Alex Scott reacted to the axing of Football Focus by saying she was quitting the show anyway.<\/p>\n
The BBC announced on Thursday that it is dropping one of its longest-running sports programmes at the end of the season after 52 years on air.<\/p>\n
The past five of those have been hosted by Scott, a former England women\u2019s player, during whose tenure the show appears to have been on borrowed time.<\/p>\n
It did manage to arrest a dramatic ratings slide that began before her appointment but not enough to spare it from the axe.<\/p>\n
Scott posted on Instagram: \u201cAfter 52 years on air, Football Focus is coming to an end. To have been part of it has been incredibly special, and I\u2019m so grateful and proud of the eight years I\u2019ve been involved, including the five years I\u2019ve had the honour of presenting it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI always knew this would be my last season on the show, which the BBC were aware of too. My intention was to move quietly into the next chapter, but sometimes things change.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen this show began all those years ago, social media wasn\u2019t a driving force, podcasts didn\u2019t exist, and there was no instant access to information in the way there is today. Now, by the time we go on air, the reality is you\u2019ve already seen it, debated it, and lived it across so many platforms. That shift has changed the whole industry. TV audiences have been declining for years, while digital and on-demand viewing continues to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n
The demise of the corporation\u2019s best-known football show, after Match of the Day, comes amid plans for it to cut up to one in 10 jobs<\/a> within its 21,500 workforce over the next two years.<\/p>\n The Saturday lunchtime show avoided being cancelled just over a year ago amid a major shake-up of the BBC\u2019s sports department by director of sport Alex Kay-Jelski that included scrapping news programme Sportsday<\/a>.<\/p>\n Scott and her team were ordered to deliver punchier interviews and debate to arrest a long-standing slump in ratings, despite viewing figures enjoying a small upturn the previous year.<\/p>\n Tension about show\u2019s performance<\/p>\n It has been alleged that Scott felt bruised by BBC inquests into the declining performance of the show.<\/p>\n Such concerns were highlighted in September 2023, when Dan Walker, the previous host,stirred up debate over the programme\u2019s future by posting on social media: \u201cIt\u2019s hard to see Football Focus struggling. I loved it growing up and it was an honour to present it and I still miss it. We poured everything into that show every week and worked hard to keep it relevant. I hope it stays part of the TV landscape.\u201d<\/p>\n Scott posted a single-word reply \u2013 \u201cInteresting\u201d \u2013 in an exchange that hinted at tension between the show\u2019s two most recent presenters. About the same time, she posted: \u201cThank you to everyone who tuned into Football Focus, your support for such an iconic show means so much to everyone who works across it. Viewing figures double that of anything on TV at that time yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n