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Daily Mirror
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Gary Lineker details unfortunate first suffered during Match of the Day farewell
The England legend brought an end to his Match of the Day career on Sunday night, having presented the BBC's flagship football show for 26 years, since replacing Des Lynam at the helm in 1999 Gary Lineker had to improvise during his final Match of the Day after he experienced an unfortunate first during his last show for the BBC, the outgoing presenter has revealed. The former England striker was always set to step down from the highlights show on Sunday, but his departure from the corporation was brought forward 12 months following a social media row. The 64-year-old held back tears during Sunday's programme and a day later he reflected on his final Match of the Day, which he had presented since 1999, and explained how he lost his script at the last moment. 'I was a bit emotional last night, but I'm fine, I'm good and thank you both for your very kind words,' Lineker said on his podcast The Rest is Football alongside Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, the pundits during his final show. 'I must say when they played the montage, obviously I knew something was coming but I didn't know what it was at all and I was struggling to keep myself, especially when I saw my boys. 'Thankfully that wasn't the last clip because I had gone at that point and I needed time to get myself together and try to get through the end of the show. 'It's weird isn't it? I've presented it for 25, 26 years and I always finish with the Premier League table and a closing line, which again I did last night. But for the first time ever because of everything that was going on, I completely lost what we call the copy, which is basically the written form of what I read out over the tables. 'That is written by the subs, it needs to be accurate obviously for all the things, you can't make any mistakes and for the first time in 26 years I couldn't find it. And it wasn't there, so I just busk. 'There were a couple of tears, I was fighting it back a bit with my closing lines, but yeah, and big thank you actually to Richard Hughes, he is the (Match of the Day) editor. Rich is brilliant, he's the best in the business and getting that montage together was a brilliant thing.' Lineker's departure from the BBC follows a row after he shared a social media post about Zionism, which featured a depiction of a rat, historically an antisemitic insult. He issued an unreserved apology over the post, as it was confirmed he would leave his presenting role at the BBC early. Lineker had planned to stay on at the BBC and present live coverage of the FA Cup and 2026 World Cup before he acknowledged it was 'best for all concerned' he exited early. Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Daily Mail
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Gary Lineker was the best football presenter around… but he was out of control and should have gone years ago, writes STEVE RIDER
Gary Lineker was given the send-off he deserved by Match of the Day on Sunday. Anyone who has spent 26 years in the same seat and has become the defining presence on a programme like that deserves to be properly acknowledged when they step aside. His actions in the last couple of weeks didn't change the tone of his farewell. But it changed the context — it was Gary leaving the BBC, rather than Gary just leaving Match of the Day. The tribute at the end on Sunday smacked of having been put together about two months ago, with the assumption that he was going to carry on as part of the BBC football team. It might have been a little bit uncomfortable for Gary and the circumstances of his exit was the elephant in the room. If I had been sitting in the chair, I'd have thought, 'Oh come on, stop this nonsense. Let's get off the air and have a glass of wine'. Gary now gets the chance to move on and be himself a bit more if he wants to have a stronger voice on issues. The first memory I have of working with him was at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992. He was acting as a roving reporter, having played for Barcelona and been able to speak Spanish. He was bewildered by the whole thing and we got the impression that this wasn't for him. But Gary got his head down and he came in and did a few shifts on Football Focus. We were able to introduce him to a studio environment and point him in the right direction. When Des Lynam moved on and Gary got the opportunity to present Match of the Day, he was accomplished enough to be able to handle it. Within the environment of football presentation, where you have your two mates alongside you, you know the subject inside out, you've got all the studio and production support, there was no better football presenter around. But if he strayed out of that environment and it was more seat-of-the-pants live presentation, that wasn't his strength and you felt a little bit uncomfortable for him. When I left the BBC in 2005, Gary was a mad keen golfer and he went to see the head of sport within about two hours of me leaving, saying, 'I want to do the Masters.' Again, the live environment didn't really suit him. The production team were minding his back and steering him through everything. He told the Golf Paper in 2015 that the R&A didn't like an ex-footballer presenting the Open, but that wasn't the case at all. I wrote a letter saying that his attack on the R&A was 'sour and misguided'. It made a big headline and we haven't spoken since, but I stand by it all. Gary was always a different member of the team. We were all jobbing journalists, but he came in with a massive reputation. He had also come in with a huge Walkers crisps deal, which was not part of anyone else's contract small print. It was a little bit disruptive, because people were asking, 'Why can't I do that?' The answer from the BBC was, 'Because Gary has arrived with that and when the contract runs out, it won't be renewed'. But of course it was —time and time again. It became one of the highest-paid endorsement contracts that any BBC presenter had ever had. It was also hard not to notice Gary was on a contract worth four times as much as anyone else. It was never justified, which even Gary acknowledged. But it gave the impression he was bulletproof. I'm very supportive of the humanitarian issues that Gary has spoken up about. We all share those concerns. But if you stray into politics and you are the face of the BBC, you've got to be very, very cautious and Gary sort of blundered around that area. You can say, 'Well, I am freelance', but he was probably the No 1 presenter on the BBC. He has his picture in the annual report, for heaven's sake! You are working for a very special organisation which has very special requirements and demands. If you feel that does not apply to you, then you are working in the wrong place. It was horrible to see that Instagram story go out and then Gary say he didn't really understand what he was sharing. You have to know. The BBC thought he would get a handle on how he was communicating and didn't want to rock the boat too much. But it then became papering over the cracks and it was never going to end well. Gary kept pushing the limitations and every time the BBC were seen to be indecisive. Even with Gary negotiating his exit and saying, 'I'll come back for the World Cup and the FA Cup', no, you can't do that. It is offensive to the other presenters. I still talk to a lot of people within the BBC and the misgivings about Gary were shared at numerous levels. Patience was running out and they eventually took the only route they could. But they should have taken it two years ago. And the initiative should have come from Gary. He should have said, 'I want to speak on issues that are going to make the BBC uncomfortable, I want to continue doing that, I will step aside'. If that had happened two years ago, there would have been so much more respect from his fellow professionals and everyone within the BBC.
The Guardian
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
From presenting in his pants to a pornography prank: Gary Lineker's finest Match of the Day moments
Regardless of the cloud he's leaving under, Gary Lineker's stint at the BBC has been historic. When he took over Match of the Day from Des Lynam in 1999, the consensus was that he had enormous shoes to fill, and yet he ended up filling them for two-and-a-half times longer than his predecessor. He departs the show as its longest-serving presenter, having managed 26 years, breaking Jimmy Hill's record by 11 years. By Match of the Day's dry standards, it has been a colourful time. Let's look at some of his highlights. Lineker is said to have pursued Lynam's vacant seat relentlessly, even going to the extent of hiring a vocal coach to help him modulate his voice. And, in retrospect, he didn't seem fully cut out for the job at first. Swamped in a succession of ridiculously baggy, almost Stop Making Sense-esque suits, you could palpably sense just how hard Lineker wanted to emulate his predecessor as he opened his first episode with a 'Did I get the job?' skit. But Lynam's loquaciousness was hard-earned. In time, however, Lineker would refine his presenting style to a high sheen. Likely the moment he'll be most remembered for, Lineker was forced to strip down to a pair of shorts after making a misjudged prediction about the success of his home team, Leicester City. In December 2015, he tweeted: 'If Leicester win the @premierleague I'll do the first MOTD of next season in just my undies.' They did, and he did, to the obvious delight of Alan Shearer and Ian Wright behind him. Whisper it, but this was perhaps the most consequential moment of Gary Lineker's entire tenure. When Covid shut down all of football, Lineker decided to start filming from his house, with guests Micah Richards and Alan Shearer. Instead of analysing the day's matches, the spin-off (entitled Match of the Day: Top 10) saw the trio talk more generally about the sport. It was successful enough to spawn a book and, later, Lineker's independently produced The Rest Is Football podcast. Lineker's podcast experiment has been so wildly successful that he quickly stopped being financially reliant on the BBC. If you take a long view, this is the moment he started to edge out of the door. Having his own empire gave Lineker the confidence to start speaking his mind more regularly. The first case in point was his opening monologue to the 2022 Qatar World Cup, in which he succinctly but pointedly laid out all the human rights abuses that had occurred in the host country, and quickly put FIFA under pressure for allowing it to happen. It made for unexpectedly stirring television. Less noble was the moment, during an FA Cup match between Wolves and Liverpool, when Lineker's link was interrupted by a series of deafening arduous moans. Rather than panicky, Lineker's response – a smiling apology, and an explanation that 'somebody's sending something on someone's phone, I think' – was immediate and unflappable. Lynam would be proud. Post-Covid, Lineker's outspokenness grew more pronounced. In 2023, he created a firestorm by comparing the Conservative government's language surrounding asylum seekers to 'that used by Germany in the 30s'. The press were kicked into a frenzy and called for his head. The BBC decided to take him off-air for the next episode. In solidarity, pundits like Ian Wright, Alan Shearer, Micah Richards and Jermaine Jenas refused to appear on the episode. In the end a weird compromise was struck, with the BBC showing a commentary-free compilation of highlights from that day's matches. For some, it was the best episode in years. Wright had racked up 27 years as a pundit by the time he left Match of the Day last year, citing the late nights and commute to Manchester. As such, he was given a hero's send-off by the team. A long, loving compilation of his highlights was shown, and he was handed a commemorative cap by Lineker. Wright cried. Lineker cried. Alan Shearer sort of sat there like a robot. It opened with a montage of his greatest hits as a player. Lineker's first words were 'It wasn't meant to end this way.' But after that, it was business as usual – highlights, analysis, cracks about what a cheapskate Alan Shearer is – until the last 10 minutes. There was a long VT, full of testimonials and old footage of boxy suits, that was so glowing it verged on obituary. Gazza was there. Ian Wright was there. Even Andrea Bocelli was there. When it ended, Lineker sobbed and Alan Shearer sat there like a weird robot. A perfect send-off.
Daily Mail
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Here's my plea to the BBC - don't change Match of the Day with box-ticking or wokery, writes JONATHAN McEVOY
A final farewell witticism apart, Gary Lineker is gone from our screens. Which leaves a wider question: what will become of Match of the Day as we have always known it? Jonathan Martin, head of BBC TV Sport in the Eighties and Nineties when terrestrial TV, and the BBC in particular, ruled the airwaves like an absolute monarch, raised a worrying parallel, the thrust of which is gnawing at those millions of us reared on the Saturday night highlights show. 'When the BBC removed Sue Barker to reset A Question of Sport, the programme declined and is no longer on our screens,' Martin wrote in The Times letters page. 'Now its red card for Gary Lineker, a talented presenter in the great tradition of David Coleman, Jimmy Hill and Desmond Lynam, poses a similar threat to Match of the Day, said to be reset as well.' Yes, A Question of Sport descended into a celebrity gloop of imbecility, with a lot of inane laughter at nothing remotely funny. It died unlamented, a staple of our sporting lives reunited, alas, with Grandstand and Sportsnight. Des Lynam, whose own move to ITV 26 years ago freed up the presenter's seat for Lineker, echoed his former boss's fears. 'The chairman of the BBC (Samir Shah) was quoted a few weeks ago as suggesting that Match of the Day should have more chat and less football when Lineker leaves,' said Lynam. 'That is nonsense. People only tune in to see the action. The chat is minor compared to the action. Obviously if there is a discussion point – somebody gets sent off, somebody does a harsh tackle or something – then you can discuss it for a brief time after the match. 'But to say that Match of the Day is about chat and not about action is baffling to me.' Well, surely, if Des will forgive me, it is about the amalgam of both, the action dominating with the reassuring-as-old-slippers insight of the pundits as an accompaniment. This diet is distinct from both the protracted analysis of Sky's 'main event' and the unvarnished 10-second video clip trotting across personal smartphones. That balance of football and chat is Match of the Day's USP, and an increasingly distinctive one in the incessantly diversifying broadcast landscape. One hopes the modern Beeb understands the value of its inheritance rising rather than diminishing as the world around it changes. As Lynam pointed out in his Telegraph column, Lineker was a pundit in his early broadcasting days, alongside Hill, Trevor Brooking and Alan Hansen. All were of independent mind and argued their strong views robustly. Alan Shearer, Hansen's chief successor, is in that tradition if not as naturally withering as his predecessor. He still brings the first-hand authority of the ex-international footballer of high pedigree. Who better to opine on why the striker should have peeled off to the near post a fraction earlier than he did? But new co-hosts Kelly Cates, Mark Chapman, and Gabby Logan will look to provide continuity Shearer and Micah Richards (less guffawing, please) have indicated they will remain on the sofa beyond the Lineker era. They and their fellow ex-players, however much we like them or they grate with us, are suddenly important threads between the old and the new, which is represented by the incoming cast of revolving hosts, Mark Chapman, Kelly Cates and Gabby Logan. Nobody, even among the small 'c' conservative Saturday night audience, is opposed to innovation and judicious tinkering. But the great hope is that change for its own sake, such as box ticking and wokery, or indeed a bellyful of laddishness, is left at the studio door. As Jonathan Martin warns, A Question of Sport, with its dumbed-down crassness born of a lack of conviction in its own merits, stands as a warning for the post-Lineker future of one of the BBC's last sporting jewels.
Leader Live
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Leader Live
Gary Lineker expected to announce early BBC exit before 2026 World Cup
The 64-year-old has headed up Match Of The Day since 1999, when he took over from Des Lynam, and announced he would be stepping down from the BBC last year. BBC News reports that an announcement on Lineker's departure is expected on Monday amid reports that the BBC's bosses now considered his position 'untenable'. The Sun reported that a source said: 'It is a heartbreaking end to an extraordinary broadcasting career.' The 64-year-old's departure comes after he 'apologised unreservedly' for sharing and then deleting a post on his Instagram account from the group Palestine Lobby, illustrated with a picture of a rat, which prompted calls for him to be sacked from the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA). The former Barcelona, Tottenham and Everton striker is still expected to host his final Match Of the Day next Sunday according to The Sun, and will not play a part in the next World Cup, held in the United States, Mexico and Canada. He headed up the BBC's coverage of the FA Cup final on Saturday, which saw Crystal Palace beat Manchester City 1-0. Lineker was temporarily suspended from the BBC in March 2023 after an impartiality row over comments he made criticising the then-government's new asylum policy. He was also among 500 other high-profile figures who signed an open letter in February urging the BBC to rebroadcast a documentary, Gaza: How To Survive A War Zone, to BBC iPlayer. Last November, Lineker announced he would be stepping down from presenting Match Of The Day at the end of the season, but would still host World Cup and FA Cup coverage. The presenter has been the BBC's highest-paid on-air talent for seven consecutive years and was estimated to have earned £1.35 million in the year 2023/24, according to the corporation's annual report published in July. When he stepped down, it was reported that he was open to staying on at Match Of The Day but was not offered a new deal for the show. The Leicester-born star will be replaced by Gabby Logan, Kelly Cates and Mark Chapman, who will share the presenting role on Match Of The Day from the next Premier League season. Lineker joined the programme having started as a BBC Radio Five Live presenter, also working on Grandstand during his early years in broadcasting. The former England striker is the co-founder of Goalhanger Podcasts, makers of the popular The Rest Is History series and its spin-offs about politics, football, entertainment and money.
