Next MotD presenter: Contenders to replace Lineker

With one of the most high-profile roles in TV up for grabs, Telegraph Sport lists the main candidates to fill former England captain’s boots

Gary Lineker will step down as presenter of Match of the Day at the end of the 2024-25 season and leave the BBC entirely following the 2026 World Cup.
The move will end Lineker’s 26-year stint as anchor of the popular football highlights show and will spark a hotly contested race to replace him as the new face of the Premier League on terrestrial TV.
With the BBC recently securing the rights to show another three years of top-flight highlights, Telegraph Sport analyses who could replace Lineker in the hot seat.
Chapman has risen to the position of Match of the Day 2 presenter and has covered for Lineker when the former England captain is absent from the main Saturday night show. He was voted Sports Presenter of the Year by the Sports Journalists’ Association for the second year in a row in March and is hugely admired from both within and outside the profession for his versatility and down-to-earth approach.
One of the best and most popular sports broadcasters in the country. A huge football fan – her father Terry Yorath was a distinguished player and manager – and has reported extensively on the national sport across various platforms including ITV and the BBC, where she has also presented Match of the Day on occasion. Currently the BBC’s lead Six Nations rugby presenter.
Has considerable broadcasting experience following several decades on BBC Radio 5Live before becoming ITV’s lead football presenter in 2015. He also co-hosts ITV’s Six Nations and Rugby World Cup coverage.
The former Football Focus anchor also presented Match of the Day on occasion in Lineker’s absence. Walker has since switched focus from sport and worked as a presenter on BBC Breakfast from 2016 before moving to Channel Five in 2022, where he is now one of the presenting faces of 5News.
Like Lineker, Scott entered sports broadcasting following a successful playing career that included 140 England caps. She became the first female pundit for a men’s World Cup in 2018 when she was part of the BBC panel and, after also presenting The One Show and Sky Sports’ Goals on Sunday, succeeded Walker as host of Football Focus in 2021. Viewing figures have plummeted on her watch at a time of declining interest in television preview shows, but she has built a loyal online following with more than two million on Instagram, the most of any credible candidate.
A less likely option than the prominent broadcasters, but the BBC were not afraid to tap into a former footballer-turned-pundit before and could do so again. Backed by Lineker and co-pundit Alan Shearer to be the face of the show going forward on one of the trio’s recent podcast episodes. A familiar face to live football viewers worldwide after regular appearances on the BBC, Sky Sports and US channel CBS, and may well have the strongest appeal among frontrunners towards the younger demographic of viewers that the broadcaster so craves.