Helen Chamberlain Leaves Soccer AM With Jimmy Bullard Taking Over as Part of Revamp
Sky Sports flagship Saturday morning football show Soccer AM has had a revamp ahead of the new season.
Helen Chamberlain will no longer be presenting the show having fronted it for 22 years. She will be replaced by comedian Lloyd Griffith and the former Wigan, Fulham and Hull City midfielder Jimmy Bullard.
The 38-year old has been a regular on the show since he retired from football in 2012, taking part in a number of sketches. Bullard and Griffith will join John "Fenners" Fendley, who replaced Max Rushden as Chamberlain's co-host in 2015.
Bullard took to Twitter to express his delight at his new role saying that: "Saturday mornings will never be the same again."
It marked the end of an era for the show with Helen Chamberlain leaving after presented the show since 1995.
The 50-year old Torquay United supporter presented the show alongside Tim Lovejoy for 10 years when it was at its peak and has also worked alongside Andy Goldstein, Max Rushden and Fenners.
Some people have criticised Sky's decision and the manner of the announcement.
Sky have also been criticised on Twitter by opting to go for an all male presenting line-up for the new revamped show with people suggesting the show has become too "laddish."
The Saturday morning show on Sky Sports once pulled in over 300,000 viewers and was broadcast for 4 hours but viewers have declined in recent years with episodes during the 2016-17 season pulling in an average of 60,000 viewers.
Christopher Lee/GettyImages
The show has also been cut to just 90 minutes since Sky won the rights to the Saturday lunchtime Premier League match back from BT Sport.
The show was in need of a revamp but it remains to be seen whether replacing Chamberlain will prove to be a good move
