Gary Lineker’s 25-year stint as the presenter of Match of the Day will come to an end in May after BBC Sport chief Alex Kay-Jelski took the decision to make a change
Gary Lineker’s 25-year stint as the presenter of Match of the Day will come to an end in May after BBC Sport chief Alex Kay-Jelski took the decision to make a change Gary Lineker’s 25-year stint as the presenter of Match of the Day will come to an end in May after BBC Sport chief Alex Kay-Jelski took the decision to make a change
It took a brave man to end Gary Lineker’s 25-year spell as Match of the Day host – and that’s exactly why the BBC hired Alex Kay-Jelski.
BBC staff were shocked when Kay-Jelski was announced as BBC Sport’s new director in April. The decision was taken by Charlotte Moore, the BBC’s chief content officer, who had head-hunted him from The Athletic, where Kay-Jelski had been in charge of growing the outlet since 2019.
He joined the BBC in the summer with a clear remit to evolve the corporation’s sport offering and target a younger audience. “Like most people, so many of my sporting memories have been lived with the BBC there to guide me through and having the chance to shape what that should look like in the coming years is a brilliant challenge,” Kay-Jelski said at the time.
It certainly has been a challenge. Kay-Jelski arrived believing that BBC Sport’s output had grown stale and boring. He was tasked with shaking things up and sparking digital and social media growth. Out went Garth Crooks’ long-running – and frequently mocked – team of the week column, with Troy Deeney, 30 years his junior, taking over. In came more editorialised social media posts, aimed at driving engagement. But there were more high-profile calls too.
It was Kay-Jelski who took the decision to sack football pundit and One Show host Jermaine Jenas in August following allegations of inappropriate behaviour in the workplace. That call came just two months into his tenure and demonstrated the sort of bravery that he would later display when dealing with Lineker.
Lineker is not only the face of Match of the Day, one of the BBC’s most treasured and watched programmes, he is also the corporation’s highest earner, pulling in £1.35million per year. With his contract set to expire at the end of the 2024/25 football season, it was clear that a decision needed to be made.
The BBC and Lineker entered into talks earlier in the autumn. Lineker was happy to reduce his salary to around £1m-a-year in order to stay at the helm of the programme he’s called home since 1999. But, while discussions rumbled on in good faith, he got the feeling that he was being fazed out.
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Lineker is 63 and now better known to most as a presenter, rather than an elite footballer. Kay-Jelski was firm in his belief that in order to target under-35s, the BBC needed to make a bold decision and remove Lineker as the face of its most watched sports programme.
On Tuesday, the decision was confirmed: Lineker would leave Match of the Day in the summer, but would remain with the BBC until 2026 to present its coverage of the 2026 World Cup, as well as the FA Cup and the MOTD Top Ten podcast. Kay-Jelski – who, as a Tottenham fan, likely grew up idolising Lineker – was quoted as saying: “Gary is a world-class presenter, and we’re delighted that he’ll lead our coverage of the next World Cup and continue to lead our live coverage of the FA Cup.
“After 25 seasons Gary is stepping down from MOTD. We want to thank him for everything he has done for the show, which continues to attract millions of viewers each week. He’ll be hugely missed on the show but we’re so happy he is staying with the BBC to present live football.”
He has made a huge call – one which will see him receive flak from some – but he is unlikely to be cowed. At 40, Kay-Jelski has climbed to one of the most influential jobs in sports media, having impressed colleagues and executives at every step.
Before joining The Athletic, he was the sports editor of The Times and Daily Mail. When he took over at the Mail, he was still in his 20s, and became the youngest sports editor in Fleet Street history, as well as the first gay man to hold such a position. He developed a reputation for hard work, left-field thinking and fierce loyalty to his colleagues.
Having been more accustomed to working behind the scenes, he will not enjoy the spotlight placed on him in the wake of Lineker’s exit. But, as a man intently familiar with the content cycle, he will know that a similar glare will return when he chooses his replacement.
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