Weight : - - kgs
Gary Lineker - the man who should have taken the place as record goal-scorer for England, left the game with a reputation as a nice guy, never having been booked in his whole career and had a sparkling few seasons for Spurs, in which he won his only domestic trophy.
Lineker studied at Caldecote Junior School and then City of Leicester School in Leicester, going on to represent City of Leicester Boys and the Leicester Schools side at football. He was also a keen cricketer and could have made a career in that game, but football had a stronger draw for him. He only got four O Levels when he left school.
Played with Leicester City youngsters Mick Duffy and Neil Grewcock in a local Sunday League side - Aylestone Park.
Helped out on the family grocer's stall on Leicester market for many years.
For England he came good in the 1986 World Cup, when he finished top scorer winning the Golden Boot, which brought him to the attention of Barcelona, where he joined English manager Terry Venables at the Nou Camp.
Leaving Spurs at the end of the 1991-1992 season, Gary moved to Japan to join Grampus Eight of Nagoya, where he signed for a two year deal worth £2 million. His move to Japan coincided with his young son George's Leukaemia diagnosis.
In 1994, he left the game and moved into the media, where he was a team captain on the sports panel game "They Think It's All Over" and eventually took over the lead presenter's role on BBC TV's "Match of the Day". He also became the face of BBC golf and established himself as a likeable front man for sports programmes.
In 2008, he lived in a £2.6 million five-bedroom house in Sunningdale, Surrey and having divorced his wife Michelle (nee Cockayne) in August 2006 (having married in 1996 and having four sons - George, Harry, Tobias and Angus), he was in a relationship with model Danielle Bux, who he married in 2009. His son Tobias was with the Chelsea Academy in 2009.
Lineker has been the face of Walkers Crisps (the company based in his hometown) and had a flavour named after him ... Salt 'n' Lineker.
Younger brother Wayne was involved in a fraud case, which saw him jailed in 2008.
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Career Record
| Club | Signed | Fee | Debut | Apps | Goals |
| Leicester City | 1978 | ?? | 1st January 1979 v Oldham Athletic ((Div. 2) (home) won 2-0 | ?? | ?? |
| Everton | 1985 | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? |
| Barcelona (Spain) | 1986 | ?? | ?? | 103 | 43 |
| TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR | 14th June 1989 | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? |
| Nagoya Grampus Eight (Japan) | 1992 | ?? | ?? | 23 | 9 |
Honours
England international
80 full caps; 48 goals
Under-21 caps; goals
European Cup Winners Cup winners medal 1988-89 (Barcelona)
FA Cup winners medal 1990-1991 (THFC)
Milestones
- appearance