Presenter Kelly Cates has been tipped to be the replacement for Gary Lineker on BBC One’s Match of the Day.
It has been reported that Cates will leave her role on Sky Sports to join the revamped team taking over the football round-up, alongside others.
Already a popular broadcaster, she is understood to be joining a new trio who will replace veteran Lineker, made up of current Match of the Day 2 presenter Mark Chapman and BBC Sport broadcaster Gabby Logan.
Speaking in November, she told the Independent: “Gary is still very much in the job and I know him. Chappers and Gabby, who are also being mentioned as frontrunners, are really good mates of mine.
“I’m certainly not going to put myself in the frame for a job that still has somebody in it and where the people being linked with it are my friends. And I love doing live football. I’m happy where I am.”
Here is everything we know about Kelly Cates.
Who is Kelly Cates?
Kelly Cates’s background
She is a 49-year-old presenter, currently working for Sky Sports where she has covered the Premier League since 2017.
She is the eldest daughter of the former Liverpool footballer Kenny Dalglish and her brother Paul was a professional footballer playing for Newcastle, Norwich and Blackpool. He now works as a coach in America. She has two younger sisters, Lynsey and Lauren.
Cates says she has always loved football and grew up watching Liverpool. She said previously: “When I was a baby my mum took me to matches to watch my dad play. I don’t remember a time when I didn’t go to football games – my earliest memories are of being in the players’ lounge with the other players’ children.”
She was born in Glasgow, where she also went to university to study maths. She then took a job at Sky Sports News in 1998, shortly after it launched.
Where has Kelly Cates worked?
Cates worked at Sky Sports News for nearly a decade until 2006 when she moved channels to cover Premier League matches for Irish broadcaster Setanta. She also hosted ITV’s coverage of the 2011/12 Champions League season.
As well as Sky Sports and Setanta, she has done a stint at Channel 4, working on the 2012 Paralympic Games in London and also for Channel 5 on its Football League Tonight show alongside George Riley for the 2015/16 season.
Cates returned to Sky for the 2016/17 season, initially hosting its Football League matches before working her way up to Premier League matches. In addition, she works for Premier League Productions in Stockley Park, Uxbridge hosting the Monday morning show with Ian Wright.
Cates has also worked for BBC Radio 5 Live since 2009 and previously hosted the Monday evening show on TalkSport alongside former Chelsea and Tottenham defender Jason Cundy.
Is Kelly Cates married?
She was formerly married but has since split from her husband Tom Cates in 2021.
It has been reported that their relationship is amicable, and that they work together to bring up their two teenage daughters.
