[Amber Avenger]

The soccerette was never that big a part of the show - at the height of it's power the show was on for three hours, and the Soccerette was maybe five minutes of that and even then not until the final hour. Infamous certainly but the show was so much more than that.

The link of the show's decline with the removal of the soccerette is also as much to the show really struggling to find it's feet again after not only Tim Lovejoy leaving but also many of the crew who worked on the show (and also characters on the show) following him out the door.

Max Rushden - Tim's long term replacement after Andy Goldstein didnt work out - said this week he wanted to ditch the Soccerette straight away but the show wouldn't let him. Perhaps they should have done as it really had a bit more of a stable identify, although less popular, after that rather than straight apeing the Lovejoy era. I'd say its really suffered post losing Helen - Fenners is good, but kind of was stuck between two stools of being a bit too laddy, and having the old fans drift away and not doing enough to attract the young audience.

The internet is probably as much a culprit of taking away the shine from some of the shows content - the funny clips from matches, the best goals of the week all online within five seconds of them happening now. Previously they were a show that had viral clips before viral clips were a thing, Tractor Boy and Pearl Diving especially.