Sunday does not only mark the end of the Premier League season – it also marks the end of an era in sports broadcasting.
Jeff Stelling has become the familiar face of the weekend for so many football fans over the past 29 years. But Sunday will be his last in the presenter’s chair on Soccer Saturday, with Sky Sports intent on updating its sports offering this summer.
Stelling, who has presented the show since 1994, announced in October 2021 that he was stepping down from his role. He later changed his mind – much to the delight of the viewers – but this time he won’t go back on his decision.
“It is Groundhog Day, that time of the year when I announce that I am leaving Sky Sports and Gillette Soccer Saturday,” Stelling said on the show back in April.
“This time it is true. After 30 fantastic years on Sky, you lot out there have supported me, as have Sky, but it’s time to give you a break from all the VAR rants and bad gags and over the top celebrations when Hartlepool score a goal and give someone else the chance to do this fantastic job.
“So I’ll be leaving on May 28th. We’ve got a few programs between now and then, this is the last six hour Saturday Gillette Soccer Saturday… so we’d better get on with it!”
Controversial overhaul
For many, Stelling’s departure will mark the end of Soccer Saturday as we know it. But his exit has been in the offing ever since August 2020, when three stalwarts of the football results programme were given the boot.
Former players Phil Thompson, Charlie Nicholas and Matt Le Tissier had become part of the furniture on the Soccer Saturday set, but Sky bosses decided the 2020/21 season was the time to move on.
A Sky statement shortly after the change-up read: “We are changing some parts of our football coverage – Matt, Charlie and Phil have done a great job for us over the years, and they will leave us with our sincere thanks and very best wishes.”
The feeling was not mutual. "Just before midday, my phone rang and it was Tiss,” Stelling later told the Guardian. “I said: ‘Hello Tiss, how’re you doing?’ He said: ‘I was doing OK until I was sacked.' That was a real shock. Matt is much younger than the other guys and I was very taken aback. But, as soon as Matt told me he’d been sacked, I knew what was coming."
Stelling tweeted: "One of my saddest days ever at Sky Sports with the departure of three of my best mates. They have been part of a team that for me was the best."
After the three high-profile departures, Stelling considered his position as presenter. He later revealed that he held talks with Sky's head of football, Gary Hughes, about the direction the show was heading because he was concerned over pushing out a "diminished product."
Ultimately he stayed put alongside veteran reporters Paul Merson and Chris Kamara as the show rolled on. But the tinge of sadness and controversy didn’t stop there.
Evolution
The show rolled on, with Thompson, Nicholas and Le Tissier replaced by a revolving cast of pundits, which included the likes of Merson, Clinton Morrison, Tim Sherwood, Sue Smith and Michael Dawson. But the bitterness surrounding the sackings remained in the public domain.
Le Tissier was particularly vocal about losing his job. The former Southampton star became infamous for sharing conspiracy theories surrounding the Coronavirus pandemic and Russia ’s invasion of Ukraine and later suggested Sky had sacked him due to his controversial views.
"I went into working in the media from 2002 onwards until late August 2020, which was an interesting scenario where I lost my job,” he said. “Obviously the pandemic started in 2020 in March – and very early on in that I had my doubts as to what was really going on.
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"I felt early on there was a massive overreaction to it by the governments. And that's where it all started for me with questioning the narrative and probably ended up with me losing my job at Sky."
Kamara stayed working for Sky Sports until the end of the 2021/22 season, when he announced his departure. "My long career at Sky Sports has never felt like work,” he said. “I've spent 24 terrific years at Sky, and leave with the best of memories.”
A few months prior, Kamara had gone public to explain his decision was partly taken due to a rare speech condition, which left him in “silent agony”. But his exit left Stelling and Merson as the only remaining members of the old guard – and, this season, the winds of change have been blowing at Sky Sports.
Changing of the guard
Soccer Saturday is not the only Sky programme to have undergone major changes over the past few years. Soccer AM has been a staple of the schedule since its inception in 1995 – but it was confirmed in March that it will cease to exist at the end of the season.
Presenter Jimmy Bullard and his colleagues were understood to be “fuming” at the decision, which will make them, and many other reporters on the channel, redundant. Sky will replace Soccer AM with the Saturday Social in an effort to appeal to younger audiences.
Reacting to the news of Soccer AM’s axing, a Sky Spokesperson said: “Soccer AM has played an important role in our coverage of football for the past three decades, and we continually adapt to the evolving needs of our customers.
"We now go into a period of consultation to discuss the proposed changes with our people. We are unable to provide more detail while these consultations are underway.”
Stelling was reportedly ‘shocked’ and ‘saddened’ to learn of the potential job losses. The far reaching decisions at Sky means the 2023/24 season will start in August without two staples of football broadcasting.
Stelling bows out
The 68-year-old announced his departure back in April and he has been eager to make the most of his platform before he steps down. Last weekend he gave a passionate and emotional speech in which he appealed for action from the Government on eating disorders.
“More people die from eating disorders every year than any other mental illness. The Government’s lack of awareness and funding is a national disgrace. They decided to put calories for goodness sake on people’s menus.
“Up to 20 per cent of all eating disorder cases end in death and the cycle goes like that. [Campaigner] Abby [Davies] said: ‘Boy, girl, woman, man, goes for help, they are told they are not thin enough, they are not underweight enough to need treatment’.
"They go away, they lose more weight, they go further and deeper into the mental morass that they’re in. They have suicidal tendencies. They are then told ‘You are now too thin to be treated’ and are offered palliative care for god’s sake. So we’re not going to help you but we will try and ensure you die comfortably. It’s 2023.”
His words have been praised by campaigners and ensure he will leave Soccer Saturday on Sunday with his head held high and legacy as one of the best broadcasters secure.
