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Wales Online
Wales Online
Entertainment
Richard Blackledge

Soccer AM faces axe after nearly 30 years on Sky Sports

Soccer AM is being axed after almost three decades, it's been reported. The Sky Sports show is understood to be coming to an end with only 10 episodes left, taking it to the end of the football season.

The programme's final episode would be on Saturday, May 27. The show - which became famous for blending football with laddish comedy and chat - first aired in 1995 and its longest-serving hosts were Helen Chamberlain and Tim Lovejoy, although it is now presented by John Fendley and Jimmy Bullard.

The Sun reports that staff were told on Tuesday about the decision. Redundancies were likely in May, the newspaper said.

A Sky spokesman told BBC News: "Soccer AM has played an important role in our coverage of football for the past three decades and we continually adapt to the evolving needs of our customers. We are unable to provide more detail while these consultations are under way."

The Sun said the 10.30am Saturday morning slot will now be taken up by Saturday Social, which previously aired before Soccer AM at 9.30am.

At the peak of its popularity Soccer AM attracted millions of viewers. Lovejoy told the Athletic in 2020: “I wanted to make a football show that you could enjoy without liking football. It was people having fun, and I’ve always thought that’s what TV should be. There were a couple of people who worked on the show who really, really loved football and took it really seriously but my thinking was ‘hold on, football’s about entertainment and having a good time’. The more political side of it all, to me, wasn’t something I was interested in.”

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