The UK’s favourite co-commentator has been named

He won by a landslide

While 'lead commentators' like Peter Drury and Sam Matterface are responsible for describing the action on the pitch, the role of the co-commentator is to provide live context and analysis in the gaps between moments of exciting sporting action.

Almost all of the co-commentators currently working for British broadcasters are ex-professional footballers.

The winner of the Coral poll — made up by the opinions of more than 1,000 football fans — is Scotland legend Ally McCoist.

McCoist scored 19 goals for the Scottish national team, and a further 355 for Rangers during his playing career and now works for broadcasters TNT Sports and Amazon Prime, covering the Premier League and Champions League.

McCoist led the pack with a whopping 44% of the overall vote beating back competition from the likes of Alan Shearer and Gary Neville.

One of the fans who answered the survey was asked why he'd chosen McCoist for the number one spot.

John Robertson, 44, from Watford, said: "Coisty is a legend, not just for Scotland and Rangers, but among fans themselves.

“He doesn’t take himself seriously at all and he loves a joke, but he knows what he’s talking about and really does know his stuff.”

The full ranking is as follows:

1. Ally McCoist - 44%

2. Alan Shearer - 39%

3. Gary Neville - 36%

4. Michael Owen - 32%

5. Rio Ferdinand - 32%

6. Jamie Carragher - 32%

7.Stuart Pearce - 31%

8.Micah Richards - 30%

9.Robbie Savage - 29%

10.Dion Dublin - 29%

11. Steve McManaman - 28%

12. Lee Dixon - 27%

13. Owen Hargreaves - 25%

The top rated 'lead commentator' was the BBC's Guy Mowbray while Ally McCoist's partner at TNT Darren Fletcher only made fifth place.

Fans were also quizzed on their thoughts about the new Match of the Day format.

Following 26 years with Gary Lineker as presenter, the BBC's flagship football show is now lead by the trio of Mark Chapman, Gabby Logan and Kelly Cates.

Less than half of those asked said they were looking forward to seeing Wayne Rooney's punditry on the programme, while a fifth of fans said they were sad Lineker had departed.

A spokesperson for Coral, who commission the poll, said: "Football fans love watching the beautiful game on the big box and, while the jury might be out on the new era for Match of the Day, it’s clear that commentators like Guy Mowbray and Ally McCoist are still firm fan favourites.”