Mark Chapman showed why it was smart for him to ring in the new-look Match of the Day… the focus was on new pundit Wayne Rooney instead, writes DOMINIC KING

There was playfulness – how could there not be? A new era dawned for a much-loved institution at 1020pm on Saturday and it did so with a respectful, and beautifully delivered, nod to the past.

‘Good evening,’ said Mark Chapman, one prong of the powerful, revamped presenting trident. ‘Match of the Day is back – and the Premier League is back. Now you may have heard but there is a big change this season… and that is Wayne Rooney is joining us as a regular pundit.’

It was very much Gary Lineker’s style to begin the show with a quip you could see coming a mile off, a ‘Dad joke’ style he perfected over 25 years, but he has now gone and many wondered how MotD will fare without him in the hotseat.

If the opening programme of the new campaign is anything to go by, Chapman – who will share hosting responsibilities with the equally exemplary Kelly Cates and Gabby Logan – will ensure there is no drop in the quality or familiarity of a show that is part of this country’s fabric.

Chapman isn’t a novice and has been the face of Match of the Day 2 for a decade but you can be sure there would have been some nerves as he took hold of this particular wheel, as the responsibility and prestige of being on Saturday night television is huge.

But like a player who finds his man with the first pass in a big game, Chapman was immediately into the swing of things – Rooney chuckled along as the camera panned to him before the tone was maintained with the next link.

‘Somethings never change,’ Chapman continued. ‘Alan Shearer is still here – and he’s absolutely delighted that Sunderland are first up!’

With that, we were off up to the Stadium Of Light, for the newly-promoted club’s 3-0 skewering of West Ham, a little stat running across the bottom of the screen told us this was the first time Sunderland had scored two headers in a Premier League game since October 2014.

Back in the studio after those highlights, Chapman began to show why it was such a smart decision to appoint him. This, to be clear, is no criticism of Lineker, who it was perhaps never appreciated just how good he was – and how much he improved – after succeeding Des Lynam.

Chapman, though, comes from the same journalistic background as Lynam with an eye for a story and the ability to ask a short, simple question that will bring insight, inviting the ex-pros to take the viewer or the reader into the areas that can’t be accessed.

It was a triumph having Rooney – who clearly had some nerves himself – on, as he was able to provide insight into Sunderland, having managed against them in the Championship last season when he was in charge of Plymouth.

‘I’ve got first-hand experience of playing against them – and we beat them as well,’ Rooney, with a wry smile, reminded the audience.

The show really came into its own, though, during the section allotted for Aston Villa and Newcastle’s goalless draw. Shearer was given a platform to speak with passion and authority on Aleksander Isak’s action over the past month, while Rooney was invited to make key observations of his own.

One answer grabbed the attention when Chapman, leaning back in his chair, highlighted that Newcastle head coach Eddie Howe had turned Joelinton from a striker into a midfielder and he asked whether he could now make Anthony Gordon a striker.

‘No,’ Rooney replied. ‘I wouldn’t have thought so.’

Rooney never hid away from talking about how he once asked to leave Manchester United but stressed he continued to train and play with the group, to retain their respect – not every pundit would be so honest or so prepared to revisit a time of controversy.

‘Is that the sort of player you want?’ Rooney asked, when Liverpool’s interest was brought up.

And it was to Liverpool where the 80-minute show concluded, Chapman seamlessly moving from the seriousness of the racist abuse Antoine Semenyo received to the heartbreak of the tributes to Diogo Jota and Andre Silva to the action itself.

Fittingly, things wrapped up with Shearer and Rooney discussing Hugo Ekitike and Chapman not missing his opportunity to impishly bring up a post from Shearer on social media on Friday night, questioning why Isak would want to go to Liverpool with the young Frenchman looking so good.

‘Alan,’ said Chapman, with the glee of a batsman who has been offered a full toss outside off stump. ‘I can’t imagine why you did that!’

Again, there was chuckling and there would have been in plenty of households across the nation. This is what Match of the Day is about – lightness, insight and a chance to recap on the action in an easily digestible form. It’s worked for 60 years and it won’t stop working due a new presenter.

‘The more things change, the more things stay the same,’ said Chapman, as he wrapped things up. ‘Gabby is here tomorrow. Goodnight.’