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There was unmitigated chaos in the Soccer AM studio on Saturday morning, largely thanks to Jack Whitehall. The comic made a guest appearance on the last-ever broadcast of Sky’s flagship football programme – and he gave it one hell of a send-off.
Soccer AM has been on-air for almost 30 years. The cult show was once adored by millions of football fans. However, several format changes over the years saw the programme lose its devoted viewership, and earlier this year, it was confirmed that Sky wanted to pull the plug.
Once famous for its anarchic scenes and unruly guests, Saturday morning felt like something of a throwback to the glory years. Whitehall, no stranger to controversy himself, was keen to make the most of the ‘end of term’ vibe.
Hosts Jimmy Bullard and John Fendley were left shocked when the film and TV star made a joke about taking Rolf Harris’ OBE. The tone was certainly set, and although Sky let him get away with that one, they put their foot down when it came to Rupert Murdoch.
Whitehall started suggesting ways that the crew could let their hair down before the final curtain. However, as soon as he mentioned Murdoch’s name, the audio to his mic was cut, leaving us all in the lurch. So, was Jack really being censored in real time?
Due to those ‘unruly guests’ we mentioned earlier, Sky Sports have run Soccer AM on a slight delay for the past few years. As a live programme broadcast to a family audience in the morning, foul language faced a total clampdown, and the ‘muting’ was subsequently introduced.
The Soccer AM era isn’t the only one coming to an end for football fans, either. Jeff Stelling, the long-serving host of Soccer Saturday, is also hanging up the microphone for the final time this weekend. The times, they truly are a-changing…
