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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.
Earlier this year, it was revealed that Lineker would be leaving the football highlights show, leaving viewers to speculate who would succeed him as the face of the series.
Cates, who was an outsider for the role, will now be joining Chapman and Logan in the role, with the trio sharing hosting duties.
When asked about the Match of the Day job in November, Cates, 49, told The Independent: “Gary is still very much in the job and I know him. Chappers and Gabby, who are also being mentioned as frontrunners, are really good mates of mine.
“I’m certainly not going to put myself in the frame for a job that still has somebody in it and where the people being linked with it are my friends. And I love doing live football. I’m happy where I am.”
Cates grew up in a football-dominated household and has always been around the game, mostly thanks to her father, former Liverpool player and manager Kenny Dalglish.
Her brother Paul, also became a professional footballer playing for the likes of Newcastle, Norwich and Blackpool in his career before finding success as a coach in the United States.
In her early twenties, she quit her maths degree at university in Glasgow to take up a role at the newly created Sky Sports News channel in 1998 and has never looked back.
She remained with Sky until 2006, switching to Setanta as part of the Irish broadcaster’s brief deal with Virgin Television to broadcast Premier League matches in the UK. She also hosted ITV’s coverage of the 2011/12 Champions League season.
