Editing Gary Lineker (section)

===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}}