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'Gary Winston Lineker', OBE (born 30 November 1960 in Leicester) is a former English international football striker who scored ten goals in two World Cups for the England national team and is currently a sports broadcaster for the BBC. He is also known for appearing in adverts for the Walkers crisp brand.
It was his sense of positioning and tap-ins that made him one of England's most prolific strikers of all-time, although this style of play sometimes provoked accusations that he was a "goal hanger" capitalising on the effort of others. However, Lineker was an intelligent player with an understanding of the game and dedication to improvement. He achieved fluency in the Spanish and Japanese languages,^[1] which allowed him to adjust better than most of his compatriots when playing for foreign clubs, and also to make a smooth transition into his role as a pundit and sports broadcaster.

Contents

Club career

National team career

Post-playing career

BBC controversy

Trivia

References

External links

Club career

He began his career at his hometown club of Leicester City in 1976, breaking into Leicester's first-team squad in 1978. Lineker began scoring prolifically in the early 1980s, finishing twice amongst the top flight's leading scorers and winning his first England call up. He was Division One top goalscorer in 1984-85 (tied on 24 goals with Kerry Dixon). After transfer to Everton (1985-86), he scored 38 goals in 52 games, and was top scorer in Division One with 30 goals. Barcelona signed him just prior to the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. His Golden Shoe-winning performance at the finals led to much anticipation of success at the Nou Camp, and he didn't disappoint, scoring 21 goals in 41 games during his first season, including a hat-trick in a 3-2 win over arch rivals Real Madrid. Barcelona went on to win the Copa del Rey in 1988 and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1989. However, Barcelona coach Johan Cruijff decided to play Lineker on the right of midfield and he eventually lost his first team place. Lineker was wanted by Alex Ferguson of Manchester United to partner his ex-Barcelona team-mate Mark Hughes in attack, but Lineker rejected the Manchester club and returned to England to play three seasons at Tottenham Hotspur, scoring 67 goals in 105 games and winning the FA Cup. He finished as top scorer in Division One in the 1989–90 season, scoring 24 goals. He ended his career with an injury-plagued spell in Japan's J. League with Nagoya Grampus Eight where he made 23 appearances over two seasons scoring nine times. Lineker was PFA Players' Player of the Year in 1986 and placed third in voting for the inaugural FIFA World Player of the Year in 1991. Despite his long career, Lineker was never cautioned by a referee for foul play (never once receiving a yellow card or a red card).

National team career

He first played for the England national 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 Shoe, making him the first and to this day only English player to have done so. He played most of the tournament wearing a lightweight cast on his forearm.
In 1988 Lineker played in the European Football Championship, but failed to score as England lost all three Group games. It was later established that he had been suffering from hepatitis^{[2] [3]}.
In the 1990 World Cup, he scored four goals to help England reach the semi-finals.
He retired from international football with 80 caps and 48 goals, one fewer than Bobby Charlton's England record (although Charlton took 26 more caps to score his one extra goal). In what proved to be his last England match, against Sweden at Euro 92, he was controversially substituted by the unsuccessful England coach Graham Taylor, in favour of Arsenal striker Alan Smith, ultimately denying him the chance to equal the total. He had earlier missed a penalty that would have brought him level, in a pre-tournament friendly against Brazil. He was seen to be visibily upset at the decision, not looking at Taylor as he took the bench.
He scored 4 goals in an England match on two occasions^[4].

Post-playing 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 BBC's anchorman for football coverage, including their flagship football television programme ''Match of the Day'', and as a team captain on the acerbic sports game show, ''They Think It's All Over'' from 1995 to 2003, where he was heavily (though affectionately) ridiculed for being a "goal hanger". 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. However his debut in this role at the The Masters was much derided - one commentator saying that "...keeping him in the anchor's chair would be a major own goal."
Lineker recently divorced from his wife Michelle, following 20 years of marriage. They have four sons. His oldest son George survived leukaemia as a baby; Lineker has since appeared in adverts encouraging people to give blood as a result. The split is described as "amicable".^[5]
Lineker is a freeman of the City of Leicester (which entitles him to graze his sheep - should he have any - on Town Hall Square) and he is often referred to as "Leicester's favourite son". As a youngster, he famously worked on his family's stall in Leicester Market. His links with cricket were renewed when he was invited to become Honorary President of Kent-based wandering cricket club, Paraguayan Elbows CC.^[6] The club, which was founded in 1986, was named in his honour after an incident in that summer's World Cup match between England and Paraguay.
His popularity has enabled him to appear in a light-hearted series of commercials for Walkers, playing a comical role as an arch-villain which sends up his reputation as a nice guy.
In 2001, Lineker was approached by game makers Codemasters to front the LMA Manager series on PlayStation. Lineker would pair up with Alan Hansen, fellow MOTD pundit to voice the post match comments on the game, with Barry Davies voicing the commentary. Since then the game has sold millions of copies and in LMA 2006, Lineker voices news items and the cup draws on the game. In 2004 he was also chosen to front the Codemasters England International Football game, with him voicing the team selection and the pre- and post-match menus.
In 2003 Lineker was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame.
In October 2003, Lineker announced a £5 million rescue plan for cash-strapped club Leicester City, describing his involvement as charity rather than an ego trip. He said that he would invest a six-figure sum and other members of his consortium would invest a similar amount. Lineker met the fans' group to persuade them to try and raise money to rescue his former club. Another six-figure sum donor was Emile Heskey, who had not only followed in Lineker's footsteps by going to the same school as him, but also went on to play for Leicester City and England. Lineker is now honorary vice-president of Leicester City, along with Gordon Banks and Peter Shilton, and the north stand of the clubs Walkers Stadium is named in his honour.
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 transpired in the case that the article had actually been ghost-written by a journalist at the ''Sunday Telegraph'' following a telephone interview with Lineker.^[7]
In 2006, Lineker took on his first acting role, barring roles playing himself in films such as ''Bend It Like Beckham'', as the voice of ''Underground Ernie'' on the BBC's children's channel, CBeebies.
Lineker presented most of the 2006 World Cup matches for the BBC, chairing a panel of pundits which included Alan Hansen, Alan Shearer and Martin O'Neill. During the England-Portugal quarter-final match, Lineker discovered footage of Cristiano Ronaldo winking at the Portuguese bench after allegedly playing a role in the sending off of Wayne Rooney. Most recently he presented the BBC's coverage of the 2006 Golf Open Championship.

BBC controversy

Lineker was at the centre of some controversy in April 2007, after the BBC lost the rights to show live FA Cup games. The BBC was in danger of losing the last competition they show live, but were outbid by ITV and Setanta Sports. However suggestion has arisen that the BBC's on-air criticism of England performances may have annoyed the FA into denying the BBC the rights to the coverage, a rumour that was referred to by Lineker in his column in the Sunday Telegraph.^[8][9]. However, Lineker's persona is hugely popular with viewers,^[10] and it remains to be seen how the BBC will deal with the situation, but Lineker is currently presenting the coverage of The Masters Tournament.
He presented a six-part TV Series for the BBC in 1998 (directed by Lloyd Stanton) called "Golden Boots" [1], with other football celebrities. It was an extensive history of the World Cup focusing on the 'Golden Boots' (top scorers).

Trivia

★ Lineker shares a birthday with Winston Churchill, hence his middle name of Winston. Churchill was actually still alive on the day Lineker was born, celebrating his 86th birthday.

★ He once remarked "Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans win."

★ Both Gary and Michelle Lineker make a 'blink-and-you'll-miss-them' appearance as diners leaving a restaurant in the 1993 Eric Idle film ''Splitting Heirs''.

★ Lineker played 2nd XI cricket for Leicestershire County Cricket Club. He also competed in a cricket match against a German XI at Lord's for the MCC, making only 1 run. He later remarked "I always score one against the Germans."

★ Walkers, a British producer of snack foods, temporarily named their salt & vinegar crisps after Lineker in the late 1990s - they were labelled 'Salt-n-Lineker.'^[11]

★ Lineker still helped out on his family's market stall in Leicester at the height of his playing career during the late 1980s and early 1990s, though usually only in the close season.

★ Lineker starred as himself in the adapted for television stage play An Evening with Gary Lineker.

★ Gary Lineker host every year "The Walkers Gary Lineker Family Golf Day". This Charity Day raise money for the "Fight for Life" Association.

References

''Gary Lineker: Strikingly Different'', Colin Malam, Stanley Paul Publications, London, 1993 ISBN 0-09-175424-0

1. Celebrity linguists
2. C Malam, p100
3. The first was against Spain 18 February 1987 and the second time against Malaysia 12 June 1991
4. Malam, p140&141
5. Gary Lineker and wife to separate
6. The story behind the Paraguayan Elbows CC
7. Lineker and Kewell settle libel case out of court
8. Cash was greedy FA's only interest
9. Bitter FA (or how Gary Lineker and Alan Hansen may have lost the BBC the right to screen England matches)
10. LINEKER SHOWS HE CANS TILL WALK TALL
11. Lineker forced to take crisp break Daily Mail

External links

★

★ English Football Hall of Fame Profile

★ Gary Lineker's Football Career Home and Abroad