Editing Gary Lineker (section)

==Club career==
===Leicester City===
Lineker began his career at his hometown club Leicester City after leaving school in 1977, turning professional in the [[1978–79 in English football|1978–79]] season and making his senior debut on New Year's Day 1979 in a 2–0 win at [[Filbert Street]] over [[Oldham Athletic A.F.C.|Oldham Athletic]] in the [[Football League Second Division|Second Division]]. He earned a Second Division title medal a year later with 19 appearances, but played just nine league games in [[1980–81 in English football|1980–81]] as Leicester went straight back down.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

Lineker became a regular player in [[1981–82 in English football|1981–82]], scoring 19 goals in all competitions that season. Although Leicester missed out on promotion, they reached the semi-finals of the [[FA Cup]], and clinched promotion a year later as Lineker scored 26 times in the Second Division. In [[1983–84 in English football|1983–84]], he enjoyed regular First Division action for the first time and was the division's second-highest scorer with 22 goals, although Leicester finished in 15th place. He was the First Division's joint top scorer in [[1984–85 in English football|1984–85]] with 24 goals, and was enjoying a prolific partnership with [[Alan Smith (footballer, born 1962)|Alan Smith]]. By this stage he was attracting the attention of bigger clubs, and a move from Filbert Street was looking certain.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

===Everton===
In the 1985 close season, defending league champions [[Everton F.C.|Everton]] signed Lineker for £800,000; he scored 40 goals in 57 games for his new team in the [[1985–86 in English football|1985–86]] season. Lineker's first game for Everton happened to be away to Leicester City; at half time, he walked into the Leicester dressing room by mistake.<ref>{{cite news |title=Match of Their Day: Phil Neville picks his classic games |url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/52561522 |publisher=[[BBC Sport]] |date=10 May 2020 |access-date=12 May 2020 |language=en-GB}}</ref> He was again the First Division's leading goalscorer, this time with 30 goals (including three hat-tricks), and helped Everton finish second in the league. While at Everton, they reached the [[FA Cup]] final for the third consecutive year but lost 3–1 to [[Liverpool F.C.|Liverpool]], despite Lineker giving them an early lead when he outpaced [[Alan Hansen]] to score. Liverpool had also pipped Everton to the title by just two points. "I was only on Merseyside a short time, nine or 10 months in total really, but it was still a happy time personally, while professionally it was one of the most successful periods of my career", he says. "I still have an affinity towards Everton."<ref name="echo">{{cite web |title=Gary Lineker: Everton were the best team I ever played for |url=https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/gary-lineker-everton-were-best-3464406 |website=Liverpool Echo |access-date=17 April 2023 |date=11 December 2008}}</ref>

Lineker scored three [[hat-tricks]] for Everton; at home to [[Birmingham City F.C.|Birmingham City]] in a 4–1 league win on 31 August 1985, at home to [[Manchester City F.C.|Manchester City]] in a 4–0 win on 11 February 1986, and then in the penultimate league game of the season on 3 May 1986, when they kept their title hopes alive with a 6–1 home win over [[Southampton F.C.|Southampton]]. On his final league appearance, he scored twice in a 3–1 home win over [[West Ham United F.C.|West Ham United]] whose own title hopes had just disappeared. Lineker and his colleagues were denied title glory as Liverpool also won their final league game of the season at Chelsea.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.evertonresults.com/198586.htm|title=Everton Results|website=www.evertonresults.com}}</ref> Lineker has said since retiring from football that this Everton team was the best club side he ever played in.<ref name="echo"/>

===Barcelona===
After winning the [[World Cup Golden Boot|Golden Boot]] at the [[1986 FIFA World Cup|1986 World Cup]] in Mexico there were many courters for Lineker across Europe. Barcelona at the time were managed by fellow Englishman [[Terry Venables]], who had arrived in 1984, and who had already brought in [[Scotland national football team|Scottish]] striker [[Steve Archibald]] to great effect, and was to also bring in [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]] and [[Wales national football team|Wales]] striker [[Mark Hughes]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thesefootballtimes.co/2016/01/12/nunez-maradona-and-venables-the-barcelona-years/|title=Nunez, Maradona and Venables: the Barcelona years|date=12 January 2016}}</ref> Lineker was signed by [[FC Barcelona|Barcelona]] for £2.8&nbsp;million.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/gary-lineker-everton-inside-story-17986564|title=Gary Lineker, Everton and the inside story of his £2.8m move|first=David|last=Prentice|date=26 March 2020|work=Liverpool Echo}}</ref> Barcelona would give Lineker his first chance of European football, as Leicester had never qualified for Europe while he played for them, and Everton were denied a place in the [[European Cup]] for 1985–86 due to the ban on English clubs in European competitions following the [[Heysel disaster]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=English football clubs banned from Europe {{!}} June 2, 1985 |url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/english-football-clubs-banned-from-europe |access-date=2024-06-02 |website=HISTORY|date=16 November 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ap |date=1985-06-03 |title=ENGLISH SOCCER CLUBS ARE BANNED FROM EUROPEAN PLAY INDEFINITELY |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/06/03/world/english-soccer-clubs-are-banned-from-european-play-indefinitely.html |access-date=2024-06-02 |work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2024-02-25 |title=European Football Union Bans English Soccer Teams |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1985/06/03/european-football-union-bans-english-soccer-teams/04959dae-2e33-4962-984c-e197b98d9601/ |access-date=2024-06-02 |newspaper=Washington Post|issn=0190-8286}}</ref>

Barcelona had won the [[1984–85 La Liga|'84-85 La Liga title]] in Venables first season at the club, and the [[1986 Copa de la Liga]] the following season but had lost 2 other finals, so there was great anticipation of success at the [[Camp Nou]] for Lineker.  He made his Barcelona debut against [[Racing de Santander|Racing Santander]], scoring twice.<ref name="Tremlett2008">{{cite book|author=Giles Tremlett|title=Ghosts of Spain: Travels Through a Country's Hidden Past|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nt5pkqkSsiEC&pg=PT228|date=2 October 2008|publisher=Faber & Faber|isbn=978-0-571-24790-5|pages=228–}}</ref> Barcelona led the league for much of the [[1986–87 FC Barcelona season|'86-87 season]], until a pair of losses against Real Zaragoza and Sporting Gijon gave advantage to Real Madrid. Two further losses to the same team cemented Barcelona's second place finish. Lineker ultimately had scored 20 goals in 40 league games during his first season, including a [[hat-trick]] in a 3–2 win over archrivals [[Real Madrid C.F.|Real Madrid]] to make him somewhat of a cult hero.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.talkfootball.co.uk/guides/football_legends_gary_lineker.html|title=Gary Lineker|access-date=9 March 2008|publisher=Talk Football}}</ref> However the club had crashed out of the Copa del Rey at the first hurdle, and suffered a shock defeat to [[Dundee United]] in the [[1987 UEFA Cup final|'87 UEFA Cup]] where Lineker hadn't scored any goals in 8 appearances.

For the [[1987–88 FC Barcelona season|'87-88 season]] hopes were still high for the club, but following three back to back losses at the start of the season Terry Venables was fired and [[Luis Aragonés]] brought in to replace him as manager. Linekers form remained strong, and he helped the club recover some form and scored a double against Real Madrid in a 4-1 win in the December, but he finished the season with only 16 goals in 35 league games as the club finished 6th, however he had contributed a little more to the cup efforts as the club won the [[1988 Copa del Rey final|1988 Copa del Rey]], but failed again at the Quarter Finals of the UEFA Cup.

In the summer, the club endured a tumultuous off season that culminated in the "[[Josep Lluís Núñez#Hesperia Mutiny|Hesperia Mutiny]]" that saw a large number of players and coaches fired after protesting pay and conditions at the club.<ref name="Hesperia">{{cite web | last=Contributors | first=Guest | title=The 1988 Motín del Hesperia: can Barcelona now learn from it? | website=Barca Universal | date=2020-09-02 | url=https://barcauniversal.com/the-1988-motin-del-hesperia-can-barcelona-now-learn-from-it/ | access-date=2025-04-04}}</ref> In the aftermath Barcelona moved to sign former player for the club during their last most successful era, and current Ajax manager [[Johan Cruyff]]. The club set about rebuilding its team, retaining only a skeleton of the squad that had finished '87-88 in 6th place - including Lineker. The impact of Cruyff was immediate. Barcelona became a much more attacking side, and finished the season [[1988–89 FC Barcelona season|'88-89 season]] in a much improved 2nd place. However Lineker lost his favoured position at centre forward to new signing [[Julio Salinas]], and saw himself pushed out wide right for most of the season resulting in both the lowest goal output (6) and appearances (26) in the league of Lineker's career as a starter. The club won [[1989 European Cup Winners' Cup final]] where Lineker fared better than previous seasons, scoring four times in 8 outings.

As the season came to an end, Barcelona was seeking to raise much needed funds for Cruyff and to free up the "foreigner" spot in the squad to continue his rebuilding project at the club, while Lineker was desperate to find first team opportunities in his favoured position.<ref name="IrishTimesCruyff">{{cite news | last=Lowe | first=Sid | title=Gary Lineker: Barcelona spell is when it dawned on me that I was good at this | newspaper=The Irish Times | date=2021-10-23 | url=https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/soccer/gary-lineker-barcelona-spell-is-when-it-dawned-on-me-that-i-was-good-at-this-1.4709165 | access-date=2025-04-04}}</ref>

With 42 goals in 103 La Liga appearances, Lineker had become the highest scoring British player in the competition's history, this was later surpassed by [[Gareth Bale]] in March 2016.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Southcombe|first=Matthew|date=20 March 2016|title=Gareth Bale breaks La Liga goalscoring record|url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/gareth-bale-becomes-top-british-11070005|access-date=1 February 2021|website=WalesOnline|language=en}}</ref>

===Tottenham Hotspur===
[[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]] manager [[Alex Ferguson]] attempted to sign Lineker to partner his ex-Barcelona teammate [[Mark Hughes]] in attack,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/gary-lineker-i-almost-joined-manchester-united-then-spurs-pulled-it|title=Gary Lineker: I almost joined Manchester United – but then Spurs pulled it off|publisher=[[FourFourTwo]]|access-date=30 November 2020|date=20 November 2015}}</ref> but Lineker instead signed for [[Tottenham Hotspur F.C.|Tottenham Hotspur]] in July 1989 for £1.1&nbsp;million. Over three seasons, he scored 67 goals in 105 league games and won the FA Cup while playing for the club. He finished as top scorer in the [[Football League First Division|First Division]] in the [[1989–90 in English football|1989–90]] season, scoring 24 goals as Spurs finished third.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

Lineker finally collected an English trophy when he won the [[1991 FA Cup final]] with Spurs, who beat [[Nottingham Forest F.C.|Nottingham Forest]] 2–1. This was despite Lineker having a goal controversially disallowed for offside and also having a penalty saved by goalkeeper [[Mark Crossley]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/archive/E-ON-Great-Saves-1991-FA-Cup-final-special-Totttenham-2-1-Nottingham-Forest-unseen-pictures-of-Mark-Crossley-Gary-Lineker-Brian-Clough-and-co-plus-original-Daily-Mirror-match-reports-and-features-from-our-archive-article321299.html|title=E.ON Great Saves No.6: Mark Crossley|publisher=Mirror Football|access-date=1 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307134941/http://www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/archive/E-ON-Great-Saves-1991-FA-Cup-final-special-Totttenham-2-1-Nottingham-Forest-unseen-pictures-of-Mark-Crossley-Gary-Lineker-Brian-Clough-and-co-plus-original-Daily-Mirror-match-reports-and-features-from-our-archive-article321299.html|archive-date=7 March 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> Lineker had contributed to Tottenham's run to the final. In the semi-final he scored twice in a 3–1 win over [[North London derby|North London rivals]] [[Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/821636-tottenham-v-arsenal-top-five-north-london-derbies |title=Tottenham v Arsenal: Top five North London derbies |work=[[Metro (British newspaper)|Metro]]|date=14 April 2010 |access-date=29 May 2011}}</ref>

Lineker was the top division's second-highest goalscorer in [[1991–92 in English football|1991–92]] with 28 goals from 35 games, behind [[Ian Wright]], who scored 29 times in 42 games. Despite Lineker's personal performance, Tottenham finished this final pre-[[Premier League]] season in 15th place. His last goal in English football came on the last day of the season in a 3–1 defeat to Manchester United at [[Old Trafford]].{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

===Nagoya Grampus Eight===
In November 1991, Lineker accepted an offer of a two-year contract from [[J1 League]] club [[Nagoya Grampus|Nagoya Grampus Eight]]. The transfer fee paid to [[Tottenham Hotspur F.C.|Tottenham Hotspur]] was £2&nbsp;million. He officially joined Nagoya Grampus Eight after playing his final game for Spurs on 2 May 1992, when he scored the consolation goal in a 3–1 defeat by [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]] on the last day of the season.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newsint-archive.co.uk/pages/S.asp?pubsel=BOTH&SrchText=Lineker&edn=&DateFromDD=01&DateFromMM=Sep&DateFromYY=1991&page=&SortOrder=Asc&SortOrder=asc&SortOrder=asc&SortOrder=asc&SortSpec=&DateToDD=30&DateToMM=Nov&ResultListMax=200&Submit1=Search&source=thetimes&DateToYY=1991&byline=&head=&Collection=NI%C2%A7%3D&Caption=&SortField=SDate&SortField=Pub&SortField=EDN&SortField=Page&ST=NS&Site=ALL&ResultCount=20&BackDD=Day&summreqd=yes&QueryText=%28Lineker%29+%3CAND%3E+%28PUB%3DBOTH%29+%3CAND%3E+%28%28SDate%3E%3D9%2F1%2F1991%29+%3CAND%3E+%28SDate%3C%3D11%2F30%2F1991%29%29&BackMM=Month&indexkey=3D12283075330327469E230&advsrch=0&BackYY=Year&_P=5&ResultMaxDocs=200& |title=''The Times'' and ''The Sunday Times'' Archive |publisher=Newsint-archive.co.uk |access-date=29 May 2011 }}{{dead link|date=February 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Shortly before accepting the offer from Nagoya Grampus Eight, Tottenham had rejected an offer from ambitious Second Division club [[Blackburn Rovers F.C.|Blackburn Rovers]], who had recently been taken over by steel baron [[Jack Walker]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1353251/Jack-Walker.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1353251/Jack-Walker.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Jack Walker |work=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=19 August 2000 |access-date=29 May 2011}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

Having scored nine goals in 23 appearances over two injury-impacted<ref name=scmp>{{cite web|url=http://www.scmp.com/article/50591/lineker-broken-right-toe|title=Lineker: broken right toe|date=5 November 1993 }}</ref> seasons for Nagoya Grampus Eight, he announced his retirement from playing in September 1994. The English national media had previously reported that he would be returning to England to complete his playing career at [[Middlesbrough F.C.|Middlesbrough]] or [[Southampton F.C.|Southampton]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Shaw|first1=Phil|title=Football: Lineker, the predator with mass appeal: By retiring now, the striker with the wholesome image has again shown perfect timing. Phil Shaw reports|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-lineker-the-predator-with-mass-appeal-by-retiring-now-the-striker-with-the-wholesome-image-1450427.html|access-date=6 July 2016|work=The Independent|date=22 September 1994}}</ref>