Simon Thomas is to leave is role at Sky Sports at the end of the current football season.
The announcement comes months after his wife Gemma died just three days after being diagnosed with leukaemia, leaving Thomas to look after their eight-year-old son, Ethan.
Since his wife’s death, he has spoken on television and on his social media pages about his daily struggles with grief, mental health and supporting Ethan through what is clearly an incredibly difficult time.
Everything changes . . . . . . . . . . for now! https://t.co/spgi7iiSS2 pic.twitter.com/NtBvPLd9Aw
— Simon Thomas (@SimonThomasTV) April 27, 2018
On his decision to leave Sky, Thomas explained that, understandably, he wanted to dedicate more time to looking after his son. He also added that, despite loving his job, the loss of Gemma has changed his perspective.
‘Being totally honest, the game I have loved for my whole life, the game I’ve had the amazing privilege of working on for these past few years, at the moment just doesn’t matter,’ he writes in his blog post, which can be read in full here.
Thomas joined Sky in 2005 following a 13-year run at the BBC where he was a presenter on Blue Peter. He started off as a presenter on Sky Sports News before also fronting their coverage of live EFL and League Cup football. He had recently presented Sky’s coverage of the Premier League, too.