Social, i watch Soccer AM. Saturday Social is just boring as hell. Jimmy Bullard actually is entertaining. Massive massive mistake by SKY. Pull you head in."
According to The Sun, current hosts Bullard and John 'Fenners' Fendley are also 'fuming' at the move. Soccer AM staff were informed of the move on Tuesday, with the group being made redundant.
