Born in Leicester in 1960, Gary had the honour of playing for his home-town club for seven years before joining Everton in the summer of 1985. Whilst at Filbert Street, Lineker won the Second Division championship in 1980 and made his England debut in May 1984 against Scotland at Hampden Park.

His £800,000 switch to Howard Kendall's Toffeemen saw Lineker develop as a player on both the club and international levels.

In just one season at Goodison Park, Lineker couldn't quite help Everton defend the championship they had won the previous year, finishing as they did second to Merseyside rivals Liverpool by two points.

Everton also reached the FA Cup Final where they also faced Liverpool. Lineker gave the Toffemen the lead early in the game, however the Reds stormed back and won the game 3-1, leaving Lineker and Everton's trophy cabinet empty for the season.

Lineker's impact was so great that that season saw him voted as both the PFA and Football Writers Association Player of the Year.

Barcelona had already signed Lineker's services for the following season when Bobby Robson's England flew out to Mexico for the 1986 World Cup Finals.

The Catalans must have thought they had got a bargain as after a slow start, Lineker started banging the goals in for the Three Lions.

A hat-trick against Poland in Monterrey saw England through to the knockout phases where further goals against Paraguay (2) and Argentina (1) saw him become the first England international to win the World Cup Golden Boot. 

Now with wordwide fame, the £2,750,000 that Barca found to bring Lineker to the Camp Nou suddenly seemed like a great bit of business.

The hype that thus surrounded Lineker as he settled in Catalunya was enormous.

In his first game for Barca he justified Venables' faith in him by scoring twice as his new club beat Racing 2-0. And Lineker kept on scoring - five goals in his first seven games and 21 in the league in total.

The high point of that first season in Spain was his glorious performance in Barca's 3-2 win over arch-rivals Real Madrid - Lineker scored a hat-trick and was forever a Barca hero.

Lineker also scored in the return match in the Bernabeu later that season as Barca completed the domestic double over los merengues.

Under new coach Carles Rexach, Barca won the Copa del Rey in 1988 but again lost out in the league to Real.

However, unlike the outgoing Terry Venables, the Catalan manager played Lineker in a more withdrawn, right-wing position, rather than in his favoured forward position.

Ironically, his rehabilitation at Barcelona under Johan Cruyff's management came about despite still playing in a wide position; it was his cross from the right which provided the opening goal in the Catalans' European Cup Winners' Cup victory of 1989.

In June 1989, Lineker returned to England to team up once again with Terry Venables, signing for Tottenham Hotspur for £1.2 million.  In three seasons at White Hart Lane, Lineker scored a remarkable 67 goals in 105 league appearances.

Lineker starred for England in his second World Cup in Italy in the summer of 1990.

After a successful season which saw him score 24 league goals, Lineker scored four more in Italy as England reached the semi-finals for only the second time and for the first time ever abroad.

However, under new coach Graham Taylor, Euro 92 was nothing but a disaster for Lineker as he failed to find the net in any of England's three games in Sweden and as such finished on 48 goals, one behind Charlton.

Substituted in his last game for Alan Smith, Lineker's best chance to equal the record probably game in the pre-tournament friendly at Wembley against Brazil where he failed to convert a penalty.

Lineker finished his career at Nagoya Grampus Eight, where a persistent toe injury limited his appearances.  Since full retirement, Lineker has forged a successful career in the media, fronting the BBC's football coverage.

Gary Lineker Factfile

Nationality: English
Place of Birth: Leicester, England
Date of Birth: 30 November 1960 
Weight: 11 04
Height: 5' 11''
Clubs: Leicester City, Everton, Barcelona, Tottenham, Grampus 8

Year

Club

Apps

Goals

1978/79

Leicester City

8

1

1979/80

Leicester City

19

3

1980/81

Leicester City

9

2

1981/82

Leicester City

39

17

1982/83

Leicester City

40

26

1983/84

Leicester City

39

22

1984/85

Leicester City

41

24

1985/86

Everton

41

30

1986/87

Barcelona

41

21

1987/88

Barcelona

36

16

1988/89

Barcelona

26

6

1989/90

Tottenham Hotspur

38

24

1990/91

Tottenham Hotspur

32

25

1991/92

Tottenham Hotspur

35

28

1992/93

Nagoya Grampus Eight

6

3

1993/94

Nagoya Grampus Eight

17

6


Gary Lineker's Honours

1980 Second Division Championship (Leicester)
1986 English PFA & Football Writers Player of the Year
1986 World Cup Top Scorer (6 goals)
1988 Spanish Cup (Barcelona)
1989 European Cup-Winners Cup (Barcelona)
1990 World Cup 4th Place (England)
1991 FA Cup (Tottenham Hotspur)