Chas Newkey-Burden

Gary Lineker isn’t the only quiet man of football to find his voice

Gary Lineker (Credit: Getty images)

Sometimes it’s the quiet ones you have to watch out for. Gary Lineker, who presented his final Match of the Day last night, has been an endlessly controversial figure over the past ten years. Lineker has hit the headlines with sassy thoughts on everything from asylum seekers to trans rights and Gaza, so it’s easy to forget what a different personality he was as a player.

Lineker back then was all about shy, boyish smiles

Back in the 1980s and 1990s, Lineker was a football superstar. He scored 238 goals for his clubs and netted 48 times for England, but away from the pitch he was generally as bland and middle-of-the-road as footballers came. When he was interviewed, he spoke softly and cautiously, avoiding controversy so carefully that it was hard to believe he’d even have an opinion on which day of the week it was, let alone anything remotely political or divisive.

Britain’s best politics newsletters

You get two free articles each week when you sign up to The Spectator’s emails.

Already a subscriber? Log in

Written by
Chas Newkey-Burden

Chas Newkey-Burden is co-author, with Julie Burchill, of Not In My Name: A Compendium of Modern Hypocrisy. He also wrote Running: Cheaper Than Therapy and The Runner's Code (Bloomsbury)

Topics in this article

Comments

Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.

Already a subscriber? Log in