Colin Murray has been dropped by the BBC as presenter of Match of the Day 2 after three years in the role.
The Northern Irishman, who took over from Adrian Chiles after his defection to ITV in 2010, is set to be replaced at the end of the current Premier League season by Mark Chapman.
According to the Daily Mail’s Charlie Sale, Chapman is regarded by BBC bosses as a “more suitable host for a programme that increasingly features the most important Premier League matches of the weekend”.
A BBC spokesperson said: “We’d like to thank Colin for his great contribution to Match of the Day 2.
“We look forward to him continuing on the show until the end of the current football season.
“He will continue to play a key role in BBC output, especially as a regular presenter on 5 live and across TV output for darts and American football.”
Murray, who started his BBC career with Radio 1 and Radio Ulster, made the transition from music to sports presenting in 2006 when he took over hosting the sports-themed panel show Fighting Talk on Radio 5 Live.
He also hosted Channel 5’s football coverage from 2007 to 2010. Murray has fronted BBC TV’s coverage of the BDO World Darts Championships since 2010 and was the BBC’s secondary presenter at the last FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
Widely considered to be one of the BBC’s rising sports broadcasting talents, Mark Chapman will take over the MOTD2 presenting role starting next season (2013/14).
Having made his name as a sports news presenter on Scott Mills’ Radio 1 show for a decade, Chapman assumed a regular spot on Radio 5 Live in 2010. He has hosted numerous editions of 5 Live Sport, The Monday Night Club and the popular phone-in show 606.
His television profile has grown in recent seasons thanks to his regular appearances fronting the BBC’s Final Score, The Football League Show and Match of the Day 2.
Chapman also fronted BBC Sport’s live coverage of the NFL Superbowl in 2012 and this year he will take over from Clare Balding as the corporation’s face of rugby league.
Other TV credits include presenting Channel 5’s Serie A football coverage during the 2007/8 season, as well as contributing to ESPN’s football coverage over the past three seasons, including Talk of Terrace and Pardon the Interruption UK.
Match of the Day 2 launched in 2004 as a more light-hearted Sunday spin-off to the main Saturday show. MOTD2 moved across to BBC One from BBC Two at the beginning of the 2012/13 season.
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As the article says, the increasingly shows the more important matches. So surely Gary Lineker should be the man for this as the channels main football presenter.
I really don’t like Chapman or his style. Just comes across as an excited fan, and also being a very famous Man Utd fan this is gonna draw criticsm from many people.