Jeff Stelling’s speech in full as TV icon says goodbyes on last Soccer Saturday

Pictures from the final day of the Premier League

Jeff Stelling said farewell to the nation’s TV screens on Sunday as part of his final Soccer Saturday show on Sky Sports. The broadcaster has worked for Sky Sports for over 30 years but presented his last programme on the Premier League’s final day of the season. He revealed that Elton John had called him personally before holding back the tears in his speech to close the programme.

Speaking after being given a standing ovation by his colleagues, Stelling said: “I am not going to show any emotions at all, not at all. Well thank you guys. That was brilliant, thank you very much to whoever made that, it was fantastic and thank you for the applause. I mean this is tricky… because I’ve changed my mind! Just kidding, I haven’t changed my mind this time.

“That was fantastic to see, people who we have all worked with, the likes of Alan Mullery who I haven’t seen for years and Frank McLintock and Clive Allen as well as all of the old gang – that’s some fantastic messages during the last few days from the likes of Gordon Strachan who was texting me this morning.

“Neil Warnock, Richie Humphreys who was a Sheffield Wednesday and Hartlepool legend.. Kammy of course. People from outside of football, Georgie Ainslie, we know her as Georgie Thompson who is Ben Ainslie’s wife. Elton John rang me this week you know.

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“Somebody asked me the other day if I have ever been starstruck and yeah, I was starstruck when Elton John rang me at home to say ‘Thank you very much for all you have done. Every week I watch the show and every week you tell me Watford are losing and every week you tell me Hartlepool are losing, so I feel like we’re kindred spirits’.

“There’s something in that isn’t there. The great thing is it’s what people don’t know is that it’s a team game right through to people in call centres who take your calls if something is going wrong, right through to the runners who work on the show, the production team, the people behind the cameras and obviously the people who are here – we have heard from a lot of them Tommo [Phil Thompson] and Charlie [Nicholas], Matt Le Tissier and this gang of four.

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“It’s all been absolutely fantastic, everybody I’ve worked with over the past 30 years I would like to say thank you for that. This is a monologue isn’t it… it’s not just this show by the way, I want to mention people on the Winning Post, the horse racing I did for many years as well. Times of Our Lives which was a series I did with Mark Pearman which I absolutely adored doing.

“Live snooker, darts, greyhound racing, pool, the last four my then late great boss Vic Wakeling said to me ‘They’re all working-class sports son, you can do all of them’. It was true, it’s been absolutely wonderful in that respect, it’s been the best job that anybody could have possibly wished for.

“My wife Lizzie takes great pleasure in saying ‘You’re the luckiest man ever to take a breath’, I don’t tell her this often but she’s right. But look, the principal success of Soccer Saturday is you lot at home who have given us unswirling support both for the programme and for me personally so that’s it, Soccer Saturday will be back next season – I’ll be watching when Hartlepool are not playing. But from me, goodbye.”

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