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Gary Winston Lineker (; born 30 November 1960) is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

and current

sports broadcaster In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio w ...

. He is regarded as having been one of the greatest English

strikers Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. His media career began with the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...

, where he has presented the flagship football programme ''

Match of the Day ''Match of the Day'' (abbreviated to ''MOTD'') is a football highlights programme, typically broadcast on BBC One on Saturday nights, during the Premier League season. The show's current presenter is former England international striker Gary ...

'' since the late 1990s, the longest tenure of any MOTD presenter. Lineker is also the BBC's lead presenter for live football matches, including coverage of international tournaments such as the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

. He has also worked for Al Jazeera Sports,

Eredivisie Live Fox Sports Eredivisie was a Dutch premium television service owned by Eredivisie Media & Marketing CV in which Fox Networks Group Benelux (part of Fox) has 51% share. The football clubs (Eredivisie CV) together with Endemol own 49%. There were 3 c ...

NBC Sports Network NBCSN was an American sports television channel owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It originally launched on July 1, 1995, as the Outdoor Life Network (OLN), which was dedicated to programming prim ...

, and

BT Sport BT Sport is a group of pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe and BT Group, they first launched on 1 August 2013. The channels are based at the former International Bro ...

's coverage of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

. Lineker began his football career at

Leicester City FC Leicester City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Leicester in the East Midlands of England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home ...

in 1978, and finished as the First Division's joint top goalscorer in 1984–85. He then moved to league champions Everton where he won both the

PFA Players' Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Men's Players' Player of the Year (often called the PFA Men's Players' Player of the Year, the Players' Player of the Year, or simply the Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is ...

and

FWA Footballer of the Year The Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year (often called the FWA Footballer of the Year, or in England simply the Footballer of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in ...

awards in his debut season, before moving to Spanish giants

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. With Barcelona, he won the

1987–88 Copa del Rey The 1987–88 Copa del Rey was the 86th staging of the Copa del Rey. The trophy was won by FC Barcelona after beating defending champions Real Sociedad 1–0 in the final. First round Second round Third round Bye ...

and the 1989 European Cup Winners' Cup. He joined

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

in 1989, and won his second

and won the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

, his first and only major trophy in English football. Lineker's final club was Nagoya Grampus Eight; he retired in 1994 after two seasons at the Japanese side. Lineker made his

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

debut in 1984, earning 80

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

and scoring 48 goals over an eight-year international career. He is England's fourth-highest scorer, behind

Harry Kane Harry Edward Kane (born 28 July 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Tottenham Hotspur and captains the England national team. A prolific goalscorer with strong link play, Kane is regarded as one of ...

Wayne Rooney Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional football manager and former player, who is the manager of Major League Soccer club D.C. United in the United States. He spent much of his playing career as a forward while ...

and

Bobby Charlton Sir Robert Charlton (born 11 October 1937) is an English former footballer who played either as a midfielder or a forward. Considered one of the greatest players of all time, he was a member of the England team that won the 1966 FIFA World ...

and his international goals-to-games ratio remains one of the best for the country. His six goals in the 1986 FIFA World Cup made him the tournament's top scorer, receiving the Golden Boot. Lineker was again integral to England's progress to the semi-finals of the

1990 World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being ...

, scoring another four goals. He still holds England's record for goals in the

. Lineker is also the only player to have been the top scorer in England with three clubs: Leicester City, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur. Notably, he never received a

yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In the ...

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or d ...

during his 16-year career. As a result, he was honoured in 1990 with the

FIFA Fair Play Award The FIFA Fair Play Award is a FIFA recognition of exemplary behaviour that promotes the spirit of fair play and compassion in :association football around the world. First awarded in 1987, it has been presented to individuals (including post ...

. In a senior career which spanned 16 years and 567 competitive games, Lineker scored a total of 330 goals, including 282 goals at club level. After his retirement from football he was inducted into the

English Football Hall of Fame The English Football Hall of Fame is housed at the National Football Museum in Manchester, England. The Hall aims to celebrate and highlight the achievements of the all-time top English footballing talents, as well as non-English players and man ...

. A keen supporter of Leicester City, he led a consortium that invested in his old club, saving it from bankruptcy, and was appointed honorary vice-president.

Early life

Gary Winston Lineker was born on 30 November 1960 in Leicester, the son of Margaret P. (Abbs) and Barry Lineker. He was given his middle name in honour of

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

, with whom he shares a birthday. He has one brother, Wayne, who is two years his junior. Lineker grew up with his family in the city, playing football with Wayne. Their father was a greengrocer, as were their grandfather William and great-grandfather George, in Leicester. Barry Lineker ran Lineker's fruit and veg stall in

Leicester Market Leicester Market is a marketplace, market in Leicester City Centre, The City of Leicester, England, on Market Place just south of the Clock Tower (Leicester), clock tower. It is around 800 years old and was moved to the current site around 700 ...

, and as a child and a young player Gary regularly helped out on the stall. Lineker, who is white, received racial abuse as a child for his dark features. Lineker first attended Caldecote Road School (Caldecote Juniors), Braunstone in Leicester (east of the Meridian Centre). He then went to the City of Leicester Boys' Grammar School (now

City of Leicester College The City of Leicester College is a mixed secondary school for ages 11–18 in Evington, Leicester, England. It has around 2,000 pupils and specialises in business and enterprise. Description City of Leicester College is in the east of Leiceste ...

) on Downing Drive in

Evington Evington is an Electoral ward and administrative division of the city of Leicester, England. It used to be a small village centred on Main Street and the Anglican church of St Denys but was close enough to Leicester to become one of the outer ...

, owing to his preference for football rather than rugby, which was the main sport of most schools near his home. Lineker was equally talented at both football and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

. From the ages of 11 to 16 he captained the Leicestershire Schools cricket team, and had felt that he had a higher chance of succeeding at it rather than football. He later stated on ''

They Think It's All Over "They think it's all over" is a quote from Kenneth Wolstenholme's BBC TV commentary in the closing moments of the 1966 FIFA World Cup Final, when England beat West Germany 4–2 after extra time to win the FIFA World Cup. In the final few seco ...

'' that as a teenager he idolised former

captain

David Gower David Ivon Gower (born 1 April 1957) is an English cricket commentator and former cricketer who was captain of the England cricket team during the 1980s. Described as one of the most stylish left-handed batsmen of his era, Gower played 117 Te ...

, who was playing for Leicestershire at the time. During his youth he played for Aylestone Park Youth, later becoming the club's president. Lineker left school with four

O Level The O-Level (Ordinary Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education. It was introduced in place of the School Certificate in 1951 as part of an educational reform alongside the more in-depth ...

s. One of his teachers wrote on his report card that he "concentrates too much on football" and that he would "never make a living at that". He then joined the youth academy at

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

in 1976.

Club career

Leicester City

Lineker began his career at his hometown club Leicester City after leaving school in 1977, turning professional in the 1978–79 season and making his senior debut on New Year's Day 1979 in a 2–0 win at

Filbert Street Filbert Street was a football stadium in Leicester, England, which served as the home of Leicester City F.C. from 1891 until 2002. Although officially titled the City Business Stadium in the early 1990s, it remained known almost exclusively by ...

over

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...

in the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

. He earned a Second Division title medal a year later with 19 appearances, but played just nine league games in 1980–81 as Leicester went straight back down. However, he became a regular player in 1981–82, scoring 19 goals in all competitions that season. Although Leicester missed out on promotion, they reached the semi-finals of the

, and clinched promotion a year later as Lineker scored 26 times in the Second Division. In 1983–84, he enjoyed regular First Division action for the first time and was the division's second-highest scorer with 22 goals, although Leicester failed to finish anywhere near the top of the league. He was the First Division's joint top scorer in 1984–85 with 24 goals, and was enjoying a prolific partnership with Alan Smith. However, by this stage he was attracting the attention of bigger clubs, and a move from Filbert Street was looking certain.

Everton

In the 1985 close season, defending league champions Everton signed Lineker for £800,000; he scored 40 goals in 57 games for his new team in the 1985–86 season. Lineker's first game for Everton happened to be away to Leicester City; at half time, he walked into the Leicester dressing room by mistake. He was again the First Division's leading goal scorer, this time with 30 goals (including three hat-tricks), and helped Everton finish second in the league. While at Everton, they reached the

final for the third consecutive year but lost 3–1 to

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

, despite Lineker giving them an early lead when he outpaced

Alan Hansen Alan David Hansen (born 13 June 1955) is a Scottish former footballer and BBC television football pundit. He played as a central defender for Partick Thistle, for the successful Liverpool team of the late 1970s and 1980s, and for the Scotl ...

to score. Liverpool had also pipped Everton to the title by just two points. "I was only on Merseyside a short time, nine or 10 months in total really, but it was still a happy time personally, while professionally it was one of the most successful periods of my career", he says. "I still have an affinity towards Everton." Lineker scored three

hat-tricks A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wi ...

for Everton; at home to

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

in a 4–1 league win on 31 August 1985, at home to Manchester City in a 4–0 home win on 11 February 1986, and then in the penultimate league game of the season on 3 May 1986, when they kept their title hopes alive with a 6–1 home win over

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. On his final league appearance, he scored twice in a 3–1 home win over

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

whose own title hopes had just disappeared. However, he and his colleagues were denied title glory as Liverpool also won their final league game of the season at Chelsea. Lineker has consistently stated since retiring from football that this Everton team was the best club side he ever played in.

Barcelona

After winning the Golden Boot at the

1986 World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia had ...

in Mexico, Lineker was signed by

for £2.8 million. Barcelona were being managed by former

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

manager

Terry Venables Terence Frederick Venables (born 6 January 1943), often referred to as El Tel, is an English former football player and manager, and an author. During the 1960s and '70s, he played for various clubs including Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Queen ...

, who had also brought in Manchester United and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

striker

Mark Hughes Leslie Mark Hughes (born 1 November 1963) is a Welsh football coach and former player who is the manager of Bradford City. During his playing career he usually operated as a forward or midfielder. He had two spells at Manchester United, an ...

. Barcelona gave Lineker his first chance of European football, as Leicester had never qualified for Europe while he played for them, and Everton were denied a place in the European Cup for 1985–86 due to the ban on English clubs in European competitions following the

Heysel disaster The Heysel Stadium disaster ( it, Strage dell'Heysel ; german: link=no, Katastrophe von Heysel ; french: Drame du Heysel ; nl, Heizeldrama ) was a crowd disaster that occurred on 29 May 1985 when mostly Juventus fans escaping from a breach by L ...

. Lineker made his Barcelona debut against

Racing Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Spain, Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Span ...

, scoring twice. His Golden Boot-winning performance at the finals generated much anticipation of success at the Camp Nou, and he did not disappoint, scoring 21 goals in 41 games during his first season, including a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in a 3–2 win over archrivals Real Madrid. Barcelona went on to win the

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

in 1988 and the

European Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

in 1989. Lineker played in Barcelona's shock home and away defeats to

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

. Barcelona manager

Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (, internationally known as Johan Cruyff; 25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016) was a Dutch professional football player and manager. As a player, he won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974. Cruyff was a ...

decided to play Lineker on the right of the midfield and he was eventually no longer an automatic choice in the team. With 42 goals in 103 La Liga appearances, Lineker became the highest scoring British player in the competition's history, but was later surpassed by Gareth Bale in March 2016.

Tottenham Hotspur

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson attempted to sign Lineker to partner his ex-Barcelona teammate

in attack, but Lineker instead signed for

in July 1989 for £1.1 million. Over three seasons, he scored 67 goals in 105 league games and won the FA Cup while playing for the club. He finished as top scorer in the First Division in the 1989–90 season, scoring 24 goals as Spurs finished third. He finally collected an English trophy when he won the

1991 FA Cup Final The 1991 FA Cup Final saw Tottenham Hotspur win the FA Cup for a then-record eighth time, by beating Nottingham Forest 2–1 at Wembley in the 110th FA Cup Final. Tottenham's triumph made them the first club to win the trophy eight times, tho ...

with Spurs, who beat

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

2–1. This was despite Lineker having a goal controversially disallowed for offside and also having a penalty saved by goalkeeper

Mark Crossley Mark Geoffrey Crossley (born 16 June 1969) is a football coach and former professional footballer. As a player, he was a goalkeeper from 1988 until 2011 and he has previously played for numerous clubs in England's top flight, notably for Notti ...

. Lineker had contributed to Tottenham's run to the final. In the semi-final he scored twice in a 3–1 win over North London rivals Arsenal. He was the top division's second-highest goalscorer in 1991–92 with 28 goals from 35 games, behind

Ian Wright Ian Edward Wright (born 3 November 1963) is an English television and radio personality and former professional footballer. He works as a pundit for BBC Sport and ITV Sport. Wright enjoyed success with London clubs Crystal Palace and Arsenal ...

, who scored 29 times in 42 games. Despite Lineker's personal performance, Tottenham finished this final pre-

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

season in 15th place. His last goal in English football came on the last day of the season in a 3–1 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Nagoya Grampus Eight

In November 1991, Lineker accepted an offer of a two-year contract from J1 League club Nagoya Grampus Eight. The transfer fee paid to

was £2 million. He officially joined Nagoya Grampus Eight after playing his final game for Spurs on 2 May 1992, when he scored the consolation goal in a 3–1 defeat by Manchester United on the last day of the season. Shortly before accepting the offer from Nagoya Grampus Eight, Tottenham had rejected an offer from ambitious Second Division club

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

, who had recently been taken over by steel baron

Jack Walker Jack Walker (19 May 1929 – 17 August 2000) was a British industrialist and businessman. Walker built his fortune in the steel industry, amassing a personal fortune of £600 million. He then went on to become the owner and benefactor of Black ...

. Having scored 9 goals in 23 appearances over two injury impacted seasons for Nagoya Grampus Eight, he announced his retirement from playing in September 1994. The English national media had previously reported that he would be returning to England to complete his playing career at

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

International career

Lineker was

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...

once by the England B national team, playing in a 2–0 home win over New Zealand's B team on 13 November 1984. He first played for the full England team against

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

in 1984. He played five games in the

and was top scorer of the tournament with six goals, winning the Golden Boot, making him the first English player to have done so. He scored the second quickest hat-trick ever at a FIFA World Cup tournament against

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, the second English player to score a hat-trick at a World Cup, and scored two goals against

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

in the second round. He played most of the tournament wearing a lightweight cast on his forearm. He scored for England in the World Cup quarter-final against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, but the game ended in defeat as

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona (; 30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two joint winners of the F ...

scored twice for the opposition (the first goal being the " Hand of God" handball, and the second being the "

Goal of the Century Argentina v England was a football match played on 22 June 1986 between Argentina and England in the quarter-finals of the 1986 FIFA World Cup at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City. The game was held four years after the Falklands War betwee ...

"). In 1988, Lineker played in

Euro 88 The 1988 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in West Germany from 10 to 25 June 1988. It was the eighth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. The tournament crowned the Nethe ...

, but failed to score as England lost all three Group games. It was later established that he had been suffering from

hepatitis Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes ( jaundice), poor appetite, vomiting, tiredness, abdominal ...

. In the

, he scored four goals to help England reach the semi-finals. He was unwell during the tournament, and accidentally defecated in his shorts during the opening group game against the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

. After

Andreas Brehme Andreas "Andy" Brehme (; born 9 November 1960) is a German football coach and former football defender. At international level, he is best known for scoring the winning goal for Germany in the 1990 FIFA World Cup Final against Argentina from a ...

sent England 1–0 down in the semi-final, Lineker received a pass from Paul Parker and escaped two

West German West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

defenders on his way to scoring the equaliser, but the West Germans triumphed in the penalty shoot-out and went on to win the trophy. Later he said: "Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans win." Lineker's equaliser appears in the popular England national team anthem, "

Three Lions "Three Lions" is a song by the English comedians David Baddiel and Frank Skinner and the rock band the Lightning Seeds. It was released on 20 May 1996 to mark the England football team's participation in that year's UEFA European Championshi ...

", with the lyric "When Lineker scored". He retired from international football with eighty

and forty-eight goals, one fewer goal than Sir

's England record (which Charlton accrued over 106 caps). In what proved to be his last England match, against Sweden at

Euro 92 The 1992 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Sweden between 10 and 26 June 1992. It was the ninth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. Denmark national football team, Denmark won the 19 ...

, he was substituted by England coach

Graham Taylor Graham Taylor (15 September 1944 – 12 January 2017) was an English football player, manager, pundit and chairman of Watford Football Club. He was the manager of the England national football team from 1990 to 1993, and also managed Lincoln C ...

in favour of Arsenal striker Alan Smith, ultimately denying him the chance to equal—or even better—Charlton's record. He had earlier missed a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) A p ...

that would have brought him level, in a pre-tournament friendly against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. He was visibly upset at the decision, not looking at Taylor as he took the bench. He scored four

goals A goal is an objective that a person or a system plans or intends to achieve. Goal may also refer to: Sport * Goal (sports), a method of scoring in many sports, or the physical structure or area where scoring occurs ** Goals, the goal frame in ...

in an England match on two occasions and is one of very few players never to have been given a yellow card or a red card in any type of game.

Media career

Following retirement from professional football, he developed a career in the media, initially on BBC Radio 5 Live and as a football pundit before replacing Des Lynam as the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC's anchorman for football coverage, including their flagship football television programme ''

'', and as a team captain on the sports game show ''

'' from 1995 to 2003. Following the departure of Steve Rider from the BBC, Lineker, who is a keen recreational golfer with a Golf handicap, handicap of four, became the new presenter for the

...
's golf coverage. Also, he presented ''Grandstand (BBC), Grandstand'' in the London studio while then-presenter Desmond Lynam was in Aintree when the Grand National was abandoned because of a bomb alert at the racecourse in 1997. Despite receiving some criticism from his peers, he continued to front the BBC's coverage of the Masters and The Open Championship, The Open, where he put his language skills to good use by giving an impromptu interview in Spanish with Argentinian Andrés Romero. He participated in Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, Prince Edward's charity television special ''The Grand Knockout Tournament'' in 1987. Lineker also appeared in the 1991 play ''An Evening with Gary Lineker'' by Arthur Smith (comedian), Arthur Smith and Chris England, which was adapted for television in 1994. He presented a six-part TV series for the BBC in 1998 (directed by Lloyd Stanton) called ''Golden Boots'', with other football celebrities. It was an extensive history of the World Cup focusing on the 'Golden Boots' (top scorers). In 2001, Lineker appeared in the TV show ''Brass Eye'' (episode "Paedogeddon"). In 2002, Lineker had a cameo appearance in the film ''Bend It Like Beckham''. In 2005, Lineker was sued for Slander and libel, defamation by Australian footballer Harry Kewell over comments Lineker had made writing in his column in ''The Sunday Telegraph'' about Kewell's transfer from Leeds United F.C., Leeds United to

. However, the jury was unable to reach a verdict. It became known during the case that the article had actually been ghost-written by a journalist at ''The Sunday Telegraph'' following a telephone interview with Lineker. In 2006, Lineker took on an acting role as the voice of ''Underground Ernie'' on the BBC's children's channel, CBeebies. In December 2008, Lineker appeared on the ITV1 television programme ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' where he and English rugby union player Austin Healey won £50,000 for the Nicholls Spinal Injury Foundation. In 2009, Lineker and his wife Danielle hosted a series of the BBC's ''Northern Exposure'', following on from Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen from the previous year in visiting and showcasing locations throughout Northern Ireland. In May 2010, Lineker resigned from his role as columnist for ''The Mail on Sunday'' in protest over the sting operation against David Triesman, Baron Triesman, Lord Triesman that reportedly jeopardised England's bid to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup, 2018 World Cup. Triesman resigned as chairman of the bid and the FA on 16 May 2010 after the publication of a secret recording of a conversation between the peer and a former ministerial aide, during which he claimed that Spain and Russia were planning to bribe referees at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, World Cup in South Africa. Lineker then began working as an anchor for the English language football coverage for beIN Sports (MENA), Al Jazeera Sport, which is broadcast throughout most of the Middle East. He left the Qatar-based network in 2012. In 2013, Lineker began working for NBCSN as part of their Premier League coverage, and contributing to the US version of ''Match of the Day (US TV series), Match of the Day''. On 9 June 2015, Lineker was unveiled as the lead presenter of

's UEFA Champions League, Champions League coverage. On 13 August 2016, Lineker presented the first ''Match of the Day'' of the 2016–17 Premier League, 2016–17 season wearing only boxer shorts. Believing it would simply not happen, he had promised in a tweet from December 2015 that if Leicester City won the 2015–16 Premier League, Premier League, he would "present Match of the Day in just my undies". Lineker was the highest-paid BBC employee, receiving payments of £1.75–1.76 million in the years 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, and 2019–20, according to the BBC's list of top salaries. His pay has been criticised by Julian Knight (politician), Julian Knight, chair of the parliamentary Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, and Dame Esther Rantzen. The BBC's Director General, Tim Davie, stated that Lineker's pay was justified "because of the value of analysis to the viewing audience". In 2021, Lineker makes a number of cameo appearances playing himself in the American football comedy TV series ''Ted Lasso''.

Walkers commercials

Lineker has appeared in television commercials for the Leicester-based snack company Walkers (snack foods), Walkers. Originally signing a £200,000 deal in 1994, his first advert was 1995's "Welcome Home" (Lineker had recently returned to England having played in Japan). Walkers temporarily named their salt and vinegar crisps after Lineker, labelling them 'Salt & Lineker', in the late 1990s. In 2000, Lineker's Walkers commercials were ranked ninth in Channel 4's poll of the "100 Greatest (TV series), 100 Greatest Adverts".

Goalhanger Films

In May 2014, Lineker established his own production company Goalhanger Films Ltd. with former ITV Controller Tony Pastor. During the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Lineker presented several short videos produced by Goalhanger Films on YouTube with the title ''Blahzil''. In May 2015, the company produced a 60-minute-long documentary presented by Lineker titled ''Gary Lineker on the Road to FA Cup Glory'' for the BBC.

Personal life

Lineker married Michelle Cockayne in 1986. In May 2006, Cockayne filed for divorce on the grounds of her husband's alleged "unreasonable behaviour", with documents submitted to the court claiming that Lineker's actions in their marriage had caused her "stress and anxiety". Lineker and she have four sons; George, Harry, Tobias and Angus. The couple subsequently stated that the situation was amicable. In November 1991, George, Lineker's eldest son, survived a rare form of leukaemia whilst he was a baby, and was treated at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. Lineker now supports children's cancer charity CLIC Sargent and has appeared in promotional clips encouraging people to give blood. Lineker has been actively involved with other cancer charities such as Leukaemia Busters, where between 1994 and 2005 Gary and Michelle were the charity's patrons. He has also been involved with the Fight for Life and Cancer Research UK charities. Lineker was made a Freedom of the City, freeman of the City of Leicester in 1995 and he has been referred to as "Leicester's favourite son". In October 2002, Lineker backed a £5 million bid to rescue his former club

, which had recently gone into Administration (law), administration, describing his involvement as "charity" rather than an "ego trip". He stated that he would invest a six-figure sum and that other members of his consortium would invest a similar amount. Lineker met with fans' groups to persuade them to try and raise money to rescue his former club. The club was eventually saved from liquidation. He is now honorary Vice President of Leicester City F.C. Gary and Danielle Lineker at The Asian Awards

Gary and Danielle Lineker at The Asian Awards

Lineker married Danielle Lineker, Danielle Bux on 2 September 2009, in Ravello, Italy. They went on to win £30,000 for charity on ITV's gameshow ''All Star Mr & Mrs#Series 3 (2010), Mr and Mrs''. On 13 January 2016, Lineker and Bux announced they were divorcing, after six years of marriage, the reason given being Gary not wanting more children. In 1985, Lineker was best man at snooker player Willie Thorne's wedding and their close friendship was the subject of the VHS production, ''Best of Friends – The Official Story of Gary Lineker & Willie Thorne''. In 2013, Lineker participated in the genealogical programme ''Who Do You Think You Are? (UK TV series), Who Do You Think You Are?'' during which he discovered an ancestor who was a poacher, and another who was a legal clerk. In November 2017, Lineker was named in the Paradise Papers in connection with a tax avoidance scheme relating to property owned in Barbados and a company set up in the British Virgin Islands. Lineker speaks Spanish, which he learnt during his time playing for FC Barcelona, and is an advocate for the teaching of foreign languages in schools. In April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, COVID-19 pandemic, Lineker announced that he was donating £140,000 to the British Red Cross towards research into the virus.

Political views

Lineker has been noted for his political views which he shares on Twitter. In December 2016, he was described by Angus Harrison of Vice News as "the British Left's Loudest Voice" for being "both staunchly liberal and resolutely unafraid of making his views known". Using a football analogy, Lineker defined his ideological position as "I make more runs to the left than the right, but never felt comfortable on the wing". After the 2017 United Kingdom general election, in which Theresa May led the Conservative Party (UK), Conservatives and Jeremy Corbyn led Labour Party (UK), Labour, Lineker wrote "Anyone else feel politically homeless? Everything seems far right or way left. Something sensibly centrist might appeal?" Lineker endorsed a remain vote in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum. In July 2018, he announced his support for People's Vote, a campaign group calling for a public vote on the final Brexit deal between the UK and the European Union. On 18 October 2016, Lineker tweeted a rebuttal to a statement made by MP David Davies (Welsh politician), David Davies where Davies suggested refugees entering the UK should undergo dental checks to verify their age: "The treatment by some towards these young refugees is hideously racist and utterly heartless. What's happening to our country?" This led ''The Sun'' to call for Lineker's sacking from ''Match of the Day'', claiming that he had breached BBC impartiality guidelines. Lineker is a freelance presenter whose BBC appearances do not concern politics, so in 2018 he was exempt from the corporation's rules regarding impartiality on social media. In 2022, a complaint about a tweet from Lineker that referred to donations to the Conservative Party was upheld by the BBC, on the grounds that it breached social media use guidelines and failed to meet editorial standards of impartiality.

Career statistics

Club

International

Lineker earned his first cap for England in 1984 against

during the 1983–84 British Home Championship. He played his last game for England in a 2–1 loss against Sweden in a UEFA Euro 1992 Group 1#Sweden vs England, Euro 1992 group stage match. He almost equalled the England goalscoring record, held at the time by

, in a pre-tournament friendly against

, but he missed a Penalty kick (association football), penalty kick, leaving him one goal short of Charlton's total, which List of international goals scored by Wayne Rooney, was overtaken by

in 2015. :''Scores and results list England's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Lineker goal''.

Honours

Leicester City * Football League Second Division: 1979–80 Football League, 1979–80 Everton * FA Community Shield, FA Charity Shield: 1985 FA Charity Shield, 1985 Barcelona *

: 1989 European Cup Winners' Cup Final, 1988–89 *

: 1988 Copa del Rey Final, 1987–88 Tottenham Hotspur *

: 1991 FA Cup Final, 1990–91 * FA Charity Shield: 1991 FA Charity Shield, 1991 (shared) England *

fourth place: 1990 FIFA World Cup, 1990 Individual * Football League Second Division, English Second Division top scorer: 1982–83 in English football, 1982–83 * Football League First Division, English First Division top scorer: 1984–85, 1985–86, 1989-90 in English football, 1989–90 *

: 1985–86 *

: 1985–86, 1991-92 in English football, 1991–92 * World Cup Golden Boot, FIFA World Cup Golden Boot: 1986 FIFA World Cup#Awards, 1986 * FIFA World Cup awards#All-Star Team, FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 1986 FIFA World Cup, 1986 * Onze d'Or, Onze de Bronze: 1986 * Ballon d'Or runner-up: 1986 *

: 1990 * FWA Tribute Award: 1997 * FIFA World Player of the Year bronze award: 1991 * FIFA 100 *

: 2003 * Professional Footballers' Association, PFA Team of the Century (1977–1996): 2007

Fellowships

Lineker is a Visiting Fellow of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford, appointed 2020.

References

External links

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Lineker's first goal in Jleague
– J.League official {{DEFAULTSORT:Lineker, Gary 1960 births Living people Footballers from Leicester English footballers Association football forwards Leicester City F.C. players Everton F.C. players FC Barcelona players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Nagoya Grampus players English Football League players First Division/Premier League top scorers La Liga players J1 League players England B international footballers England international footballers 1986 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1988 players 1990 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1992 players FIFA 100 English Football Hall of Fame inductees English expatriate footballers English expatriate sportspeople in Spain English expatriate sportspeople in Japan Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Japan People educated at City of Leicester Boys' Grammar School English association football commentators BBC sports presenters and reporters BT Sport presenters and reporters Golf writers and broadcasters Officers of the Order of the British Empire FA Cup Final players People named in the Paradise Papers