GARY Lineker ended his Match of the Day career last night — as details emerged of his parting shot at his BBC boss.
The former England football captain, 64, began his final show with a quip about his telly departure
It came after he recently left colleagues in no doubt about his feelings on BBC director of sport Alex Kay-Jelski.
He was seen to snub his boss and made remarks about him which were described as “blunt”.
Once cameras began rolling on his final MOTD appearance, Gary used his opening line to aim a cheeky dig at the Beeb.
He said: “It wasn’t meant to end this way.”
The legendary striker then continued: “But with the title race over and the relegation places confirmed, the Champions League was all we had left to talk about.”
TV frontman Gary then became emotional as he said goodbye to the MOTD audience after a host of former teammates and colleagues paid tribute in a video package.
He said: “Let me thank for all the people I’ve had the pleasure of working with over the 25 years…
“Thank you for all the people on the show you don’t see.. Thank you all.
“Rather like my football career, everyone else did the hard work.”
He began his role on the highlights show in 1999 alongside Alan Hansen and Mark Lawrenson and had been due to anchor the BBC’s World Cup coverage next year.
But he took the decision to quit the corporation altogether after he was blasted for reposting a video on social media which criticised Zionism with a picture of a rat — used as an insult to Jews by the Nazis.
He has repeatedly apologised.
Co-stars and close pals Micah Richards and Alan Shearer were also seen arriving at the MediaCity studios in Salford.
Insiders said there was no love lost between Gary and his boss Alex, who took over the top job at BBC Sport from Barbara Slater last April.
A source said: “By the end of Gary’s tenure at BBC Sport he didn’t have much time for Alex.
“When he was working on the FA Cup final, just two days before he quit, Alex came over to where Gary was and he just walked off without a word.
“He made a couple of remarks about Alex in earshot of people working around them. It’s clear there’s no love lost.
“Gary is really well liked and there are plenty of people who joked that they agreed with what he said.”
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