Gary Lineker

Lineker was born in Leicester, the son of Margaret P. (Abbs) and Barry Lineker.[3] His middle name came from Winston Churchill, with whom he shares his birthday.[4] He has one brother, Wayne, who is two years his junior. Lineker grew up with his family in the city, playing football with his brother Wayne.[5] Lineker's father was a greengrocer, as was his grandfather William and great-grandfather, George,[6] in Leicester. His father ran Lineker's fruit and veg stall in Leicester Market and as a child and a young player he regularly helped out on the stall.[7]

Lineker first attended Caldecote Road School[8] (Caldecote Juniors), Braunstone in Leicester (east of the Meridian Centre). He went to the City of Leicester Boys' Grammar School (now City of Leicester College) on Downing Drive in Evington, due 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. 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.[9] He later stated on They Think It's All Over that as a teenager he idolised former England captain David Gower, who was playing for Leicestershire at the time.[10] During his youth he played for Aylestone Park Youth, later becoming the club's president.[11]

Lineker left school with four O Levels. 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 in 1976.[9]

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.[26] He first played for the full England team against Scotland in 1984. He played five games in the 1986 World Cup 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, the second English player to score a hat-trick at a World Cup, and scored two goals against Paraguay 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, but the game ended in defeat as Diego Maradona scored twice for the opposition (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 later established that he had been suffering from hepatitis.[27][28]

In the 1990 World Cup, he scored four goals to help England reach the semi-finals. He was unwell during the tournament, and accidentally defecated during the opening group game against the Republic of Ireland.[29] After Andreas Brehme sent England 1–0 down in the semi-final, Lineker received a pass from Paul Parker and escaped two West German 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."[30] Lineker's equaliser appears in the popular England national team anthem, "Three Lions", with the lyric "When Lineker scored".[31]

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 last England match, against Sweden at Euro 92, he was substituted by England coach Graham Taylor in favour of Arsenal striker Alan Smith, ultimately denying him the chance to equal—or even better—Charlton's record.[32] He had earlier missed a penalty that would have brought him level, in a pre-tournament friendly against Brazil.[33] 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 very few players never to have been given a yellow card or a red card in any type of game.[34]

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 BBC's anchorman for football coverage, including their flagship football television programme Match of the Day, and as a team captain on the sports game show They Think It's All Over from 1995 to 2003. Following the departure of Steve Rider from the BBC, Lineker, who is a keen recreational golfer with a handicap of four, became the new presenter for the BBC's golf coverage. Also, 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 alert at the racecourse in 1997. Despite receiving some criticism from his peers,[5] he continued to front the BBC's coverage of the Masters and The Open, where he put his language skills to good use by giving an impromptu interview in Spanish with Argentinian Andrés Romero.[35]

He also appeared in the 1991 play An Evening with Gary Lineker by 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,[36] 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").[37] In 2002, Lineker had a cameo appearance in the film Bend It Like Beckham. In 2005, Lineker was sued for 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 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 journalist at the Sunday Telegraph following a telephone interview with Lineker.[38]

In 2006, Lineker took on an acting role as the voice of Underground Ernie on the BBC's children's channel, CBeebies.[39] 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.[40]

In May 2010, Lineker resigned from his role 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 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 World Cup in South Africa.[41] Lineker then began working as an anchor for the English language football coverage for 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.[42] On 9 June 2015, Lineker was unveiled as the lead presenter 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 only boxer shorts.[43] He had promised in a tweet from December 2015[44] that, if Leicester City won the Premier League, he would "present Match of the Day in just my undies".

On 18 October 2016, Lineker tweeted a rebuttal to a statement made by MP David Davies where Davies suggested refugees entering the UK should undergo dental checks to verify their age.[45] Lineker posted "The treatment by some towards these young refugees is hideously racist and utterly heartless. What's happening to our country?"[46] This led The Sun to call for Lineker's sacking from Match of the Day, claiming that he had breached BBC impartiality guidelines.[47] Lineker described the controversy as "a spanking" but continued to advocate for refugees.[48]

In July 2018, Lineker 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.[49]

Lineker was the highest paid BBC employee, receiving payments of £1.75-1.76 million pounds in the years 2016-17, 2017–18,[50] 2018-19,[51] and 2019-20,[51] according to the BBC's list of top salaries. His pay has been criticised by Dame Esther Rantzen[52] and Julian Knight, chair of the parliamentary Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee.[53] The BBC's Director General, Tim Davie, stated that Lineker's pay was justified "because of the value of analysis to the viewing audience".[54]

Lineker married Michelle Cockayne in 1986. In May 2006, Michelle 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 Michelle have four sons; George, Harry, Tobias and Angus. The couple subsequently stated that the situation was amicable.[60]

In the early 1990s, George, Lineker's eldest son, survived a rare form of leukaemia whilst he was a baby, treated at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.[5] 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.[61][62] He has also been involved with the Fight for Life and Cancer Research UK charities.[63][64]

Lineker was made a freeman of the City of Leicester in 1995 and he has been referred to as "Leicester's favourite son".[65][66]

In October 2002, Lineker backed a £5 million bid to rescue his former club Leicester City, which had recently gone into administration, describing his involvement as "charity" rather than an "ego trip."[67] He stated that he would invest a six-figure sum and that other members of his consortium would invest a similar amount.[68] 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. Lineker is now honorary Vice President of Leicester City F.C.

Lineker with his ex-wife Danielle in 2010

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.[69] On 13 January 2016, Lineker and Bux announced they were divorcing, after six years of marriage,[70] the reason given being Gary not wanting more children.[70]

In 1985, Lineker was best man at snooker player Willie Thorne's wedding[71] and their close friendship was the subject of the VHS production, Best of Friends – The Official Story of Gary Lineker & Willie Thorne.[72]

In 2013, Lineker participated in the genealogical programme Who Do You Think You Are? during which he discovered an ancestor who was a poacher, and another who was a legal clerk.[73]

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.[74]

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.[75][76]

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.[77]

Lineker is a Visiting Fellow of Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford, appointed 2020.[120]

• Malam, Colin (1993). Gary Lineker: Strikingly Different. London: Stanley Paul. ISBN 0-09-175424-0.

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