‘It wasn’t intended to finish this fashion’: Lineker indicators off from Match of the Day

Gary Lineker bade farewell to Match of the Day and his profession on the BBC on Sunday night time in the one suitable way: with a montage.

There have been deep breaths, noises off, the checking of notes. There have been tears and celebrations. There was once Bobby Robson and Johan Cruyff. There have been tributes from colleagues, friends, family and friends and a call for participation to “go gallivanting” from Gazza.

“You don’t believe it but you will be missed,” mentioned Pep Guardiola.

The 64-year-old in large part held it in combination as he was once taken down reminiscence lane and ushered in opposition to the go out door of the BBC’s best sports activities programme after 26 years of internet hosting. Only a sniffle betrayed his deeper emotions as he signed off for the final time. “Rather like my football career, everyone else did the hard work and I got the plaudits”, he mentioned. “It’s been utterly joyous.”

Lineker has regularly described the chance to be a custodian of a programme he himself had grown up staring at as “a privilege”. In reality, the previous England captain’s stint as presenter dwarfs that of each and every different host. From David Coleman to Des Lynam, the host of Match of the Day has additionally been the face of the BBC’s sports activities programming and Lineker persevered that custom, however handiest his presence has been constant throughout a complete technology.

After an preliminary stint as a pundit, Lineker’s presenting debut got here on 7 August 1999. He presented himself with a Lynam-esque second of fourth-wall breaking. “Hey, tell you what, football’s back,” he mentioned, ahead of including: “Any good? Did I get the job?”

His first fit was once Chelsea at house to promoted Sunderland, a thrashing led via Gianfranco Zola; his punditry panel Alan Hansen and Trevor Brooking.

Twenty-six years later and Lineker noticed out his final 90 mins of motion and research within the corporate of Alan Shearer and Micah Richards. Both males are larger, louder and snappier than their predecessors. They additionally paintings with Lineker all week lengthy as a part of The Rest Is Football, the hit podcast produced via Lineker’s Goalhanger studio. There, their personalities are given looser rein and banter gushes freely. The extra mannered variations of the trio on MOTD can appear somewhat awkward via comparability.

Over the years Lineker discovered a particular voice as a broadcaster, conveying his enthusiasm for the sport whilst adopting an avuncular technique to the athletes he was once staring at. He additionally indulged his fondness for wordplay and made many deprecating references to the achievements of his profession.

His boyish appears to be like persisted for many years, his growing older betrayed handiest via his whitening hair. In 2015 he agreed to provide MOTD in “just my undies” if the crew he had as soon as performed for and all the time supported, Leicester City, received the Premier League. The Foxes duly pulled off the miracle and Lineker half-honoured his dedication: the white bloomers have been extra shorts than pants.

At that time in his profession it was once as as regards to controversy as Lineker had come. The participant who by no means gained a yellow card had turn into the nice man host, even-handed in his observations and mild in his humour. But his pants pledge got here by way of a publish on Twitter and Lineker’s social media task was once to switch the belief the general public had of him.

He used Twitter to articulate his non-public political beliefs. His toughen for refugees introduced assaults from the clicking and strangers into his house. Two years in the past, complaint of the former executive’s language on asylum resulted in debates over impartiality and a short lived suspension, just for Lineker’s pundit friends to stroll out in harmony.

Scrutiny of Lineker’s task clear of the studio has handiest grown since, similtaneously his independence from the BBC has deepened. The determination that Lineker would start to step clear of his BBC tasks was once made final autumn, with the promise of a final dance on the males’s World Cup subsequent summer time. Lineker’s determination two weeks in the past to repost content material in terms of the Gaza warfare that contained an antisemitic image then put an finish to plans for a longer farewell.

“It wasn’t meant to end this way,” was once how Lineker opened his ultimate display, however there was once to be no confessional. Of direction it was once a suite up for a shaggy dog story. “With the title race over, the Champions League was all we had left to talk about,” mentioned Lineker as Richards grimaced keenly, however the digital camera didn’t linger.

As ever with a display this is edited with army precision, the fit motion needed to be cued up. “We’ll take it in table order,” Lineker mentioned. The display rolled on.

There have been little chuckles on the prospect of unfastened pints at Shearer’s Bar at St James’ Park and a recital of regulation 12 in terms of the keep watch over of the ball in a goalkeeper’s hand. The Chelsea defender Levi Colwill was once in comparison to a “prime Lineker in the box” via Richards and giggles have been had over unrevealed remarks in terms of Sunderland made via Shearer within the inexperienced room.

There was once a graphic that were given the West Ham supervisor improper and Lineker momentarily perplexed Brighton and Bournemouth. It was once all as acquainted and as comforting as a heat bathtub. Then, in spite of everything, the plug was once pulled.