Gary Lineker, who will leave Match of the Day at the end of this season, according to BBC News, has been the steady hand that has guided millions of fans through the agonies and ecstasies of football.

A host of the flagship show for 25 years, he is also one of the company’s most high-profile presenters, earning £1.3 million last year.

His one-line accolades at the end of each show, summing up both the fan mood and the match, perhaps seemed transparent.

But they were the result of years spent honing his craft and presentation skills.

As a former footballer with considerable pedigree – including England captain and striker, with 48 goals in 80 appearances – he is famous for never receiving a red or yellow card during his career.

His ability to keep his cool on the field stood him in good stead for a career in live broadcasting when he retired as a player in 1994.

Even while still at school, he had his sights set on sports journalism, deciding it would be his refuge if football didn’t work out.

This is clearly the case.

Known for his ability to find the gaps in the opposition’s defense and his “poacher’s instinct”, Lineker was a Golden Boot winner at the 1986 World Cup and England’s top scorer on three occasions, each with a different club : Leicester City, Everton. and Tottenham Hotspur.

But while his sporting career was at its peak during the 1986 and 1990 World Cup finals, Lineker spent time with journalists staying in the same hotel as the England team.

“By my 20s, I knew what direction I wanted to go after I retired,” he said. told the BBC in 2014.

“I would watch journalists write their first paragraphs, sit down with radio journalists and talk to them about how they do their jobs.”

His ultimate goal was to become a presenter rather than a commentator.

But he admitted his transition to radio and television “took a lot of work”.

His first attempts at distribution were “pretty terrible,” he says. said Ros Atkins from the BBC Media Show in 2021.

Starting on Radio 5 Live “is part of the learning process”, he said.

“I managed to get through it and learned from some really good people alongside me who were incredibly helpful to me in the beginning.”

Lineker drew on this experience, write all your own scripts and carve out a role for yourself.

After watching former sports stars David Gower present cricket and Sue Barker present tennis, he wondered why it wasn’t the same in football.

“I just thought as a player who had played at the top, if I could successfully pitch, that would give me a niche,” he said. told BBC Radio 4’s Don’t Tell Me the Score podcast in 2019.

“That would give me an advantage over everyone else.”

Meanwhile, his popularity as a footballer endures. In 1991, Arthur Smith and Chris England wrote a play called An Evening With Gary Lineker, about a couple trying to rekindle their marriage during the 1990 World Cup semi-final.

Starring Caroline Quentin, Clive Owen, Paul Merton and Martin Clunes, the film was made for television in 1994 – with Lineker making an appearance.

He also began to build his wider television career, appearing as a team captain on the BBC One comedy show They Think It’s All Over from 1995 to 2003.

As a presenter, he came to prominence when he replaced Des Lynam on the Saturday afternoon sports show, Tribune, in 1997.

In the mid-90s, Lineker also appeared on Match of the Day as a pundit.

This gave him a special place to learn – right next to his experienced and astute host Lynam.

“Des helped me a lot. I asked a lot of questions about the little things he did and I understood some of his nuances,” the former footballer said.

“He told me to be brave from time to time in the final lines and not to be afraid to try to be funny.

“Again, the little rewards I sometimes do at the end of the show are something that comes from him.”

By 1999, Lineker was hosting the show and reaching an audience that the BBC sometimes struggled to attract and retain.

People were also tuning in to see his chemistry with the show’s pundits, including other former footballers such as Alan Shearer, Ian Wright, Micah Richards and Alan Hansen.

Lineker’s questions kept the analysis flowing, while he was always willing to share his own joke and opinion.

It is also memorable presented the show in his pants in 2016, after pledging to “do next season’s first MOTD in just my underwear” if his former club Leicester won the Premier League, which they did.

Shearer and Wright couldn’t keep a straight face.

Their friendships often shone through. In June this year, Lineker and Shearer sent a moving message of support to Hansenafter learning that he was seriously ill in hospital.

But despite his relationships with his colleagues, things off-screen weren’t quite so simple.

As one of the BBC’s highest-paid presenters, regularly topping the list of staff whose salaries are declared, he is under constant scrutiny.

Lineker has not been shy about expressing his own opinions, particularly on social media, while working for a broadcaster committed to impartiality.

In March last year he published an article on the government’s asylum policy on X, leading the BBC to suspend it briefly.

Shearer, Wright and other BBC sports presenters refused to appear on air, in protest at his absence.

Match of the Day was reduced to a 20-minute edition without its host, pundits and commentary – and the story dominated headlines for several days, with politicians and media commentators all speaking out on the question.

BBC Director General Tim Davie apologized to license fee payers for the disruption, calling it a “tough day” for the company.

Lineker was reinstated nine days later.

The presenter said later the response to his tweet was “stupid – it shouldn’t have been”.

“I love the BBC. I’ve been there almost 30 years but people make mistakes, they own up to it and they deal with it and in the end, thankfully, we’re all back to work,” he said. -he declared.

The headlines and drama generated by his online opinions reinforced not only his status as a major celebrity, but also the BBC’s willingness to hang on to him.

The incident prompted a review of the BBC’s social media guidelines. Last September, new rules were published for the BBC’s flagship presenters, stipulating that they should be allowed to express their opinions on issues and policies, but refrain from running a political campaign.

Lineker said the recommendations were “all very sound.”

By February this yearhe said he used X less often, saying the platform had become “increasingly toxic” under its new owner, Elon Musk.

Despite this, he and the BBC are still parting ways and its flagship football show no longer has a host.

Lineker has many outside business interests, including the successful podcast production company he co-founded called Goalhanger.

She produces shows including The Rest Is History, The Rest Is Entertainment and The Rest Is Politics, which won the Champion award at this year’s Podcast Awards.

But for the BBC, Lineker’s departure comes just after several scandals.

Jermaine Jenas, former host of Match of the Day and The One Show, was sacked in August following complaints regarding conduct at work.

In September, the The BBC apologized to Amanda Abbington and upheld some of his complaints against his 2023 Strictly Dancing partner Giovanni Pernice while clearing him of the most serious allegations.

The same month, Mr Davie said he could no longer see disgraced former news presenter Huw Edwards working at the company again.

Edwards was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two yearsafter admitting charges of creating indecent images of children.

So the BBC needs good headlines – and Lineker’s departure means it now needs to find an exceptional presenter to replace him, which won’t be an easy task.