Gary Lineker
Centre-Forward · Leicester City · England
About Gary Lineker
Gary Lineker is England's second-highest international goalscorer (48 goals) and the only England player to win the World Cup Golden Boot (1986, 6 goals). He played for Leicester (ENG), Everton, Barcelona (ESP), Tottenham, and Grampus Eight — and in his entire professional career never received a yellow or red card. He is now one of the UK's most prominent sports broadcasters.
Gary Lineker's story
Leicester's Son
Lineker grew up in Leicester (ENG) and joined Leicester City's youth setup. He spent seven years at his home club before Everton signed him in 1985. One year later, following his 1986 World Cup Golden Boot performance — 6 goals as England's outstanding player — Barcelona (ESP) signed him for £2.75m.
The 1986 World Cup
Mexico 1986 was Lineker's tournament. He scored 6 goals including a hat-trick against Poland in the group stage — the only hat-trick by an Englishman in a World Cup until Harry Kane's in 2018. He finished as the tournament's top scorer, winning the Golden Boot as England's best player in a team whose other performances were moderate. The Golden Boot remains his defining individual honour.
Never Carded
Lineker's clean disciplinary record — not a single yellow or red card in his entire professional career — is extraordinary for a top-level striker who played in physical leagues across England, Spain, and Japan. He later joked: "It was a personal rule. I didn't want to waste the referee's time."
Did you know?
- 🟡 He never received a single yellow or red card in his entire professional career — playing in England, Spain, and Japan across 16 seasons. A record that will likely never be equalled by a top-level striker.
- 🥇 He is the only England player to have won the World Cup Golden Boot — scoring 6 goals in Mexico 1986 including a hat-trick against Poland.
- 👨👩👧👦 Married Michelle Cockayne in 2009, divorcing in 2020; they have four sons. He settled in London and became one of football's most recognisable media personalities.
- 🇯🇵 He joined Nagoya Grampus Eight in Japan in 1992 — one of the first established European players to move to the J-League, helping bring international credibility to Japanese football.
- 📊 His 48 England goals make him England's second-highest international scorer of all time, behind Wayne Rooney (53). He scored in six consecutive international tournaments.
- 🏟️ A statue of Lineker stands outside King Power Stadium in Leicester — the city where he grew up and where his family still run a market stall.
- 🌟 Johan Cruyff signed him for Barcelona in 1986 and said: "Lineker has only one job — to score goals. He does that job better than almost anyone in the world. I don't ask him to do anything else."
- 💪 His pace — his most dangerous weapon — was exceptional for a player of the 1980s: he was consistently timed as one of the fastest players over 30 metres in any European league.
- 🍎 He has been a prominent advocate for healthy eating and sports nutrition — including a long association with Walkers Crisps, for whom he ironically became the most recognisable advertising face in the UK.
Honours
- World Cup Golden Boot: 1986 Mexico — 6 goals
- Copa del Rey: Barcelona (1988)
- FA Cup: Tottenham (1991)
- Cup Winners Cup: Barcelona (1989)
- Football Writers' Player of the Year: 1992
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