Sky narrow Stelling replacement shortlist down to two with host chosen in ‘days’

Sky Sports have narrowed down the candidates who should replace Jeff Stelling on Soccer Saturday to two: Caroline Barker and Simon Thomas.

Thomas is believed to be the favourite to land the role, thanks to his wealth of presenting experience. While Barker has earned admirers at Sky, primarily for her coverage of netball, and she has also hosted 5 Live’s coverage of the Women’s World Cup and Match of the Day.

According to The Sun, it's now a straight choice between the pair to replace Stelling, with a decision set to be made in the coming days. The legendary presenter was moved to tears during his final on-screen appearance.

Stelling gave one final message, thanking fans and joking that he'd U-turned on retirement, as he'd previously done after saying he was stepping down in 2022.

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He said: "This is tricky because I've changed my mind. Just kidding, I haven't changed my mind this time! It was fantastic to see people we've all worked with for years, the likes of Alan Mullrey, Frank McLintock and Clive Allen, as well as the old gang.

"I've had some fantastic messages during the last few days from the likes of Gordon Strachan, Neil Warnock, Richie Humphreys, and Kammy, of course. And people from outside of football; Georgie Ainslie who we know as Georgie Thompson.

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"Elton John rang me this week! Someone asked me the other day whether I'd ever been starstruck and 'yeah, I was starstruck when Elton John rang me at home!'"

Stelling also thanked everyone he had worked with over his time at Sky Sports – from the runners to the producers.

"Everyone I've worked with over the past 30 years, I'd like to say thank you for that."

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