Former Liverpool defender Mark Lawrenson has offered a fresh pundit rant after branding the BBC as 'top of the woke league' and too afraid to cause offence.

Lawrenson, 65, last featured on BBC show Football Focus at the end of the 2021/22 season, recording his last episode ahead of Chelsea vs Liverpool in the FA Cup final. He had been involved in the Saturday lunchtime show for 25 years, with his maiden Match of the Day appearance even before that.

Shortly after leaving, Lawrenson hit out of the manner of his exit. Last month, the ex-Republic of Ireland international doubled down on his departure and told The Ben Heath Podcast that it "really p***ed me off," despite admitting he "kind of knew" what was in store. "Basically I was 65 and white," he added.

Podcast host Heath asked if Lawrenson believed the BBC has 'gone woke', to which he replied: "Gone woke? It's top of the woke league". Now, Lawrenson has taken a fresh swipe at the landscape of the pundit world and offered his opinion on differences between male and female broadcasters.

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He told Best Online Poker Sites : "If you're good enough, no matter if you're male or female, you should be doing the job. It's just a fact now that everybody believes that if you're commentator then you should be commentating week in, week out on the Premier League and to a very good standard too.

"My only concern about all this is that women can be as involved to a large extent, such as co-commentating, being pundits or hosting and I think a lot of them are good, but I ask, why is it that women are so involved in the men's game – whether it be punditry or refereeing – but men don't go into the women's game? I don’t quite get that – if you want to be diverse across the board then surely that should be on the table.

Mark Lawrenson (
Image:
PA)

"Women's football is definitely getting better and so will the punditry, but you could have someone who's the best commentator in the world and all it takes is for someone to say, 'I don’t like the sound of his voice, he should be replaced'. It’s the way things are now."

During his professional football career, Lawrenson played for Preston and Brighton before having a highly successful spell at Liverpool, where he made over 350 appearances and won five First Division titles. He ended his career having endured a short spell at Tampa Bay Rowdies.