Soccer Saturday

Soccer Saturday grew out of Sports Saturday, which started in August 1992 and was hosted by Paul Dempsey and Sue Barker.[1] Sports Saturday was similar in format to the BBC's Grandstand programme featuring a variety of sports and as with Grandstand, the programme finished with news of the day's football in a segment called Scorelines.[2] Jeff Stelling joined the programme in 1994 and became its sole presenter a year later.

From the start of the 1998/99 season, it became a football-only programme and accordingly the name of the programme changed to Soccer Saturday.

Prior to May 2010, portions of the programme were simulcast on Sky Sports 1 as well as Sky Sports News. The portions simulcast were between 12:00 and 12:30, and 15:00 and 17:15, although this differed depending on the matches being covered on Sky Sports 1. From the start of the 2010–11 season these simulcasts were dropped and for the next three seasons the programme was exclusive to Sky Sports News. The Sky Sports 1 simulcast returned for the 2013–14 season as part of Sky Sports 1's new all-day Saturday football service.[3] For the 2014–15 season the programme moved from Sky Sports 1 to Sky Sports 5 but reverted to Sky Sports 1 for the 2016–17 season.

Soccer Saturday is broadcast from 12:00 on Sky Sports News and usually airs for six hours. The programme begins with the host and six regular in-studio pundits previewing the weekend's matches, reviewing recent results and debating current issues in football. During Jeff Stelling's tenure as presenter the show was also famous for the rapport between himself and the pundits. There was much banter between the pundits and Stelling, who, in a good humoured manner, often pointed out the other's mistakes and incorrect predictions. Stelling exuberantly celebrated goals scored by his favourite team (Hartlepool United). Viewers are kept updated on the progress of early kick-offs by reporters at the games and by graphics below and to the right of the director's cut. These graphics also includes latest team news and league standings.

From 15:00 to 17:15, Soccer Saturday provides running coverage of the 3 pm league matches, of which none is televised in the UK and one is televised in Ireland. The graphics display a vidiprinter and cycle through current scores in the English and Scottish leagues, with Simon Thomas providing commentary on the events as they unfold. Significant events at the most high-profile games – almost always in the Premier League – are described by the studio panel who each watch a game on a monitor. Other games deemed important are reported on by correspondents at the grounds connected to the studio by a video link, ISDN or telephone. This portion of the show is also aired on Sky Showcase.

After the 3 pm games finish, the classified football results are read by Alan Lambourn and this is followed by a run-through of the updated league tables. A commercial break then follows and this is when the vidiprinter is removed from the screen. For the final 45 minutes of the programme the studio pundits discuss the games they have been watching, and post-match interviews with players and managers are shown.

The regular format occasionally changes, for example during international windows when no Premier League or Championship matches are played, the show is shortened to 14:00 and 17:30, and League 1 and 2 fixtures are then covered by the studio pundits as opposed to the usual Premier League ones. Julian Warren presents Soccer Saturday during the international break.

• Presenter: Simon Thomas
• Relief/Soccer Special Presenter: Julian Warren and Nick Powell
• Lead Studio Pundit: Paul Merson
• Additional Studio Pundits: Alan McInally, Michael Dawson, Matt Murray, Jamie Mackie, Lee Hendrie, Clinton Morrison, Kris Boyd, Sue Smith and Mike Dean
• Reporters: Bianca Westwood, David Craig, Guy Havord, Dickie Davis, Rob Palmer, Johnny Phillips, Neil Mellor, Peter Smith, Peter Stevenson, Stuart Jarrold, Simon Watts, Tony Colliver, Jonathan Beales, Rob McCaffrey, Steve Jackson, Mike Jones, Russ Taylor, Mark Benstead, Mark McAdam, Frank Gilfeather, Andy Walker, Stuart Lovell, Davie Donaldson, Dave Bracegirdle, John Temple, Jaydee Dyer, Courtney Sweetman-Kirk, Abigail Davies, Des Hinks, Katie Shanahan, Lynsey Hooper and Jessica Creighton
• Former Reporters: John Gwynne, Bob Hall, Chris Kamara
• Former Presenters: Paul Dempsey, Jeff Stelling

Rodney Marsh was a regular pundit, known for his outspoken views, until being sacked by Sky Sports in early 2005 after a joke referencing the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.[4] George Best was also a regular until leaving in 2004 to fight alcohol problems. In August 2020, regular studio pundits Matt Le Tissier, Phil Thompson and Charlie Nicholas were controversially sacked from the programme.[5][6] Other former studio analysts include Frank McLintock, Alan Brazil, Alan Mullery, Clive Allen, and Gordon McQueen.

On 30 October 2021, Stelling announced his intention to leave Soccer Saturday at the end of the 2021–22 season.[7] However, on 28 March 2022, Sky Sports announced that Stelling would be staying until at least the end of the 2022–23 season. He then confirmed on 29 April 2023 that he would be leaving the show and the organisation.[8] Stelling was succeeded by Simon Thomas.

In April 2022, it was announced that Chris Kamara would leave Soccer Saturday at the end of the 2021–22 season after working on the programme for 24 years.[9]

In the Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso, character Roy Kent serves as a pundit on the show alongside Stelling and Kamara.[10]

• Final Score, a similar programme which is broadcast by the BBC
• BT Sport Score, a similar programme, broadcast by BT Sport from 2016 to 2023
• The Goal Rush, a football results programme broadcast by ITV from 2001 to 2003

• Soccer Saturday at IMDb
• Soccer Saturday on Twitter