It has been confirmed by the BBC that Mark Chapman will present Match of the Day alongside Kelly Cates and Gabby Logan next season.

The role of lead host will be shared by three presenters for the very first time when Gary Lineker steps down at the end of the Premier League campaign.

Chapman had been widely tipped as the favourite to succeed Lineker, having presented Match of the Day 2 as well as fronting NFL coverage for the BBC in the past.

He will be joined in the role by Cates and Logan, with the trio set to juggle presenting duties from the start of the 2025/26 season.

In a BBC statement, Chapman insisted that he was more than happy to share the role despite reports claiming he had been opposed to the idea.

"This isn’t about the three of us, it’s about the three of us plus our pundits, plus our editors, plus our analysts and stats people and production people, radio and online," he said. "Genuinely, this is about all of us as a department working together.

"I know the history of a lot of radio programmes and TV programmes and I do feel honoured to be following in the footsteps of the people that we are following in and respectful of what they have done."

Cates, who will continue working on Sky Sports alongside her new position, added: "Once I sit in that chair and the theme music starts, I just know that’s going to be a really incredible moment.

"I’ve worked with a lot of the pundits before and they’re all fantastic, so I’m just looking forward to getting started. I’ve known Gabby and Mark really well for years.

"So to bring it all together, embracing the digital side of things, it feels like a really comprehensive football package for fans and that’s what makes it so exciting too."

Logan, meanwhile, added: "It’s always a real moment [sitting in the chair] because it has such history. It’s still so relevant to so many people now and talked about in a landscape where TV has changed so much.

"There’s an enormous responsibility to make sure we continue to evolve while at the same time respecting the traditions of Match of the Day.

"People want to see the goals, they want to see the incidents, they want to see the moments everyone’s talking about, so while we can tinker at the edges, the core is the football."

It has already been confirmed that Lineker will remain with the BBC when he steps down from hosting Match of the Day. He will continue to present live coverage of the FA Cup and the next World Cup in 2026 before leaving the company altogether.