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Gary Winston Lineker Order of the British
Empire|OBE, (born 30 November, 1960), was a
notable England|English international football
(soccer)|footballer.

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.

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.

== Career in football ==

He began his career at his hometown club of
Leicester City F.C.|Leicester City in 1976 and
broke into Leicester's first-team squad in 1978.
He rose to fame with Everton F.C.|Everton
(1985-86) scoring 40 goals in 42 games, before
signing with FC Barcelona|Barcelona with whom he
won the Cup Winners' Cup|European Cup Winners' Cup
in 1989. He returned to England, funded by a
sports scholarship from Lady Margaret Hall,
University of Oxford|Oxford, to play three seasons
at Tottenham Hotspur F.C.|Tottenham Hotspur,
scoring 67 goals in 105 games and winning the F.A.
Cup, before ending his career with an
injury-plagued spell in the J. League with Nagoya
Grampus Eight.

He first played for English national football
team|England's national team against Scottish
national football team|Scotland in 1984, winning
the World Cup Golden Boot|Golden Boot at the
Football World Cup 1986|1986 FIFA World Cup and
reaching the semi-finals in the Football World Cup
1990|1990 FIFA World Cup.  He retired from
international football with 80 caps and 48 goals,
one fewer than Bobby Charlton|Bobby Charlton's
England record (although Charlton took 26 more
caps to score his extra goal).

He was PFA Players' Player of the Year in 1986
and, despite his long career, was never yellow
card|cautioned by a referee for foul play (never
once receiving either a yellow card|yellow let
alone a red card (a feat equalled only by Billy
Wright (footballer)|Billy Wright and Sir Bobby
Charlton of England and Manchester Utd). He
acquired a Mr "nice guy" image; some cynics have
suggested that this was because he rarely joined
in defensive duties.

== Post playing career ==

Following retirement from professional football,
he developed a career in the media, initially as a
pundit before replacing Des Lynam on the BBC's
flagship football television programme Match of
the Day, and as a team captain on the sports game
show They Think It's All Over from 1995 to 2003,
where he was heavily ridiculed for being a "goal
hanger". 

His popularity has enabled him to appear in a
light-hearted series of commercials for Walker's
crisps, playing a comical role as an arch-villain
which sends up his reputation as a nice guy.

In October 2003, Lineker announced a five million
pound 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
Ghostwriter|ghost-written by a journalist at the
Sunday Telegraph.

start box
succession box|title=FWA Footballer of the
Year|Football Writers' Association Footballer of
the Year|before=Neville Southall |after=Clive
Allen|years=1986
succession box|title=PFA Players' Player of the
Year|before=Peter Reid |after=Clive
Allen|years=1986
succession box|title=FWA Footballer of the
Year|Football Writers' Association Footballer of
the Year|before=Gordon Strachan |after=Chris
Waddle|years=1992
end box