Gary Lineker will not be missed on Match of the Day

📅 Published: August 17, 2025

Curated by AllZimNews.com

It was an inadvertent insult, and one he apologised for, but the blunder was the final straw in a long-running saga over whether a BBC presenter should be allowed to be so political.

His replacements therefore would have to be squeaky clean and Mark Chapman, Kelly Cates and Gabby Logan in rotation represent exactly that.

Cates, Logan and Chapman will share MOTD presenting duties (Photo: Charlie Clift/BBC) Giving “Chappers” the first start of the season was obvious too.

He is the ultimate safe pair of hands, a BBC lifer who started at the corporation in 1996.

Lineker was still doing a comedy turn on They Think It’s All Over while Chapman was cutting his teeth.

Chapman was keen to signal over the summer that this would not be some great Match of the Day revolution, at least not in the late-night televisual version of it. “If you’re wanting a lot of change I suppose you’re going to be a bit disappointed by it,” Chapman said, recognising that the audience for the Saturday night show is staunch, as are the ratings, and change would not go down well.

The highlights it includes are available on the BBC Sport app from 8pm, more than two hours before it airs, but Match of the Day on BBC One is not for people who spend Saturday nights on the BBC Sport app.

It’s for the dwindling numbers of linear TV viewers.

Is £800k on Wayne Rooney money well spent?

Rooney will be a regular pundit on Match of the Day this year (Photo: BBC) The real change is on the other sofa next to stalwart Alan Shearer, where former England captain Wayne Rooney took pride of place.

If you consume any BBC football content this season, you will almost certainly be exposed to some form of Rooney.

Having paid him a reported £800,000 for a twice-weekly podcast, the first big interview with Kelly Somers and various punditry slots, the BBC is keen to get its money’s worth.

But Rooney is not a skilled pundit.

He is an interesting character certainly, but struggles to communicate in a way that overlays his storied career on the modern game.

It might explain why his managerial career from Derby to Plymouth via DC United and Birmingham City has gone so badly.