There was playfulness – how could there not be? A new era dawned for a much-loved institution at 1020pm on Saturday and it did so with a respectful, and beautifully delivered, nod to the past.
‘Good evening,’ said Mark Chapman, one prong of the powerful, revamped presenting trident. ‘Match of the Day is back – and the Premier League is back. Now you may have heard but there is a big change this season… and that is Wayne Rooney is joining us as a regular pundit.’
It was very much Gary Lineker’s style to begin the show with a quip you could see coming a mile off, a ‘Dad joke’ style he perfected over 25 years, but he has now gone and many wondered how MotD will fare without him in the hotseat.