Former Match of the Day pundit Mark Lawrenson believes the BBC have a ready-made replacement waiting in the wings to replace Gary Lineker at the end of the season.
Lineker has been the face of the flagship football highlights programme for 25 years but will step away from the role at the end of the current Premier League campaign.
The former England international will remain with the BBC to anchor its FA Cup coverage next season and the 2026 World Cup in USA, Mexico and Canada before leaving the broadcaster for good.
For years, Lineker was joined by Lawrenson in the BBC studio, with the former Liverpool defender serving as one of the show’s chief pundits alongside his old teammate Alan Hansen between 1997 and 2018. He was also a regular fixture during BBC’s international football coverage during that period, also featuring on Football Focus before leaving the broadcaster in 2022.
With Match of the Day still watched by millions over the weekend, debate over Lineker’s successor is already raging. Jermaine Jenas was at one point regarded as the heir apparent but was axed by the BBC in August after allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards female colleagues.
Mark Chapman has been a hugely popular and respected figure across television and radio, leading Match of the Day 2 on Sundays for the last 11 years and is now considered the front runner. Lawrenson believes ‘Chappers’ is ‘ready-made for that role.
‘I still tune in regularly. It is still a very good programme, full stop,’ Lawrenson told Metro.co.uk courtesy of Free Bets.
‘I know there is a lot of speculation over Gary at the moment. Would it surprise me if he left at the end of the season? Possibly no. But he has earned the right to make his own decision, there is no doubt there whatever. And in Chappers, there is a ready-made replacement if it goes that way. It will be up to Gary.’
Lineker was briefly taken off the air in March last year after his social media comments criticising government asylum policy, comparing it to ‘Nazi Germany’.
The former striker received overwhelming support from other BBC Sport pundits and presenters including Alan Shearer, Ian Wright and Alex Scott who refused to appear on air in protest.
Reflecting on his own departure, Lawrenson, who previously claimed the BBC got rid of him because he was ’65 and white’, described it as ‘having an arm chopped off’. While believing Lineker’s departure has had an air of inevitability to it, he believes it is on the former England star’s terms.
‘Replacing Gary, it’s a big role for whoever takes it,’ Lawrenson said, speaking at the end of October. ‘Before him, Des [Lynam] and Jimmy Hill did it for years and were wonderful but at the end of it all, your time comes.
‘But the good thing for Gary is, I think he will decide. I don’t think the BBC will decide. He will decide if he wants to go. He has earned the right to do so. He’s earned the right to leave.
‘He’s in his 60s now, I’m not sure what else he has going on that could possibly be a substitute for Match Of The Day because when you first leave it feels like someone has chopped your arm off. But he can do whatever he wants.’
Lawrenson’s last appearance on BBC programming came at the end of the 2021-22 season on Football Focus. Having been a regular fixture of Match of the Day for so many years, he remains a loyal viewer despite the circumstances behind his exit.
‘When you hear the music you still run in and sit down,’ he said. ‘As good as Sky and the others are, there is still something magic about it. Whenever you watch it. For most of us it’s been part of our life. If you’re a football fan you’ve probably been watching since you were 8 or 9. I always still watch it.’