A three-person team will present Match of the Day next season, according to a new report, with Sky Sports’ Kelly Cates being named as one of those to replace Gary Lineker.
Lineker, who succeeded Des Lynam as the host of Match of the Day in 1999, is set to step away from hosting duties with the BBC, which involves ending his tenure with MOTD.
It is said the 64-year-old will remain a part of the BBC’s FA Cup coverage for the 2025/26 campaign but is ‘set to leave the BBC completely’ after the 2026 World Cup.
Talk over who will replace Lineker has been rife but now, it has emerged that Kelly Cates will leave Sky Sports at the end of the season and head to the BBC, where she will share presenting duties with Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan.
That’s according to the Daily Mail, who claim presenting duties for Match of the Day and Match of the Day 2 will be split between all three broadcasters.
It is also suggested that bosses at Sky are ‘deeply saddened’ at the loss of Cates, who is the daughter of Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish.
Cates has earned deserved acclaim for her presenting on Sky Sports’ Premier League coverage, working alongside the likes of Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher and Roy Keane, to name a few, on their Super Sunday programme.
Last month, Cates was asked about her chances of replacing Lineker on Match of the Day.
“Gary is still very much in the job and I know him,” she told The Independent. “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.
“When I cover Liverpool games at Anfield, I get to catch up with my mum and dad, even if it’s just five minutes because they’re always the last ones out of the building. I usually head straight back to London if it’s a Sunday game, but I always pop up and say hello.
“I do some work at Premier League Productions out of Stockley Park on a Monday morning show with Ian Wright. We pick out the big stories of the weekend, so I get to do all kinds of really interesting things and I’m really busy.
“Moreover, I do them all in different places so people don’t get sick of me! I’m not angling or looking to do something different because I’m genuinely happy with what I’m doing.”
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