Editing Gary Lineker (section)

===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>