Dan Walker to leave Football Focus

[Rob]

Dan Walker has just announced he's stepping down from Football Focus.

https://twitter.com/mrdanwalker/status/1...1306896390

[ulsterman]

Dan Walker has just announced he's stepping down from Football Focus.

https://twitter.com/mrdanwalker/status/1...1306896390

Sad news as I always liked him on that show but good to hear he will still be involved with BBC Sport & Breakfast.

[XIII]

I assume Dan is still doing The NFL Show. Hadn’t realised he’s been doing Football Focus for that long.

[Brekkie]

May be the longest serving presenter of the slot, certainly since it became a show in it's own right at least. Wouldn't mind Manish returning - always thought he was pretty good on it, though I think he may be involved in the worldwide Premier League coverage on Saturdays now.

[watchingtv]

My guess is that he has a quiz show lined up.

[ulsterman]

May be the longest serving presenter of the slot, certainly since it became a show in it's own right at least. Wouldn't mind Manish returning - always thought he was pretty good on it, though I think he may be involved in the worldwide Premier League coverage on Saturdays now.

Yes Manish does overseas coverage on a Saturday since the end of the Football League Show which is why when he appears on BBC Sport it is generally Sundays covering MOTD2 or FA Cup Highlights.

Eilidh Barbour has guest presented in the past and could be in the reckoning as generally Sky Sports SPFL Coverage is Sundays but might not be available every week, Seema Jaswal has presented in the past as well and works for BBC Snooker coverage, the one show favourites Alex Scott and Jermaine Jenas will be contenders if they go down the ex-footballer route like they did with Bob Wilson & Gary Lineker although Jenas generally works for BT Sport on a Saturday, plenty of good candidates to choose from.

[Steve Williams]

May be the longest serving presenter of the slot, certainly since it became a show in it's own right at least. Wouldn't mind Manish returning - always thought he was pretty good on it, though I think he may be involved in the worldwide Premier League coverage on Saturdays now.

Dan is the second longest-serving presenter of Focus, having done it for twelve years. Bob Wilson is still the longest serving host, having fronted it for twenty years from 1974 - although that includes four years from 1988-92 when it wasn't a weekly show and only appeared (under the name 'Football') on FA Cup weekends.

Although Manish is still occasionally involved on BBC Sport, his link with them is a bit tenuous now, he doesn't have a regular slot and only appears a few times a season. It's presumably more likely it'll be one of the newer faces like Kelly Somers or Emma Saunders, you would think.

[zenon]

Dan is the second longest-serving presenter of Focus, having done it for twelve years. Bob Wilson is still the longest serving host, having fronted it for twenty years from 1974 - although that includes four years from 1988-92 when it wasn't a weekly show and only appeared (under the name 'Football') on FA Cup weekends.

Why would they have not bothered with the Football Focus name in the years it wasn't weekly?

[Matrix]

Dan is the second longest-serving presenter of Focus, having done it for twelve years. Bob Wilson is still the longest serving host, having fronted it for twenty years from 1974 - although that includes four years from 1988-92 when it wasn't a weekly show and only appeared (under the name 'Football') on FA Cup weekends.

Why would they have not bothered with the Football Focus name in the years it wasn't weekly?

In short, it was originally a strand as part of Grandstand in which various styles were adopted.

[EJnutz]

Dan is the second longest-serving presenter of Focus, having done it for twelve years. Bob Wilson is still the longest serving host, having fronted it for twenty years from 1974 - although that includes four years from 1988-92 when it wasn't a weekly show and only appeared (under the name 'Football') on FA Cup weekends.

Why would they have not bothered with the Football Focus name in the years it wasn't weekly?

In short, it was originally a strand as part of Grandstand in which various styles were adopted.

Do Miss Grandstand and World of Sport

[Brekkie]

I wonder if all potential hosts are getting messages like Rick Edwards got from his dad.
https://twitter.com/rickedwards1/status/...8892843012


I don't think Jermaine Jenas is a bad shout really as I think he is slowly but surely being groomed to be a leading football presenter in the near future and Football Focus is the ideal next step. The penny pincher in me though has always wondered why it's deemed one person can't host both Score and Football Focus - there is a 90 minute gap between them, and doesn't Stelling do 12-6 on a Saturday over on SSN?

[JLav25]

I'd like to see Eilidh Barbour get the role. She's very good when she fills in on Final Score, so seeing her get a permanent slot would be very welcome, although I reckon they could go down the ex-footballer route, especially since it seems Jermaine Jenas is being groomed as Gary's replacement on MotD, they might give him this role as a stepping stone

[Steve Williams]

Why would they have not bothered with the Football Focus name in the years it wasn't weekly?

Well, it was just an item in Grandstand, so they just billed in like all the other sports, but it was in the Focus style. Of course, it nearly finished again in 2001 when they lost the Premier League rights, but they decided to keep in going so it had a weekly presence in the schedules, and it beat On The Ball every week.

I don't think Jermaine Jenas is a bad shout really as I think he is slowly but surely being groomed to be a leading football presenter in the near future and Football Focus is the ideal next step. The penny pincher in me though has always wondered why it's deemed one person can't host both Score and Football Focus - there is a 90 minute gap between them, and doesn't Stelling do 12-6 on a Saturday over on SSN?

Jeff Stelling does, but Focus is a bit more complicated than that, not least because in a normal season, obviously not this one, the whole show is done on location about once a month so you'd have to lose that for a start, which would make it a much worse show. And it's no different to how it was in the 70s when Bob Wilson did Focus, Frank Bough did Grandstand (and someone else would be in the studio to do Final Score when it was on location) and Jimmy Hill did MOTD, and the shows were shorter in those days.

I'd like to see Eilidh Barbour get the role. She's very good when she fills in on Final Score, so seeing her get a permanent slot would be very welcome, although I reckon they could go down the ex-footballer route, especially since it seems Jermaine Jenas is being groomed as Gary's replacement on MotD, they might give him this role as a stepping stone

I think Eilidh Barbour has too many other regular gigs - the golf, and of course the SPL coverage on Sky - to take on Focus as well, she might have been up for it a few years ago. When Manish and Dan got the jobs they were both reporters and occasional presenters for which this was their first regular gig, and so that would go with the likes of Kelly Somers and Emma Saunders.

Bob Wilson and Gary Lineker were both pros being fast-tracked, and there was the period from 1994-96 when the Grandstand presenter introduced it but Gary was the regular guest and did more and more of the hosting. And Ray Stubbs was parachuted in at the last minute when Des left and Gary replaced him.

[Humphrey Hacker]

I didn't know he had presented Football Focus for 12 years. I've always thought he was an understated presenter and to be honest I watched him and his measured presenting style as opposed to the histrionics of Jeff Stelling and Co on Sports Saturday. Reassuring to read he's sticking with BBC Sport.

[Hatton Cross]

Knowing the direction of travel at the moment.. Alex Scott, anyone..?