Gary Lineker facts for kids

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Gary Lineker
OBE
Personal information
Lineker in 2023
Birth name	Gary Winston Lineker
Date of birth	(1960-11-30) 30 November 1960 (age 64)
Place of birth	Leicester, England
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.77 m)
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
1976–1978	Leicester City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1978–1985	Leicester City	194	(95)
1985–1986	Everton	41	(30)
1986–1989	Barcelona	103	(42)
1989–1992	Tottenham Hotspur	105	(67)
1992–1994	Nagoya Grampus	18	(4)
Total		461	(238)
International career
1984	England B	1	(0)
1984–1992	England	80	(48)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Gary Winston Lineker (born 30 November 1960) is a famous English sports presenter and a former professional footballer. He played as a striker, which means he was a forward player whose main job was to score goals. Gary Lineker is special because he was the top goalscorer in England for three different clubs: Leicester City, Everton, and Tottenham Hotspur.

He also played for Barcelona in Spain. For his country, he played 80 games for the England team. After his football career, he became a well-known sports broadcaster. He presented the popular football show Match of the Day on the BBC from 1999 until May 2025, making him the longest-serving presenter of the show. He also covered big international tournaments like the FIFA World Cup.

Lineker started his football journey at Leicester City in 1978. He became the top goalscorer in the First Division in the 1984–85 season. He then moved to Everton, where he won important player awards. After that, he joined the Spanish club Barcelona, winning the 1987–88 Copa del Rey and the 1989 European Cup Winners' Cup. In 1989, he returned to England to play for Tottenham Hotspur, where he won the FA Cup, his only major trophy in English football. His last club was Nagoya Grampus Eight in Japan, and he retired from playing in 1994.

Gary Lineker played for England from 1984 to 1992. He played 80 games and scored 48 goals, which made him England's second-highest goalscorer when he retired. He is now England's fourth-highest scorer. In the 1986 World Cup, he scored six goals, making him the top scorer of the tournament and earning the Golden Boot. He also helped England reach the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup, scoring four more goals. He holds England's record for the most goals scored in World Cup tournaments.

Lineker was known for his fair play; he never received a yellow or red card during his entire career. He was given the FIFA Fair Play Award in 1990. Over 16 years and 654 games, he scored 331 goals. After retiring, he was added to the English Football Hall of Fame. He is a big fan of Leicester City and even helped save the club from financial trouble in 2002.

Early Life and School

Gary Winston Lineker was born in Leicester, England, on 30 November 1960. His middle name, Winston, was given to him because he shares a birthday with Winston Churchill. He has a younger brother named Wayne. Gary grew up in Leicester and often helped his father, Barry, at their family's fruit and vegetable stall in Leicester Market. His grandfather and great-grandfather were also greengrocers.

Gary went to Caldecote Road School and then the City of Leicester Boys' Grammar School. He was very good at both football and cricket. From ages 11 to 16, he was the captain of the Leicestershire Schools cricket team. He even thought he might have a better chance of becoming a professional cricketer than a footballer! As a teenager, he looked up to David Gower, a famous England cricket captain.

Lineker left school with four O Levels. One of his teachers famously wrote on his report card that he "concentrates too much on football" and would "never make a living at that." Luckily, that teacher was wrong! In 1976, Gary joined the youth academy at Leicester City.

Club Football Career

Playing for Leicester City

Gary Lineker started his professional football career at his hometown club, Leicester City, in 1978. He made his first team debut on New Year's Day 1979. In 1980, he helped Leicester win the Second Division title.

He became a regular player in the 1981–82 season, scoring 19 goals. The next year, Leicester won promotion again, and Lineker scored 26 goals. In the 1983–84 season, he played in the top division for the first time and was the second-highest scorer with 22 goals. In the 1984–85 season, he was the joint top scorer in the First Division with 24 goals. His amazing goal-scoring caught the eye of bigger clubs.

Moving to Everton

In 1985, Everton, who were the league champions, bought Lineker for £800,000. He had an incredible season in 1985–86, scoring 40 goals in 57 games for Everton. He was the First Division's top goalscorer again, with 30 goals. Everton finished second in the league, just two points behind Liverpool. Everton also reached the FA Cup final but lost to Liverpool.

Lineker scored three hat-tricks (three goals in one game) for Everton. He later said that his time at Everton was "one of the most successful periods of my career."

Playing in Spain for Barcelona

After being the top scorer at the 1986 World Cup, many clubs wanted Lineker. Barcelona, managed by English coach Terry Venables, signed him for £2.8 million. This was Lineker's first chance to play in European competitions.

He made a great start at Barcelona, scoring twice in his first game. In his first season (1986–87), he scored 20 goals in 40 league games, including a hat-trick against their big rivals Real Madrid. This made him a fan favourite. Barcelona finished second in the league that season.

In his second season (1987–88), Lineker helped Barcelona win the 1988 Copa del Rey. After some changes at the club, Johan Cruyff became the new manager. Lineker played a different role, often on the right side of the field, which meant he scored fewer goals. However, Barcelona won the 1989 European Cup Winners' Cup final that season.

Lineker scored 42 goals in 103 league games for Barcelona, becoming the highest-scoring British player in the Spanish league's history at that time.

Returning to England with Tottenham Hotspur

In July 1989, Gary Lineker joined Tottenham Hotspur for £1.1 million. He played for three seasons, scoring 67 goals in 105 league games. He was the top scorer in the First Division in the 1989–90 season with 24 goals.

Lineker finally won a major English trophy when Tottenham won the 1991 FA Cup final, beating Nottingham Forest 2–1. He scored two goals in the semi-final against their rivals Arsenal to help them reach the final.

In his last season in English football (1991–92), he was the second-highest goalscorer with 28 goals. His final goal in English football was against Manchester United.

Playing in Japan for Nagoya Grampus Eight

In November 1991, Lineker decided to move to Japan and signed a two-year contract with J1 League club Nagoya Grampus Eight. He officially joined them in May 1992 after his last game for Tottenham.

He played 23 games over two seasons for Nagoya Grampus Eight, scoring nine goals. He announced his retirement from playing football in September 1994.

International Football Career

Gary Lineker first played for the England team in 1984 against Scotland.

World Cup Success

He played in five games at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. He was the top scorer of the tournament with six goals, winning the Golden Boot. He scored a very fast hat-trick against Poland and two goals against Paraguay. He even played most of the tournament with a lightweight cast on his arm. He scored for England in the quarter-final against Argentina, but England lost that game.

In the 1990 World Cup, he scored four goals, helping England reach the semi-finals. He scored the equalising goal against West Germany in the semi-final, but England lost in a penalty shoot-out. After that game, he famously said: "Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans win." His equaliser is even mentioned in the popular England football song, "Three Lions".

Lineker retired from international football with 80 games played and 48 goals scored. This was just one goal less than Sir Bobby Charlton's England record at the time. His last England match was against Sweden at Euro 92. He was substituted during the game, which meant he didn't get the chance to equal or break Charlton's record.

He scored four goals in an England match on two occasions. He is also one of the few players who never received a yellow or red card in any game during his career.

Media Career

Sports Presenting

After retiring from football, Gary Lineker started a career in the media. He began as a football expert for the BBC. From 1995 to 2003, he was a team captain on the sports game show They Think It's All Over.

In 1999, he became the main presenter for the BBC's football coverage, including the famous show Match of the Day. He was the highest-paid BBC presenter for eight years. He also presented the BBC's golf coverage.

In 2013, Lineker started working for NBCSN covering the Premier League in the US. In 2015, he became the main presenter for BT Sport's Champions League coverage.

On 13 August 2016, Lineker presented the first Match of the Day of the 2016–17 season wearing only boxer shorts. He had promised to do this if Leicester City won the Premier League, which they did!

In March 2023, Lineker stepped back from presenting Match of the Day for a few days due to comments he made on social media about a government policy. Many of his BBC Sport colleagues supported him by also not appearing on air. His suspension ended, and the BBC reviewed its social media rules.

On 11 November 2024, it was announced that Lineker would leave Match of the Day after the 2024–25 season. He presented his final Match of the Day on 25 May 2025, and left the BBC completely at the end of that season.

Walkers Advertisements

Lineker has been famous for appearing in TV advertisements for the snack company Walkers, which is based in Leicester. He first signed a deal with them in 1994. For a while, Walkers even named their salt and vinegar crisps 'Salt & Lineker'. His Walkers ads were ranked among the greatest TV ads in a 2000 poll.

Other Media Appearances

Gary Lineker has appeared in other TV shows and films. He was the voice of Underground Ernie on the BBC's children's channel, CBeebies. He also appeared in the film Bend It Like Beckham (2002) and the TV series Ted Lasso.

In 2013, he was on the show Who Do You Think You Are?, where he learned about his family history. In 2021, Lineker started hosting the ITV game show Sitting on a Fortune.

Goalhanger Films and Podcasts

In 2014, Lineker started his own production company called Goalhanger Films Ltd. He also runs Goalhanger Podcasts, which produces popular podcasts like The Rest is History and The Rest is Politics. He hosts his own football podcast called The Rest is Football with Alan Shearer and Micah Richards.

Personal Life

Lineker in 2009

Gary Lineker married Michelle Cockayne in 1986, and they had four sons. They decided to separate amicably in May 2006.

In November 1991, Lineker's eldest son survived a rare form of leukaemia when he was a baby. He was treated at Great Ormond Street Hospital. Because of this, Lineker now supports children's cancer charities like CLIC Sargent and has encouraged people to donate blood.

In 1995, Lineker was given the freedom of the City of Leicester, and he is often called "Leicester's favourite son."

In October 2002, Lineker helped save his old club, Leicester City, from financial trouble by investing money and encouraging others to do the same. He is now an honorary Vice President of Leicester City.

Gary and Danielle Lineker at The Asian Awards in 2015

Lineker married Danielle Bux on 2 September 2009. They divorced on 13 January 2016, after six years of marriage.

Lineker is good friends with snooker player Willie Thorne. He also speaks fluent Spanish, which he learned while playing for FC Barcelona. He believes it's important for schools to teach foreign languages.

In April 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Lineker donated £140,000 to the British Red Cross to help with research into the virus.

Career Statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup		Continental		Other		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Leicester City	1978–79	Second Division	7	1	—		—		—		—		7	1
	1979–80	Second Division	19	3	1	0	—		—		—		20	3
	1980–81	First Division	9	2	1	1	—		—		—		10	3
	1981–82	Second Division	39	17	5	2	3	0	—		—		47	19
	1982–83	Second Division	40	26	1	0	2	0	—		—		43	26
	1983–84	First Division	39	22	1	0	1	0	—		—		41	22
	1984–85	First Division	41	24	4	3	3	2	—		—		48	29
	Total		194	95	13	6	9	2	—		—		216	103
Everton	1985–86	First Division	41	30	6	5	5	3	—		5	2	57	40
Barcelona	1986–87	La Liga	41	20	1	1	—		8	0	—		50	21
	1987–88	La Liga	36	16	5	2	—		8	2	—		49	20
	1988–89	La Liga	26	6	4	1	—		8	4	1	0	38	11
	Total		103	42	10	4	—		24	6	1	0	138	52
Tottenham Hotspur	1989–90	First Division	38	24	1	0	6	2	—		—		45	26
	1990–91	First Division	32	15	6	3	5	1	—		—		43	19
	1991–92	First Division	35	28	2	0	4	5	8	2	1	0	50	35
	Total		105	67	9	3	15	8	8	2	1	0	138	80
Nagoya Grampus Eight	1993	J League	7	1	0	0	5	4	—		—		12	5
	1994	J League	11	3	0	0	1	0	—		—		12	3
	Total		18	4	0	0	6	4	—		—		24	8
Total			461	238	38	18	35	17	32	8	7	2	573	283

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team	Year	Apps	Goals
England	1984	1	0
	1985	9	6
	1986	10	8
	1987	7	9
	1988	10	3
	1989	9	3
	1990	15	8
	1991	11	9
	1992	8	2
Total		80	48

Lineker played his first game for England in 1984 against Scotland. His last game for England was in 1992 against Sweden. He almost equalled Bobby Charlton's England goal-scoring record but missed a penalty kick in a friendly game against Brazil. His record was later broken by Wayne Rooney in 2015.

Scores and results list England's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Lineker goal.

List of international goals scored by Gary Lineker
No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	26 March 1985	Wembley Stadium, London, England	2	Republic of Ireland	2–1	2–1	Friendly
2	16 June 1985	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, United States	7	United States	1–0	5–0	Friendly
3	16 June 1985	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, United States	7	United States	3–0	5–0	Friendly
4	16 October 1985	Wembley Stadium, London, England	9	Turkey	2–0	5–0	1986 FIFA World Cup qualification
5					4–0
6					5–0
7	11 June 1986	Estadio Tecnológico, Monterrey, Mexico	16	Poland	1–0	3–0	1986 FIFA World Cup
8					2–0
9					3–0
10	18 June 1986	Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico	17	Paraguay	1–0	3–0	1986 FIFA World Cup
11	18 June 1986	Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico	17	Paraguay	3–0	3–0	1986 FIFA World Cup
12	22 June 1986	Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico	18	Argentina	1–2	1–2	1986 FIFA World Cup
13	15 October 1986	Wembley Stadium, London, England	19	Northern Ireland	1–0	3–0	UEFA Euro 1988 qualification
14	15 October 1986	Wembley Stadium, London, England	19	Northern Ireland	3–0	3–0	UEFA Euro 1988 qualification
15	18 February 1987	Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, Madrid, Spain	21	Spain	1–1	4–2	Friendly
16					2–1
17					3–1
18					4–1
19	19 May 1987	Wembley Stadium, London, England	24	Brazil	1–1	1–1	1987 Rous Cup
20	9 September 1987	Rheinstadion, Düsseldorf, Germany	25	West Germany	1–2	1–3	Friendly
21	14 October 1987	Wembley Stadium, London, England	26	Turkey	2–0	8–0	UEFA Euro 1988 qualification
22					4–0
23					7–0
24	23 March 1988	Wembley Stadium, London, England	28	Netherlands	1–0	2–2	Friendly
25	24 May 1988	Wembley Stadium, London, England	31	Colombia	1–0	1–1	1988 Rous Cup
26	7 September 1988	Stade Olympique de la Pontaise, Lausanne, Switzerland	32	Switzerland	1–0	1–0	Friendly
27	26 April 1989	Wembley Stadium, London, England	40	Albania	2–0	5–0	1990 FIFA World Cup qualification
28	3 June 1989	Wembley Stadium, London, England	41	Poland	1–0	3–0	1990 FIFA World Cup qualification
29	7 July 1989	Københavns Idrætspark, Copenhagen, Denmark	42	Denmark	1–0	1–1	Friendly
30	28 March 1990	Wembley Stadium, London, England	47	Brazil	1–0	1–0	Friendly
31	15 May 1990	Wembley Stadium, London, England	49	Denmark	1–0	1–0	Friendly
32	11 June 1990	Stadio Sant'Elia, Cagliari, Italy	52	Republic of Ireland	1–0	1–1	1990 FIFA World Cup
33	1 July 1990	Stadio San Paolo, Naples, Italy	56	Cameroon	2–2	3–2 (aet)	1990 FIFA World Cup
34	1 July 1990	Stadio San Paolo, Naples, Italy	56	Cameroon	3–2	3–2 (aet)	1990 FIFA World Cup
35	4 July 1990	Stadio delle Alpi, Turin, Italy	57	West Germany	1–1	1–1 (3–4 p)	1990 FIFA World Cup
36	22 September 1990	Wembley Stadium, London, England	59	Hungary	1–0	1–0	Friendly
37	17 October 1990	Wembley Stadium, London, England	60	Poland	1–0	2–0	UEFA Euro 1992 qualification
38	6 February 1991	Wembley Stadium, London, England	62	Cameroon	1–0	2–0	Friendly
39	6 February 1991	Wembley Stadium, London, England	62	Cameroon	2–0	2–0	Friendly
40	25 May 1991	Wembley Stadium, London, England	65	Argentina	1–0	2–2	1991 England Challenge Cup
41	3 June 1991	Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland, New Zealand	67	New Zealand	1–0	1–0	Friendly
42	12 June 1991	Stadium Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia	68	Malaysia	1–0	4–2	Friendly
43					2–0
44					3–0
45					4–1
46	13 November 1991	Stadion Miejski, Poznań, Poland	71	Poland	1–1	1–1	UEFA Euro 1992 qualification
47	19 February 1992	Wembley Stadium, London, England	72	France	2–0	2–0	Friendly
48	29 April 1992	Luzhniki Stadium, Moscow, Russia	74	CIS	1–0	2–2	Friendly