Gary Lineker

General

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Gary Lineker
Personal information
Full name	Gary Winston Lineker
Date of birth	30 November 1960 (1960-11-30)
Place of birth	Leicester, England
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Striker
Youth clubs
1976–1978	Leicester City
Senior clubs
Years	Club	App (Gls)
1978-1985 1985-1986 1986-1989 1989-1992 1992-1994 Total	Leicester City Everton Barcelona Tottenham Hotspur Nagoya Grampus Eight	194 0(95) 041 0(30) 103 0(42) 105 0(67) 018 00(4) 466 (238)
National team
1984 1984-1992	England B England	001 00(0) 080 0(48)

Gary Winston Lineker, OBE (born 30 November 1960) is a retired English footballer and current sports broadcaster. He holds England's record for goals in FIFA World Cup finals, with 10 scored. Lineker's media career began with the BBC, where he has presented the flagship programme Match of the Day since the late 1990s. He has also worked for Al Jazeera Sports, Eredivisie Live, NBC Sports Network and currently hosts BT Sport's coverage of the UEFA Champions League.

Lineker began his football career at Leicester City. Despite failing to score in his first ten games, he finished as the First Division's joint top goalscorer in 1984–85. He then moved to League Champions Everton where he developed as a clinical finisher, scoring 30 goals in 41 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, earning 80 caps and scoring forty-eight goals over an eight-year international career, finishing as England's second highest scorer behind Bobby Charlton, before he was overtaken by Wayne Rooney (1st). 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 three different clubs (Leicester City, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur).

Even though he enjoyed a long career, Lineker was never cautioned by a referee for foul play and never received 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 goals. After his retirement from football he was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame. He later led a consortium that invested in his old club Leicester, saving it from bankruptcy, and was appointed honorary vice-president.

Honours

Clubs

Leicester City

• Football League Second Division: 1980

Everton

• FA Charity Shield: 1985

Barcelona

• Copa del Rey: 1988
• European Cup Winners' Cup: 1989

Tottenham Hotspur

• FA Cup: 1991

International

England

• Rous Cup: 1986, 1988, 1989
• England Challenge Cup: 1991

External links

• Lineker Gary Lineker profile at Soccerbase

England – 1986 FIFA World Cup

1. Shilton 2. G Stevens 3. Sansom 4. Hoddle 5. Martin 6. Butcher 7. Robson 8. Wilkins 9. Hateley 10. Lineker 11. Waddle 12. Anderson 13. Woods 14. Fenwick 15. G. A. Stevens 16. Reid 17. T. Steven 18. Hodge 19. Barnes 20. Beardsley 21. Dixon 22. Bailey Manager:   Robson

England – UEFA Euro 1988

1. Shilton 2. Stevens 3. Sansom 4. Webb 5. Watson 6. Adams 7. Robson 8. Steven 9. Beardsley 10. Lineker 11. Barnes 12. Waddle 13. Woods 14. Anderson 15. McMahon 16. Reid 17. Hoddle 18. Hateley 19. Wright 20. Dorigo Manager:   Robson

England – 1990 FIFA World Cup

1. Shilton 2. Stevens 3. Pearce 4. Webb 5. Walker 6. Butcher 7. Robson 8. Waddle 9. Beardsley 10. Lineker 11. Barnes 12. Parker 13. Woods 14. Wright 15. Dorigo 16. McMahon 17. Platt 18. Hodge 19. Gascoigne 20. Steven 21. Bull 22. Beasant Manager:   Robson

England – UEFA Euro 1992

1. Woods 2. Curle 3. Pearce 4. Keown 5. Walker 6. Wright 7. Platt 8. Steven 9. Clough 10. Lineker 11. Sinton 12. Palmer 13. Martyn 14. Dorigo 15. Webb 16. Merson 17. Smith 18. Daley 19. Batty 20. Shearer Manager:   Taylor