Gary Lineker
Encyclopedia
Gary Winston Lineker, OBE
(born 30 November 1960), is a former English
footballer, who played as a striker. He is a sports broadcaster
for the BBC
, Al Jazeera Sports
and Eredivisie Live
. He remains England's top scorer in the FIFA World Cup
finals, with 10 goals.
Lineker began his football career at Leicester City
and became known as a prolific goalscorer; despite failing to score in his first ten games, he finished as the First Division's joint top goalscorer in 1984–85 and earning his first England cap
. He moved to Everton
where he remained a clinical finisher, scoring 40 goals in 57 games. His first team honours came at Barcelona
, where he won the Copa del Rey
in 1988 and the European Cup Winners' Cup
in 1989. He returned to England in 1989, joining Tottenham Hotspur
, and over three seasons he scored 67 goals in 105 games and won the FA Cup
. Lineker's final club was Nagoya Grampus Eight
and he retired in 1994 after two seasons at the Japanese side.
Lineker made his England debut in 1984 and over the following eight years earned 80 caps
and scored 48 goals, finishing as England's all-time second highest scorer behind Bobby Charlton
. His international goals-to-games ratio remains one of the best for the country and he is regarded as one of the all-time best English strikers. He was top scorer in the 1986 World Cup
and received the Golden Boot, the only time an Englishman has achieved this feat. He is also the only player to have won the English golden boot with 3 different clubs (Leicester City, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur). Lineker is noted for never having been cautioned or sent off by a referee during his professional career.
After his retirement from football he was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame
. He moved in to broadcasting, working at the BBC, firstly working as a pundit on Match of the Day
before he went on to present the flagship show. Lineker also worked on other programmes at the BBC
. He led a consortium that invested in his old club Leicester, saving it from bankruptcy
, and was appointed honorary vice-president. Since 1994, Lineker has featured in several television commercials for Walkers
Crisps
. He has four sons with his ex-wife Michelle and is now married to model Danielle Lineker
.
Despite his long career, Lineker was never cautioned by a referee for foul play (never once receiving a yellow or red card). As a result of this accomplishment 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 282 goals at club level. Added to the 48 goals he scored in internationals, he managed a total of 330 first class goals.
to Margaret P. (born Walsham, Norfolk) and Barry Lineker (both born 1939). His middle name came from Winston Churchill
, with whom he shares his birthday. Gary has one younger brother, Wayne Lineker who is two years younger than he is. Lineker's father, Barry, was a greengrocer
in Leicester and he grew up with his family in the city, playing football with his brother Wayne.
Lineker first attended Caldecote Road School (Caldecote Juniors), Braunstone
in Leicester (east of the Meridian Centre) although he lived outside the borough. He went to the City of Leicester Boys' Grammar School (now City of Leicester College
) on Downing Drive in Evington
, inside the borough of Leicester. To attend the school he had to live with his grandmother for six months, who lived inside the borough, as otherwise he would have had to have gone to a Leicestershire grammar school where the main sport was rugby, not football. He left school at 16 with four O levels, where his two best subjects were English and Maths. He now wishes he had worked harder at school. However one of his school reports said He concentrates far too much on football. He'll never make a living at that, which was not proved correct, but few people end up making any money through football as he now admits. He was equally talented at cricket as well as football, and could have been as successful had he followed that route.
His school became a comprehensive in 1976, by which time he was in the fifth form. He joined Leicester City football club in 1977.
when he left school in 1977. Lineker began scoring prolifically in the early 1980s, helping Leicester win promotion to the First Division in 1980 and again in 1983. During his time at Filbert Street
he finished twice amongst the top flight's leading scorers and winning his first England call up. He helped Leicester win promotion to the top flight in 1983 and was the First Division's
joint top goalscorer in 1984–85 (tied on 24 goals with Kerry Dixon
). By this stage, however, he was attracting the attention of bigger clubs, and a move from Filbert Street
was looking certain.
for £800,000, and scored 40 goals in 57 games for his new team. He was again the First Division's leading goal scorer, this time with 30 goals, and helped Everton finish second in the league. While he was at Everton, they reached the FA Cup
final for the third year in a row but they lost 3–1 to Liverpool
, despite Lineker giving them an early lead when he outpaced Alan Hansen
to score. Liverpool (double winners
) 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 for Everton; at home to Birmingham City 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. On his final league appearance, he scored twice in a 3–1 home win over a West Ham side whose 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.
in Mexico
, Lineker was signed by Barcelona
for £2,800,000. Barcelona were being managed by former Queens Park Rangers manager Terry Venables
, who had also brought in Manchester United
and Wales
striker Mark Hughes
.
His Golden Boot-winning performance at the finals led to 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
in a 3–2 win over arch rivals Real Madrid
. Barcelona went on to win the Copa del Rey
in 1988 and the European Cup Winners' Cup
in 1989. Lineker played in Barcelona's home and away defeats to Dundee United
. Barcelona manager Johan Cruyff
decided to play Lineker on the right of the midfield and he eventually lost his place in the first team.
attempted to sign Lineker to partner his ex-Barcelona team-mate Mark Hughes
in attack, but Lineker spurned the Manchester club. Instead, he signed with Tottenham Hotspur
in July 1989. Over three seasons, he scored 67 goals in 105 games and won the FA Cup
at White Hart Lane
.
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 piece of silverware when he won the 1991 FA Cup Final with Spurs, who beat Nottingham Forest
2–1 despite Lineker's penalty miss. 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
, who scored 29 times in 42 games. Despite Lineker's personal performance, Tottenham finished this final pre-Premier League season in 15th place.
's J. League
with Nagoya Grampus Eight
, where he made 23 appearances over two seasons, scoring nine times, before announcing his retirement in the autumn of 1994.
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. He had accepted their offer of a two-year contract on 20 November 1991. Shortly before accepting the offer 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
.
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 Boot, making him the first and to this day only English player to have done so. He scored the second quickest hat-trick ever at a FIFA World Cup tournament against Poland—in doing so, he became only the second English player to score a hat-trick at a FIFA World Cup. He played most of the tournament wearing a lightweight cast on his forearm. He did score 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 infamous "Hand of God" handball) and England was out of the competition. Lineker also scored a brace against Paraguay in the second round of the tournament. Lineker combined with Peter Beardsley
, who also scored—to effortlessly dismantle the South American team's defence.
In 1988, Lineker played in the Euro 1988, but failed to score as England lost all three Group games. It was later established that he had been suffering from hepatitis
.
In the 1990 World Cup
, he scored four goals to help England reach the semi-finals after a string of draws and narrow victories. After Andreas Brehme
sent England 1–0 down, he scored an equaliser after receiving a pass from Paul Parker and faking two German defenders, but the West Germans triumphed in the penalty shoot-out and went on to win the trophy. Later he quoted: "Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win."
He retired from international football with 80 caps
and 48 goals, one fewer goal 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 1992, he was controversially substituted by England coach Graham Taylor, in favour of Arsenal striker Alan Smith, ultimately denying Lineker the chance to equal—or even better—Charlton's record of 49 goals. He had earlier missed a penalty
that would have brought him level, in a pre-tournament friendly against Brazil
. 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.
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", described as "lethal from twelve inches" – a parody of Lineker's short-range scoring prowess. 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. Despite receiving some criticism from his peers, 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
.
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 2002, Lineker took on his first acting role, barring roles playing himself in films such as Bend It Like Beckham
or in the adapted-for-television stage play An Evening with Gary Lineker
, as the voice of Underground Ernie
on the BBC's children's channel, CBeebies
. 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
.
In 2003, Lineker was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame
.
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.
In December 2008, Lineker appeared on the ITV1 television programme Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Christmas Special
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 Lord Triesman
that 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.
Lineker currently anchors the English language football coverage for the Al Jazeera network, which is broadcast throughout much of the Middle East.
, playing a comical role as an arch-villain which sends up his reputation as a nice guy. He has been fronting these adverts since 1995, making this one of the longest running advertising campaigns ever. Walkers, a Leicester-based British producer of snack foods, temporarily named their salt & vinegar crisps after Lineker in the late 1990s—they were labelled 'Salt-n-Lineker'. This was also because his favourite flavour crisps are Salt and Vinegar. Lineker's involvement with Walkers caused Mark E. Smith
, singer with The Fall, to coin the nickname 'Crisp Man' for him.
Gremlin
released Gary Lineker's Superstar Soccer
in 1987, Gary Lineker's Superskills in 1988, and Gary Lineker's Hot Shot in 1989 for 8-bit
platforms.
In 1998, Lineker provided his voice (along with Des Lynam) for the menu screens in EA Sports
' World Cup 98
. 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 Manager 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.
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
. Lineker still helped out on the stall at the height of his playing career during the late 1980s and early 1990s, though usually only in the closed season. His links with cricket were renewed when he was invited to become Honorary President of Kent-based wandering cricket club, Paraguayan Elbows CC. 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.
Lineker married Michelle Cockayne in 1986, but they divorced in August 2006. They announced their split in April 2006 but stated that the situation was amicable. They have four sons, George, Harry, Tobias, and Angus. His oldest son George survived a rare form of leukaemia
as a baby in the early 1990s; Lineker now supports children's cancer charity CLIC Sargent
and has since appeared in adverts encouraging people to give blood as a result. 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 Fight for Life and Cancer Research UK
.
Gary returned to Leicester City Football Club in April 1995 to feature in a Gordon Banks
benefit game. The very next day, Gary was honoured as a Freeman of the City of Leicester.
In October 2002, 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
.
Lineker married Danielle Bux
on 2 September 2009, in Italy. The ceremony was attended by friends and family. They went on to win £30,000 for charity in ITV's gameshow Mr. and Mrs.
|1978–79||rowspan="7"|Leicester City
||rowspan="2"|Second Division
||7||1||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||7||1
|-
|1979–80||19||3||1||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||20||3
|-
|1980–81||First Division
||9||2||1||1||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||10||3
|-
|1981–82||rowspan="2"|Second Division
||39||17||5||2||3||0||colspan="2"|—||47||19
|-
|1982–83||40||26||1||0||2||0||colspan="2"|—||43||26
|-
|1983–84||rowspan="2"|First Division
||39||22||1||0||1||0||colspan="2"|—||41||22
|-
|1984–85||41||24||4||3||3||2||colspan="2"|—||48||29
|-
|1985–86||Everton
||First Division
||41||30||6||5||5||3||colspan="2"|—||52||38
|-
|1986–87||rowspan="3"|Barcelona
||rowspan="3"|La Liga
||41||20||1||1||colspan="2"|—||8||0||50||21
|-
|1987–88||36||16||5||2||colspan="2"|—||9||2||50||20
|-
|1988–89||26||6||4||1||colspan="2"|—||8||4||38||11
|-
|1989–90||rowspan="3"|Tottenham Hotspur
||rowspan="3"|First Division
||38||24||1||0||6||2||colspan="2"|—||45||26
|-
|1990–91||32||15||6||3||5||1||colspan="2"|—||43||19
|-
|1991–92||35||28||2||0||5||5||8||2||50||35
|-
|1993||rowspan="2"|Nagoya Grampus Eight
||rowspan="2"|J. League
||7||1||0||0||5||4||colspan="2"|—||12||5
|-
|1994||11||3||0||0||1||0||colspan="2"|—||12||3
340||192||28||14||30||13||8||2||406||221
103||42||10||4||colspan="2"|—||25||6||138||52
18||4||0||0||6||4||colspan="2"|—||24||8
461||238||38||18||36||17||33||8||568||281
|}
|-
|1984||1||0
|-
|1985||9||6
|-
|1986||10||8
|-
|1987||7||9
|-
|1988||10||3
|-
|1989||9||3
|-
|1990||15||8
|-
|1991||11||10
|-
|1992||8||1
|-
!Total||80||48
|}
Everton
Barcelona
Tottenham Hotspur
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 30 November 1960), is a former English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
footballer, who played as a striker. He is a sports broadcaster
Broadcasting of sports events
The broadcasting of sports events is the coverage of sports as a television program, on radio and other broadcasting media. It usually involves one or more sports commentators describing the events as they happen.-United States:...
for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, Al Jazeera Sports
Al Jazeera Sports
Al Jazeera Sports is a popular Arabic-language sports channel launched in November 2003 by the well-known Al Jazeera network.Al Jazeera Sports also owns the exclusive broadcasting rights in the Middle East for major football leagues, such as the Spanish La Liga, the French Ligue 1 and the Italian...
and Eredivisie Live
Eredivisie Live
Eredivisie Live is a Dutch pay-tv channel which holds the exclusive rights for the live matches of the Eredivisie, the highest national football division....
. He remains England's top scorer in the FIFA World Cup
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
finals, with 10 goals.
Lineker began his football career at Leicester City
Leicester City F.C.
Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...
and became known as a prolific goalscorer; despite failing to score in his first ten games, he finished as the First Division's joint top goalscorer in 1984–85 and earning his first England cap
Cap (sport)
In sports, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance on a select team, such as a national team. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football...
. He moved to Everton
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
where he remained a clinical finisher, scoring 40 goals in 57 games. His first team honours came at Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
, where he won the Copa del Rey
Copa del Rey
The Copa del Rey is an annual football cup competition for Spanish football teams. Its full name is Campeonato de España – Copa de Su Majestad el Rey de Fútbol ....
in 1988 and the European Cup Winners' Cup
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a football club competition contested annually by the most recent winners of all European domestic cup competitions. The cup is one of the many inter-European club competitions that have been organised by UEFA. The first competition was held in the 1960–61 season—but...
in 1989. He returned to England in 1989, joining Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
, and over three seasons he scored 67 goals in 105 games and won the FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
. Lineker's final club was Nagoya Grampus Eight
Nagoya Grampus
are a Japanese association football club that play in the J. League. Based in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture and originally founded as the company team of the Toyota Motor Corp...
and he retired in 1994 after two seasons at the Japanese side.
Lineker made his England debut in 1984 and over the following eight years earned 80 caps
Cap (sport)
In sports, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance on a select team, such as a national team. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football...
and scored 48 goals, finishing as England's all-time second highest scorer behind Bobby Charlton
Bobby Charlton
Sir Robert "Bobby" Charlton CBE is an English former professional football player, a member of the England team who won the World Cup and Ballon d'Or for European Footballer of the Year in 1966...
. His international goals-to-games ratio remains one of the best for the country and he is regarded as one of the all-time best English strikers. He was top scorer in the 1986 World Cup
1986 FIFA World Cup
The 1986 FIFA World Cup, the 13th FIFA World Cup, was held in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia had been originally chosen to host the competition by FIFA but, largely due to economic reasons, was not able to do so and officially...
and received the Golden Boot, the only time an Englishman has achieved this feat. He is also the only player to have won the English golden boot with 3 different clubs (Leicester City, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur). Lineker is noted for never having been cautioned or sent off by a referee during his professional career.
After his retirement from football he was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame
English Football Hall of Fame
The English Football Hall of Fame is housed at the National Football Museum, currently being relocated to 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 managers who have become...
. He moved in to broadcasting, working at the BBC, firstly working as a pundit on Match of the Day
Match of the Day
Match of the Day is the BBC's main football television programme. Typically, it is shown on BBC One on Saturday evenings during the English football season, showing highlights of the day's matches in English football's top division, the Premier League...
before he went on to present the flagship show. Lineker also worked on other programmes at the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. He led a consortium that invested in his old club Leicester, saving it from bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
, and was appointed honorary vice-president. Since 1994, Lineker has featured in several television commercials for Walkers
Walkers (snack foods)
Walkers is a British snack food manufacturer operating mainly in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland and to a lesser extent on the European continent. They are best known for manufacturing crisps. They hold 47 per cent of the British crisp market...
Crisps
Potato chip
Potato chips are thin slices of potato that are deep fried...
. He has four sons with his ex-wife Michelle and is now married to model Danielle Lineker
Danielle Lineker
Danielle Maria Lineker , is a Welsh lingerie model, television personality and actress. She is married to former English footballer Gary Lineker.-Early life:...
.
Despite his long career, Lineker was never cautioned by a referee for foul play (never once receiving a yellow or red card). As a result of this accomplishment he was honoured in 1990 with the FIFA Fair Play Award
FIFA Fair Play Award
The FIFA Fair Play Award is a FIFA recognition of good or sporting behaviour or other actions by people or bodies involved in :association football around the world. First awarded in 1987, it has been presented to individuals , teams, fans, spectators, football associations/federations and even...
.
In a senior career which spanned 16 years and 567 competitive games, Lineker scored a total of 282 goals at club level. Added to the 48 goals he scored in internationals, he managed a total of 330 first class goals.
Early life
Gary Winston Lineker was born on 30 November 1960 in LeicesterLeicester
Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...
to Margaret P. (born Walsham, Norfolk) and Barry Lineker (both born 1939). His middle name came from Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
, with whom he shares his birthday. Gary has one younger brother, Wayne Lineker who is two years younger than he is. Lineker's father, Barry, was a greengrocer
Greengrocer
A greengrocer or fruiterer is a retail trader in fruit and vegetables; that is, in green groceries. Greengrocer is primarily a British and Australian term, and greengrocers' shops were once common in suburbs, towns and villages...
in Leicester and he grew up with his family in the city, playing football with his brother Wayne.
Lineker first attended Caldecote Road School (Caldecote Juniors), Braunstone
Braunstone Park & Rowley Fields
Braunstone Park & Rowley Fields is an electoral ward and administrative division of the city of Leicester, England. It comprises the western Leicester suburbs of Braunstone Frith, Braunstone Park and Rowley Fields.-Geography:...
in Leicester (east of the Meridian Centre) although he lived outside the borough. He went to the City of Leicester Boys' Grammar School (now City of Leicester College
City of Leicester College
The City of Leicester College is situated on , Evington, Leicester. It is a mixed secondary school for ages 11–18. It has around 1400 pupils...
) on Downing Drive in Evington
Evington
Evington is an electoral ward and administrative division of the city of Leicester, England. It used to be a small village centred around Main Street and the Anglican church of St Denys but was close enough to Leicester to become one of the outer suburbs in the 1930s...
, inside the borough of Leicester. To attend the school he had to live with his grandmother for six months, who lived inside the borough, as otherwise he would have had to have gone to a Leicestershire grammar school where the main sport was rugby, not football. He left school at 16 with four O levels, where his two best subjects were English and Maths. He now wishes he had worked harder at school. However one of his school reports said He concentrates far too much on football. He'll never make a living at that, which was not proved correct, but few people end up making any money through football as he now admits. He was equally talented at cricket as well as football, and could have been as successful had he followed that route.
His school became a comprehensive in 1976, by which time he was in the fifth form. He joined Leicester City football club in 1977.
Leicester City
Lineker began his career at his home town club of Leicester CityLeicester City F.C.
Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...
when he left school in 1977. Lineker began scoring prolifically in the early 1980s, helping Leicester win promotion to the First Division in 1980 and again in 1983. During his time at Filbert Street
Filbert Street
Filbert Street, in Leicester, England, was a football stadium, and the home of Leicester City from 1891 to 2002. Although officially titled "The City Business Stadium" in the early 1990s, it remained known almost exclusively by its address, like many English football stadia.- Early years :The club,...
he finished twice amongst the top flight's leading scorers and winning his first England call up. He helped Leicester win promotion to the top flight in 1983 and was the First Division's
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
joint top goalscorer in 1984–85 (tied on 24 goals with Kerry Dixon
Kerry Dixon
Kerry Michael Dixon is a retired English professional footballer who played most notably for Chelsea and England.-Early years:...
). By this stage, however, he was attracting the attention of bigger clubs, and a move from Filbert Street
Filbert Street
Filbert Street, in Leicester, England, was a football stadium, and the home of Leicester City from 1891 to 2002. Although officially titled "The City Business Stadium" in the early 1990s, it remained known almost exclusively by its address, like many English football stadia.- Early years :The club,...
was looking certain.
Everton
In the 1985 close season, Lineker was sold to defending league champions EvertonEverton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
for £800,000, and scored 40 goals in 57 games for his new team. He was again the First Division's leading goal scorer, this time with 30 goals, and helped Everton finish second in the league. While he was at Everton, they reached the FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
final for the third year in a row but they lost 3–1 to Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
, despite Lineker giving them an early lead when he outpaced Alan Hansen
Alan Hansen
Alan David Hansen is a Scottish former football player and BBC television football pundit. He played as a central defender for Partick Thistle, Liverpool and Scotland...
to score. Liverpool (double winners
The Double
The Double is a term in association football which refers to winning a country's top tier division and its primary cup competition in the same season...
) 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 for Everton; at home to Birmingham City 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. On his final league appearance, he scored twice in a 3–1 home win over a West Ham side whose 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.
Barcelona
After winning the golden shoe at the 1986 World Cup1986 FIFA World Cup
The 1986 FIFA World Cup, the 13th FIFA World Cup, was held in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia had been originally chosen to host the competition by FIFA but, largely due to economic reasons, was not able to do so and officially...
in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Lineker was signed by Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
for £2,800,000. Barcelona were being managed by former Queens Park Rangers manager Terry Venables
Terry Venables
Terence Frederick "Terry" Venables , often referred to as "El Tel", is a former football player and manager, as well as being a media pundit. During the 1960s and 70s, he played for various clubs including Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Queens Park Rangers, and gained two caps for England...
, who had also brought in Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
and Wales
Wales national football team
The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales , the governing body for football in Wales, and the third oldest national football association in the world. The team have only qualified for a major international...
striker Mark Hughes
Mark Hughes
Leslie Mark Hughes, OBE , is a former Welsh international footballer. As an international footballer, he made 72 appearances and scored 16 goals....
.
His Golden Boot-winning performance at the finals led to much anticipation of success at the Camp Nou
Camp Nou
Camp Nou , sometimes called "the Nou Camp" in English, is a football stadium in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The stadium, located in the west of the city, has been the home of FC Barcelona since its construction in 1957....
, and he did not disappoint, scoring 21 goals in 41 games during his first season, including a hat-trick
Hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick in sport is the achievement of a positive feat three times during a game, or other achievements based on threes. The term was first used in 1858 in cricket to describe HH Stephenson's feat of taking three wickets in three balls. A collection was held for Stephenson, and he...
in a 3–2 win over arch rivals Real Madrid
Real Madrid C.F.
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...
. Barcelona went on to win the Copa del Rey
Copa del Rey
The Copa del Rey is an annual football cup competition for Spanish football teams. Its full name is Campeonato de España – Copa de Su Majestad el Rey de Fútbol ....
in 1988 and the European Cup Winners' Cup
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a football club competition contested annually by the most recent winners of all European domestic cup competitions. The cup is one of the many inter-European club competitions that have been organised by UEFA. The first competition was held in the 1960–61 season—but...
in 1989. Lineker played in Barcelona's home and away defeats to Dundee United
Dundee United F.C.
Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club located in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923...
. Barcelona manager Johan Cruyff
Johan Cruyff
Hendrik Johannes Cruijff OON , known as Johan Cruyff, is a retired Dutch footballer and is currently the manager of the Catalan national team as well as a member of the AFC Ajax board of directors. He won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974, which is a record jointly held with...
decided to play Lineker on the right of the midfield and he eventually lost his place in the first team.
Tottenham Hotspur
Alex FergusonAlex Ferguson
Sir Alexander Chapman "Alex" Ferguson, CBE is a Scottish association football manager and former player, currently managing Manchester United, where he has been in charge since 1986...
attempted to sign Lineker to partner his ex-Barcelona team-mate Mark Hughes
Mark Hughes
Leslie Mark Hughes, OBE , is a former Welsh international footballer. As an international footballer, he made 72 appearances and scored 16 goals....
in attack, but Lineker spurned the Manchester club. Instead, he signed with Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
in July 1989. Over three seasons, he scored 67 goals in 105 games and won the FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
at White Hart Lane
White Hart Lane
White Hart Lane is an all-seater football stadium in Tottenham, London, England. Built in 1899, it is the home of Tottenham Hotspur and, after numerous renovations, the stadium has a capacity of 36,230....
.
He finished as top scorer in the First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
in the 1989–90 season, scoring 24 goals as Spurs finished third.
He finally collected an English piece of silverware when he won the 1991 FA Cup Final with Spurs, who beat Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest F.C.
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an English Association Football club based in West Bridgford, Nottingham, that plays in the Football League Championship...
2–1 despite Lineker's penalty miss. 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
North London derby
The North London derby is the name of the football local derby between the two major teams in North London – Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.-History:...
Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
.
He was the top-division's second-highest goalscorer in 1991–92 with 28 goals from 35 games, behind Ian Wright
Ian Wright
Ian Edward Wright, MBE is a retired English footballer turned television and radio personality.Wright enjoyed success with London clubs Crystal Palace and Arsenal, spending six years with the former and seven years with the latter. With Arsenal he has lifted the Premier League title and both major...
, who scored 29 times in 42 games. Despite Lineker's personal performance, Tottenham finished this final pre-Premier League season in 15th place.
Nagoya Grampus Eight
Lineker ended his career with an injury-plagued spell in JapanJapan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
's J. League
J. League
The or is the top division of and is the top professional association football league in Japan. It is one of the most successful leagues in Asian club football and the only league given top class 'A' ranking by the AFC. Currently, J. League Division 1 is the first level of the Japanese...
with Nagoya Grampus Eight
Nagoya Grampus
are a Japanese association football club that play in the J. League. Based in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture and originally founded as the company team of the Toyota Motor Corp...
, where he made 23 appearances over two seasons, scoring nine times, before announcing his retirement in the autumn of 1994.
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
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
on the last day of the season. He had accepted their offer of a two-year contract on 20 November 1991. Shortly before accepting the offer from Nagoya Grampus Eight, Tottenham had rejected an offer from ambitious Second Division club Blackburn Rovers
Blackburn Rovers F.C.
Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....
, who had recently been taken over by steel baron Jack Walker
Jack Walker
Jack Walker was a British industrialist and businessman, from Blackburn, Lancashire. Walker invested tens of millions of pounds in Blackburn Rovers football club after amassing a personal fortune of £600 million...
.
International career
He first played for the EnglandEngland national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
national team against Scotland
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...
in 1984. He played five games in the 1986 World Cup
1986 FIFA World Cup
The 1986 FIFA World Cup, the 13th FIFA World Cup, was held in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia had been originally chosen to host the competition by FIFA but, largely due to economic reasons, was not able to do so and officially...
, and was top scorer of the tournament with six goals, winning the Golden Boot, making him the first and to this day only English player to have done so. He scored the second quickest hat-trick ever at a FIFA World Cup tournament against Poland—in doing so, he became only the second English player to score a hat-trick at a FIFA World Cup. He played most of the tournament wearing a lightweight cast on his forearm. He did score for England in the World Cup quarter-final against Argentina
Argentina national football team
The Argentina national football team represents Argentina in association football and is controlled by the Argentine Football Association , the governing body for football in Argentina. Argentina's home stadium is Estadio Monumental Antonio Vespucio Liberti and their head coach is Alejandro...
, but the game ended in defeat as Diego Maradona
Diego Maradona
Diego Armando Maradona is a retired Argentine football player and widely regarded as one of the greatest football players of all time. Over the course of his professional club career Maradona played for Argentinos Juniors, Boca Juniors, Barcelona, Napoli, Sevilla and Newell's Old Boys, setting...
scored twice for the opposition (the first goal being the infamous "Hand of God" handball) and England was out of the competition. Lineker also scored a brace against Paraguay in the second round of the tournament. Lineker combined with Peter Beardsley
Peter Beardsley
Peter Andrew Beardsley MBE is an English former footballer who played between 1979 and 1999. He once set a record transfer fee in the game and represented his country 59 times between 1986 and 1996, once as captain...
, who also scored—to effortlessly dismantle the South American team's defence.
In 1988, Lineker played in the Euro 1988, but failed to score as England lost all three Group games. It was later established that he had been suffering from hepatitis
Hepatitis
Hepatitis is a medical condition defined by the inflammation of the liver and characterized by the presence of inflammatory cells in the tissue of the organ. The name is from the Greek hepar , the root being hepat- , meaning liver, and suffix -itis, meaning "inflammation"...
.
In the 1990 World Cup
1990 FIFA World Cup
The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event twice. Teams representing 116 national football associations from all six populated...
, he scored four goals to help England reach the semi-finals after a string of draws and narrow victories. After Andreas Brehme
Andreas Brehme
Andreas "Andy" Brehme is a German football coach and former football defender. He is best known for scoring the winning goal for Germany in the 1990 FIFA World Cup Final against Argentina on a 85th minute penalty kick....
sent England 1–0 down, he scored an equaliser after receiving a pass from Paul Parker and faking two German defenders, but the West Germans triumphed in the penalty shoot-out and went on to win the trophy. Later he quoted: "Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win."
He retired from international football with 80 caps
Cap (sport)
In sports, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance on a select team, such as a national team. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football...
and 48 goals, one fewer goal than Bobby Charlton
Bobby Charlton
Sir Robert "Bobby" Charlton CBE is an English former professional football player, a member of the England team who won the World Cup and Ballon d'Or for European Footballer of the Year in 1966...
'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
Sweden national football team
The Swedish national football team represents Sweden in association football and is controlled by the Swedish Football Association, the governing body for Football in Sweden. Sweden's home ground is Råsunda Stadium in Stockholms län and their head coach is Erik Hamrén. Sweden made their first...
at Euro 1992, he was controversially substituted by England coach Graham Taylor, in favour of Arsenal striker Alan Smith, ultimately denying Lineker the chance to equal—or even better—Charlton's record of 49 goals. He had earlier missed a penalty
Penalty kick
A penalty kick is a type of direct free kick in association football, taken from twelve yards out from goal and with only the goalkeeper of the defending team between the penalty taker and the goal.Penalty kicks are performed during normal play...
that would have brought him level, in a pre-tournament friendly against Brazil
Brazil national football team
The Brazil national football team represents Brazil in international men's football and is controlled by the Brazilian Football Confederation , the governing body for football in Brazil. They are a member of the International Federation of Association Football since 1923 and also a member of the...
. 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.
Media career
Following retirement from professional football, he developed a career in the media, initially on BBC Radio 5 LiveBBC Radio 5 Live
BBC Radio 5 Live is the BBC's national radio service that specialises in live BBC News, phone-ins, and sports commentaries...
and as a football pundit before replacing Des Lynam
Des Lynam
Desmond Michael "Des" Lynam, OBE is an Irish television and radio presenter based in the UK.He has hosted television coverage of high profile events for many years...
as the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's anchorman for football coverage, including their flagship football television programme Match of the Day
Match of the Day
Match of the Day is the BBC's main football television programme. Typically, it is shown on BBC One on Saturday evenings during the English football season, showing highlights of the day's matches in English football's top division, the Premier League...
, and as a team captain on the acerbic sports game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
, They Think It's All Over
They Think It's All Over (TV series)
They Think It's All Over was a British comedy panel game with a sporting theme produced by Talkback Thames and shown on BBC One. The show's name is taken from Kenneth Wolstenholme's famous 1966 World Cup commentary quotation, "they think it's all over...it is now!" and the show used the phrase as...
from 1995 to 2003, where he was heavily (though affectionately) ridiculed for being a "goal hanger", described as "lethal from twelve inches" – a parody of Lineker's short-range scoring prowess. Following the departure of Steve Rider
Steve Rider
Stephen Rider is an English sports presenter, and was the anchorman of ITV's football coverage, which included the Champions League, England Internationals, the FA Cup and the 2006 World Cup. He anchored ITV's Formula One coverage from 2006 to 2008, and football coverage from 2006 to April 2010...
from the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, Lineker, who is a keen recreational golfer with a handicap
Golf handicap
A handicap is a numerical measure of an amateur golfer's playing ability based on the tees played for a given course. It is used to calculate a net score from the number of strokes actually played, thus allowing players of different proficiency to play against each other on somewhat equal terms...
of four, became the new presenter for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
coverage. Despite receiving some criticism from his peers, 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
Andres Romero
For the Chilean footballer with the same name see Andrés Romero Andrés Fabián Romero is an Argentine professional golfer who plays on both the PGA Tour and European Tour....
.
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 2002, Lineker took on his first acting role, barring roles playing himself in films such as Bend It Like Beckham
Bend It Like Beckham
Bend It Like Beckham is a 2002 comedy-drama film starring Parminder Nagra, Keira Knightley, Jonathan Rhys Myers, Anupam Kher, Shaznay Lewis, and Archie Panjabi first released in the United Kingdom. The film was directed by Gurinder Chadha...
or in the adapted-for-television stage play An Evening with Gary Lineker
An Evening with Gary Lineker
An Evening with Gary Lineker is a 1991 stage play, adapted for television in 1994, by Arthur Smith and Chris England.The action takes place against the backdrop of the 1990 Football World Cup semi-final, between England and West Germany, which is taking place in Italy while Monica and Bill are on...
, as the voice of Underground Ernie
Underground Ernie
Underground Ernie is a Computer-animated children's television series produced by Joella Productions in the UK and shown by the BBC on both CBeebies and BBC Two...
on the BBC's children's channel, CBeebies
CBeebies
CBeebies is the brand used by the BBC for programming aimed at children 6 years and under. It is used as a themed strand in the UK on terrestrial television, as a separate free-to-air domestic British channel and used for international varients supported by advertising, subscription or both...
. Both Gary and Michelle Lineker make a 'blink-and-you'll-miss-them' appearance as diners leaving a restaurant in the 1993 Eric Idle
Eric Idle
Eric Idle is an English comedian, actor, author, singer, writer, and comedic composer. He was as a member of the British comedy group Monty Python, a member of the The Rutles on Saturday Night Live and author of the play, Spamalot....
film Splitting Heirs
Splitting Heirs
Splitting Heirs is a 1993 British film starring Eric Idle, Rick Moranis, Barbara Hershey, Catherine Zeta-Jones, John Cleese and Sadie Frost. The film was directed by Robert Young, and features music by Michael Kamen...
.
In 2003, Lineker was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame
English Football Hall of Fame
The English Football Hall of Fame is housed at the National Football Museum, currently being relocated to 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 managers who have become...
.
In 2005, Lineker was sued for defamation
Slander and libel
Defamation—also called calumny, vilification, traducement, slander , and libel —is the communication of a statement that makes a claim, expressly stated or implied to be factual, that may give an individual, business, product, group, government, or nation a negative image...
by Australian footballer Harry Kewell
Harry Kewell
Harold "Harry" Kewell is an Australian professional football midfielder who plays for Melbourne Victory in the A-League. Internationally he has received 55 caps, and scored 16 goals, while playing for the Australian national team...
over comments Lineker had made writing in his column in the Sunday Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
about Kewell's transfer from Leeds United
Leeds United A.F.C.
Leeds United Association Football Club are an English professional association football club based in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, who play in the Football League Championship, the second tier of the English football league system...
to Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
. However the jury was unable to reach a verdict. It transpired in the case that the article had actually been ghost-written
Ghostwriter
A ghostwriter is a professional writer who is paid to write books, articles, stories, reports, or other texts that are officially credited to another person. Celebrities, executives, and political leaders often hire ghostwriters to draft or edit autobiographies, magazine articles, or other written...
by a journalist at the Sunday Telegraph following a telephone interview with Lineker.
In December 2008, Lineker appeared on the ITV1 television programme Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Christmas Special
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is a television game show which offers large cash prizes for correctly answering a series of multiple-choice questions of increasing difficulty. The format is owned and licensed by Sony Pictures Television International. The maximum cash prize is one million pounds...
where he and English rugby union player Austin Healey
Austin Healey
Austin Sean Healey is a former English rugby union player, who played as a utility back for Leicester Tigers, and has represented the England national rugby union team and the British Lions....
won £50,000 for the Nicholls Spinal Injury Foundation.
In 2009, Lineker and his wife Danielle hosted a series of the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Northern Exposure, following on from Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen
Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen
Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen is a successful homestyle consultant best known for his appearances on the BBC television programme Changing Rooms...
from the previous year in visiting and showcasing locations throughout Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
.
In May 2010, Lineker resigned from his role as columnist for The Mail on Sunday
The Mail on Sunday
The Mail on Sunday is a British conservative newspaper, currently published in a tabloid format. First published in 1982 by Lord Rothermere, it became Britain's biggest-selling Sunday newspaper following the closing of The News of the World in July 2011...
in protest over the sting operation against Lord Triesman
David Triesman, Baron Triesman
David Maxim Triesman, Baron Triesman is a former Chairman of the Football Association, a British politician, a Labour member of the House of Lords and previously a minister at the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills....
that jeopardised England’s bid to host the 2018 World Cup
2018 FIFA World Cup
The bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups was the process by which the locations for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups were selected. The process began officially in March 2009; eleven bids from thirteen countries were received, including one which was withdrawn and one that was...
. 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
2010 FIFA World Cup
The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...
in South Africa.
Lineker currently anchors the English language football coverage for the Al Jazeera network, which is broadcast throughout much of the Middle East.
Walkers advertisements
His popularity has enabled him to appear in a light-hearted series of commercials for WalkersWalkers (snack foods)
Walkers is a British snack food manufacturer operating mainly in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland and to a lesser extent on the European continent. They are best known for manufacturing crisps. They hold 47 per cent of the British crisp market...
, playing a comical role as an arch-villain which sends up his reputation as a nice guy. He has been fronting these adverts since 1995, making this one of the longest running advertising campaigns ever. Walkers, a Leicester-based British producer of snack foods, temporarily named their salt & vinegar crisps after Lineker in the late 1990s—they were labelled 'Salt-n-Lineker'. This was also because his favourite flavour crisps are Salt and Vinegar. Lineker's involvement with Walkers caused Mark E. Smith
Mark E. Smith
Mark Edward Smith is the lead singer, lyricist, frontman, and only constant member of the English post-punk band The Fall.-Early life:...
, singer with The Fall, to coin the nickname 'Crisp Man' for him.
Video games
Software houseSoftware house
A software house is a company whose primary products are software.- Types :There are a number of different types of software houses:*Large and well-known companies such as Microsoft, SAP AG, Oracle Corporation, HP, Adobe Systems, Apple Inc...
Gremlin
Gremlin Interactive
Gremlin Interactive was a British software house based in Sheffield and working mostly in the home computer market.- History :...
released Gary Lineker's Superstar Soccer
Gary Lineker's Superstar Soccer
Gary Lineker's Superstar Soccer is a computer game released in 1987 for the Commodore 64, published by Gremlin Interactive in Europe, and by Mindscape as Superstar Soccer in the USA.-Gameplay:...
in 1987, Gary Lineker's Superskills in 1988, and Gary Lineker's Hot Shot in 1989 for 8-bit
8-bit
The first widely adopted 8-bit microprocessor was the Intel 8080, being used in many hobbyist computers of the late 1970s and early 1980s, often running the CP/M operating system. The Zilog Z80 and the Motorola 6800 were also used in similar computers...
platforms.
In 1998, Lineker provided his voice (along with Des Lynam) for the menu screens in EA Sports
EA Sports
EA Sports is a brand of Electronic Arts that creates and develops sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to mimic real-life sports networks by calling themselves "EA Sports Network" with pictures or endorsements of real commentators such as John...
' World Cup 98
World Cup 98 (video game)
World Cup 98 was the first official FIFA World Cup game developed by EA Sports after obtaining the rights from FIFA in 1997. Unlike the previous World Cup games, which were in 2D and showed a bird's-eye view, World Cup 98 was the first in the franchise to use a 3D engine, utilising DirectX for the...
. In 2001, Lineker was approached by game makers Codemasters
Codemasters
The Codemasters Software Company Limited, or Codemasters is a British video game developer founded by Richard and David Darling in 1986...
to front the LMA Manager series
LMA Manager series
LMA Manager was a football management video game series developed and published by Codemasters. Developed primarily for consoles, the franchise differs from the PC-based Football Manager and Championship Manager series by focusing on visual details such as a fully 3D match engine, although still...
on PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
. Lineker would pair up with Alan Hansen
Alan Hansen
Alan David Hansen is a Scottish former football player and BBC television football pundit. He played as a central defender for Partick Thistle, Liverpool and Scotland...
, fellow MOTD pundit to voice the post match comments on the game, with Barry Davies
Barry Davies
Barry George Davies MBE is a British sports commentator. He has covered a wide range of sports in a long career, primarily for the BBC.-Broadcasting career:...
voicing the commentary. Since then the game has sold millions of copies and in LMA Manager 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.
Personal life
Lineker is a freemanFreedom of the City
Freedom of the City is an honour bestowed by some municipalities in Australia, Canada, Ireland, France, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, Gibraltar and Rhodesia to esteemed members of its community and to organisations to be honoured, often for service to the community;...
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
Leicester Market
Leicester Market is a market in The City of Leicester, England, on Market Place just south of the clock tower.It is open Monday to Saturday and has over 270 stalls. It is around 800 years old but was moved to the current site around 700 years ago...
. Lineker still helped out on the stall at the height of his playing career during the late 1980s and early 1990s, though usually only in the closed season. His links with cricket were renewed when he was invited to become Honorary President of Kent-based wandering cricket club, Paraguayan Elbows CC. 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.
Lineker married Michelle Cockayne in 1986, but they divorced in August 2006. They announced their split in April 2006 but stated that the situation was amicable. They have four sons, George, Harry, Tobias, and Angus. His oldest son George survived a rare form of leukaemia
Leukemia
Leukemia or leukaemia is a type of cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by an abnormal increase of immature white blood cells called "blasts". Leukemia is a broad term covering a spectrum of diseases...
as a baby in the early 1990s; Lineker now supports children's cancer charity CLIC Sargent
CLIC Sargent
CLIC Sargent is charity in the United Kingdom that was formed by the merger of Sargent Cancer Care for Children and Cancer and Leukaemia in Childhood in 2005. The charity specializes in providing support for children with cancer....
and has since appeared in adverts encouraging people to give blood as a result. 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 Fight for Life and Cancer Research UK
Cancer Research UK
Cancer Research UK is a cancer research and awareness charity in the United Kingdom, formed on 4 February 2002 by the merger of The Cancer Research Campaign and the Imperial Cancer Research Fund. Its aim is to reduce the number of deaths from cancer. As the world's largest independent cancer...
.
Gary returned to Leicester City Football Club in April 1995 to feature in a Gordon Banks
Gordon Banks
Gordon Banks, OBE is a retired English football goalkeeper. The IFFHS named Banks the second best goalkeeper of the 20th century – after Lev Yashin and ahead of Dino Zoff ....
benefit game. The very next day, Gary was honoured as a Freeman of the City of Leicester.
In October 2002, 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
Emile Heskey
Emile William Ivanhoe Heskey is an English footballer who plays for Aston Villa as a striker.Born in Leicester, Heskey started his career with hometown club Leicester City after progressing through their youth system, making his first team debut in 1995...
, 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
Gordon Banks
Gordon Banks, OBE is a retired English football goalkeeper. The IFFHS named Banks the second best goalkeeper of the 20th century – after Lev Yashin and ahead of Dino Zoff ....
and Peter Shilton
Peter Shilton
Peter Leslie Shilton OBE is a former English footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He currently holds the record for playing more games for England than anyone else, earning 125 caps....
.
Lineker married Danielle Bux
Danielle Lineker
Danielle Maria Lineker , is a Welsh lingerie model, television personality and actress. She is married to former English footballer Gary Lineker.-Early life:...
on 2 September 2009, in Italy. The ceremony was attended by friends and family. They went on to win £30,000 for charity in ITV's gameshow Mr. and Mrs.
Career statistics
|-|1978–79||rowspan="7"|Leicester City
Leicester City F.C.
Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...
||rowspan="2"|Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
||7||1||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||7||1
|-
|1979–80||19||3||1||0||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||20||3
|-
|1980–81||First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
||9||2||1||1||colspan="2"|—||colspan="2"|—||10||3
|-
|1981–82||rowspan="2"|Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
||39||17||5||2||3||0||colspan="2"|—||47||19
|-
|1982–83||40||26||1||0||2||0||colspan="2"|—||43||26
|-
|1983–84||rowspan="2"|First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
||39||22||1||0||1||0||colspan="2"|—||41||22
|-
|1984–85||41||24||4||3||3||2||colspan="2"|—||48||29
|-
|1985–86||Everton
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
||First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
||41||30||6||5||5||3||colspan="2"|—||52||38
|-
|1986–87||rowspan="3"|Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
||rowspan="3"|La Liga
La Liga
The Primera División of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional , commonly known as La Liga or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA since 2008, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system...
||41||20||1||1||colspan="2"|—||8||0||50||21
|-
|1987–88||36||16||5||2||colspan="2"|—||9||2||50||20
|-
|1988–89||26||6||4||1||colspan="2"|—||8||4||38||11
|-
|1989–90||rowspan="3"|Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
||rowspan="3"|First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
||38||24||1||0||6||2||colspan="2"|—||45||26
|-
|1990–91||32||15||6||3||5||1||colspan="2"|—||43||19
|-
|1991–92||35||28||2||0||5||5||8||2||50||35
|-
|1993||rowspan="2"|Nagoya Grampus Eight
Nagoya Grampus
are a Japanese association football club that play in the J. League. Based in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture and originally founded as the company team of the Toyota Motor Corp...
||rowspan="2"|J. League
J. League
The or is the top division of and is the top professional association football league in Japan. It is one of the most successful leagues in Asian club football and the only league given top class 'A' ranking by the AFC. Currently, J. League Division 1 is the first level of the Japanese...
||7||1||0||0||5||4||colspan="2"|—||12||5
|-
|1994||11||3||0||0||1||0||colspan="2"|—||12||3
340||192||28||14||30||13||8||2||406||221
103||42||10||4||colspan="2"|—||25||6||138||52
18||4||0||0||6||4||colspan="2"|—||24||8
461||238||38||18||36||17||33||8||568||281
|}
|-
|1984||1||0
|-
|1985||9||6
|-
|1986||10||8
|-
|1987||7||9
|-
|1988||10||3
|-
|1989||9||3
|-
|1990||15||8
|-
|1991||11||10
|-
|1992||8||1
|-
!Total||80||48
|}
International goals
- Scores and results list England's goal tally first.
# Date Venue Opponent Result Competition Scored 1 26 March 1985 Wembley Stadium 2–1 Friendly Exhibition gameAn exhibition game is a sporting event in which there is no competitive value of any significant kind to any competitor regardless of the outcome of the competition...
1 2, 3 16 June 1985 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles Memorial ColiseumThe Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum is a large outdoor sports stadium in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, at Exposition Park, that is home to the Pacific-12 Conference's University of Southern California Trojans football team...
5–0 Friendly 2 4, 6 16 October 1985 Wembley Stadium 5–0 1986 World Cup qualifier 1986 FIFA World Cup qualificationA total of 121 teams entered the 1986 FIFA World Cup qualification rounds, competing for a total of 24 spots in the final tournament. Mexico, as the hosts, and Italy, as the defending champions, qualified automatically, leaving 22 spots open for competition...
3 7, 9 11 June 1986 Estadio Tecnológico Estadio TecnológicoThe Estadio Tecnológico is a stadium located in city of Monterrey, Mexico.It is the property of the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education. The Monterrey Football Club play their home games there, but only rent the space and are not affiliated with the Institute.The stadium was...
, MonterreyMonterreyMonterrey , is the capital city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León in the country of Mexico. The city is anchor to the third-largest metropolitan area in Mexico and is ranked as the ninth-largest city in the nation. Monterrey serves as a commercial center in the north of the country and is the...
3–0 1986 World Cup 1986 FIFA World CupThe 1986 FIFA World Cup, the 13th FIFA World Cup, was held in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia had been originally chosen to host the competition by FIFA but, largely due to economic reasons, was not able to do so and officially...
3 10, 11 18 June 1986 Estadio Azteca Estadio AztecaEstadio Azteca is a stadium in Santa Ursula, Mexico City, Mexico. It is the official home stadium of the Mexico national football team and the Mexican team Club América.The stadium was the venue for football soccer in the 1968 Summer Olympics....
, Mexico CityMexico CityMexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
3–0 1986 World Cup 2 12 22 June 1986 Estadio Azteca Estadio AztecaEstadio Azteca is a stadium in Santa Ursula, Mexico City, Mexico. It is the official home stadium of the Mexico national football team and the Mexican team Club América.The stadium was the venue for football soccer in the 1968 Summer Olympics....
, Mexico CityMexico CityMexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
1–2 1986 World Cup 1 13, 14 15 October 1986 Wembley Stadium 3–0 Euro 1988 qualifier 2 15, 18 18 February 1987 Santiago Bernabéu Santiago Bernabéu StadiumThe Estadio Santiago Bernabéu is an all-seater football stadium in Madrid, Spain. It was inaugurated on 14 December 1947 and is owned by Real Madrid Club de Fútbol. It has a current capacity of 85,454 spectators....
, MadridMadridMadrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
4–2 Friendly 4 19 19 May 1987 Wembley Stadium 1–1 Friendly (Rous Cup Rous CupThe Rous Cup was a short-lived football competition in the second half of the 1980s, contested between England, Scotland and, in later years, a guest team from South America.-Overview:...
)1 20 9 September 1987 Rheinstadion RheinstadionThe Rheinstadion was a multi-purpose stadium, in Düsseldorf, Germany. The stadium was built, near the Rhine, in 1926 and held 55,900 people, at the end of its life....
, DüsseldorfDüsseldorfDüsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
1–3 Friendly 1 21, 23 14 October 1987 Wembley Stadium 8–0 Euro 1988 qualifier 3 24 24 May 1988 Wembley Stadium 1–1 Friendly (Rous Cup Rous CupThe Rous Cup was a short-lived football competition in the second half of the 1980s, contested between England, Scotland and, in later years, a guest team from South America.-Overview:...
)1 25 23 March 1988 Wembley Stadium 2–2 Friendly 1 26 28 May 1988 Stade Olympique de la Pontaise Stade Olympique de la PontaiseStade Olympique de la Pontaise is a multi-purpose stadium in Lausanne, Switzerland. The stadium holds 15,850 people and was built in 1904.During the 1954 FIFA World Cup, the stadium hosted five games.It is used mostly for football matches...
, LausanneLausanneLausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
1–0 Friendly 1 27 26 April 1989 Wembley Stadium 5–0 1990 World Cup qualifier 1990 FIFA World Cup qualificationThe qualification competition for the 1990 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the AFC , CAF , CONCACAF , CONMEBOL , OFC , and UEFA — was allocated a certain number of the 24 places at the tournament...
1 28 3 June 1989 Wembley Stadium 3–0 1990 World Cup qualifier 1 29 7 July 1989 Parken Stadium Parken StadiumParken Stadium is a football stadium in the Indre Østerbro district of Copenhagen, Denmark, built from 1990–1992. It currently has a capacity of 38,065 for football games, and is the home ground of F.C. Københaven and the Danish national football team...
, CopenhagenCopenhagenCopenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
1–1 Friendly 1 30 28 March 1990 Wembley Stadium 1–0 Friendly 1 31 15 May 1990 Wembley Stadium 1–0 Friendly 1 32 11 June 1990 Stadio Sant'Elia Stadio Sant'EliaStadio Comunale Sant'Elia is a football stadium in Cagliari, Italy. It is currently the home of Cagliari Calcio. The stadium has a capacity of 23,486...
, CagliariCagliariCagliari is the capital of the island of Sardinia, a region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name Casteddu literally means castle. It has about 156,000 inhabitants, or about 480,000 including the outlying townships : Elmas, Assemini, Capoterra, Selargius, Sestu, Monserrato, Quartucciu, Quartu...
1–1 1990 World Cup 1990 FIFA World CupThe 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event twice. Teams representing 116 national football associations from all six populated...
1 33, 34 1 July 1990 Stadio San Paolo Stadio San PaoloStadio San Paolo is a multi-purpose stadium in the western suburb of Fuorigrotta in Naples, Italy, and is the third largest football stadium in Italy after the San Siro and Stadio Olimpico. For the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, it hosted the football preliminaries. It is currently used mostly for...
, NaplesNaplesNaples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
3–2 1990 World Cup 2 35 4 July 1990 Stadio delle Alpi Stadio delle AlpiThe Stadio delle Alpi was a football and athletics stadium in Turin, Italy and was the home of both Juventus Football Club and Torino Football Club between 1990 and 2006. In English, the name meant "Stadium of the Alps," a reference to the nearby Alps mountain range...
, TurinTurinTurin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
1 – 1p 1990 World Cup 1 36 22 September 1990 Wembley Stadium 1–0 Friendly 1 37 17 October 1990 Wembley Stadium 2–0 Euro 1992 qualifier 1 38, 39 6 February 1991 Wembley Stadium 2–0 Friendly 2 40 26 July 1991 Wembley Stadium 2–2 Friendly (England Challenge Cup 1991 England Challenge CupThe 1991 England Challenge Cup was a friendly tournament played over the course of a week in May 1991 in England. Wembley Stadium in London and Old Trafford in Manchester were the two venues used. The three way tournament contained the national teams of England, Argentina, and the USSR. England was...
)1 41 3 June 1991 Mt Smart Stadium Mt Smart StadiumMt Smart Stadium, formerly Ericsson Stadium, is a stadium in Auckland, New Zealand. It is the home ground of National Rugby League team, the New Zealand Warriors...
, AucklandAucklandThe Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
1–0 Friendly 1 42, 45 12 June 1991 Stadium Merdeka Stadium MerdekaStadium Merdeka is a sports stadium, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was initially erected for Malaysia's declaration of independence on 31 August 1957....
, Kuala LumpurKuala LumpurKuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
4–2 Friendly 4 46 13 November 1991 Stadion Miejski, Poznań PoznanPoznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
1–1 Euro 1992 qualifier 1 47 19 February 1992 Wembley Stadium 2–0 Friendly 1 48 29 April 1992 Luzhniki Stadium Luzhniki StadiumThe Grand Sports Arena of the Luzhniki Olympic Complex in Moscow, or briefly Luzhniki Stadium , is the biggest sports stadium in Russia. Its total seating capacity is 78,360 seats, all covered. The stadium is a part of the Luzhniki Olympic Complex, previously called the Central Lenin Stadium...
, MoscowMoscowMoscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
2–2 Friendly 1
Club
Leicester CityLeicester City F.C.
Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...
- Football League Second DivisionFootball League Second DivisionFrom 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
: 1980
Everton
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
- FA Charity ShieldFA Community ShieldThe Football Association Community Shield is English football's annual match contested between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup at Wembley Stadium. If the Premier League champions also won the FA Cup then the league runners-up provide the opposition...
: 19851985 FA Charity ShieldThe 1985 FA Charity Shield was the 63rd FA Charity Shield, an annual football match played between the winners of the previous season's First Division and FA Cup competitions. The match was played on 10 August 1985 at Wembley Stadium and contested by Everton, who had won the 1984–85 First Division,...
Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
- Copa del ReyCopa del ReyThe Copa del Rey is an annual football cup competition for Spanish football teams. Its full name is Campeonato de España – Copa de Su Majestad el Rey de Fútbol ....
: 1988 - European Cup Winners' CupUEFA Cup Winners' CupThe UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a football club competition contested annually by the most recent winners of all European domestic cup competitions. The cup is one of the many inter-European club competitions that have been organised by UEFA. The first competition was held in the 1960–61 season—but...
: 1989
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
- FA CupFA CupThe Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
: 1991
International
EnglandEngland national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
- Rous CupRous CupThe Rous Cup was a short-lived football competition in the second half of the 1980s, contested between England, Scotland and, in later years, a guest team from South America.-Overview:...
: 1986, 1988, 1989 - England Challenge Cup1991 England Challenge CupThe 1991 England Challenge Cup was a friendly tournament played over the course of a week in May 1991 in England. Wembley Stadium in London and Old Trafford in Manchester were the two venues used. The three way tournament contained the national teams of England, Argentina, and the USSR. England was...
: 19911991 England Challenge CupThe 1991 England Challenge Cup was a friendly tournament played over the course of a week in May 1991 in England. Wembley Stadium in London and Old Trafford in Manchester were the two venues used. The three way tournament contained the national teams of England, Argentina, and the USSR. England was...
Individual
- English League Top Scorer: 1984–85, 1985–86, 1989–901989-90 in English football-European competitions:English clubs were still banned from competing in European competitions following the Heysel Stadium disaster.- First Division :...
- English Second DivisionFootball League Second DivisionFrom 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
Top Scorer: 1982-831982-83 in English footballThe 1982–83 season was the 103rd season of competitive football in England.- First Division :Bob Paisley's last season as Liverpool manager ended on a high as they topped the First Division with a comfortable lead. Bob Paisley retired as Liverpool manager with a record 21 prizes in nine years. His... - FIFA World Cup Golden ShoeFIFA World Cup awardsAt the end of each FIFA World Cup final tournament, several awards are attributed to the players and teams which have distinguished from the rest, in different aspects of the game.These are awards granted during the men's senior tournament...
: 19861986 FIFA World CupThe 1986 FIFA World Cup, the 13th FIFA World Cup, was held in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia had been originally chosen to host the competition by FIFA but, largely due to economic reasons, was not able to do so and officially... - PFA Players' Player of the YearPFA Players' Player of the YearThe Professional Footballers' Association Players' Player of the Year is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the year in English football...
: 1985–86 - FWA Footballer of the Year: 1985–86, 1991–921991-92 in English football- First Division :The last-ever league championship before the creation of the Premier League was won by Leeds United who overhauled Manchester United thanks to the efforts of, among others, Gordon Strachan, Lee Chapman, David Batty, Gary Speed and Gary McAllister...