THE much-loved former Sky Sports Soccer Saturday cast reunited last night – but it seems their “most difficult colleague” did not get an invite.
Jeff Stelling was the face of the hit TV show for over 25 years, providing countless hilarious moments covering all of the UK’s footy action each weekend.
But things started to turn sour when a number of regulars were axed in 2021 as part of a huge shake-up by broadcasters following the Covid pandemic.
Ex-Aston Villa and Bayern Munich striker Alan McInally survived but West Ham icon Tony Cottee and Liverpool legend Phil Thompson were both axed after two decades on the programme.
Matt Le Tissier and Charlie Nicholas were also let go by Sky Sports with the much-loved Chris Kamara then announcing his departure in 2022 due to health reasons.
Presenter Stelling finally quit last summer because “fighting” every week was “making him ill” and he is now starring in a new role on talkSPORT.
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However, this week a host of our former favourites reunited for a bite to eat and drink.
‘Kammy’ shared a snap of himself sat with Stelling, McInally, Cottee and Thompson on X last night along with another man, who the ex host later revealed was Ian Condron – the “best ever producer”.
He captioned that with: “5 of the lads & the producer turned up.
“What a great night so far.”
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Where are the former Soccer Saturday stars now?
Jeff Stelling can now be found presenting talkSPORT’s Breakfast show alongside Ally McCoist between 6am and 10am on Monday and Tuesday mornings.
Last year he and old pal Chris Kamara travelled to Sri Lanka together to tackle “The Devil’s Staircase” together while appearing on World’s Most Dangerous Roads.
Kammy, 66, has been raising awareness for people with Apraxia, having left Sky in 2022 as he managed his illness.
Charlie Nicholas now has a newspaper column in Scotland, and recently took part in a BBC Scotland documentary titled “Pitch Invasion: How the Scottish and Irish Changed Football”.
Phil Thompson regularly shares his football views with bookmaker Paddy Power, while Matt Le Tissier can be found appearing on podcasts sharing conspiracy theories.
Tony Cottee is often found on talkSPORT, while he also appeared on SunSport’s The Tap In last month.
Rodney Marsh, meanwhile, has been hosting the programme “Grumpy Pundits” on American broadcaster Sirius XM since 2015.
And Paul Merson is the only member of the old gang to still regularly feature on Soccer Saturday.
However, one of their former team-mates on the show spotted the snap on social media and quickly responded.
Ex-QPR, Man City and England forward Rodney Marsh worked on Soccer Saturday for 11 years.
He was sacked in January 2005 for making an on-air joke about the devastating tsunamis that just hit Thailand weeks earlier.
He replied to Kamara’s post last night with a laughing emoji and the words: “I must not be on the mailing list.”
To which Kammy responded with a similar emoji and the message: “Your a recluse Rodney.”
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Stelling picked Marsh, 79, as the “most difficult colleague” he had worked with after his departure last year.
Speaking on talkSPORT, he said: “The worst colleague I’ve ever worked on screen with? Rodney Marsh.
“Ex of talkSPORT as well of course. But, you know, Rodney was a difficult so and so.
“And that was just what we wanted.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
