Key events in career of Gary Lineker as ex-player leaves Match of the Day role

Gary Lineker moved seamlessly from footballer to one of the most famous and highly-paid stars on the BBC.

The former Leicester, Everton, Barcelona and Tottenham striker scored 48 goals in 80 appearances for England and captained the side for the last two years of his international career.

Lineker, who was never booked or sent off, won the FA Cup, Spanish Cup and European Cup Winners’ Cup and was top scorer at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.

Since moving into broadcasting, Lineker, who is technically a freelancer rather than a BBC employee, has not always bitten his tongue and has, on occasion, caused corporation bosses a headache.

Here, the PA news agency looks at some key events in his career:

1978

Lineker began his debut season with home-town club Leicester, where he made his name, having left the local grammar school with just four O-levels and a final report that read: “Must devote less of his time to sport if he wants to be a success.”

He spent seven years at Filbert Street, firing home more than a century of goals and playing more than 200 games for the Foxes.

1985

The big clubs battled for Lineker’s signature and in the summer of 1985 he was snapped up by Everton for £800,000. He registered 40 goals during the 1985-86 campaign, including one in the FA Cup final defeat to Liverpool, and was named player of the year by the Professional Footballers’ Association and the Football Writers’ Association.

1986

He won the Golden Boot for being top scorer at the Mexico World Cup and was voted Footballer of the Year after his performances for Everton and England. His exploits caught the eye of Spanish giants Barcelona, who signed him for £2.8million.

1989-1991

After three years at Barcelona which included Spanish Cup and European Cup Winners’ Cup triumphs, Lineker signed for Tottenham in June 1989 for £1.2m.

He won his only piece of domestic silverware in England when Spurs secured in the 1991 FA Cup, despite seeing his first-half penalty saved by Mark Crossley.

1992 

The striker was made an OBE.

1994

He retired in 1994, having spent an injury-plagued final two years of his career with Japanese club Nagoya Grampus Eight.

1999

Lineker took over as lead presenter of Match of the Day from Des Lynam.

2016

In August Lineker appeared on screen at the start of the new season in his underpants as he kept a pledge to “do the first MOTD of next season in just my undies” if his former club Leicester won the Premier League. The Foxes won their first top-flight title by 10 points.

2018

Lineker posted a thread of tweets as Conservatives held a no-confidence vote in Theresa May, who was then prime minister, and indirectly criticised Labour’s leader at the time, Jeremy Corbyn.

A staunch opponent of Brexit, Lineker voiced support for a second referendum in 2018, and he also often tweeted about refugees and immigration policy.

In 2018, he was urged by Jonathan Agnew, a mainstay of the BBC’s cricket coverage, to “keep your political views, whatever they are and whatever the subject, to yourself”. Agnew added: “I’d be sacked if I followed your example. Thanks.”

2022

Lineker posted a story on Twitter about the then-foreign secretary Liz Truss urging a boycott of the Champions League final in Russia. He asked: “And her party will hand back their donations from Russian donors?”

The incident led to the BBC’s Executive Complaints Unit upholding a complaint and concluding that, as “one of the BBC’s highest-profile stars”, he did not meet the corporation’s editorial standards on impartiality.

On the same day the BBC ruled Lineker had breached its impartiality rules, The Daily Mirror published an article in which he criticised the Home Office’s treatment of a refugee who he had hosted in his home.

Later that month, Lineker criticised then-foreign secretary James Cleverly after he suggested LGBT football fans attending the World Cup in Qatar – where homosexuality remains a crime – should be “respectful of the host nation”.

Responding on Twitter, Lineker said: “Whatever you do, don’t do anything Gay. Is that the message?”

2023

March 8: The BBC said it was having a “frank conversation” with Lineker after he tweeted critically about the government’s asylum policy, saying the language in which the plan was set out was “not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s”.

The presenter was asked to “step back” from MOTD and briefly taken off air, prompting a boycott by his fellow pundits and commentators on the popular highlights show.

March 11: MOTD was reduced to a 20-minute highlights package, which contained no hosts, pundits or commentary.

March 13: The BBC apologised after the impartiality row over Lineker’s tweet ended with the presenter being reinstated as MOTD host.

Lineker thanked his fellow presenters and pundits for their “remarkable show of solidarity” after a number pulled out of BBC shows at the weekend when the former England striker was told to step back.

2024

July 23: Lineker, whose salary remained unchanged at between £1,350,000 and £1,354,999, topped the BBC pay list. It was the seventh consecutive year he had topped the list and he continued to be the only star paid more than £1m.

November 12: BBC confirms Lineker will step down from hosting Match of the Day at the end of the season after 25 years in the role.

The broadcaster also announced he will host its FA Cup coverage in the 2025-26 campaign and then the 2026 World Cup.