Tony Cottee and his fellow Soccer Saturday alumni are due a festive reunion four years after going their separate ways.
The gang was famously axed by Sky Sports in 2020 when legends like Phil Thompson, Charlie Nicholas and Matt Le Tissier got the chop. But Cottee – who was sacked 12 months later – is buzzing for another round of Yuletide cheer given he and the original crew have kept their Christmas tradition alive with annual catch-ups.
Footie fans were gutted when the iconic Soccer Saturday panel was shown the door, and Jeff Stelling’s departure last year marked the end of an era. But Cottee’s latest reveal to The Mirror, which came via online-casinos.com, will surely lift spirits as he disclosed another reunion will be on the cards later this year.
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“We still get together. We had a little Christmas get-together, and we’re due to have another one this Christmas,” he said. “I think it’s nice for the boys you don’t often see. People like Thommo and Charlie, you don’t see because they live in Liverpool and Scotland. But you get round to Christmas, it’s a nice excuse to have a few drinks and a bit of a party.”
“It’s a bit like a football dressing room, where you don’t see the boys for two or three years sometimes, but as soon as you meet them, it feels like you were in the dressing room yesterday. I think we have that sort of rapport, the Soccer Saturday lads, and it’s always great to catch up.”
Alan McInally and Paul Merson are the last remaining figures from the early days of Soccer Saturday, with the former having joined all the way back in 1998. Cottee has previously expressed his dissatisfaction with how his two-decade tenure on the show ended.
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(Image: Sky Sports)
However, the West Ham and Everton legend is more understanding of Sky’s reasons for his departure three years later. He merrily recalls his time on the show, not to mention the friendships he formed along the way.
“I look back with great fondness,” he continued. “Twenty fantastic years, you’re getting paid to travel around the country, watch football matches and have a laugh and a joke. I think that was the appeal of the show. . .four lads who looked like they were down the pub.”
The cosy chat style of the programme appealed more to the older generation of viewers, while younger fans want to see fresh faces on Soccer Saturday. But that won’t stop Cottee and his colleagues from reuniting privately – a sight many would undoubtedly pay to see.