Mark Chapman has spoken about taking over as Match of the Day presenter, admitting his main feeling after the first broadcast was sheer relief. The 52-year-old now shares hosting duties with Gabby Logan and Kelly Cates, succeeding Gary Lineker, who had fronted the programme since 1999.
Chapman, a familiar face on BBC football coverage, said his favourite moment of the new era came when the closing music played after the opening show of the season in August. "Thank god that's over. Everyone can calm down," he told The Sports Agents podcast. "I said goodbye, the music went, thank god that's over. We're fine, we've done it, nothing went wrong, I can go home and have a beer."
Gabby Logan, also 52, admitted to a similar sense of relief after her first outing. She described the moment after the titles roll, when introducing guests and linking into the first video package, as a "shoulders down moment". She added: "No matter how many times you rehearse a link like that, just saying it without tripping up is always a triumph." Chapman jokingly replied that the link is not the hardest in the world: "Hello. Five games on the way. These two are winners. Here's the first one... where can you go wrong?"
Lineker announced in November 2024 that he would step down at the end of the 2024/25 Premier League season, with the BBC confirming two months later that Chapman, Logan and Cates would share the role. Cates joined from Sky Sports, where she had been a regular presenter, while Chapman and Logan had long been fixtures at the corporation.
Lineker's departure follows a turbulent period with the BBC. In 2023 he was briefly suspended after comparing government immigration policy to "1930s Germany", sparking an on-air boycott by colleagues. In May 2025 he was permanently removed after re-sharing a video containing antisemitic imagery. He apologised unreservedly, saying he had not noticed the image of a rat, but the BBC confirmed he would leave for good, having been scheduled to front its 2026 World Cup coverage.
