Top 10 Presenters

I've decided to do something different for this week's Premier League related top 10 by doing a non player or team related one and after doing commentators a few weeks back, I've decided to do a top 10 on football presenters.

Presenters as we all know are the people who present TV programmes or in this case football programmes.

To be a good football presenter, you need to have an interest in the game and also know a lot about the game so you can get your guests/pundits to elaborate on the point or question you give or ask them.

A lot of them do start off as journalists before they go on to presenting as journalism may have been their degree at university or they may have had work experience in that field at their local radio station or football club.

The likes of Kelly Somers and Laura Woods have gone down that path as both they both started off in journalism before going on to presenting. A few of the names on the list have also gone down that path.

There are also some ex-players who get into it after originally being pundits with Gary Lineker being the main example alongside Alex Scott and even Jimmy Hill.

The list of presenters in the list are ones from my lifetime instead of all-time as I've watched them more and know more about them.

Des Lynam, Jimmy Hill or David Coleman are not on the list because they all came long before my time and I wouldn't have known what they were like as presenters.

Here is the list:

Mark Pougatch

Mark Chapman

Alex Scott

Dave Jones

Jeff Stelling

Gary Lineker

Jake Humphrey

Laura Woods

Dan Walker

Gabby Logan

10. Dan Walker

Walker was the host of Football Focus for just over a decade and even hosted Match of the Day and Final Score on the odd occasion as well.

He hasn't presented any football programmes since leaving Football Focus but he did host live coverage of one or two games on Amazon Prime Live a couple of years ago.

He was a presenter who had a strong interest in football and also knew a lot about the game as he would mention certain stats and ask his guests about certain in game situations.

I had to have him at no.10 because he didn't host a lot of live games during his time with the BBC.

9. Jeff Stelling

Stelling hosted Soccer Saturday on Sky Sports for 25 years and also hosted live Champions League games on Sky as well.

He was an enthusiastic host throughout his time on Soccer Saturday as he always got excited when a goal was scored and especially during the latter stages of a game.

He was also funny as he had some funny moments whilst on set and also liked to have a lot of banter with his Soccer Saturday pundits.

My favourite iconic moment of him was that moment with Chris Kamara when he didn't notice a player being sent off between Portsmouth and Blackburn.

8. Alex Scott

Scott's broadcasting career began when she hosted the One Show whilst she was a pundit for BBC Sport before going on to replace Dan Walker as the host of Football Focus.

She also presents live coverage of WSL games and sometimes the Women's Football Show on the BBC.

She obviously knows a lot about and has a great interest in the game due to her being an ex-player and she is also has an engaging personality in the way she talks with her pundits.

Being a presenter suits her not just because of her engaging personality, but because of her sense of humour and overall character.

7. Laura Woods

Woods currently hosts the Champions League games on TNT Sports and England Women's games on ITV after originally being a reporter for Sky Sports.

She has a strong interest in in both Men's and Women's football and knows a lot about the game as she probably followed it before she started their broadcasting career.

She also has an engaging and confident personality in the way she asks questions to her pundits.

6. Dave Jones

Jones has been one of the main hosts of football on Sky Sports for a number of years now and is currently the host of the Super Sunday, Monday Night Football and also Saturday Night Football.

He knows a lot about and has a strong interest in football as he mentions past games and seasons to his pundits when he's talking about one of or both of teams he's about to watch with his pundits.

He's also interested in how a team sets up and why with Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher in particular giving him the lowdown on why.

He's very close with both Neville and Carragher as he's worked with them for many years on Monday Night Football with three of them being the main people on the show.

5. Jake Humphrey

Humphrey's broadcasting career kicked off when he hosted children's game shows before going on to host sports programmes such as the BBC's coverage of Formula One and Premier League football on BT Sport.

He was the main host of football on BT Sport from when it first came into being until it was replaced by TNT Sports which was when he left the company.

These days he does his own podcast called the High Performance Podcast where he chats with both current and ex-sports stars about their careers.

He's got a strong interest in football and knows a lot about the game as he's most likely followed it for a long time and especially as he supports a team in Norwich.

4. Gabby Logan

Logan is one of Match of the Day's leading trio and has been with the BBC for nearly two decades both as a reporter and a presenter.

She had a stint at ITV before joining the BBC when she hosted a show called On the Ball during the early 2000's and Champions League games when ITV had the rights.

I'm surprised that she got into presenting football matches as she was an Olympic Gymnast beforehand and you'd think that she would be a Gymnastics pundit or host instead of a football presenter.

But she chose the latter and has been a very good host as she knows a lot about the game as she presumably followed it before she became a presenter.

3. Mark Pougatch

Pougatch has been the main presenter of football on ITV for a decade hosting England's games and game from the FA Cup and briefly the Champions League.

He was originally a radio presenter for the BBC where he hosted BBC Radio 5 Live's coverage of football games in midweek and especially the Champions League.

He has a strong interest in and knows a lot about football as I assume he followed the game in his youth and is also a relaxed individual as he presents in a calm manner and allows his pundits to do most of the talking during the pre-match build-up, half time break and full time review at the end.

2. Gary Lineker

Lineker left Match of the Day at the end of last season after presenting the show for 26 years.

He was originally a pundit on the show when Des Lynam hosted it during the 90's before stepping into Lynam's big shoes in 1999.

He was a brilliant host of the show throughout his tenure as he had a strong interest in and knowledge of the game having been an ex-player.

He also brought professionalism and humour to the role and especially the latter as he did have the odd bit of banter with his pundits and especially with Alan Shearer who he often teased for not winning the FA Cup.

The only negative thing I have to say about him are his terrible puns at the end of every show.

1. Mark Chapman

Chappers is one of Match of the Day's leading trio alongside Kelly Cates and Gabby Logan and has been working with the BBC for several years now.

He does radio as well as television as he hosts coverage of Saturday's Premier League games, Champions League games in midweek and a show called Monday Night Club on BBC Radio 5 Live.

Radio was where he started off before he moved to TV and his TV career started when he hosted Final Score before going on to host Match of the Day 2 for a good number of years.

He had to be my no.1 because he has a strong interest and great knowledge about football like he does with other sports, and always looks for in-depth answers from his pundits.

MY TOP 10:

1. Mark Chapman

2. Gary Lineker

3. Mark Pougatch

4. Gabby Logan

5. Jake Humphrey

6. Dave Jones

7. Laura Woods

8. Alex Scott

9. Jeff Stelling

10. Dan Walker