Biography and Wiki
Gary Lineker was born on November 30, 1960, in Leicester, England. He is best known for his successful football career and his role as a sports broadcaster, particularly as the host of BBC's Match of the Day. Lineker holds the English record for most goals scored in FIFA World Cup finals play with ten goals.
| Occupation | Footballer |
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| Date of Birth | 30 November 1960 |
| Age | 64 Years |
| Birth Place | Leicester, England |
| Horoscope | Sagittarius |
| Country | England |
Height, Weight & Measurements
While specific measurements are not widely reported, Lineker's physical stature was a significant factor in his football career. During his playing days, he was known for his speed and agility.
| Height | 1.77 m |
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Dating & Relationship Status
Gary Lineker has been married twice, first to Michelle Cockayne from 1986 to 2006, and then to Danielle Bux from 2009 to 2016. He is currently single but has been in a relationship with his current partner, a Russian model named Natalia, though this is not widely reported or confirmed in recent media.
(Abbs) and Barry Lineker. He was given his middle name in honour of Winston Churchill, with whom he shares a birthday. He has one brother, Wayne, who is two years his junior. Lineker grew up with his family in the city, playing football with Wayne. Their father was a greengrocer, as were their grandfather William and great-grandfather George, in Leicester. Barry Lineker ran Lineker's fruit and veg stall in Leicester Market, and as a child and a young player Gary regularly helped out on the stall. Lineker, who is white, received racial abuse as a child for his dark features.
In 2006, Lineker took on an acting role as the voice of Underground Ernie on the BBC's children's channel, CBeebies. In December 2008, Lineker appeared on the ITV1 television programme Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? where he and English rugby union player Austin Healey won £50,000 for the Nicholls Spinal Injury Foundation. In 2009, Lineker and his wife Danielle hosted a series of the BBC's Northern Exposure, following on from Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen from the previous year in visiting and showcasing locations throughout Northern Ireland.
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Net Worth and Salary
Gary Lineker's net worth is estimated to be around £30 million (approximately $35 million USD), primarily accumulated from his long tenure at the BBC and various commercial ventures. In the 2023/24 BBC accounts, his salary was reported to be between £1.3 million and £1.35 million, making him the highest-paid individual at the corporation for seven consecutive years.
In the summer, the club endured a tumultuous off season that culminated in the "Hesperia Mutiny" that saw a large number of players and coaches fired after protesting pay and conditions at the club. In the aftermath Barcelona moved to sign former player for the club during their last most successful era, and current Ajax manager Johan Cruyff. The club set about rebuilding its team, retaining only a skeleton of the squad that had finished '87-88 in 6th place - including Lineker. The impact of Cruyff was immediate. Barcelona became a much more attacking side, and finished the season '88-89 season in a much improved 2nd place. However Lineker lost his favoured position at centre forward to new signing Julio Salinas, and saw himself pushed out wide right for most of the season resulting in both the lowest goal output (6) and appearances (26) in the league of Lineker's career as a starter. The club won 1989 European Cup Winners' Cup final where Lineker fared better than previous seasons, scoring four times in 8 outings.
As of July 2022, Lineker is the highest-paid BBC presenter and has been for several years; receiving payments of £1.75–1.76 million each year between 2016 and 2020, and approximately £1.35 million in 2020–21. His pay has been criticised by Julian Knight, chair of the parliamentary Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, and former BBC presenter Esther Rantzen. The BBC's Director General, Tim Davie, stated that Lineker's pay was justified "because of the value of analysis to the viewing audience".
On 28 March 2023 he won an appeal against HM Revenue and Customs over a bill that totalled £4.9 million. The authority had pursued him over taxes on income from the BBC and BT Sport from 2013–14 to 2017–18 on the grounds he was an employee of both organisations at the time. A judge ruled he was a freelancer and had contracts with both broadcasters.
Business Ventures
Lineker co-founded the podcast production company Goalhanger, which is valued at £1.9 million and has significant cash reserves. Additionally, he has had a long-standing partnership with Walkers Crisps, signing a £1.2 million deal in 2020 focused on community sports and sustainability initiatives.
Property Investments: Lineker has recently invested in two properties in Surrey worth £1.6 million, indicating his interest in property development.
Gary Winston Lineker (born 30 November 1960) is an English sports broadcaster and former professional footballer who played as a striker. Lineker is the only player to have been the top goalscorer in England with three clubs: Leicester City, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur. He also played for Barcelona in Spain, and won 80 caps for England. His media career began with the BBC, where he presented the flagship football programme Match of the Day from 1999 until 2025, the longest tenure of any MOTD presenter. Lineker was also the BBC's lead presenter for live football matches, including coverage of international tournaments such as the FIFA World Cup. He has also worked for Al Jazeera Sports, Eredivisie Live, NBC Sports Network, and BT Sport's coverage of the UEFA Champions League.
Lineker began his football career at Leicester City in 1978, and finished as the First Division's joint top goalscorer in 1984–85. He then moved to league champions Everton, where he won both the PFA Players' Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year awards in his debut season, before moving to Spanish club Barcelona, where he won the 1987–88 Copa del Rey and the 1989 European Cup Winners' Cup. He joined Tottenham Hotspur in 1989, and won his second FWA Footballer of the Year and the FA Cup, his only major trophy in English football. Lineker's final club was Nagoya Grampus Eight; he retired in 1994 after two seasons at the Japanese side.
Lineker made his England debut in 1984, earning 80 caps and scoring 48 goals over an eight-year international career, which made him England's second-highest goalscorer on his retirement. He remains England's fourth-highest scorer, behind Harry Kane, Wayne Rooney and Bobby Charlton, and his goals-to-games ratio remains one of the best for the country. His six goals in the 1986 World Cup made him the tournament's top scorer, receiving the Golden Boot, and he came second in the 1986 Ballon d'Or. Lineker was again integral to England's progress to the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup, scoring another four goals. He still holds England's record for goals in the World Cup.
Lineker never received a yellow or red card during his career, and he also never won a top-flight league title. He was honoured in 1990 with the FIFA Fair Play Award. In a senior career which spanned 16 years and 654 competitive games, Lineker scored a total of 331 goals, including 283 goals at club level. After his retirement from football he was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame. A keen supporter of Leicester City, he led a consortium in 2002 that invested in his old club, saving it from bankruptcy, and was appointed honorary vice-president.
Lineker began his career at his hometown club Leicester City after leaving school in 1977, turning professional in the 1978–79 season and making his senior debut on New Year's Day 1979 in a 2–0 win at Filbert Street over Oldham Athletic in the Second Division. He earned a Second Division title medal a year later with 19 appearances, but played just nine league games in 1980–81 as Leicester went straight back down.
Lineker became a regular player in 1981–82, scoring 19 goals in all competitions that season. Although Leicester missed out on promotion, they reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup, and clinched promotion a year later as Lineker scored 26 times in the Second Division. In 1983–84, he enjoyed regular First Division action for the first time and was the division's second-highest scorer with 22 goals, although Leicester finished in 15th place. He was the First Division's joint top scorer in 1984–85 with 24 goals, and was enjoying a prolific partnership with Alan Smith. By this stage he was attracting the attention of bigger clubs, and a move from Filbert Street was looking certain.
In the 1985 close season, defending league champions Everton signed Lineker for £800,000; he scored 40 goals in 57 games for his new team in the 1985–86 season. Lineker's first game for Everton happened to be away to Leicester City; at half time, he walked into the Leicester dressing room by mistake. He was again the First Division's leading goalscorer, this time with 30 goals (including three hat-tricks), and helped Everton finish second in the league. While at Everton, they reached the FA Cup final for the third consecutive year but lost 3–1 to Liverpool, despite Lineker giving them an early lead when he outpaced Alan Hansen to score. Liverpool had also pipped Everton to the title by just two points. "I was only on Merseyside a short time, nine or 10 months in total really, but it was still a happy time personally, while professionally it was one of the most successful periods of my career", he says. "I still have an affinity towards Everton."
As the season came to an end, Barcelona was seeking to raise much needed funds for Cruyff and to free up the "foreigner" spot in the squad to continue his rebuilding project at the club, while Lineker was desperate to find first team opportunities in his favoured position.
Having scored nine goals in 23 appearances over two injury-impacted seasons for Nagoya Grampus Eight, he announced his retirement from playing in September 1994. The English national media had previously reported that he would be returning to England to complete his playing career at Middlesbrough or Southampton.
Following retirement from professional football, Lineker developed a career in the media, initially on the BBC for Radio 5 Live and as a football pundit. He appeared as a team captain on the sports game show They Think It's All Over from 1995 to 2003. He also presented Grandstand in the London studio while presenter Des Lynam was in Aintree when the Grand National was abandoned because of a bomb alert at the racecourse in 1997. In 1999, he replaced Lynam as the BBC's lead presenter for football coverage, including its flagship football television programme Match of the Day, becoming BBC Sport's highest paid presenter. Following the departure of Steve Rider from the BBC in 2005, Lineker, who is a keen recreational golfer with a handicap of four, became the new presenter for the corporation's golf coverage. Despite receiving some criticism from his peers, he continued to front the BBC's coverage of the Masters and The Open.
Lineker has appeared in television advertisements for the Leicester-based snack company Walkers. Originally signing a £200,000 deal in 1994, his first advertisement was 1995's "Welcome Home" (Lineker had recently returned to England having played in Japan). Walkers temporarily named their salt and vinegar crisps after Lineker, labelling them 'Salt & Lineker', in the late 1990s. In 2000, Lineker's Walkers advertisements were ranked ninth in Channel 4's poll of The 100 Greatest TV Ads.
In November 2017, Lineker was named in the Paradise Papers in connection with a tax avoidance scheme relating to property owned in Barbados and a company set up in the British Virgin Islands.
Social Network
Gary Lineker is active on social media platforms, where he engages with fans and shares his opinions on football and other topics. His presence on Twitter is particularly notable, where he often expresses his views on sports and current events.
In March 2023, Lineker was required to step back from presenting on the BBC for three days due to a controversy over his criticism of the British government's immigration policy on Twitter.
On 11 November 2024, it was announced that Lineker would be stepping down from presenting Match of the Day following the conclusion of the 2024–25 Premier League season in May 2025. Having been previously announced as leaving the BBC after covering the 2025–26 FA Cup and the 2026 World Cup, in May 2025 it was announced that Lineker would leave the BBC completely at the end of the season following further controversy regarding his usage of social media, including sharing a post about Zionism that included an illustration of a rat, historically used as an antisemitic insult. He presented his final Match of the Day on 25 May 2025.
Lineker has made a number of cameo appearances in TV shows and movies, such as the 2002 film Bend It Like Beckham, the 2014 BBC TV film Marvellous, and a number of appearances in the Apple TV+ football comedy TV series Ted Lasso. In 2013, Lineker participated in the genealogical programme Who Do You Think You Are? during which he discovered an ancestor who was a poacher, and another who was a legal clerk. In 2021, Lineker started hosting the ITV game show Sitting on a Fortune.
In May 2014, Lineker established his own production company Goalhanger Films Ltd. with former ITV Controller Tony Pastor. During the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Lineker presented several short videos produced by Goalhanger Films on YouTube with the title Blahzil. In May 2015, the company produced a 60-minute-long documentary presented by Lineker titled Gary Lineker on the Road to FA Cup Glory for the BBC.
In 1985, Lineker was best man at snooker player Willie Thorne's wedding and their close friendship was the subject of the VHS production, Best of Friends – The Official Story of Gary Lineker & Willie Thorne.
Lineker has been noted for political views which he shares on Twitter. In December 2016, he was described by Angus Harrison of Vice News as "the British Left's Loudest Voice" for being "both staunchly liberal and resolutely unafraid of making his views known". Using a football analogy, Lineker defined his ideological position as "I make more runs to the left than the right, but never felt comfortable on the wing". After the 2017 United Kingdom general election, in which Theresa May led the Conservatives and Jeremy Corbyn led Labour, Lineker wrote "Anyone else feel politically homeless? Everything seems far right or way left. Something sensibly centrist might appeal?"
In December 2018, Lineker was criticised by the BBC's cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew for expressing his political views on Twitter. Agnew said, "You are the face of BBC Sport. Please observe BBC editorial guidelines and keep your political views, whatever they are and whatever the subject, to yourself. I'd be sacked if I followed your example." A BBC spokesperson said, "Gary is not involved in any news or political output for the BBC and as such, any expression of his personal political views does not affect the BBC's impartiality."
In October 2022, a complaint about a tweet from Lineker that referred to donations to the Conservative Party was upheld by the BBC, on the grounds that it breached social media use guidelines and failed to meet editorial standards of impartiality. During the 2022 World Cup, Qatari lawyer Hassan Al-Thawadi criticised Lineker for covering human rights violations in Qatar by stating that he did not talk about such issues with other host countries. In response, Lineker countered on The News Agents podcast that he covered issues in other host countries, and characterised the United States, one of the countries co-hosting the 2026 World Cup, as an "extraordinarily racist country". His statements on the United States were criticised by Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan in January 2023, who said they were "very derogatory questionable comments".
In March 2023, Lineker criticised the British government's asylum policy via Twitter. Commenting on a video message by the Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, about stopping migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats, he said the message was "beyond awful" and called the government's policy "an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s". The comments received condemnation from some Conservative politicians, including Braverman herself, and a spokesperson for Labour leader Keir Starmer said comparisons with 1930s Germany "aren't always the best way" to make an argument. Lineker received support from other political figures, including Baron Dubs, Alastair Campbell, and Angela Rayner. A BBC source said the corporation was taking the matter "seriously" and expected to have a "frank conversation" with Lineker. The BBC's culture and media editor Katie Razzall wrote, "As the UK's most scrutinised media organisation in increasingly polarised times, to say Gary Lineker's recent tweets cause difficulty for the BBC is an understatement." Lineker said he stood by his comments and did not fear suspension from his BBC work.
On 10 March, the BBC said Lineker would step back from his job on Match of the Day because it considered "his recent social media activity to be a breach of our guidelines". It added it had "decided Lineker will not present Match of the Day until there's an agreed and clear position on his use of social media". Lineker's BBC Sport colleagues Ian Wright, Alan Shearer, Steve Wilson, Conor McNamara, Robyn Cowen, Steven Wyeth, Alex Scott, Jason Mohammad, Mark Chapman, Jermaine Jenas, Dion Dublin and Jermain Defoe all pulled out of their respective roles in BBC programmes in the next hours in solidarity with him. As a result, the broadcaster was forced to reduce its sports-related schedules for 11 and 12 March, with Match of the Day going ahead without any hosts or studio presentation, thus featuring only match footage. It also affected the BBC World Service's English-language programme Sportsworld, which was not aired on that day and was instead replaced with alternative programming. The BBC and Lineker issued coordinated statements on 13 March. Lineker's suspension was ended and the BBC announced it would initiate an independent review of its social media guidelines and how they apply to freelancers outside news. The BBC's director-general, Tim Davie, stated that Lineker had agreed to abide by the corporation's editorial guidelines until the review into them has been completed.
Since the controversy, Lineker has continued to use Twitter to comment on political issues. On 21 November 2023, he tweeted: "Worth 13 minutes of anyone's time." The tweet was accompanied by a link to an interview between Owen Jones and Raz Segal, in which Segal stated that Israel's actions in the Gaza war were "a textbook case of genocide". Lineker's tweet was interpreted by some to be an endorsement of Segal's views.
Education
Although specific details about Lineker's formal education are not widely discussed, he attended Beauchamp College in Oadby, Leicester, before pursuing his football career.
Lineker first attended Caldecote Road School (Caldecote Juniors), Braunstone in Leicester (east of the Meridian Centre). He then went to the City of Leicester Boys' Grammar School (now City of Leicester College) on Downing Drive in Evington, owing to his preference for football rather than rugby, which was the main sport of most schools near his home. Lineker was equally talented at both football and cricket. From the ages of 11 to 16 he captained the Leicestershire Schools cricket team, and had felt that he had a higher chance of succeeding at it rather than football. He later stated on They Think It's All Over that as a teenager he idolised former England captain David Gower, who was playing for Leicestershire at the time. During his youth he played for Aylestone Park Youth, later becoming the club's president.
Lineker left school with four O Levels. One of his teachers wrote on his report card that he "concentrates too much on football" and that he would "never make a living at that". He then joined the youth academy at Leicester City in 1976.
