Alan Shearer confirms real reason he is scaling back Match of the Day appearances

Alan Shearer has revealed he will only be appearing on BBC Match of the Day once every month so he can watch Newcastle United more often. The iconic football highlights show made its return for the 2026/27 season last weekend with Shearer joined by Wayne Rooney as a pundit.

There have been a number of changes to their panel over the last few years with Gary Lineker replaced as host by all of Mark Chapman, Kelly Cates and Gabby Logan. BBC also recently announced that Ashley Young, Robbie Keane, Toby Alderweireld and Thomas Frank would be part of their line-up.

Martin Keown, Dion Dublin, Shay Given, Stephen Warnock, Nedum Onuoha and Theo Walcott were not included in their confirmed list. Mirror Football understands that the omitted names will still play a role in the BBC's Match of the Day coverage for this campaign.

While Betfair ambassador Shearer has been retained for another season, the man himself had already admitted he would be taking a step back and he has now revealed the reasons for his decision with the BBC told of it some time ago.

"I said to them a while back that I would like some of my weekends back on a Saturday, Shearer told Daily Mail Sport . "It’ll be about one a month. I’ll be going to more Newcastle games. I love doing the co-comms. When the FA Cup starts in January, there’s loads of co-comms."

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The Magpies kicked off their Premier League season with a dramatic 2-2 draw against Liverpool. New manager Matthias Jaissle did get his first win in charge on Wednesday evening, however, as they beat Championship side West Brom 3-2 in the Carabao Cup.

Shearer also spoke about his expectations for the upcoming season after a difficult summer transfer window with three of their best players sold.

He said: "Plenty of optimism at Newcastle after a long summer. It needed a reset. We mustn’t forget all those players Newcastle sold, wanted to go, didn’t want to be there and didn’t have great seasons last season because Newcastle finished 12th.

"It had to be a reset and it’s going to take a lot of patience at times, albeit hoping for one or two in before the end of the transfer window, then plenty to be optimistic about after the weekend.

"I don’t expect us to get into European football this year. If we do, great, it’ll be a great bonus but I don’t expect that."

The Newcastle legend went on to add that a new midfield signing was needed and exactly that has happened with Nico Gonzalez unveiled at St James' Park after his £50million move from Manchester City.

On the signing, Shearer said: "It’s really good business with his experience, being at Manchester City for that amount of time, playing under Pep in that winning culture will do Newcastle the world of good."

Sky's Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle includes at least 215 live Premier League clashes across the 2026/27 season, with more than 1,500 games from the EFL and beyond, plus F1, golf and darts.