Gary Lineker

english football player and television receiver donor

Gary Winston Lineker ( ; born 30 November 1960 ) is an english erstwhile professional football player and stream sports broadcaster. He is regarded as one of the greatest english strikers. His media career began with the BBC, where he has presented the flagship football course of study Match of the Day since the late 1990s, the longest tenure of any MOTD presenter. Lineker is besides the BBC ‘s lead donor for know football matches, including its coverage of international tournaments. He has besides previously worked for Al Jazeera Sports, Eredivisie Live, NBC Sports Network, and BT Sport ‘s coverage of the UEFA Champions League.

Reading: Gary Lineker

Lineker began his football career at Leicester City in 1978, and finished as the First Division ‘s joint peak goalscorer in 1984–85. He then moved to league champions Everton where he won both the PFA Players ‘ Player of the year and FWA Footballer of the year awards in his introduction season, before moving to spanish giants Barcelona. With Barcelona, he won the 1987-1988 Copa del Rey and the 1989 european Cup Winners ‘ Cup. He joined Tottenham Hotspur in 1989, and won his irregular FWA Footballer of the class and won the FA Cup, 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 slope. Lineker made his England introduction in 1984, earning 80 caps and scoring 48 goals over an eight-year international career. He is England ‘s joint third-highest scorer, behind Wayne Rooney and Bobby Charlton, level with Harry Kane, and his international goals-to-games ratio remains one of the best for the country. [ 2 ] His six goals in the 1986 FIFA World Cup made him the tournament ‘s top scorer, receiving the Golden Boot, the only time an Englishman achieved this until Harry Kane in the 2018 World Cup. Lineker was again built-in to England ‘s progress to the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup, scoring another four goals. He still holds England ‘s commemorate for goals in the FIFA World Cup. Lineker is besides the only player to have been the top scorekeeper in England with three clubs : Leicester City, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur. notably, he never received a jaundiced or bolshevik tease during his 16-year career. [ 3 ] As a result, he was honoured in 1990 with the FIFA Fair Play Award. In a senior career which spanned 16 years and 567 competitive games, Lineker scored a total of 330 goals, including 282 goals at club degree. After his retirement from football he was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame. A lament garter of Leicester City, he led a consortium that invested in his erstwhile club, saving it from bankruptcy, and was appointed honorary vice-president .

early life

Lineker was born in Leicester, the son of Margaret P. ( Abbs ) and Barry Lineker. [ 4 ] He was given his middle name in honor of Winston Churchill, with whom he shares a birthday. [ 5 ] He has one brother, Wayne, who is two years his junior. Lineker grew up with his family in the city, playing football with Wayne. [ 6 ] Their forefather was a greengrocer, as was their grandfather William and great-grandfather George, [ 7 ] in Leicester. Barry Lineker ran Lineker ‘s fruit and vegetable stall in Leicester Market, and as a child and a young player Gary regularly helped out on the booth. [ 8 ] Lineker first gear attended Caldecote Road School [ 9 ] ( 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 ) on Downing Drive in Evington, owing to his preference for football preferably than rugby, which was the main sport of most schools near his home. Lineker was equally talented at both football and cricket. From the ages of 11 to 16 he captained the Leicestershire Schools cricket team, and had felt that he had a higher casual of succeeding at it quite than football. [ 10 ] He later stated on They Think It’s All Over that as a adolescent he idolised erstwhile England captain David Gower, who was playing for Leicestershire at the time. [ 11 ] During his youth he played for Aylestone Park Youth, later becoming the clubhouse ‘s president of the united states. [ 12 ] Lineker left school with four o Levels. One of his teachers wrote on his report poster that he “ concentrates besides much on football ” and that he would “ never make a living at that ”. He then joined the young person academy at Leicester City in 1976. [ 10 ]

Club career

Leicester City

Lineker began his career at his hometown baseball club Leicester City after leaving school in 1977, turning professional in the 1978–79 season and making his elder introduction on New Year ‘s Day 1979 in a 2–0 win at Filbert Street over Oldham Athletic in the Second Division. He earned a second Division title decoration a class subsequently 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 FA Cup, and clinched promotion a year belated as Lineker scored 26 times in the Second Division. In 1983–84, he enjoyed regular First Division military action for the beginning 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 temper. Lineker ‘s first game for Everton happened to be away to Leicester City ; at half time, he walked into the Leicester dress room by error. [ 13 ] He was again the First Division ‘s run goal scorer, this time with 30 goals ( including three hat-tricks ), and helped Everton eat up second in the league. While at Everton, they reached the FA Cup final for the third base consecutive year but lost 3–1 to Liverpool, despite Lineker giving them an early contribute when he outpaced Alan Hansen to score. Liverpool had besides pipped Everton to the title by good two points. “ I was alone on Merseyside a short-change time, nine or 10 months in total in truth, but it was hush a glad meter 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 for Everton ; at home plate to Birmingham City in a 4–1 league winnings on 31 August 1985, at home to Manchester City in a 4–0 home winnings on 11 February 1986, and then in the penult league game of the season on 3 May 1986, when they kept their entitle hopes active with a 6–1 home win over Southampton. On his final examination league appearance, he scored doubly in a 3–1 home succeed over West Ham United whose own style hopes had precisely disappeared. however, he and his colleagues were denied style glory as Liverpool besides won their final league plot of the season at Chelsea. [ 14 ] Lineker has systematically stated since retiring from football that this Everton team was the best golf club side he ever played in .

Barcelona

After winning the Golden Boot at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, Lineker was signed by Barcelona for £2.8 million. [ 15 ] Barcelona were being managed by early Queens Park Rangers coach Terry Venables, who had besides brought in Manchester United and Wales striker Mark Hughes. [ 16 ] Barcelona gave Lineker his beginning probability 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. Lineker made his Barcelona debut against Racing Santander, scoring doubly. [ 17 ] His fortunate 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 beginning season, including a hat-trick in a 3–2 win over archrivals substantial Madrid. [ 18 ] Barcelona went on to win the Copa del Rey in 1988 and the european Cup Winners ‘ Cup in 1989. Lineker played in Barcelona ‘s traumatize home and aside defeats to Dundee United. Barcelona director Johan Cruyff decided to play Lineker on the right of the midfield and he was finally no longer an automatic choice in the team. With 42 goals in 103 La Liga appearances, Lineker became the highest score british player in the competition ‘s history, but was later surpassed by Gareth Bale in March 2016. [ 19 ]

Tottenham Hotspur

Manchester United director Alex Ferguson attempted to sign Lineker to partner his ex-Barcelona teammate Mark Hughes in attack, [ 20 ] but Lineker alternatively signed for Tottenham Hotspur 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 temper, scoring 24 goals as Spurs finished one-third. He finally collected an english trophy when he won the 1991 FA Cup Final with Spurs, who beat Nottingham Forest 2–1. This was despite Lineker having a goal controversially disallowed for offside and besides having a penalty saved by goalkeeper Mark Crossley. [ 21 ] Lineker had contributed to Tottenham ‘s guide to the final examination. In the semi-final he scored twice in a 3–1 gain over North London rivals Arsenal. [ 22 ] He was the top class ‘s second-highest goalscorer in 1991–92 with 28 goals from 35 games, behind Ian Wright, who scored 29 times in 42 games. Despite Lineker ‘s personal performance, Tottenham finished this final pre- Premier League season in 15th space. His last goal in English football came on the last day of the season in a 3–1 frustration to Manchester United at Old Trafford .

Nagoya Grampus Eight

In November 1991, Lineker accepted an crack of a biennial contract from J1 League cabaret Nagoya Grampus Eight. The transfer fee paid to Tottenham Hotspur was £2 million. He formally joined Nagoya Grampus Eight after playing his final bet on for Spurs on 2 May 1992, when he scored the consolation finish in a 3–1 get the better of by Manchester United on the death day of the season. [ 23 ] soon before accepting the propose from Nagoya Grampus Eight, Tottenham had rejected an offer from ambitious Second Division club Blackburn Rovers, who had recently been taken over by steel baron Jack Walker. [ 24 ] Having scored 9 goals in 23 appearances over two wound impacted [ 25 ] 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 or Southampton. [ 26 ]

International career

Lineker was capped once by the England B national team, playing in a 2–0 home win over New Zealand ‘s B team on 13 November 1984. [ 27 ] He first played for the full England team against Scotland in 1984. He played five games in the 1986 World Cup and was clear scorekeeper of the tournament with six goals, winning the Golden Boot, making him the first English musician to have done so. He scored the moment quickest hat-trick ever at a FIFA World Cup tournament against Poland, the second gear English player to score a hat-trick at a World Cup, and scored two goals against Paraguay in the second round of golf. 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, but the game ended in frustration as Diego Maradona scored twice for the resistance ( the first goal being the “ Hand of God “ handball, and the second being the “ Goal of the Century “ ). In 1988, Lineker played in Euro 88, but failed to score as England lost all three Group games. It was late established that he had been suffering from hepatitis. [ 28 ] [ 29 ] In the 1990 World Cup, he scored four goals to help England reach the semi-finals. He was ailing during the tournament, and by chance defecated during the open group game against the Republic of Ireland. [ 30 ] After Andreas Brehme sent England 1–0 down in the semi-final, Lineker received a exceed from Paul Parker and escaped two west german defenders on his means to scoring the equalizer, 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. ” [ 31 ] Lineker ‘s counterweight appears in the popular England national team hymn, “ Three Lions “, with the lyric “ When Lineker scored ”. [ 32 ] He retired from international football with eighty caps and forty-eight goals, one fewer goal than Sir Bobby Charlton ‘s England record ( which Charlton accrued over 106 caps ). In what proved to be his final England equal, against Sweden at Euro 92, he was substituted by England bus Graham Taylor in favor of Arsenal striker Alan Smith, ultimately denying him the casual to equal—or even better—Charlton ‘s record. [ 33 ] He had earlier missed a penalty that would have brought him level, in a pre-tournament friendly against Brazil. [ 34 ] He was visibly upset at the decision, not looking at Taylor as he took the bench. He scored four goals in an England match on two occasions and is one of identical few players never to have been given a scandalmongering card or a crimson batting order in any type of game. [ 35 ]

Media career

Following retirement from professional football, he developed a career in the media, initially on BBC Radio 5 Live and as a football initiate before replacing Des Lynam as the BBC ‘s anchor for football coverage, including their flagship football television program Match of the Day, and as a team master on the sports game show They Think It’s All Over from 1995 to 2003. Following the deviation of Steve Rider from the BBC, Lineker, who is a exquisite recreational golfer with a disable of four, became the raw donor for the BBC ‘s golf coverage. besides, he presented Grandstand in the London studio while then-presenter Desmond Lynam was in Aintree when the Grand National was abandoned because of a bomb alarm at the racetrack in 1997. Despite receiving some criticism from his peers, [ 6 ] he continued to front the BBC ‘s coverage of the Masters and The Open, where he put his language skills to effective use by giving an ad-lib interview in spanish with argentine Andrés Romero. [ 36 ] He participated in Prince Edward ‘s jacob’s ladder television special The Grand Knockout Tournament in 1987. Lineker besides appeared in the 1991 looseness An Evening with Gary Lineker by Arthur Smith and Chris England, which was adapted for television receiver in 1994. He presented a six-part television series for the BBC in 1998 ( directed by Lloyd Stanton ) called Golden Boots, [ 37 ] 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 television show Brass Eye ( episode “ Paedogeddon ” ). [ 38 ] In 2002, Lineker had a cameo appearance in the film Bend It Like Beckham. In 2005, Lineker was sued for defamation by australian football player Harry Kewell over comments Lineker had made writing in his column in The Sunday Telegraph about Kewell ‘s transfer from Leeds United to Liverpool. 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 diarist at The Sunday Telegraph following a telephone interview with Lineker. [ 39 ] In 2006, Lineker took on an act role as the voice of Underground Ernie on the BBC ‘s children ‘s channel, CBeebies. [ 40 ] In December 2008, Lineker appeared on the ITV1 television receiver plan 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 former year in visiting and showcasing locations throughout Northern Ireland. [ 41 ] In May 2010, Lineker resigned from his character as columnist for The Mail on Sunday in protest over the sting operation against Lord Triesman that reportedly jeopardised England ‘s bid to host the 2018 World Cup. Triesman resigned as president of the offer and the FA on 16 May 2010 after the publication of a unavowed record of a conversation between the peer and a early ministerial aide, during which he claimed that Spain and Russia were planning to bribe referees at the World Cup in South Africa. [ 42 ] Lineker then began working as an anchor for the english linguistic process football coverage for Al Jazeera Sport, which is broadcast throughout most of the Middle East. He left the Qatar-based net 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. [ 43 ] On 9 June 2015, Lineker was unveiled as the head donor of BT Sport ‘s Champions League coverage. On 13 August 2016, Lineker presented the first Match of the Day of the 2016–17 season wearing lone boxer shorts. [ 44 ] Believing it would plainly not happen, he had promised in a tweet from December 2015 [ 45 ] that if Leicester City won the Premier League, he would “ present match of the Day in merely my undies ”. On 18 October 2016, Lineker tweeted a rebuttal to a affirmation made by MP David Davies where Davies suggested refugees entering the UK should undergo dental checks to verify their age. [ 46 ] Lineker posted “ The treatment by some towards these young refugees is hideously racist and absolutely hardhearted. What ‘s happening to our area ? ” [ 47 ] This led The Sun to call for Lineker ‘s sacking from Match of the Day, claiming that he had breached BBC impartiality guidelines. [ 48 ] Lineker described the controversy as “ a alert ” but continued to advocate for refugees. [ 49 ] In July 2018, Lineker announced his support for People ‘s Vote, a campaign group calling for a public vote on the final examination Brexit manage between the UK and the European Union. [ 50 ] Lineker was the highest-paid BBC employee, receiving payments of £1.75–1.76 million in the years 2016–17, 2017–18, [ 51 ] 2018–19, [ 52 ] and 2019–20, [ 52 ] according to the BBC ‘s list of top salaries. His yield has been criticised by julian Knight, president of the parliamentary Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, [ 53 ] and Dame Esther Rantzen. [ 54 ] The BBC ‘s Director General, Tim Davie, stated that Lineker ‘s pay was justified “ because of the measure of analysis to the viewing hearing ”. [ 55 ]

Walkers commercials

Lineker has appeared in television receiver commercials for the Leicester-based bite company Walkers. primitively signing a £200,000 deal in 1994, his first allude was 1995 ‘s “ Welcome Home ” ( Lineker had recently returned to England having played in Japan ). [ 57 ] Walkers temporarily named their salt and vinegar chip after Lineker, labelling them ‘Salt & Lineker ‘, in the late 1990s. [ 58 ] In 2000, Lineker ‘s Walkers commercials were ranked one-ninth in Channel 4 ‘s poll of the “ 100 Greatest Adverts “. [ 59 ]

Goalhanger Films

In May 2014, Lineker established his own production ship’s company Goalhanger Films Ltd. with former ITV Controller Tony Pastor. [ 60 ] During the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Lineker presented several inadequate videos produced by Goalhanger Films on YouTube with the claim 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. [ 61 ]

personal life

Lineker in 2009 Lineker married Michelle Cockayne in 1986. In May 2006, Cockayne filed for disassociate on the grounds of her husband ‘s alleged “ excessive behavior ”, with documents submitted to the court claiming that Lineker ‘s actions in their marriage had caused her “ tension and anxiety ”. Lineker and she have four sons ; George, Harry, Tobias and Angus. The couple subsequently stated that the situation was amicable. [ 62 ] In November 1991, George, Lineker ‘s eldest son, survived a rare shape of leukemia whilst he was a baby, and was treated at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. [ 6 ] Lineker nowadays supports children ‘s cancer charity CLIC Sargent and has appeared in promotional clips encouraging people to give blood. Lineker has been actively involved with early cancer charities such as Leukaemia Busters, where between 1994 and 2005 Gary and Michelle were the charity ‘s patrons. [ 63 ] [ 64 ] He has besides been involved with the Fight for Life and Cancer Research UK charities. [ 65 ] [ 66 ] Lineker was made a freeman of the City of Leicester in 1995 and he has been referred to as “ Leicester ‘s favorite son ”. [ 67 ] [ 68 ] In October 2002, Lineker backed a £5 million bid to rescue his erstwhile club Leicester City, which had recently gone into administration, describing his affair as “ charity ” preferably than an “ ego trip ”. [ 69 ] He stated that he would invest a six-figure sum and that early members of his consortium would invest a similar total. [ 70 ] Lineker met with fans ‘ groups to persuade them to try and raise money to rescue his erstwhile club. The clubhouse was finally saved from extermination. He is now honorary Vice President of Leicester City F.C. Lineker married Danielle Bux on 2 September 2009, in Ravello, Italy. They went on to win £30,000 for charity on ITV ‘s gameshow Mr and Mrs. [ 71 ] On 13 January 2016, Lineker and Bux announced they were divorcing, after six years of marriage, [ 72 ] the reason given being Gary not wanting more children. [ 72 ] In 1985, Lineker was best man at snooker player Willie Thorne ‘s marriage [ 73 ] and their cheeseparing friendship was the subject of the VHS production, Best of Friends – The Official Story of Gary Lineker & Willie Thorne. [ 74 ] In 2013, Lineker participated in the genealogic course of study Who Do You Think You Are? during which he discovered an ancestor who was a poacher, and another who was a legal salesclerk. [ 75 ] In November 2017, Lineker was named in the Paradise Papers in connection with a tax avoidance schema relating to property owned in Barbados and a company set up in the british Virgin Islands. [ 76 ] Lineker speaks Spanish, which he learnt during his meter playing for FC Barcelona, and is an advocate for the teach of foreign languages in schools. [ 77 ] [ 78 ] In April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Lineker announced that he was donating £140,000 to the british Red Cross towards research into the virus. [ 79 ]

career statistics

club

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team
Year
Apps
Goals

England

1984
1
0

1985
9
6

1986
10
8

1987
7
9

1988
10
3

1989
9
3

1990
15
8

1991
11
9

1992
8
2

Total
80
48

Lineker earned his first ceiling for England in 1984 against Scotland during the 1983–84 british Home Championship. [ 80 ] He played his last game for England in a 2–1 loss against Sweden in a Euro 1992 group degree match. [ 81 ] He about equalled the England goalscoring record, held at the clock time by Bobby Charlton, in a pre-tournament friendly against Brazil, but he missed a punishment recoil, leaving him one goal inadequate of Charlton ‘s total, which was overtaken by Wayne Rooney in 2015. [ 82 ]

Scores and results list England’s goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Lineker goal.[83]

Honours

Leicester City
Everton
Barcelona
Tottenham Hotspur
England
Individual

Fellowships

Lineker is a Visiting Fellow of Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford, appointed 2020. [ 122 ]