Gary Lineker to Leave ‘Match of the Day’ After 25 Years

An undated file photo of former footballer turned BBC presenter Gary Lineker. PA

The BBC has ended its contract with Gary Lineker as presenter of its flagship football programme “Match of the Day” after 25 years, the broadcaster announced on Tuesday.

BBC News reported the 63-year-old former England star player turned TV host was not offered a new contract to front the long-running soccer show, and will step down at the end of the football season next May.

However, Lineker will front the BBC’s coverage of the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico, and Canada and will continue to present coverage of the FA Cup in 2025–26, the corporation has confirmed.

Lineker regularly tops public lists of the BBC’s highest earners but has been at the centre of a number of rows for sharing his political opinions on social media.

Speculation about his future with the publicly-funded broadcaster mounted in recent years after he was repeatedly accused of flouting BBC guidelines on impartiality.

Suspension Following Posts

In March last year Lineker was briefly suspended from hosting the programme after his social media post about the British government’s asylum policy sparked a row about BBC presenters expressing their political views on social media.

Commenting on a video message by then-Home Secretary Suella Braverman about ending illegal immigrants entering the UK on small boats, Lineker said her comments were “beyond awful” and called the government’s policy “an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s.”

Lineker has more than 8.8 million followers on social media site X and frequently uses his platform to share his views. He has been the BBC’s highest paid on-air talent for seven consecutive years and was estimated to have earned £1.35 million in the year 2023–24, according to the corporation’s annual report published in July.

In November 2017, Lineker was named in the Paradise Papers in connection with a tax avoidance scheme relating to property owned in Barbados and a company set up in the British Virgin Islands and was also involved in a tax bill dispute with HMRC over whether he was an employee or a freelancer.

In October 2022, a complaint about a post from Lineker that referred to donations to the Conservative Party was upheld by the BBC, on the grounds that it breached social media use guidelines and failed to meet editorial standards of impartiality.

During the 2022 World Cup, during discussions about host nation Qatar’s record on human rights, Lineker characterised the United States as an “extraordinarily racist country.” His comments were criticised by then-Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan, who said they were “very derogatory” and “questionable.”

Golden Boot

Lineker took over as host of “Match of the Day” from Des Lynam, having started as a BBC Radio Five Live presenter, and also worked on the long-running Saturday afternoon sports programme “Grandstand.”

Lineker enjoyed a successful top-flight football career, winning the Golden Boot as the highest scoring player in the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, despite England’s quarter final exit at the hands of eventual winners Argentina.

He also became known for his long-running and lucrative advertising deal with Walkers crisps, which began in 1994 when he returned to the UK following two years playing in Japan for Grampus Eight.

No stranger to headlines, the former Tottenham, Everton, and Barcelona striker presented “Match of the Day” wearing only his underpants in 2016 as a forfeit after his boyhood club Leicester won the Premier League.

Likely Replacements

Having agreed a contract “in principle” with the corporation, Lineker said on Tuesday, “I’m delighted to continue my long association with BBC Sport and would like to thank all those who made this happen.”

Alex Kay-Jelski, director of BBC Sport, said: “After 25 seasons Gary is stepping down from MOTD. We want to thank him for everything he has done for the show, which continues to attract millions of viewers each week.

“He’ll be hugely missed on the show but we’re so happy he is staying with the BBC to present live football.”

Mark Chapman, Gabby Logan, and Alex Scott are among the front-runners to succeed Lineker. Scott is a former player in the women’s game for Arsenal, while Chapman and Logan have both been high-profile sports presenters for around three decades.

Lineker has branched out into podcasting in recent years and will continue with the “Match of the Day Top Ten” podcast for the BBC.

He co-founded Goalhanger Podcasts in 2019, producing shows including “The Rest Is Football,” “The Rest Is Entertainment,” and “The Rest Is Politics,” presented by former Labour chief spin doctor Alastair Campbell and former Conservative MP Rory Stewart.

“The Rest Is Football,” which also features BBC pundits and former footballers Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, will now be hosted on BBC Sounds.

The BBC said that future plans for “Match of the Day” will be “announced in due course.”

PA Media contributed to this report.