Matt Le Tissier, who had a successful football career with Southampton FC, has presented Soccer Saturday since 2003 alongside Charlie Nicholas and Phil Thompson, who have also been dropped.

There has been no announcement on if they will be replaced, or who by.

Following his departure, Le Tissier took to Twitter to thank his fans, on-air colleagues and backroom team for their support.

“One of my saddest days ever at Sky Sports with the departure of three of my best mates,” wrote fellow pundit Jeff Stelling in response. The likes of presenter Chris Kamara and former England player Graham Roberts joined him in wishing ‘Le Tiss’ well.

There has been no official explanation from Sky as to why the presenters were axed.

Le Tissier has recently drawn media attention with his remarks about death rates of covid-19. Referring to the UK’s lockdown restrictions, he recently encouraged people to look beyond the “government propaganda” to ask “who benefits from all this”.

He also stirred up controversy when he was spotted wearing a Black Lives Matter badge, but later decided he could not support the organisation. 

Former Arsenal striker Ian Wright spoke out to decry the racism he says he has seen following the decision.

“What does any black pundit have to do with Sky’s decision to get rid of these guys?” he said in a video posted to Twitter. “Because a black person or woman might get the opportunity to do this job? Why are people upset?

“These guys have had an unbelievable run, it has been a great show. This happens to everyone in the industry. This is Sky’s decision to evolve the show, and I wish them all the very best.”

Mr Le Tissier said he is looking forward to “life’s next challenge”, but has not made an announcement on his next career move.