Kelly Cates is about to begin the busiest year of her career. That, to be fair, is an estimate, because the football presenter and broadcaster has always been a grafter. From Setanta Sports to Channel 5 there are few places she has not applied her blend of deep knowledge and emotional warmth, and as of this weekend she will be the face of the BBC’s and Sky’s coverage of the Premier League.
The action gets under way at a second home, Anfield, from where Cates will host Sky’s Friday Night Football coverage of Liverpool v Bournemouth. This follows two preview shows for the BBC, and precedes her first shift on Match of the Day. Asked whether her schedule might be daunting, Cates appears almost bemused. “I’ve just got busy weekends, but I work in sports so I expect to have busy weekends,” she says. “It’s not as complicated as you think – there’s a very fast train to Manchester.”
Cates, speaking at Sky’s HQ, says she doesn’t want to sound cliched but “it’s good to keep doing new things”. Her new roles are a chance to “keep things fresh”. Having worked in the industry for 27 years, starting with a presenting role on the opening morning of Sky Sports News, “to get a chance to do something new and still have the live football and have so many live games, it’s just really lovely to have that balance”.
For many years Cates had to endure questions that her colleagues don’t; from being a woman in a man’s world to being the daughter of a football legend, Sir Kenny Dalglish. She has long since carved out her own place in sports broadcasting however, so when she was approached for the role of Match of the Day host, alongside Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan, Sky immediately brokered a deal that would keep her on its roster too.
While her male colleagues may get more attention, usually adjacent to some controversy, Cates’s less combative approach has also helped shape contemporary coverage of football on TV (and radio). Her more approachable and conversational style is suited to the age of podcasting and long-form interviews.
“I think that the tone generally has changed to become more conversational on air, and I think that’s probably because that’s come from digital,” she says. “A lot of that was fan-led and a lot of it was just people starting up on their own at the beginning. But I think you can have a conversational tone without having a conversation, and you can still interview somebody while having a conversational tone.”
Kelly Cates has little social media presence. ‘There’s a tendency to believe that if somebody isn’t talking about something they don’t care about it,’ she says. Photograph: Catherine Ivill/Getty Images
Cates offers another distinction from many of her peers; she is not an avid user of social media. She has no account on X and tends to use Instagram to promote her work rather than share her worldview. “I haven’t ever really used my social media for that, so it isn’t something that I’m going to have to change,” she says. “I think that in a lot of cases, I’m not the best-placed person to talk about some of those issues. And I think there’s a tendency to believe that if somebody isn’t talking about something they don’t care about it. I think it’s perfectly possible to care about something and keep quiet and let experts talk about it, which I think is a lot of the time better. I always feel like if I couldn’t cope well with being challenged heavily on it, then I shouldn’t be putting my opinion out publicly.”
That she should be asked about her posting reflects the Gary Lineker-shaped presence in the room. Cates, Chapman and Logan are being asked by the BBC to team up to replace a broadcasting legend, with all the public scrutiny that entails. Cates says she has not spoken to Lineker about the job, but defends his reputation despite his being a “controversial” figure.
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“He hasn’t got in touch and I haven’t got in touch with him, but not because we’re avoiding each other,” she says. “We just don’t know each other that well. I think [Chapman] was saying that Gary said, ‘Why would I tell three broadcasters how to do their job?’ Which is very lovely of him because he was brilliant at the job. And as much as he was a controversial character at times, any focus group that researched these things would tell you how much he was adored in that role.”
On how she will approach following in the footsteps of yet another football legend, Cates is matter of fact. “I don’t want to be Gary,” she says. “I think there’s a temptation to try and be someone else, and I think that you get a job because of yourself. If then you try to be someone else, it can all just get a bit confused. I don’t need another thing to think about. I don’t need to be sitting there thinking: ‘What would Gary do?’”
Cates has enough talent and experience to help her adapt to her new prominence. Britons will see a lot more of her on their screens and she will be watching even more football. Is there any possibility that more could become too much? “If it was going to happen, it would have kicked in by now,” she says with a smile.
