BBC name two replacements on Match of the Day after Ian Wright ended 27-year stint
Ian Wright left Match of the Day at the end of last season
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The BBC have announced both Joe Hart and Theo Walcott will step in as replacements for Ian Wright on Match of the Day this season.
Wright announced in December 2023 that he was going to step away from working on the football highlight show alongsie Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer.
He made his debut on the show as a player in 1997 before becoming a regular pundit in 2002.
But he stepped away in emotional scenes at the end of last season and it will be a new-look sofa when the new campaign gets underway this weekend.
Lineker and Shearer will continue their roles as host and pundit respectively, but they will be joined by both Walcott and Hart.
Former Arsenal star Walcott took his first step into punditry last season after retiring 12 months ago.
Hart retired just a few months ago after winning the league and cup double with Celtic and was involved in the BBC's coverage of the Euros this summer.
The former Manchester City goalkeeper will be in the studio for the first weekend of the season.
Micah Richards, Danny Murphy, Jermaine Jenas and Dion Dublin are also set to feature throughout the season.
Wright, 60, still wants to be involved in football in some capacity but admitted the schedule around Match of the Day proved too much for him.
When explaining his decision to leave Match of the Day after nearly three decades, Wright said it was 'time'.
He said: “I had a dear friend who said that sometimes you’ve got to know when to step back, change, rest, have a break, and say no – it’s just time.
Theo Walcott stepped into punditry after retiring 12 months ago
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“The way I am now, because I have to get back to London [after filming] it’s like 3.30am in the morning – it’s a long day. I leave at 8am in the morning and get back at 12am [midnight].
“I don’t want to stay over in Manchester. I used to but there are personal reasons why I always want to get back home [after filming].
"Especially, when you’re on Match of the Day, you’re live and I’ve had a massive problem before with people knowing where you are, so I always want to get back home to the Missus and the girls.
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Joe Hart will be in the Match of the Day studio this weekend
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“It just takes me two to three days after that to get ready and there are other things I’m doing which I just haven’t got the energy for sometimes.
“I’m getting older, I just want to make sure I use the time well and efficiently for myself and at the moment, Match of the Day is the one that if something had to go, it had to be that.”