Jeff Stelling to step down as Soccer Saturday host at end of season - what he said

Broadcaster Jeff Stelling has announced that he will leave hit Sky Sports show Soccer Saturday at the end of the season.

The 66-year-old made the revelation during the show this Saturday (30 October) and was given a standing ovation by pundits Paul Merson, Clinton Morrison, Tim Sherwood and Darren Bent.

‘This will be my final season’

He said: “Before we do the team news from Newcastle, I have got some team news from Sky Sports and Soccer Saturday to tell you about.

“I will have been at Sky for 30 years next year, and hosted Soccer Saturday for the past 25 or so – I am not too clever at statistics – but I have come to the decision, an incredibly difficult decision, that this will be my final season.

“It has been my decision. There has been no pressure whatsoever. Sky have been absolutely brilliant with me, as they always always have been.

“I am going to be here until May, and then I am leaving the show and the company so that is about seven months of Saturday afternoon parties, so let’s get this party going.”

When will he leave Soccer Saturday?

Stelling said he will leave the programme at the end of the Premier League season.

The 66-year-old broadcaster revealed that he will also be departing Sky Sports, but plans to carry on working.

He insisted that he had not been forced to leave Sky by bosses but made the decision himself.

His planned exit comes after Phil Thompson, Charlie Nicholas and Matt Le Tissier were all controversially let go from the show last year.

A version of this article originally appeared on NationalWorld.com