Biography for
Gary Lineker More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

30 November 1960, Leicester, Leicestershire, England, UK

Birth Name

Gary Winston Lineker

Height

5' 9¾" (1.77 m)

Mini Biography

Gary Lineker was English football's top striker in the 1980s and the early 1990s. A unique blend of skill, intelligence and CHARM, people knew that when he was alone with only the goalkeeper to stop him, there would either be a penalty or a goal. At the same time, being as venemous as always up front, he was an extreme professional, who never lost his temper. During his 14 year long professional career, Gary Lineker was never cautioned, let alone sent off! Very, very few footballers have achieved this. He achieved stardom with Everton, after initially playing for Leicester. He then had spells with FC Barcelona and other big clubs before returning to Tottenham for the final years on top of football. After this, he played two years in Japan for Nagoya Grampus Eight before a foot injury finished his career and he returned to England, to become a TV commentary and presenter for the BBC. Through all these years, he was England's man up front, saving them more than once during the big matches. He has captained them for a few years too. An example of his value: when England was trailing 1-2 to Cameroon in thew 1990 WC. Lineker produced two penalties by his dazzling runs, and scored from both, securing England's 3-2 victory. In the next match, he equalised for England with an extremely cold-blooded strike, when they were trailing 1-0 to West Germany in the semi final. In the 1986 WC, England had a lousy 1 point from the first two matches against Portugal and Morocco. Lineker's hat-trick saw England win 3-0 against Poland, and on England went into the quarter finals, where they beat Paraguay 3-0 as well, before crashing out to Argentina, thanks to one holy hand and a world-class 8-players-and-a-goalie dribblemania goal of Diego Maradona. Guess who scored England's only goal of the match ...

IMDb Mini Biography By: Christian Jahnsen

Spouse

Danielle Bux	(1 September 2009 - present)
Michelle Lineker	(July 1986 - 1 August 2006) (divorced) 4 children

Trivia

Children are George, Harry, Tobias (Toby) and Angus.

Father owns a fruit-and-veg stall in Leicester Market.

Main presenter for Match Of The Day.

English soccer player, played for national team 1984-'92. Captain 1990-'92.

His son George underwent surgery for leukaemia in 1992, which briefly meant he had to put a hold on his footballing career.

He and Michelle are patrons for Leukaemia Busters, a fund raising organisation.

Younger brother, Wayne, ownes a number of bars, aptly called "Bar Lineker", in the Mediterranean

In the late 90s he opened the Freemans Park Odeon Cinema at his home town of Leicester. 'The Lost World Jurassic Park' was the first film to be shown.

He is the only British player to have been awarded the FIFA Golden Boot, the award for top goalscorer during a World Cup tournament. His six goals in the 1986 Mexico World Cup earned him the honour.

He played in 80 internationals.

He scored 48 goals for England, just one goal short of the record set by Bobby Charlton.

His first England hat-trick was against Turkey on 16 October 1985.

He made his England debut on 26 May 1984 against Scotland.

His first goal as an England international was against the Republic of Ireland on 26 March 1985.

Wore the number 10 shirt as a player.

FA Cup winner with Tottenham Hotspur FC (1991).

Played in Japan for Nagoya Grampus Eight.

On 21st October 2002, his first club (and home team) Leicester City went into administration. Immediately he formed a consortium of agents and former players to bid to get the club out of administration. After putting in a six-figure sum of his own money, and donations from other former players, the consortium clled 'New Fox Plc' took over the club in Feburary 2003. He left the club many years ago, but his name is still sung by fans as a mark of respect for the home-grown star.

He was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1992 Queen's New Years Honours List for his services to Association Football.

Has 2 honorary MA degrees

He is a keen amateur golfer, with a handicap of four.

He scored England's first penalty in the 1990 World Cup semi-final shootout defeat to West Germany.

Runner-up for the Premiership golden boot behind Ian wright.

His eldest two sons, George and Harry, are currently attending Charterhouse school (May 2008).

Personal Quotes

Without the agony, the ecstasy's not quite the same.

At the moment, there are three bodies running English football - the Football Association, the Premier League and the Football League. What we really need is everyone working together for the benefit of the game in this country and the development of young players. Getting that right is all down to proper coaching from an early age. The fact that academies are now controlling the footballing education of our most promising youngsters is a good thing, too. Some of the clubs - not all of them - are teaching kids the right way to play in terms of technique, possession and positioning. They are giving them a greater understanding of the game, too. We might have to wait before the work benefits the senior set-up but starting with the very young is the way England must do it. (Speaking in 2010)