Warmth: The word keeps popping up in conversations about Kelly Cates and is used as a barometer of her ability to convey the importance of a situation.
It also often focuses around one specific incident. It concerns Liverpool – some will immediately assume no one else can be involved given who her father is – but illustrates why she is one of the leading sports broadcasters in the industry, one with impeccable judgement.
On the night of July 22, 2020, Liverpool would be crowned Premier League champions. The raging Covid pandemic left Anfield virtually empty, but after beating Chelsea 5-3, Jurgen Klopp’s side were determined to celebrate the long-awaited success.
There was ticker tape and fireworks, but Klopp had media obligations to fulfill and was placed in front of Cates as a rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone began. Time is precious in these high pressure situations, every word and every second counts, but the lady with the microphone saw the bigger picture.
“Jurgen,” she said, as Klopp searched for his own words. “Come back to us when you’re ready. Go and enjoy the moment with your team.”
It takes guts and courage to break away from the running order of a live production, but Cates possesses these qualities – and many more – in abundance. That’s why she rose to the top of her profession. And that is why she will soon be seen regularly on our screens via Match of the Day.
Kelly Cates will be part of a three-person team of Match of the Day presenters next season
Cates will split presenting duties for the flagship show with Gabby Logan and Mark Chapman
The trio will attempt to fill Gary Lineker’s void in a show that is effectively nationally owned
Finding the right successor for Gary Lineker on a show that is effectively nationally owned has been a huge task for the BBC’s new sports director, Alex Kay-Jelski. It is not understated to say that a wrong decision could have hastened its end.
But teaming up Cates with Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan – both of high quality and hugely experienced – is smart. This triumvirate has known each other for many years; Cates and Chapman first worked together for ESPN in 2009.
It also represents collaborative thinking, with Cates and Chapman also working together on Five Live. Many will wonder why a former player doesn’t take on Lineker’s role, but that misses the point. The quality of the program will be determined by the quality of the presenter, not by whether he kicked a ball.
“The one thing Kelly has above all else is warmth – and that’s exactly what you want a presenter to have in front of a TV audience on a Saturday night,” says Ed Chamberlin, the face of ITV Racing and Mail Sport columnist. ‘You invite someone into your living room and you want to feel comfortable with him or her.
‘Don’t worry about that. The show will flourish with Kelly, Mark and Gabby. I go way back with Kelly – she was my favorite co-presenter from the years we had at Sky; we were on Sky Sports News and then she was going to replace Kirsty Gallagher on a show called 90 Minutes.
‘Nothing was ever a problem for her, she took it all in stride. We had an incredible rapport. You always had to be on your guard with her, because she doesn’t miss a trick and doesn’t let you get away with anything; she’s witty, she’s charming, but don’t let that take anything away.
“She has incredible football knowledge; she knows the game inside and out, she is meticulous in everything she does. She can hold a conversation with anyone about anything and she has the ability to bring out the best in those around her. It’s a brilliant signing for the BBC.’
How did she get here? Being the daughter of Sir Kenny Dalglish, Liverpool’s greatest ever player, would have opened all kinds of doors and what a base she had, listening to the debates in their kitchen between her father and those other great Scots, Graeme Souness and Alan Hansen.
Cates (right) is praised for her ‘warmth’ and ‘football knowledge’ as a presenter
Cates is the daughter of Sir Kenny Dalglish, but she has built her career on her own
Former Sky Sports presenter Ed Chamberlin labeled her his ‘favourite co-presenter’
“She is fantastic at this job because she has been in a football house all her life,” Souness, who pushed Cates in a pram as a baby before being asked questions by her in a studio, once told Mail Sport.
Many in her position would have been inclined to use the family name as a way to make money, but her parents were workers – she takes after her mother, Lady Marina – and this is a career she has built on her own. Not that it’s always been easy, mind you.
“Just like his success isn’t mine, what I do doesn’t affect him in any way,” Cates said during a YouTube interview with 90 Minute Football in October 2020. We are different people. I can be proud of him without living off him, if that makes sense?
‘I had difficulty making that distinction early on. When I mentioned him early on (in my career), I felt like I was living off him and his reputation and career. But I can be both: I can be his daughter and I can have my own career. It took me far too long to get to that point.”
Cates, 49, is the eldest of the four Dalglish children – she was followed by her brother Paul and sisters Lauren and Lynsey – and has two daughters of her own, whom she adores. She divorced Tom, her husband of 14 years, in 2021 and keeps her personal life private.
However, her professional life is an open book. She has worked for many of the leading broadcasters from Sky to Setanta, GMTV, ITV during the 2010 World Cup and Channel 4 when London hosted the Paralympic Games in 2012; Since August 2017 she has presented Friday Night Football on Sky.
There is also years of experience in radio, with a stint at talkSPORT and presenting on 5 Live – she was the lead voice at the 2022 World Cup final – and the popular 606 phone call, giving her every opportunity to get to the heart of the case come.
In an industry where egos can run rampant at the slightest opportunity, those who know her well emphasize that she puts the team first and never fails to prepare, so she always speaks at her allotted time and never in gets confused.
Mail Sport columnist Graeme Souness pushed Cates in a pram as a baby, but found herself asking questions from her in a studio years later (pictured together in 1979)
Souness once said: ‘She is fantastic at this job as she has spent her whole life in a football house’
Cates has made her mark with an impressive amount of experience on TV and radio
“It’s her real, genuine warmth,” says Rob Green, the former West Ham and England goalkeeper who is a respected member of the 5 Live expert team; it is significant that he mentions that word – warmth – again.
“When you meet her, she is exactly as you would see her on TV. The first time I worked with her was for a Liverpool match in the Champions League, we were together in the studios in Salford. She made it so comfortable for me that I almost forgot I was on the air.
‘I think she is someone who will appeal to all types of viewers and she is genuinely respected by almost anyone who wants to watch football on television. I’m absolutely happy for her, it’s fantastic news.
“She knows what questions to ask, when to ask them, and how to ask them: it may sound simple to say, but it really isn’t. She asks the questions, but she listens carefully to you for that little part that she wants to give you that little bit more detail. She’ll have a sparring match if necessary!
‘That is important with Match of the Day: you only get a few minutes to talk about matches and the moments in them. She’s the type of host who maximizes that window to extrapolate just that little bit more. It’s a huge skill to make it look as easy as they do.
‘During the World Cup (in Qatar) she met my wife and children. My wife walked away and said, ‘Oh, she’s beautiful. You understand why you want to work with these people.” That one conversation reflects what Kelly is like.”