It’s the longest-running football television programme in the world. And for more than 60 years, the BBC’s Match Of The Day, with its iconic theme tune and prime-time Saturday-night slot, has always had a man at the helm.
But after the departure of veteran host Gary Lineker at the end of last season, bosses made a calculated pivot.
They signed up not one, but two women – long-running BBC Sport presenter Gabby Logan, and Kelly Cates, the daughter of Scottish legend and manager Sir Kenny Dalglish – to present the flagship football show alongside Mark Chapman.
And no one, it seems, was more surprised than Gabby herself. Despite a well-respected career on screen, which has included hosting Final Score for BBC Sport and live events such as the London Marathon, the glamorous 52-year-old today jokes: ‘Who’d have thought they’d have a menopausal woman hosting Match Of The Day?
‘Not only has football come a long way but so has being able to use that M-word, because it used to have the connotations of being past it.’
In her first interview since she began one of the most prestigious jobs in television, it’s clear that Gabby is a long way from being ‘past it’.
But there was, of course, quite the battle to replace Lineker, who had hosted Match Of The Day (MOTD) for 26 years. The show’s longest-serving presenter was the latest in a male lineage that included Kenneth Wolstenholme, David Coleman, Jimmy Hill and Des Lynam.
Gabby tells me that she is yet to hear from Lineker, who left the BBC under a cloud after he shared an anti-Semitic social media post. But what about the show’s male viewers, many of whom might have found a woman presenting it hard to get used to? In fact, it’s the opposite.
After Gary Lineker’s departure at the end of last season Gabby Logan (centre), stepped in to present Match Of The Day, alongside Mark Chapman and Kelly Cates
And no one was more surprised than Gabby herself, who jokes: ‘Who’d have thought they’d have a menopausal woman hosting Match Of The Day?’
But she is yet to hear from Gary Lineker. The pair are pictured in a promotional shot for BBC Sports Personality Of The Year 2021
People regularly approach her and, she adds: ‘What I’ve loved is how many women have said, “It’s just so great”, which is really lovely.’
Gabby acknowledges: ‘There are still a small percentage of older blokes who feel that you’re treading on their patch, but they’re not as noisy as they used to be.
‘So hopefully they’re used to it, and I love it when an older bloke comes up to me and says, “I really like you on Match Of The Day”. Then you go, “Oh, OK, I must be doing something right.” ’
As a seasoned stand-in on the show since 2007, and having been Des Lynam’s relief presenter on The Premiership (the ITV version from 2001 to 2004 when the BBC lost the rights to show Premier League highlights), Gabby considers her new gig as ‘just work’.
‘We couldn’t understand why everyone was so interested, but then you realise, actually, that this is a big, iconic, important show for people and that’s why they’re interested,’ she says. ‘It has been quite strange . . . You go around doing your job, doing it as best you can, but Match Of The Day is a different level of scrutiny. You feel more watched.’
Gabby believes that, for the younger generation, seeing women presenting a show such as MOTD will ‘just become the norm’.
She says: ‘A lot of women have been going to watch football for a long time and football has to reflect its fans as well. I think that’s the great thing about it – it is for everybody. That’s why it’s important that you have people from different ethnicities and backgrounds. TV should reflect society.’
But, sadly, it hasn’t always been the case. When she started out in football she would get quite a few nasty comments on social media and even found herself replying. It was only after a stern talking-to from American Olympic champion sprinter Michael Johnson, while working on the BBC’s athletics coverage, that she learned to ignore the hate.
She says: ‘I’ve had plenty on social media, not so much now, but I have had it over the years. At the beginning I wanted to reply to all those types of things, but then Michael Johnson said to me, “Gabby, I saw you, you’ve got 500,000 followers on Twitter, why are you responding to that guy who has got two followers? You’re giving him oxygen…” and I thought, “Do you know what? He’s right.” The people who matter are your producer, and your peers and the people that you are working with.
‘My job is to make pundits shine and get their stories out, and their explanations and interpretations as to how a match has panned out, and what they want to analyse.
‘For me that is more important than what some faceless bloke on social media thinks about me.
‘I can’t please all of the people all of the time.’
Gabby Logan with Alan Shearer prior to a match. The pair’s secret to filming on a pitch in freezing conditions is a heated vest
She is launching The Menopace Strength Test to help women assess and improve their physical strength
Gabby organises her own wardrobe when in the hot seat because, unlike the big entertainment shows, there is no budget for stylists.
But she’s clearly getting something right – men message her on social media asking where her clothes are from on behalf of their wives.
However, as the show is shot in front of a green screen, picking her own wardrobe is ‘an absolute nightmare because you can’t wear anything green or cream or white’ as it would disappear.
She adds: ‘I had this gorgeous turquoise dress and they were like, “No, it’s too green.” I tend to wear unfussy things because I’ve got to get a mic pack on quite quickly, and you’ve got to feel comfortable. I prefer quite classic cuts but monochrome, so all red, all blue.’
Shirts, too. ‘They sit well on TV but you don’t want something that’s creased. Also, you don’t want to wear something that would distract the viewer, where they go, “What has she got on?”
‘I do love it, though, when blokes contact me on Instagram and go, “My wife really loved that shirt you were wearing on Match Of The Day, where’s it from?” ’
And Gabby’s less-than-glamorous secret when filming down on the side of the football pitch in freezing conditions? A heated vest.
She says: ‘I’ve got a really good coat selection. I’m always looking out for coats. I could be in the middle of Italy, it’s 92F, but if I see a nice coat I’m buying it.
‘Temperatures can be minus and you’re there for hours. So I wear a heated vest. It has a battery and it heats up. I wear it under a polo neck, and then my coat. It means you don’t have to wear too many layers.
‘It’s been a game-changer. They all laughed at me a few years ago, and then they all got one!
‘A few years ago it was Ally McCoist and Alan Shearer, and then I think Amazon sold out of the one I was wearing. It spread throughout everyone.’
Gabby’s new role at the BBC has coincided with a quieter home life as an empty nester.
Gabby with her husband Kenny at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2024. They have two children Lois and Reuben, both 20
Ms Logan, pictured presenting in August, believes that, for the younger generation, seeing women presenting a show such as MOTD will ‘just become the norm’
She and her husband Kenny, 53, a former Scotland rugby player, live in Buckinghamshire and have two children, twins Reuben and Lois, 20. Lois returned to university on Friday while Reuben is now living in Manchester where he has followed in his dad’s footsteps by playing rugby, for Sale Sharks.
So how does she feel about this new chapter in her life? ‘Reuben moving to Manchester has been the biggest change for us,’ she says. ‘When he was at Northampton he could come home after matches.
‘We’ve had Lois home all summer so, with her gone as well as Reuben, we’re going to really feel it this week.
‘But there’s also a lot of freedom that comes with this time in your life.’
By that she also means the menopause – something that Gabby has been open about going through. She is an ambassador for nutritional supplement Menopace, made by Vitabiotics, and has long been an advocate for health and fitness to empower women through hormonal changes.
She is launching The Menopace Strength Test to help women assess and improve their physical strength. Scientific evidence suggests that strength training can reduce the risk of osteoporosis, improve heart health and boost mood for menopausal women.
She says: ‘It’s about looking at this next stage of your life as an opportunity. It’s about preparing yourself, looking at your nutrition, training – all those things to make yourself feel better.’
Gabby, a former gymnast, has found training in her 50s refreshing. She says: ‘In my 20s I was training because I felt that my thighs shouldn’t be that size or I should be a smaller version of me and, thankfully, that is absolutely the furthest thing away from why I go to the gym now, why I go to pilates or do a cycle ride.’
Gabby has also found freedom in caring far less about what other people think. In particular, she jokes, she can’t believe she used to agonise over the size of her breasts.
‘I’ve never had boobs, and in the 1990s it was all about having cleavage, and I can’t believe I ever agonised about it all because I don’t care,’ she says.
‘I try to have those conversations with my daughter. She’s generally pretty well balanced about all of that, but if I ever hear her getting hung up about anything, I hope I’ve done a good job of not ever letting her know that I’ve had any body anxiety.’
For her, body strength is more important than ‘having a small bum or having a bigger bum, or a smaller waist or whatever it is with the current trend’.
And after nearly three decades working in the testosterone-soaked world of sports presenting, she’s clearly not short on mental muscle, either.
To find out more, go to menopace.com.
