The Sam Newman problem that sparked Footy Show's 'execution'

Garry Lyon has pinpointed Sam Newman's fall from grace as the last straw in the failed bid to salvage The Footy Show.

Channel Nine unceremoniously cancelled the iconic program after 25 years on air.

The network announced the decision in a statement released after Thursday night’s episode concluded.

The 735th and last episode was broadcast without publicising its demise, something that wrankled Lyon as a former host of the show.

“The Footy Show went to air last night, Neroli (Meadows) farewelled and said, ‘thanks for watching, see you next week’,” he said on SEN radio.

“Then an hour later, out comes the press release, bang, The Footy show’s gone. That is an execution.”

Ratings had tanked this season following a last-ditch attempt to rebuild the show's flagging reputation.

Eddie McGuire and Sam Newman departed at the end of last year, making way for Fox Sports presenter Meadows and comedian Anthony Lehmann.

The reset came after years of upheaval that saw a number of different personalities moved on and new talent brought in.

Newman, the face of the show from its debut in 1994, was at the centre of the fall.

He always courted controversy but his increasingly belligerent and inflammatory presence over the past decade drove viewers away.

According to Lyon, however, Channel Nine and the showrunners unwittingly caused the collapse when they were unable to properly control Newman.

"You had to be conscious that it’s a different world we live in but I think it was an overcorrection down the track," Lyon said.

"You ended up spending way more time dealing with those issues than dealing with the issues you should have been dealing with, which was putting together a show that was entertaining for 90 minutes.

“The biggest star on the show was Sam Newman.”

Following the show's ungraceful exit on Thursday night, Lyon called on Channel Nine to get the band back together for a farewell episode.

“Now there needs to be a celebration. There should have been a celebration,” he said.

“They should have said, ‘listen, we’re no longer but next (week) we’ll farewell The Footy Show'. Eddie, Sam and Trevor (Marmalade) will do the first half hour, maybe Garry and JB will do a half hour, then JB and Rebecca could do 15 minutes'.

“Celebrate that and send it on its way. That’s what should happen. This is an iconic show.

“People only think of it in its latest guise but we should we celebrating this."

'Transformed football'

McGuire paid tribute to the show and those behind the scenes on Triple M radio on Friday morning.

“I’m sad because it’s the end of a run for a great show,” he said.

“It’s gone for 26 years, when we first started the show we were told we had six weeks to make it rate and here we are 26 years later and we got 729 more episodes out of it than anybody thought.

“It’s been a huge success. It’s transformed football, certainly the entertainment and the commercialisation of the game. So we’re hugely proud of that.”