Gary Lineker

Gary Winston Lineker was born on 30 November 1960 in Leicester. He works as a sports broadcaster and businessman, and previously played professional football as a striker. Considered among the finest players of his era and one of England’s all-time greats, he is the only footballer to finish as the top scorer in England for three different clubs: Leicester City, Everton, and Tottenham Hotspur. He also spent time at Barcelona in Spain and earned 80 international caps for England.

Lineker started his professional career at Leicester City in 1978. He shared the First Division’s top scorer title in 1984–85, then moved to league champions Everton. In his first season there, he won both the PFA Players’ Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year awards. He then transferred to Barcelona, winning the 1987–88 Copa del Rey and the 1989 European Cup Winners’ Cup. Returning to England in 1989 with Tottenham Hotspur, he claimed a second FWA Footballer of the Year award and the FA Cup, his only major trophy in English football. His final club was Nagoya Grampus Eight in Japan, where he played two seasons before retiring in 1994.

Lineker debuted for England in 1984, earning 80 caps and scoring 48 goals over eight years. At retirement, he was England’s second-highest scorer; he now sits fourth, behind Harry Kane, Wayne Rooney, and Bobby Charlton, with one of the best goals-to-games ratios for the country. At the 1986 World Cup, his six goals won the Golden Boot as tournament top scorer, and he finished second in the 1986 Ballon d’Or. He was also key to England’s run to the 1990 World Cup semi-finals, adding four more goals.

Throughout his career, Lineker never received a yellow or red card and never won a top-flight league title. He received the FIFA Fair Play Award in 1990. Over 16 senior seasons and 654 competitive matches, he scored 331 goals, 283 at club level. After retiring, he was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame. A devoted Leicester City supporter, he led a consortium in 2002 that invested in the club, saving it from bankruptcy, and was later made honorary vice-president.

Lineker’s media career began at the BBC, where he presented Match of the Day from 1999 to 2025—the longest tenure of any host. He also led BBC coverage of live matches, including FIFA World Cups. He has worked for Al Jazeera Sports, Eredivisie Live, NBC Sports Network, and BT Sport’s UEFA Champions League coverage. In 2018, he co-founded Goalhanger, a media company that produces podcasts, notably those under The Rest Is… brand.

Gary Winston Lineker was born on 30 November 1960 in Leicester to Margaret P. (Abbs) and Barry Lineker. His middle name honours Winston Churchill, with whom he shares a birthday. He has one younger brother, Wayne. The family lived in Leicester, where their father ran a fruit and veg stall in Leicester Market, a trade passed down from grandfather William and great-grandfather George. As a child and young player, Gary regularly helped on the stall. Despite being white, he faced racial abuse for his dark features.

He attended Caldecote Road School in Braunstone, then City of Leicester Boys’ Grammar School in Evington, choosing it because it offered football over rugby, the main sport near his home. Equally skilled at cricket, he captained Leicestershire Schools cricket team from ages 11 to 16 and thought he had a better chance of succeeding in that sport. He later said he idolised former England cricket captain David Gower. During his youth, he played for Aylestone Park Youth and later became its president.

Lineker left school with four O Levels. One teacher wrote that he “concentrates too much on football” and would “never make a living at that.” He joined Leicester City’s youth academy in 1976.

He turned professional in the 1978–79 season and made his senior debut on New Year’s Day 1979 in a 2–0 win over Oldham Athletic in the Second Division. He earned a Second Division title medal a year later with 19 appearances, but played only nine league games in 1980–81 as Leicester were relegated. He became a regular in 1981–82, scoring 19 goals in all competitions. Leicester missed promotion but reached the FA Cup semi-finals, then won promotion the next season as Lineker scored 26 times in the Second Division. In 1983–84, he was the First Division’s second-highest scorer with 22 goals, though Leicester finished 15th. He shared the top scorer spot in 1984–85 with 24 goals, forming a prolific partnership with Alan Smith.

Defending league champions Everton signed him for £800,000 in the 1985 close season. He scored 40 goals in 57 games in 1985–86. His first match for Everton was away to Leicester City; at half time, he mistakenly walked into the Leicester dressing room. He again led the First Division in scoring, this time with 30 goals.