Gary Lineker has announced that it is the 'right time' for him to step down from presenting BBC's Match of the Day after more than two decades. Speaking on his podcast, The Rest is Football, the 63-year-old expressed his gratitude for the 'absolute joy and privilege' of hosting the show but believes it is now time for 'someone else to take the helm' as the BBC plans changes to the programme.
Lineker will conclude his role as host of the football highlights show at the end of the current season but will continue to present coverage of the FA Cup in 2025/26 and the World Cup in 2026. 'It has been an absolute joy and privilege to present such an iconic show for the BBC, but all things have to come to an end,' he said on his podcast. 'It came at a point where really the BBC and Match of the Day, they’ve got the rights for another three years, the cycle starts from next season so it felt like if I just do one more year it would be a bit weird.'
The former England striker added: 'I bowed out in my football career when I felt it was the right time. I feel this is now the right time. I think the next contract they’re looking to do Match of the Day slightly differently, so I think it makes sense for someone else to take the helm.'
Lineker declined to speculate on who might replace him, amid rumors that it could be Mark Chapman, Alex Scott, or Gabby Logan. 'Obviously I don’t know who it’ll be, and I would never tell publicly my preference, I don’t think that’d be the right thing to do – but whoever it is, I would say be yourself,' he said. 'I had to fill the ginormous shoes of certain Des Lynam. I would say just be yourself and enjoy it, it’s a wonderful programme to be a part of. It was brilliant before I took over, and it will be brilliant after I leave.'
Lineker has hosted Match of the Day since 1999 and will have presented the show for over a quarter of a century when he departs in May 2025. 'I look back and it’s been an amazing experience, and I feel incredibly fortunate,' he said, before confirming he will still watch Match of the Day. Lineker said he was leaving the show in 'really good shape', describing the viewing figures as 'still really competitive on a Saturday night.'
Last year, Lineker was briefly suspended from hosting Match of the Day after his tweet about the British government’s asylum policy sparked controversy over the corporation’s presenters expressing political views on social media. 'I’ve had a lot of chaos over the last couple of years in many ways,' Lineker said, adding he was on 'first-name terms with some of the people that stand outside my front door.'
Lineker will continue with the Match of the Day Top 10 podcast alongside his The Restis Football podcast, which also features BBC pundits Alan Shearer and Micah Richards. Lineker has been the BBC’s highest-paid on-air talent for seven consecutive years and was estimated to have earned £1.35m in the year 2023/24, according to the corporation’s annual report published in July. The BBC said future plans for Match of the Day would be 'announced in due course.'
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