GARY Lineker teared up as he bid an emotional farewell to the iconic Match of the Day show following the BBC’s controversial decision to axe him.
The popular presenter thanked his co-workers and the Match of the Day staff for his 26 years presenting the show.
Tributes poured in from former legendary teammates, managers, players, colleagues and family in a heartfelt farewell montage that closed the show.
Man City boss, Pep Guardiola, told the presenter: “You won’t believe it but you will be missed!
“You have my Barcelona shirt – you can send it to me!”
Claudio Ranieri, former Leicester manager, was another to send his praises to the former Foxes player.
He said: “Well done for the amazing job you have done.
“2016, we will always remember.”
His co-hosts Alan Shearer and Micah Richards then presented a tearful Gary Lineker with a golden boot.
MOTD legend Alan Hansen also praised the outgoing presenter, saying his “sharp, intelligent” skills on the pitch carried over into the studio.
“It was a seamless journey,” he added.
During the show, the former England football captain interviewed Liverpool boss Arne Slot, who offered words of praise for the presenter.
“And thank you for being such a great host of a BBC show I’ve watched many times,” Arne Slot said.
The Liverpool manager added: “I’d like to give you a Liverpool shirt instead of the other club you played for!”
The emotional Gary Lineker bowed out of MOTD, praising the staff behind the scenes.
I’m sorry your team is always last on
Gary Lineker
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 then shared a special message with viewers, thanking them for their support and jokingly added: “I’m sorry your team is always last on!”
At the start of Match Of The Day, Gary Lineker opened by saying, “It wasn’t meant to end this way” before referencing the title race being over and Champions League qualification being all there was to focus on.
The programme opened with clips of the former footballer in action on the pitch – followed by the words “The end of an Era”.
Gary was spotted earlier looking relaxed in a checked shirt and jeans, smiling as he arrived at the studios.
The BBC online preview for tonight’s MOTD said: “The best of the action from the final day of the Premier League season presented, for the last time, by Gary Lineker.”
However, 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”.
The 64-year-old was due to cover next year’s FA Cup and World Cup but bowed out early.
It follows a controversial row over his use of social media.
The BBC have come up with a new format but tried and tested presenters to replace Gary Lineker next season.
Kelly Cates, Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan will have big shoes to fill.
The Leicester-born star, who moved seamlessly from footballer to one of the most famous presenters at the corporation, was temporarily suspended in March 2023.
He was embroiled in an impartiality row over comments he made criticising the then-government’s new asylum policy.
I would never consciously repost anything anti-Semitic
Gary Lineker
In November 2024 he announced he would be stepping down from presenting Match Of The Day at the end of the season, but would still host World Cup and FA Cup coverage.
He exited the broadcaster early after apologising for sharing and then deleting a post on his Instagram account from the group Palestine Lobby.
It was illustrated with a picture of a rat, which prompted calls for him to be sacked.
A statement from Lineker read: “I care deeply about the game, and about the work I’ve done with the BBC over many years. As I’ve said, I would never consciously repost anything anti-Semitic – it goes against everything I stand for.
“However, I recognise the error and upset that I caused, and reiterate how sorry I am. Stepping back now feels like the responsible course of action.”
After this the BBC said Lineker would leave his presenting role following the conclusion of Match Of The Day for the 2024/25 season.
The broadcaster added that he would not present its coverage of the 2026 World Cup or next season’s FA Cup.
But the ex-England captain suggested he wants to step away from traditional television when asked in an interview about his post-MOTD schedule.
Just days before announcing his exit from the BBC on Monday, Lineker told the Beyond The Title podcast: “Professionally, I’ve got a big podcast company and I think it takes up quite a bit of my time and it will probably take up a bit more now.
“It’s really exciting and it’s a lot of fun. We’re doing really well. I don’t think I’ll do much television.
‘Really proud’
“Hopefully I’ll be in a position where I can just pick and choose things I quite fancy doing. So the podcast world really I think.”
Lineker also insisted his broadcasting career has made him prouder than his on-pitch heroics for teams such as Leicester, Everton, Spurs and Barcelona.
He added: “I’m actually probably a bit more proud of what I’ve done in broadcasting than possibly football because I always said I was born to be in the box, not on the box.
“I had to work really hard at television.
“ I had to work hard at football but it came naturally, whereas television didn’t come naturally.
“It took a lot of hard work and effort and determination and studying and stuff of other people and how they do it.
“Eventually I got there. Probably I’m proudest of the fact I made it to the top in broadcasting.”
Leicester fan Lineker runs production company Goalhanger Podcasts which is behind hit series The Rest Is Football with Alan Shearer and Micah Richards.
How Gary Lineker became the BBC’s highest paid star
Gary Lineker has hosted Match Of The Day for more than 25 years but will leave the role earlier than expected following a row over his use of social media.
The Leicester-born star, who moved seamlessly from footballer to one of the most famous and highly-paid presenters at the corporation, began his career at Leicester City, the club he had supported since childhood, in 1978.
The 64-year-old striker scored 103 goals for the Foxes in all competitions before signing with Everton for £800,000 in 1985.
He scored 40 goals in 57 games for the Toffees in his only season with the Liverpool-based side, before his six goals for England at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico won him the competition’s golden boot award and attracted the attention of Spanish football giants Barcelona.
Moving to the Catalan side in 1986, Lineker went on to become the highest scoring British player in La Liga, Spain’s highest football division, under English manager Terry Venables.
His record 42 goals was only beaten by Welsh winger Gareth Bale in 2016.
Lineker spent three years in Spain before moving to Tottenham Hotspur in July 1989 for £1.1 million.
He played a part in England’s run to the semi-finals of the 1990 World Cup in Italy, which resulted in a defeat on penalties against West Germany.
After the match, Lineker, who captained the Lions from 1990 to 1992, coined the phrase: “Football is a simple game: 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans win.”
He won the 1991 FA Cup final with Spurs, beating Nottingham Forest 2-1 despite having a goal controversially disallowed for offside and Forest goalkeeper Mark Crossley saving a penalty.
In 1992, Lineker became the first English footballer to play in Japan’s highest division, the J League, when he joined Nagoya Grampus Eight for £2 million.
He retired after an injury-hit two-year spell at the club which saw him play just 23 times.
Throughout his career Lineker was renowned for never receiving a yellow or red card booking from the referee.
Following his retirement, Lineker joined BBC Radio 5 Live as a football pundit before becoming a team captain on the sports game show They Think It’s All Over from 1995 to 2003.
In 1997 he took over as host of Grandstand when then-presenter Desmond Lynam was at Aintree for the Grand National which was abandoned due to a bomb alert.
He replaced Lynam as presenter of the BBC’s flagship football highlights programme Match Of The Day in 1999, when Lynam defected to rival ITV.
Lineker would later become the corporation’s highest-paid presenter, with the BBC’s annual report for 2023/24 showing his salary to be to around £1.35 million a year.
He was temporarily suspended from the BBC in March 2023 after an impartiality row over comments he made criticising the then-government’s new asylum policy.
In November 2024 he announced he would be stepping down from presenting Match Of The Day at the end of the season, but would still host World Cup and FA Cup coverage.
He exited the broadcaster early, however, after apologising for sharing and then deleting a post on his Instagram account from the group Palestine Lobby, illustrated with a picture of a rat, which prompted calls for him to be sacked from the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA).
After this the BBC said Lineker would leave his presenting role following the conclusion of Match Of The Day for the 2024/25 season and added that he would not present its coverage of the 2026 World Cup or next season’s FA Cup.
Gabby Logan, Kelly Cates and Mark Chapman will share the presenting role on the football show from the next Premier League season.
The former England striker is also the co-founder of Goalhanger Podcasts, makers of the popular The Rest Is History series and its spin-offs about politics, football, entertainment and money.
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