Gary Lineker's final Match Of The Day opening: ‘It wasn't meant to end this way'
As the episode started, Lineker said: 'It wasn't meant to end this way… but with the title race over and the relegation places confirmed, the Champions League was all we had left to talk about about.'
His early exit comes after he faced criticism for sharing a social media post about Zionism which featured an emoji of a rat, historically used as an antisemitic trope.
Lineker, the BBC's highest-paid presenter, issued an unreserved apology as it was confirmed he would leave his presenting role at the BBC early and will no longer front the corporation's coverage of the 2026 World Cup or the FA Cup next season.
Presenting the final episode alongside fellow pundits, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, with whom he also hosts podcast The Rest Is Football, Lineker's departure will be marked with a tribute similar to the one given to Ian Wright when he left in May 2024, it is understood.
Lineker joined the programme after starting out as a BBC Radio Five Live presenter, also working on Grandstand during his early years in broadcasting.
He is the co-founder of Goalhanger Podcasts which makes The Rest Is History series and its spin-offs about politics, football, entertainment and money.
The presenter was temporarily suspended from the BBC in March 2023 over an impartiality row about comments he made criticising the then-government's new asylum policy.
In February of this year he was also among 500 other high-profile figures who signed an open letter calling on the BBC to rebroadcast a documentary, Gaza: How To Survive A War Zone, to BBC iPlayer.
Gabby Logan, Kelly Cates and Mark Chapman will replace the Leicester-born star and share the presenting role on Match Of The Day from the next Premier League season.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South Wales Argus
18 minutes ago
- South Wales Argus
Writer Jimmy McGovern praises ‘brave' BBC for airing child abuse drama
The Liverpool-born scriptwriter said he thought he 'had' to write Unforgivable to tell the story – based on an account he heard from a child psychologist – of a convicted sex offender who revealed details of his own abuse after being released from prison. He said that as he was writing it he doubted whether it would ever be aired. The 75-year-old told the PA news agency: 'I wanted to get it right, but the thing that bothered me most was, why am I doing this? Because I have a very strong feeling that the BBC will never do this, because it was not only condemning child abuse, it was trying to understand all the issues about child abuse, and that's not easy for people to take. 'I thought the BBC would say no, but they haven't said no. 'I know that they've been subject to attack at the moment, but it is an extraordinarily brave organisation at times, particularly over drama.' McGovern said as he wrote it he worried about backlash 'more over this particular project than any other' from people who may think it offered a sympathetic view of child abusers. He said: 'People are more than the crime they have committed, aren't they? There is more to any criminal than the crime they committed. 'So, it's finding that within the child abuser that helps you tell the story. 'He is an interesting character. We do not make it easy for him at all. 'The crime of abuse is an appalling crime and should be punished as an appalling crime. We do not make it easy for for our abuser at all, but we do delve into aspects of his life.' The writer said he understood the public reaction to child abusers – having once driven around Liverpool's Sefton Park with a neighbour trying to find a man they believed had tried to touch their children. 'All we knew was the man who did it had blue running shorts on,' he said. David Threlfall is among the cast for Unforgivable (Jonathan Brady/PA) 'We went, we toured around Sefton Park looking for a man, any man, in blue running shorts and we were going to kill him. Thank God we did not find such a man. 'I excuse myself by saying probably most men would have reacted that way.' McGovern said he always wanted actor Bobby Schofield, who appeared in the writer's prison series Time, to play the role of abuser Joe Mitchell. He said: 'He's tremendous in it. He doesn't curry favour at all. What he does do is he plays self-disgust really well and he is a man who hates himself.' The one-off TV film also sees McGovern working with Anna Friel and Anna Maxwell Martin, both of whom he has worked with before. 'It's great to give lines to actors like that, you know. You know they're going to be done well,' he said. For the first time, he worked with David Threlfall, who McGovern had admired since he had seen him as Frank Gallagher in Shameless. He said: 'I always saw that as King Lear, because he was just that man in the storm, almost, wasn't he? I think he's an incredible actor.' Unforgivable will air on BBC Two at 9pm on Thursday and will be available on BBC iPlayer from the same day.
Leader Live
18 minutes ago
- Leader Live
Writer Jimmy McGovern praises ‘brave' BBC for airing child abuse drama
The Liverpool-born scriptwriter said he thought he 'had' to write Unforgivable to tell the story – based on an account he heard from a child psychologist – of a convicted sex offender who revealed details of his own abuse after being released from prison. He said that as he was writing it he doubted whether it would ever be aired. The 75-year-old told the PA news agency: 'I wanted to get it right, but the thing that bothered me most was, why am I doing this? Because I have a very strong feeling that the BBC will never do this, because it was not only condemning child abuse, it was trying to understand all the issues about child abuse, and that's not easy for people to take. 'I thought the BBC would say no, but they haven't said no. 'I know that they've been subject to attack at the moment, but it is an extraordinarily brave organisation at times, particularly over drama.' McGovern said as he wrote it he worried about backlash 'more over this particular project than any other' from people who may think it offered a sympathetic view of child abusers. He said: 'People are more than the crime they have committed, aren't they? There is more to any criminal than the crime they committed. 'So, it's finding that within the child abuser that helps you tell the story. 'He is an interesting character. We do not make it easy for him at all. 'The crime of abuse is an appalling crime and should be punished as an appalling crime. We do not make it easy for for our abuser at all, but we do delve into aspects of his life.' The writer said he understood the public reaction to child abusers – having once driven around Liverpool's Sefton Park with a neighbour trying to find a man they believed had tried to touch their children. 'All we knew was the man who did it had blue running shorts on,' he said. 'We went, we toured around Sefton Park looking for a man, any man, in blue running shorts and we were going to kill him. Thank God we did not find such a man. 'I excuse myself by saying probably most men would have reacted that way.' McGovern said he always wanted actor Bobby Schofield, who appeared in the writer's prison series Time, to play the role of abuser Joe Mitchell. He said: 'He's tremendous in it. He doesn't curry favour at all. What he does do is he plays self-disgust really well and he is a man who hates himself.' The one-off TV film also sees McGovern working with Anna Friel and Anna Maxwell Martin, both of whom he has worked with before. 'It's great to give lines to actors like that, you know. You know they're going to be done well,' he said. For the first time, he worked with David Threlfall, who McGovern had admired since he had seen him as Frank Gallagher in Shameless. He said: 'I always saw that as King Lear, because he was just that man in the storm, almost, wasn't he? I think he's an incredible actor.' Unforgivable will air on BBC Two at 9pm on Thursday and will be available on BBC iPlayer from the same day.
North Wales Chronicle
18 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Writer Jimmy McGovern praises ‘brave' BBC for airing child abuse drama
The Liverpool-born scriptwriter said he thought he 'had' to write Unforgivable to tell the story – based on an account he heard from a child psychologist – of a convicted sex offender who revealed details of his own abuse after being released from prison. He said that as he was writing it he doubted whether it would ever be aired. The 75-year-old told the PA news agency: 'I wanted to get it right, but the thing that bothered me most was, why am I doing this? Because I have a very strong feeling that the BBC will never do this, because it was not only condemning child abuse, it was trying to understand all the issues about child abuse, and that's not easy for people to take. 'I thought the BBC would say no, but they haven't said no. 'I know that they've been subject to attack at the moment, but it is an extraordinarily brave organisation at times, particularly over drama.' McGovern said as he wrote it he worried about backlash 'more over this particular project than any other' from people who may think it offered a sympathetic view of child abusers. He said: 'People are more than the crime they have committed, aren't they? There is more to any criminal than the crime they committed. 'So, it's finding that within the child abuser that helps you tell the story. 'He is an interesting character. We do not make it easy for him at all. 'The crime of abuse is an appalling crime and should be punished as an appalling crime. We do not make it easy for for our abuser at all, but we do delve into aspects of his life.' The writer said he understood the public reaction to child abusers – having once driven around Liverpool's Sefton Park with a neighbour trying to find a man they believed had tried to touch their children. 'All we knew was the man who did it had blue running shorts on,' he said. 'We went, we toured around Sefton Park looking for a man, any man, in blue running shorts and we were going to kill him. Thank God we did not find such a man. 'I excuse myself by saying probably most men would have reacted that way.' McGovern said he always wanted actor Bobby Schofield, who appeared in the writer's prison series Time, to play the role of abuser Joe Mitchell. He said: 'He's tremendous in it. He doesn't curry favour at all. What he does do is he plays self-disgust really well and he is a man who hates himself.' The one-off TV film also sees McGovern working with Anna Friel and Anna Maxwell Martin, both of whom he has worked with before. 'It's great to give lines to actors like that, you know. You know they're going to be done well,' he said. For the first time, he worked with David Threlfall, who McGovern had admired since he had seen him as Frank Gallagher in Shameless. He said: 'I always saw that as King Lear, because he was just that man in the storm, almost, wasn't he? I think he's an incredible actor.' Unforgivable will air on BBC Two at 9pm on Thursday and will be available on BBC iPlayer from the same day.
