Match of the Day is coming back to Saturday nights! This is very exciting news for me, both as a football fan, and as an employee of the BBC.

Although obviously this isn't the official line from my employer, as a viewer I think the Premier League has done the right thing in returning the rights to the Corporation. When Auntie lost the rights to Premiership highlights three years ago, I don't think I was alone in feeling it was a snub to the organisation. I felt personally wounded that the League chairmen wanted to abandon the great tradition of MOTD.

Then to add insult to injury, ITV's replacement show was frankly, in my own opinion, not terribly good. High on innovation, yes, but low on football. The time given by ITV to even the most important matches seemed much less than MOTD, and very often the analysis was asinine. And while it's improved a little since its early days, it's no longer Date TV. When even I lose interest in Saturday night football, something's very wrong: it has to go.

Although the Premier League said that the decision to award the highlights rights to the BBC was based on the fact that we offered more money than ITV, I can't help but feel that quality played an informal part in their decision.

And with the words "No talent changes are planned", BBC Director of Sport Peter Salmon seems to have put Des Lynam's career as the face of Saturday night football to bed. Five years ago I'd have worried if you told me there was to be no more Des, but over that time Gary Lineker has grown so much as a TV presenter, that it'd be wrong to replace him with the old-timer.

So everyone's very happy here at TVC, I think. An institution is returning to Britain's screens. Football will be whole again.

Two years ago Gary's final words as the BBC gave way to its commercial rival were, "We'll see you... after the break." I always knew he was right.