Gary Lineker Young And Now: Snippets Of The Striker’s Life

A reputable and widely-respected English former footballer and current sports broadcaster, Gary Winston Lineker is one of the greatest strikers on the field. 

Apart from his amazing football skills, he has also proven to be an outspoken broadcaster till date. More about Gary Lineker young football days, his outspoken nature and shenanigans out of the field. 

Gary Lineker’s Young Football Days…

Image Source/Leicester Mercury

Gary Lineker was born on 30 November 1960 and he is about to touch his big 60 next month! He started playing football with his younger brother Wayne Lineker and subsequently, started his professional football career 42 years ago! 

Gary joined Leicester City in 1978, moved to league champions Everton, joined Barcelona and then played for Tottenham Hotspur before his final club Nagoya Grampus Eight. 

His London debut was in 1984. Remarkably, he is hailed for earning 80 caps and scoring 48 goals throughout his international career of eight years. Moving on to his FIFA World Cup achievements, his performance in 1986 World Cup earned him the Golden Boot. He scored six goals and became the tournament’s top scorer. Amazingly, Gary is the first Englishman to have received the Golden Boot! 

Meanwhile, in the 1990 World Cup, he scored four goals and brought England to the semi-finals.

His Amazing Achievements As A Footballer 

Gary has played to his strengths and brought fame to the clubs he played for and England. Impressively, here are some of his achievements that are still awe-inspiring. 

1. He is the only player who has been the top scorer in England with three clubs namely: Leicester City, Everton and Tottenham Spur. 
2. Surprisingly, he never received a yellow or red card throughout his playing career of 16 years. Consequently, he received the FIFA Fair Play Award in 1990. 
3. He scored a total of 330 goals in 567 competitive games in the 16 years of his career. 
4. He retired in 1994 and was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame. 

Gary’s Venture Into Media…

After football, Gary joined BBC as a football pundit and as anchorman for football coverage. He also worked as a columnist for The Mail on Sunday starting May 2010, anchor for Al Jazeera Sport, and many other sports programmes. He is currently hosting BBC’s Match Of The Day. 

Throughout his media career, he is known to be outspoken during interviews and in social media platforms. 

He had spoken about Brexit and Donald Trump which had stirred some controversies. Apparently, there had been rumours that he was asked to stop political tweeting since he works for the BBC. But, Gary denied the rumours saying, 

“I think the BBC trusts me. I know where the land lies – you can’t hold the BBC in disrepute.”

Recently, he had a Twitter feud with Good Morning Britain’s Piers Morgan (his co-host is Susanna Reid) about who is the better footballer. Gary supported Lionel Messi while Piers supported Cristiano Ronaldo. 

Piers Morgan tweeted a video with the caption, 

“BOOOM! This is why Ronaldo is the GOAT. Messi can’t do this.”

Gary’s response, 

“Fabulous goal, breathtaking footballer, but you really should start watching football before making silly statements.”

So, This Is How He Handles Tabloid Gossips About His Life

Image Source/Daily Mirror

“There are a lot of positives to fame, or whatever you want to call it. But there are a few downsides, and the intrusion can be one.

“I understand the interest, but for me it’s when something’s fabricated, or completely false. Then it’s kind of hurtful, and not fair. That’s where Twitter’s been great. I still do occasionally sue – I’ve just had a successful lawsuit against the Mail. But that’s a long, drawn-out process, extremely expensive, and dangerous should you lose. 

“Whereas now, you can actually put something onto a bigger platform. You can just say: “No, this is wrong. This is a lie.” And then people will jump on your side, and it might make them think a little bit more about it.”

A Painful Period Of Gary Lineker’s Young Times…

Just two months after becoming a father to his son George, George was diagnosed with leukaemia. Apparently, the doctors told Gary that his son might not be able to make it through the night. 

Fortunately, little George fought through and came home after six to seven months of treatment. However, Gary rose through the painful period. According to him, the painful times enhanced his perspective on life. 

“I’m not stupid enough not to realise that I was having a good life and football wasn’t the most important thing in the world. But at the same time, it makes you think a little bit, of course. He was our first child as well. 

“You didn’t spend all day thinking about perspective. You just get through it. And everybody gets through it in different ways. There’s no training for dealing with that kind of situation.”

Lineker was married twice and divorced both of his wives, Michelle Cockayne and Danielle Bux.

He has four kids from his first marriage: George, Harry, Tobias, and Angus. 

The Optimistic Gary Lineker

Gary admitted that he is indeed an optimistic person and this trait has greatly helped him in his career and business. 

“I’d say I’m half-full. I’m not particularly up and down as a person. I think that helps being in my business now, and being a striker as well. It’s an important asset.”