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New Match of the Day presenters announced

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Kelly Cates, Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan will replace Gary Lineker in the famous Match of the Day chair © BBC
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Kelly Cates, Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan will be the new Match of the Day presenters from next season, the BBC has announced.

It is the first time the role will be shared between three people.

They will split presenting duties for Match of the Day 2 on Sundays and MOTD: Champions League on Wednesdays, as well as Saturday’s flagship show.

Gary Lineker has hosted Match of the Day since 1999 and will do so for the rest of the season.

The former England striker will continue to lead the BBC’s TV coverage of the FA Cup next season and present the men’s World Cup in 2026.

Cates, Chapman and Logan will be the sixth set of main presenters for Match of the Day, which is the longest-running football show in the world having launched on 22 August 1964.

Last season, 33 million viewers tuned in across all Match of the Day Premier League and FA Cup programmes.

Former England players Alan Shearer and Micah Richards will continue as regular MOTD pundits.

BBC Sport director Alex Kay-Jelski said: “I know viewers will love these three incredible broadcasters and journalists at the heart of our football coverage next season.

“They’re brilliant at what they do and MOTD viewers can be sure they will be well looked after as the big football talking points are expertly analysed.

“Gary has done a phenomenal job at Match of the Day for the last 25 years, he’ll be missed greatly and we all still get to enjoy him on our screens across some of football’s greatest tournaments.

“Outside of Match of the Day we’ve got some great new shows, voices and surprises lined up for the 2025-26 season across audio, video and digital and we look forward to sharing them with you all later in the year.

“It’s a truly exciting time for BBC Sport’s football coverage.”

Meet the presenters

On sharing the role

“We are all friends and we’ve known each other for a long time and that’s a really lovely part of it,” said Cates, who will also continue to work for Sky Sports.

“Not only is it a great role just on its own but I’m sharing it with two people I really admire, respect and genuinely like. It’s a great set-up.”

Logan, who first joined the BBC in 2007, has stood in for Lineker on Match of the Day and presented many huge sporting events for the BBC, including men’s and women’s World Cups and European Championships, the Six Nations and Olympics.

“I think what’s interesting is although we’re sharing the role, we won’t actually be working together on Match of the Day,” she said.

“It’s really great to share it because we bring different experiences and different interests within the game. We bring different ways of broadcasting and that will mean our pundits are kept on their toes and share different kinds of analysis.”

Chapman has been the main MOTD2 host since 2013 and works regularly on BBC Radio 5 Live.

“People might find this hard to believe but there’s absolutely no competition between the three of us,” he said.

“We’ll do a mix of everything that works for us all as individuals, and all of us are really keen that it’s fair.

“This isn’t about the three of us, it’s about the three of us plus our pundits, plus our editors, plus our analysts and stats people and production people and radio people and online.”

On first MOTD memories

“Match of the Day was always on – I can’t remember a time without it,” said Cates, who is the daughter of Liverpool and Scotland legend Sir Kenny Dalglish.

“My earliest memory is of Des Lynam being on it. In fact there’s a Scottish version of Match of the Day and I was born just before it came on air, so my dad had time to get home and watch it in the evening. I’ve always had a good sense of timing when it comes to an evening highlights show!”

Logan, who is the daughter of former Wales and Leeds midfielder Terry Yorath, said: “When my dad was playing, it was the only way you could watch football on TV because there were very few live matches.

“That music would play every Saturday night because he would come home from work – playing in a match – and watch his match on Match of the Day. As a very little girl, hearing that music meant I was staying up late on a Saturday night.”

Chapman said: “My first memory of Match of the Day was in 1981 watching Manchester United play Ipswich at Old Trafford in the era when not every game was shown on the programme.

“I remember Gary Bailey being in goal for Manchester United and saving a penalty with no gloves on. I wanted to go and get in goal in the garden after that. I must have been seven.”

On what it means to host MOTD

Cates said MOTD’s status as an institution made it “nerve-wracking”.

“It’s something that’s so well-loved and so well-respected you don’t want to be the person that goes in and breaks that,” she said.

“I’m just very excited, I can’t wait to get started. I keep thinking about that moment I’ll be sitting in the chair and the music starts, and I can’t wait for it to happen.”

Chapman said “in many ways I’m not doing anything different to what I’ve done for the last 12 years”.

But he added: “I am excited about the variety that is going to come from the new role.

“I just can’t wait to be working with two friends, where we’ve grown up working together and we feel like a team. And to have some Sundays off.”

Logan – a rhythmic gymnast for Great Britain before going into broadcasting – described it as an “iconic show”.

She added: “One of the first things I did when I came to the BBC was fill in on Match of the Day and at that point when I was in that chair at the old BBC studio in London and hearing the music, it was a real hairs-on-the-back-of-the-neck moment.

“It’s always a real moment [sitting in the chair] because it has such history and it’s still so relevant to so many people now and talked about in a landscape where TV has changed so much.

“Everybody understands the history of the programme and the consistently huge audiences that watch it. It has more to offer as well – we know how strong the digital offering is and Match of the Day is really relevant to that audience too.

“There’s an enormous responsibility to make sure we continue to evolve while at the same time respecting the traditions of Match of the Day.”

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FA Cup: 14 teams qualify for fifth round [Full list]

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Three more teams have qualified for the FA Cup fifth round following the completion of ties on Sunday.

In the first game, Wolves defeated Blackburn Rovers 2-0 at Ewood Park.

Joao Gomes and Matheus Cunha scored within two first-half minutes, to seal the win for Victor Pereira’s side.

Plymouth recorded the shock result of the round, sending Premier League leaders, Liverpool out, with a narrow 1-0 win at Home Park.

Ryan Hardie stepped up eight minutes into the second half to drill home a penalty kick in emphatic fashion.

Aston Villa held on to beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1. The Midlands club had taken a two-goal lead, thanks to Jacob Ramsey and Morgan Rogers. But new boy Mathys Tel pulled one back late in the game.

FULL LIST OF TEAMS IN FIFTH ROUND:

Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Brighton, Burnley, Cardiff City, Fulham, Ipswich Town, Manchester City, Manchester United, Millwall, Newcastle United, Plymouth Argyle, Preston North End, Wolves

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Champions League: UEFA to scrap extra time for knockout rounds

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UEFA is considering scrapping extra time from Champions League knockout rounds.

This is in a bid to reduce the number of minutes played by top clubs.

The Guardian reports that ties could now go straight to penalties.

However, a change midway through this TV rights cycle, which runs until 2027, is unlikely.

Extra time has long been a point of contention among European football’s stakeholders, amid arguments that players’ welfare need to be taken into consideration.

This season, UEFA has introduced the expanded group stage for the Champions League, with each team playing a minimum of eight games.

Later in the summer, while 12 European clubs will participate in an expanded FIFA Club World Cup in the US this summer.

Last season just three Champions League fixtures from the last 16 onwards went into extra time, while none at all required an additional period in 2022-23.

Four ties in the 2023-24 Europa League went the distance, down from six the season before.

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Steve Smith rewrites record books during spin-tackling masterclass at Galle against Sri Lanka

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Steve Smith. (Photo- cricket.com.au X/@cricket.com.au) © Provided by Asian News International (ANI)
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Galle [Sri Lanka], February 8 (ANI): Star Australian batter Steve Smith re-wrote record books with another brilliant century against Sri Lanka during the second Test at Galle.

On Friday, Smith put on a masterclass in playing spin, ending day two at 120* in 239 balls, with nine fours and a six, putting Aussies in a commanding position.

With his century, Smith surpassed legendary Australian batter and former captain Ricky Ponting to be the team’s leading run-getter in Asia. In 24 Tests in Asia, Smith has scored 1,983 runs at an average of 53.59, with seven centuries and eight fifties in 42 innings and best score of 178*.

Ponting slid down to second, with 1,889 runs in 28 matches and 48 innings, which includes five centuries and 10 fifties. His best score in Asian conditions is 150.

Smith is also the sixth Aussie to reach the 17,000 international runs mark. In 348 international matches, he has scored 17,016 runs at an average of 48.06, with 48 centuries and 80 fifties. His best score is 239. At the top of the run-scoring charts is Ponting, with 27,368 runs in 559 international matches and 667 innings at an average of 45.84. This included 7 centuries and 146 fifties, with the best score of 257.

With 36 Test tons, Smith has now joined England’s Joe Root and Indian legend Rahul Dravid as joint-fifth-highest century maker in Tests.

Also, this is Smith’s 17th Test century away from home, equalling with West Indies great Brian Lara and outdoing Indian batting icon Virat Kohli (16 centuries). Sachin Tendulkar (29) has most Test centuries away from home. This is his seventh century in Asia, joining New Zealand’s Kane Williamson and Root as the third-highest century-maker in Tests in Asia, with Alastair Cook, former England opener, at the top with nine tons in Asia.

Smith has centuries in four successive Tests now, starting from the fourth Test against India, a Boxing Day clash at Melbourne. Once sitting outside the top 10 of ICC World Test Championship 2023-25 run-getters, Smith is now at sixth spot. In 19 Tests, he has scored 1,313 runs at an average of 42.35, with five centuries and four fifties. His best score is 141.

Coming to the match, Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat first. Half-centuries from Kusal Mendis (85 in 139 balls, with 10 fours and a six) and Dinesh Chandimal (74 in 163 balls, with six fours and a six) took Sri Lanka to 257 in 97.4 overs.

Mitchell Starc (3/27), Matthew Kuhnemann (3/63), and Nathan Lyon (3/96) were top wicket-takers for Australia.

In their first innings, Australia lost Travis Head (21), Marnus Labuschagne (4), and Usman Khawaja (36) early, leaving the team struggling at 91/3. However, centuries from Alex Carey (139* in 156 balls, with 13 fours and two sixes) and Smith (120* in 239 balls, with nine fours and a six) took Australia to 330/3 at the end of day two, leading by 73 runs. (ANI)

Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info

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