Match of the Day pundit Mark Lawrenson says BBC are ‘top of WOKE LEAGUE’ and got rid of him because ‘I was 65 and white’

Mark Lawrenson has called the BBC ‘the best in the woke league’ after again claiming he was left out of the Match of the Day pundits’ list because he was ’65 and white’.

The former Liverpool man spent three decades with the company, including 25 years with Football Focus, but left at the end of the 2021-22 football season.

Lawrenson claimed in 2022 that he was told the series would continue “on the road” and that bosses told him “we don’t think it’s really something for you”.

This decision led to Lawrenson’s typical one-year contract not being renewed, with the expert then opting to retire.

Lawrenson, speaking on the Ben Heath podcast, reiterated that his departure was because he was 65 and white.

Former pundit Mark Lawrenson called the BBC “the best in the woke league”.

Lawrenson, left, had played a key role in the BBC’s football coverage with Gary Lineker, centre, and Alan Hansen, right, but left the corporation in 2022 after his contract was not renewed.

The now 66-year-old claimed late BBC Radio 2 presenter Steve Wright had been “pushed out”, along with the departures of Ken Bruce and Sue Barker from the corporation in recent years.

When asked if the BBC had “woke up”, Lawrenson was quick to agree with Heath.

“Gone Woke, that’s the top of the Woke league,” Lawrenson replied.

“They are scared to death, absolutely and totally scared to death.

“You saw what happened with Gary Lineker and obviously with the BBC executives. I think every day the integrity of the corporation is being undermined.

“Before it was absolutely fantastic, but they are 100 percent awake.”

The former Match of the Day and Football Focus pundit cited the public row between Lineker and the BBC last year as an example.

Lineker was removed from the airwaves over a tweet that appeared to compare the government to the Nazis on their immigration policy.

The former Football Focus pundit reiterated his claim that his departure from the BBC was because he was 65 and white.

Lawrenson cited Lineker’s being briefly taken off air by the BBC last year as an example of the corporation’s fear of its contributors expressing their opinions.

Many presenters and commentators refused to take his place, forcing the BBC to broadcast the traditional football round-up without any commentary.

Lineker later returned as host, with the BBC eventually agreeing new rules with its star presenters allowing them to “express their views on issues and policies” after a review.

Lawrenson claimed the BBC had been “afraid” of contributors expressing their views during his final years at the corporation.

“They’re scared, they tell everyone you can’t do this and you can’t say that. Look, that’s someone’s opinion,” Lawrenson said.

“The problem with Gary (Lineker) is that he works for himself, so he is entitled to his own opinion. Rightly or wrongly, he has an opinion on everything, even within a ping-pong ball.

“You used to go to the program and have the headphones in your ears, they were talking to you from the gallery and someone would ask you a question, you wanted to jump in and they would say ‘don’t say anything’.

“You say ‘what really’, that pissed me off a bit at the end.

“Hansen was the best, he finished after the World Cup in Brazil and said ‘I’m done’.

“I had a great run, but that just changed. The world has completely changed, hasn’t it? Some of the things you could just say, now it’s absolutely impossible.

Lineker returned to air following the departure of his fellow BBC Sport presenters and commentators

Lawrenson claimed his former teammate and pundit Alan Hansen had the “best” outing when he decided to quit after the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

BBC commentator Jonathan Agnew earlier this month criticized the BBC’s pursuit of gender-neutral terminology in cricket.

Earlier this month, BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew also admitted his frustration at their push for gender-neutral language.

Agnew, speaking to the Sunday Times, admitted his disappointment at the change in vocabulary around sport following the introduction of gender-neutral terminology.

This includes the use of “striker” rather than drummer, as well as the reference to “The Ashes of Men and Women”.

The biennial Test series between the teams was called “the Ashes” after a fake newspaper obituary of the England team, after Australia won on English soil for the first time.

A Women’s Ashes has been contested since 1998.

“That doesn’t mean the Ashes have to be the ‘Ashes of Men,’” Agnew said.

“People are going to call me an old fart, I guess, it’s an event. It happened.

“This isn’t the ‘Male Battle of Hastings’, is it? »