Full name Gary Winston Lineker
Date of birth November 30, 1960
Place of birth Leicester, England
Height 5.10FT - 1.77M
Playing position Striker
Born in Leicester, he became the foremost English striker of his generation. Lineker's intelligence enabled him to cope better than his contemporaries when playing in continental Europe, as well as to make a smooth transition into a role as a pundit and sports broadcaster. He is married and he and his wife Michelle have four sons. His oldest son George survived leukemia as a baby; Lineker has since appeared in adverts encouraging people to give blood as a result.
Lineker is a freeman 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.
At this point he is currently living with his wife and two sons.
He began his career at his hometown club of Leicester City in 1976 and broke into Leicester's first-team squad in 1978. He rose to fame with Everton (1985-86) scoring 40 goals in 42 games, before Barcelona signed him just prior to the 1986 World Cup Finals in Mexico. His Golden Boot winning performance at the finals led to much anticipation of success at the Camp Nou, and he didn't 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. He went on to win the Copa del Rey in 1988 and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1989.
He then returned to England to play three seasons at Tottenham Hotspur, scoring 67 goals in 105 games and winning the FA Cup, before ending his career with an injury-plagued spell in the J. League with Nagoya Grampus Eight.
He first played for England's national team against Scotland in 1984, winning the Golden Boot at the 1986 FIFA World Cup and reaching the semi-finals in the 1990 FIFA World Cup. He retired from international football with 80 caps and 48 goals, one fewer than Bobby Charlton's England record (although Charlton took 26 more caps to score his extra goal). In what proved to be his last England match, against Sweden at Euro 92, he was controversially substituted in favour of Arsenal striker Alan M. Smith, ultimately denying him the chance to equal the total. He had earlier missed a penalty that would have brought him level in a pre-tournament friendly against Brazil.
He was PFA Players' Player of the Year in 1986 and, despite his long career, was never cautioned by a referee for foul play (never once receiving either a yellow let alone a red card), a feat equalled only by Billy Wright, John Charles and Sir Stanley Matthews. He acquired a Mr "nice guy" image; some cynics have suggested that this was because he rarely joined in defensive duties..
Following retirement from professional football, he developed a career in the media, initially as a 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 comedic 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". Following the departure of Steve Ryder from the BBC, Lineker was announced in late 2005 as the new presenter for the corporation's golf coverage.
His popularity has enabled him to appear in a light-hearted series of commercials for Walkers crisps, playing a comical role as an arch-villain which sends up his reputation as a nice guy.
In October 2003, Lineker announced a �5 million rescue plan for cash-strapped club Leicester City, describing his involvement as charity rather than an ego trip. Lineker 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.
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 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.
