'It was making me ill' - Jeff Stelling opens up on why he left Soccer Saturday in emotional interview

Jeff Stelling has opened up on his much-talked-about departure from Soccer Saturday for the first time.

After more than 25 years in the hot seat, lifelong Hartlepool fan and legendary broadcaster Stelling said an emotional goodbye to Sky Sports' hit show at the end of the 2022/23 campaign.

Stelling presented the programme for the final time on May 28 alongside pundits Paul Merson, Clinton Morrison, Kris Boyd, Michael Dawson and Sue Smith.

"It is now the right time to move on and give Sky Sports viewers a break from my relentless rants, bad gags and over the top celebrations of Hartlepool United goals," he said back in April. "It's been a lot of fun - for me at least!"

The 68-year-old has since flourished in presenting roles with talkSPORT and Amazon Prime Video for their 'Every Game Every Goal' show.

Stelling, meanwhile, has remained tight-lipped about the circumstances surrounding his departure from Soccer Saturday.

But this week, the broadcaster has given an insight into his exit. Speaking to The Guardian, Stelling said he became "tired" of fighting an ongoing battle, which was consequently having a knock-on effect on his health.

"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," he said. "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.”

Stelling added: "Eventually, I went to Sky’s management and said: ‘This is making me unwell. I’ve got to step away from it'."

Stelling would go on to detail the side effects of trying to keep the Sky Sports show relevant and "afloat", and how it made him feel "absolutely exhausted" after filming.

He added: “Soccer Saturday used to be distinctive and we had a great team of reporters who would do off-the-wall features. But it reached the point where I would go home Saturday [after the show] and never go out with my wife or family because I was so worn out.

"Sunday, I felt ill with the stress and that extended into Monday and I’d start work on the next show on Tuesday still feeling stressed out. All the time you were flat on the floorboards just to keep the show afloat.”

Stelling continued: “I’m almost ashamed to say it because my dad worked in a steelworks and would come back from his shift covered in grime and muck and absolutely exhausted. He would never have allowed me to say I was shattered after a TV show. But I felt it was making me ill so I had to step away.”

Back in 2020, Stelling reacted to the departure of Matt Le Tissier, Phil Thompson and Charlie Nicholas from Soccer Saturday by describing it as "one of my saddest days ever".

In fact, Stelling says he even considered quitting after their much-talked-about exit.

When asked on whether he thought about leaving in 2020, he told The Guardian: "It would be honest to say that. Yes, of course. Whether I want to effectively start again is another question.

"We've done it with the first team we had – Bestie [George Best], Marshy [Rodney Marsh], Frank [McLintock] and Clive [Allen] and then we built another team [with his three sacked friends and Paul Merson]. I'm 65. I've had a fantastic run."

The trio were axed from Sky's football coverage ahead of the 2020/21 Premier League campaign.