Sky Sports anchor Kelly Cates has thrown her support behind Mark Chapman or Gabby Logan to take over the reins from Gary Lineker on Match of the Day. The broadcasting world was rocked by the news that Lineker would be stepping down at the end of the season, after an impressive 25-year tenure as the face of the iconic football programme.
The revelation, which emerged on Monday evening, followed months of speculation and tight-lipped responses from both the BBC and Lineker himself. His departure marks the end of an era for the show, with the 63-year-old holding the record as its longest-serving host.
Cates, a familiar face on Sky Sports since her return in 2016, shared her thoughts before the announcement of Lineker’s exit became public knowledge. She claimed the BBC wouldn’t need to look too far for their new host.
“There are people like Chappers [Mark Chapman], who has been doing Match of the Day, who is brilliant, and then Gabby [Logan] does a lot of the live football for them, and does a lot of Match of The Day, as well,” she said to The Mirror.
“So I just think there’s really, really good people who are friends of mine and who are in line for it, so it would be really weird [to say she could take on the role].”
While Lineker will conclude his Match of the Day duties after this season, he isn’t severing ties with the BBC entirely. He’s set to lead the broadcaster’s coverage of the World Cup in two years’ time and will remain for next season’s FA Cup coverage.
“There’s nothing worse than people sort of lining up, queuing up, while you are still (in the job). And the thing is, Gary might want to stay on,” Cates said before the Lineker decision was made public. “He might change his mind, you know, even if he thinks at one stage he wants to go, there’s still a World Cup.”
Rumblings of Lineker’s possible departure from the BBC began following an alleged leaked internal email suggesting preparations for an announcement about his exit. The claims were quickly dismissed as premature by the broadcaster, who clarified discussions were still in progress regarding Lineker’s contract.
Lineker, during an October on-air jest, mentioned it was his “final show… before the international break”. Adding to this, the broadcasting icon shared sentiments on BBC Breakfast earlier marking 60 years of Match of the Day, appearing quite calm about his fate and stating that he was content to “wait and see”.
“It depends how long they want me, I suppose,” the former Leicester striker said. “I love doing it at the moment. I’ve still got another year left, at least. So we’ll have to wait and see what happens.
“Obviously it’s another change in football and television and the rights of the Premier League and stuff like that. All of these things will play a part. But I just feel it’s been an absolute privilege to have presented it for 25-years now. I must be getting old.”
Speculation abounsd about who could step into Lineker’s presenting boots, with Alex Scott, Alan Shearer, Jason Mohammad, Kelly Sommers, and Chapman all supposedly in contention.
