Sky Sports icon Jeff Stelling admits Soccer Saturday was 'making him ill' before exit

Jeff Stelling, a legend of Sky Sports, has confessed that his time on Soccer Saturday was affecting his health before he left the show last year. The famous sports presenter, 68, led Sky Sports' iconic football results show for over 25 years before officially ending his run at the end of the 2022/23 season.

After leaving Sky, Stelling started a new job as the host of talkSPORT's breakfast show and was also awarded an MBE in the New Year's Honours list for his contributions to sport, broadcasting and charity.

However, the popular figure has now shared how his dream job put pressure on him leading up to his departure.

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In an interview with The Guardian, Stelling revealed for the first time that his role on Soccer Saturday made him feel ill most weekends. He said: "I had the most fantastic run on the show; I made the greatest mates and was paid well for one of the best jobs in the world. But the show was heading in a direction which meant it wasn't quite the same.

"Even though I'd been there a long time, I felt some of my views weren't considered at all. Every week I was fighting a battle. I got tired of fighting and it was making me ill. Eventually, I went to Sky's management and said: 'This is making me unwell. I've got to step away from it.'"

In 2020, several of Stelling's close friends and regular contributors to the Soccer Saturday show, Phil Thompson, Matt Le Tissier and Charlie Nicholas, were all let go. Stelling admitted that this, along with other big names like Martin Tyler and Geoff Shreeves