Bobby Moore

Full Name: Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore
Date of Birth: 12/04/1941

Introduction

Bobby Moore led his country to its greatest footballing victory as captain of England’s winning team in the 1966 World Cup. Moore’s skill as a defender was matched by his generous and intelligent leadership, and by his mere personality, which earned him the nickname of ‘the first gentleman of English football’. As a winner of the European Cup, the FA Cup, and of course the World Cup, not to mention being captain of England for a record 90 matches, Moore’s CV speaks for itself. He was famous for his grace and class, and for the apparently effortless tackles and passes that he seemed to perform in slow-motion. Moore was not a particularly fast nor a showy footballer - his composure and thoughtful approach to the defensive role marked him out as a highly gifted player and the natural leader that England needed.

Biography

Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore was born in Barnet in April 1941. He was recruited to West Ham’s junior team in 1956, making his debut for the senior team as a replacement for Malcolm Allison against Manchester United in September 1958. Moore never looked back - he was not taken back off the squad and stayed with West Ham for the greater part of his career.
In 1960, at the young age of 19, he was called up to the England under-23’s, and earned his debut cap in 1962 in Peru. Already in 1963 he was made captain of the squad, quickly earning the trust of his coach and manager. At first Moore was just filling in for more senior players, but the position was made permanent in 1964. That year Moore was treated for testicular cancer, but he did not let that stop him winning the FA Cup with West Ham. He was also named Football Writer’s Association Football player of the Year.
In 1966, the year of his famous victory, Moore was on the verge of arranging a transfer to Tottenham Hotspur when England manager Alf Ramsay intervened prior to the World Cup and urged a reconciliation with West Ham, which was swiftly effected.
England moved with little difficulty through the rounds in the World Cup, but the final itself was one of the most intense matches in the history of the game. England initially went 1-0 down to West Germany, before Geoff Hurst equalized, and Peters put them 2-1 up. Worryingly, however, Wolfgang Weber equalized just before full-time. The match went into extra time, and Hurst put England 3-2 up, but the goal was hotly contested, and it was not until the final minute when Hurst scored a third goal that England’s win was cemented. Many of the most famous images of that day centre around Moore as captain of his team.
After the World Cup, Moore continued to play for West Ham and England, as well as promoting the British pub industry and opening his own sports shop. In the second half of the decade, he received national recognition. In 1966 Moore was the BBC Sports Personality of the Year, and in 1967 he was awarded an OBE, and a punk band even recorded a song about him entitled ‘Viva Bobby Moore’.
Moore was again named captain of England again for the 1970 World Cup. A rare controversial episode followed when he was arrested for the theft of a bracelet from the shop of the hotel that the squad was staying in in Columbia for a warm-up match. Although Moore was questioned on more than one occasion, and detained in Columbia when the rest of his team-mates travelled home, the charges were eventually dropped. The tournament was not a wild success for England, but it went down for one piece of genius from Moore when, during their match with Brazil, he performed a spectacular tackle on the advancing Jairzinho - still considered perhaps the finest (if not, the most iconic) tackle in history.
The later years of Moore’s English career passed with relative quiet. In 1970, he and two of his West Ham team-mates were fined for going out drinking heavily the night before a third-round FA Cup tie. Nonetheless, he continued to play well for them. Moore made his final appearance for England in 1973, when they failed to qualify for the World Cup. On his retirement, he was the most capped player in the history of the England football team.

Moore married his first wife, Christina Dean, in 1962. They divorced in 1986, and in 1991 he remarried Stephanie Parlane-Moore in 1991. He has two children: a son, Dean, and a daughter, Roberta, both from his first marriage.

Retirement and death

Moore’s retirement was far from peaceful. As well as the personal drama of his divorce, his professional life was uneven. He spent some time working as a football manager at home and abroad, but none of the positions worked out in the long-term, and Moore accepted work as a football pundit and columnist on a radio station and tabloid newspaper respectively.
In 1991 Moore underwent an emergency operation for suspected bowel cancer. Less than two years later, in February 1993, he died of bowel cancer. Since his death a number of fundraising events for cancer and bowel cancer charities have been set up in his name. A bronze statue of Moore stands outside the new Wembley Stadium, in honour of his contribution to international football.

Teams

Club Football

• 1958 -1974: West Ham United
• 1974 - 1977: Fulham
• 1976: San Antonio Thunder
• 1978: Seattle Sounders

International Football

• 1962 - 1973: England

Statistics:

International Caps: 108
International Goals Scored: 2

Individual Honours

• Footballer of the Year - 1964
• World Cup Player of Players - 1966
• West Ham Player of the Year - 1961, 1963, 1968, 1970
• BBC Sports Personality of the Year - 1966
• Awarded the OBE - 1967
• Inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame - 2002

They Say:

‘He was my friend as well as the greatest defender I ever played against. The world has lost one of its greatest football players and an honourable gentleman.’- Pelé
‘Without him England would never have won the World Cup’ - Alf Ramsay
‘If you want a role model in public life, Bobby Moore is a pretty good one to take. He was a perfect gentleman’ - Tony Blair

He Says:

‘If you never concede a goal, you’re going to win more games than you lose’
‘At least it was victory and at least we won’

Player Statistics

Senior Club and National Team Statistics

Period	Team	Appearances (Goals)
1958–1974	West Ham United	544 (24)
1974–1977	Fulham	124 (1)
1976	San Antonio Thunder	24 (1)
1978	Seattle Sounders	7 (0)
1962–1973	England	108 (2)

Watch online:

Watch Bobby Moore videos on Youtube

Diego Maradona

Personal details

Full name Diego Armando Maradona

Date of birth 30/10/1960

Place of birth Buenos Aires, Argentina

You hear the name Maradona and what do you think of? Number 10 shirt? Cocaine? The best player ever? Or ‘that’ goal? Diego Maradona is one of, if not, the greatest footballer the world has ever seen. His skill is completely unfathomable and the way he controlled every single game in which he played, had never been seen before and hasn’t been seen since. Whatever you think of when you hear the name, you can rest assured that the word "legend" is never far from your thoughts.

From the streets to the stadiums

Diego Armando Maradona sounds like a stage name to us now but to those in the shantytowns on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Diego was one boy in thousands, using football as an escape from poverty. It wasn’t long before he was spotted at his local club and he was asked to play for junior team, Argentinos Juniors, when he was only 12. He remained at this club for five years, before being snapped up by the biggest club in Argentina, Boca Juniors, for the princely sum, at the time, of £1 million. He helped them to become league winners and was starting to attract the attention of the rest of the world.

He was quick, he was strong and he was more skilful than anyone in the whole league. His height wasn’t that great but he made it work to his advantage. It meant he could stop and start with sudden bursts of strength and speed. He was a nightmare for defenders at such a young age and with very little top-flight experience, he was a rapidly growing talent.

Europe called and Diego answered

Barcelona waved a record-breaking £5 million in Boca’s direction and the Argentines released Diego in 1982. Although he helped Barcelona to win their national cup competition, he didn’t get on too well there and repeating bouts of sickness meant it was time to move on again and sooner than expected.

In 1984, southern Italian club Napoli made Barcelona an offer they couldn’t refuse. It was another record breaker: £6.9 million for the star, but he was worth every single penny. With Maradona leading the charge, Napoli finally over-took their northern rivals and were crowned Serie A league winners twice, Coppa Italia winners once and UEFA and Italian Supercup winners. However, Maradona started to fall from grace during the late eighties in Naples, and it would sadly become the beginning of the end for the legend.

His beloved Argentina

Maradona is much more famous for playing for his country than for a club team. He made Argentina one of the greatest teams ever, during the 1980s and no team looked forward to playing against the likes of Diego.

He began his international playing career at only 18 and made an immediate impression during the Football World Youth Championships. When he was 22, he played in all of the World Cup matches, showing the world what he was capable of, even though one of those things was being sent off.

The next World Cup in 1986 was to be Maradona’s defining moment though. He captained his country in every minute of every game and finally they defeated West Germany in the final. Maradona scored five goals in the campaign.

His two most famous moments ever, came against England in their 2-1 win in the quarter-finals. Maradona’s two goals couldn’t have been more different. They perfectly represent the man’s entire career. The first was that famous ‘Hand of God’, where he seemed to head the ball into the net using his hand. The second was a masterpiece of football and was voted Best Goal of the Century in 2002 by Fifa. Here is the first one and here is the second.

In the next World Cup in 1990, Maradona was by no means at his best. He was carrying an ankle injury, yet he rallied his team and they still made it to the final, but lost to their previous finalists West Germany.

Although Maradona did play in World Cup 94 in USA, he was kicked out of the tournament after playing in two games, for failing a drugs test. He professed his innocence but the world knew by now that the legend was dependent on drugs. His retirement beckoned.

Cocaine on the Brain

No one knows when cocaine started to become a real problem for Diego Maradona, but it’s thought he dabbled whilst in Argentina, then a bit more in Spain and finally, with the organised crime outfits in Naples in the eighties, it really became an issue. On top of drugs, Maradona was also at the centre of a row over an illegitimate son he had in Italy. He married the “love of his life” Claudia Villafane in 1989 and they had two daughters together. However, the scandal surrounding the illegitimate son, as well as many other alleged affairs, meant the pair divorced in 2004, but remained amicable friends afterwards.

When Maradona stopped playing, he tried his God-like hand at coaching and returned to his beloved home club, Boca Juniors. However that also ended in upset and in him having to leave earlier than he had hoped, due to disagreements between himself and the other staff.

So what has become of him now?

Maradona spent most the 2000s fighting his cocaine addiction. He spent many months in rehab clinics in Cuba amongst other places. In 2004 he suffered a severe heart-attack at only 44. He survived the attack, but then drink problems began too. He was in and out of hospital for the next few years. In May 2007 he went in front of Argentine TV claiming he had kicked every drug and he was completely clean.

A tortured genius is common in many areas of the arts but not always associated with sport. Diego Maradona is an exception in more ways than one. He was one of the greatest men to have ever put a football to his feet and he will forever remain that way, no matter what he did or did not do off the pitch.

Youth Club

Years	Club
1969-1976	Argentinos Juniors

Senior Clubs

Years	Club	Appearances	Goals
1976-1981	Argentinos Juniors	166	116
1981-1982	Boca Juniors	40	28
1982-1984	Barcelona	58	38
1984-1991	Napoli	159	115
1992-1993	Sevilla	29	7
1993	Newell’s Old Boys	7	0
1995-1997	Boca Juniors	31	7

National Team

Years	Club	Appearances	Goals
1977-1994	Argentina	91	34

Managerial History

Years	Club
1994	Mandiyu de Corrientes
1995	Racing Club de Avellaneda

Individual Awards and Honours

• 1979 Golden Ball for Best Player of the FIFA Under-20 World Cup
• 1979 Argentine Football Writers’ Footballer of the Year
• 1979 South American Footballer of the Year
• 1979 Argentine League Top Scorer
• 1980 Argentine Football Writers’ Footballer of the Year
• 1980 Argentine League Top Scorer
• 1981 Argentine Football Writers’ Footballer of the Year
• 1981 Argentine League Top Scorer
• 1986 Argentine Football Writers’ Footballer of the Year
• 1986 South American Footballer of the Year
• 1986 Argentine Sports Writers’ Sportsman of the Year
• 1986 Golden Ball
• 1986 World Player of the Year
• 1987 Best Football in the World
• 1987 Serie A Top Scorer
• 1989 South American Footballer of the Year
• 1990 South American Footballer of the Year
• 1992 South American Footballer of the Year
• 1996 Golden Ball, services to football
• 1999 Argentine Sports Writers’ Sportsman of the Century
• 2000 People’s Choice Best Footballer of the Century
• 2002 FIFA Goal of the Century
• 2005 Argentine Senate Lifetime Achievement

Team Awards

• 1979 FIFA World Youth Championship
• 1979 75th Anniversary FIFA Cup
• 1986 FIFA World Cup
• 1993 Artemio Franchi Trophy

Sir Stanley Matthews

Full name: Stanley Matthews
Date of birth: 01/02/1915

Introduction

In the days of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Ryan Giggs, it’s easy to forget that wingers used to be a very rare breed in the earlier days of football. The reason for the change was, in large part, due to the arrival of Sir Stanley ‘The Magician’ Matthews. He was a type of footballer who lived for the game and worked extremely hard on and off the pitch to improve his performance and fitness.

Career overview

Sir Stanley Matthews was born on February 1st 1915 in Hanley near Stoke. Matthews’ raw pace and quick feet automatically got him recognised and soon he was playing games for England schoolboys. By the age of 17, he had already signed a professional contract with Stoke City and soon started matches regularly.

In his second season, he was a key player in Stoke’s midfield and was duly awarded his first cap for England in 1934 at the age of just 19. Matthews’ England debut could not have gone much better, scoring a goal in a 4-0 thrashing of Wales. In just three years, he was a regular on the right wing for England, with his worth emphasised after scoring a hat-trick against Czechoslovakia.

At only 20, Stanley Matthews was quickly becoming the biggest star in English football. His speed and constant trickery helped him to strike fear into opposition defenders. The ‘Wizard of Dribble’, as he was known, had become a dangerous weapon for both England and Stoke.

During the Second World War, league football was postponed and Matthews was sent to Blackpool to serve in the Royal Air Force. Sir Stanley continued to play friendly matches for many teams around the country such as Manchester United, Glasgow Rangers, Arsenal and Blackpool.

Move to Blackpool

However, it was to Blackpool where his career would take him on a permanent basis. After 262 matches and over 50 goals at Stoke, Matthews was transferred to the Seasiders for £11,500 in 1947. In his first season with Blackpool, Matthews took part in the FA Cup final at Wembley against Manchester United but lost 4-2; however Matthews would have more chances of winning the trophy soon after.

Matthews’ good form was rewarded with a place in England’s World Cup Squad to go to Chile but he was only chosen to play one match. Nevertheless, domestically he was a mainstay for Blackpool and had helped them to another FA Cup Final against Newcastle United in 1951, only to yet again suffer defeat. At the age of 36, most people thought that this was his last chance to win an F.A. Cup medal.

However, on May 2nd 1953, Sir Stanley Matthews was to make FA Cup folklore. Playing Bolton Wanderers, Matthews’ Blackpool were 3-1 down at half time and almost certain to lose. Then, at the start of the second half Matthews dribbled past Bolton’s left back and brilliantly crossed in for Stan Mortensen to pull the score back to 3-2. Throughout the second half, Matthews continued to terrorise the Bolton defence and eventually Blackpool equalised with only a few minutes to play.

Then, deep into stoppage time, Matthews picked up the ball on Bolton’s half-way line. After beating a few players, he closed in to Bolton’s goal-line, bamboozled his opponent with his trademark trick - faking to go to the left before taking the ball past the left back - and then crossed the ball straight to Blackpool’s Bill Perry who scored the winning goal and secured a winners medal for Stanley Matthews at the age of 38. Despite a hat-trick from Stan Mortensen, this game has been dubbed as the ‘Matthews Final’ and is widely recognised as one of the greatest FA Cup finals ever.

Matthews continued his good form for Blackpool, helping them to second position in the football league in 1955 and was chosen for England’s World Cup squad in 1954. In 1956, Matthews became the first ever winner of UEFA’s European Player of the year award at 41.

Matthews was a thoroughly professional player and ahead of the game in terms of fitness. Whilst at Blackpool, he went jogging on the beach every day and never drank alcohol at all. A true testament to his fitness is the fact that he was able to play top-flight football until he was 46 and carry on playing until 50. He stayed a regular starter for England for 23 years, until he was 42. This is an achievement even today when most players retire completely at around 33 years old.

Return to Stoke

Matthews eventually re-joined Stoke City in 1961 and got them promoted from the second tier of football in his first season there. At the age of 50, a knee injury made him retire although he maintained that he could have carried on.

In April 1965, a testimonial was played for the great man in front of 35,000 people in Stoke’s Victoria Ground. This match attracted world stars of the time such as Lev Yashin and Ferenc Puskás. Later that year, he would become the first ever football player to be knighted. A true sportsman to the end, Matthews never received a yellow card in 701 games.

Post-retirement

After retiring from football, Matthews stayed in the game, managing Port Vale for three years and Maltese side Hibernians. Finally, Sir Stanley Matthews died in 2000 at the age of 85. His funeral procession drove through Stoke’s old Victoria Ground. A statue of him has been erected outside Stoke’s new Brittania Stadium and a stand at Blackpool’s Bloomfield Road has been named after him. He has even been granted his own collection of memorabilia at the National Football Museum in Preston.

To find a player in the mould of Sir Stanley is almost impossible nowadays. With all the press and media hype that surrounds today’s celebrity players such as David Beckham and Wayne Rooney, Matthews was the first real football celebrity. Unlike any other players, he was able to maintain his professionalism at all times and lived only to play the game. Matthews at the time was only earning £20 per week in comparison to the hundreds of thousands of pounds nowadays.

Sir Stanley Matthews will always be remembered as one of the best players in the history of the game, and one of its consummate gentlemen.

Individual Honours

• FIFA Gold Medal Order: 1992
• Football Writers’ Association Footballer of the Year: 1963, 1948
• European Footballer of the Year: 1956

Player Statistics

Senior Club and National Team Statistics

Period	Team	Appearances (Goals)
1932-1947	Stoke City	262 (51)
1947-1961	Blackpool	380 (17)
1961-1965	Stoke City	59 (3)
1934-1957	England	54 (11)

Paolo Maldini

Full Name: Paolo Cesare Maldini
Date of Birth: 26/6/1968 

Born on the 26th of June 1968, Paulo Maldini is the son of Cesare Maldini, an ex-AC Milan player who captained his team to victory in the European Cup finals in 1963, and went on to manage the national team. Despite his father’s links to AC Milan, as a youngster, Paulo was a fan of Turin team Juventus, home of his hero Roberto Bettega. However, after showing promise in the left-wing position, he was able to secure a place in the AC Milan youth programme (possibly through the influence of his father).

In January 1985, the Milan first team was plagued with injury, and for a match against Udine, then manager Nils Lidholm decided to give 16-year old Maldini a spot on the substitutes' bench. When Sergio Battistini got injured and came off at half-time, Maldini got the shout and made his first appearance for the club that was to become such a huge part of his life and identity.

Although the teenager made no further appearances that season, he developed quickly, and found himself first choice in the left back position in the following 1985-86 season. England international, Ray Wilkins, was one of the club’s senior defenders at the time, and it was partly because of his injury that Maldini found himself on the pitch. The youngster made a very good first impression on Wilkins, who said of him; "You could have stuck him in any position. As soon as I saw him I thought, my God, this boy's got everything. He was 16 years old, 6ft 1in tall, quick and strong, with two good feet. And he was in love with football, which you can still see today. He's also stayed the same thoroughly decent bloke, a gentleman as well as an outstanding player."

His international career began with the Italian under-21 squad in the 1986-87 season, graduating to the main squad in 1988. His first game was under Azeglio Vicini in Split against Yugoslavia. He distinguished himself, and became a fixture in the ‘Azzuri’ defence until his retirement from international football in 2002.

During his 16 year tenure as an international, he became Italy’s most capped player, representing his country 126 times. One of the big disappointments of Maldini’s otherwise extraordinarily high-achieving career, was the lack of major international silverware. Italy finished runner-up in the 1994 USA FIFA World Cup, and in third place in the 1990 competition. He was also in the side that finished second in Euro 2000.

Italy’s post-Maldini triumph in the 2006 FIFA World Cup must have been a bittersweet experience for the retiree. Like the rest of Italy, he was surely ecstatic to see his countrymen lifting the Jules Rimet trophy, but we could forgive him for feeling slightly envious of some of his ex-team mates, basking in the glory of the most coveted trophy in football (perhaps sport), that had eluded him despite two near successes.

However, Maldini could console himself easily enough by glancing up at his mantelpiece and reminding himself of the incredible success he has had (and still enjoys) for his club. He has won the Serie A 7 times, and the Italian Super Cup 5 times between 1988 and 2005, making Milan the most successful team in the recent history of the Serie A. He also jointly holds the record for 8 appearances in Champions League (formerly European Cup) finals with Francesco Gento, although Maldini has 5 winner’s medals to Gento’s 6.

In the 2005 final against Liverpool FC, Maldini scored the fastest ever goal in a European Cup final, after only 51 seconds. He also became the oldest player ever to score in the final. He also holds the record for most appearances in the Serie A, Italy’s premier league, with over 600 appearances and counting. His total for all competitions at the end of the 2006/07 season was 846. Although he has publicly stated his desire to achieve 1000 appearances in a red and black shirt, this seems unlikely as he currently plans to retire at the end of the 2007/08 season.

Throughout his 23 seasons at Milan, Maldini has only missed a handful of matches, making more than 25 appearances every year except 2001-02, when he suffered knee problems. These have never completely disappeared, but by moving into a less movement intensive role in central defence and enjoying the attentions of the best physicians in Italy, he has managed to stay fit and competitive.

A 38 year-old Maldini is now a serious contender for the greatest defender of all time. Dignified and hugely respected, he is the paragon of a professional sportsman. He is one of the rare breed of footballers that looks completely at home on a football pitch. His vision and ability to read the game are second to none, allowing him to position himself so well that despite his lack of pace and advanced years, attacking players still fear the prospect of facing a defence with Maldini at its centre.

He also possesses an extraordinary capacity for inspiring and organising his team mates and co-defenders. His command of the game is such that opponents find themselves playing the game at the pace Maldini sets, which generally is very slow. The inability of faster English teams to cope with the Maldini Effect is well documented.

Perhaps the best season of Maldini’s career was 93/94, when he played in the side winning the European Cup and was runner-up in the FIFA World Cup finals, losing out to Brazil on penalties. This season saw him winning the prestigious World Soccer player of the year award - the first defender to do so. He said of the award; "It's a great honour for me to know that so many people consider me so highly. It's a particular matter of pride because defenders generally receive so much less attention from fans and the media than goal scorers. We are more in the engine room rather than taking the glory.”

One wonders whether if a young Maldini had decided to apply his skills in the other half of the pitch rather than defensively, we would be calling him a contender for best player of all time rather than best defender of all time.

Individual Honours

• Included in the FIFA 100
• Included in the FIFA World Cup Team of the Tournament: 1994
• Included in the UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 1996, 2000
• Serie A Defender of the Year: 2004
• UEFA Champions League Best Defender: 2007
• UEFA Champions League Final Man of the Match: 2003
• Included in the UEFA Team of the Year: 2003, 2005
• Under-21 European Footballer of the Year: 1989
• Included in the FIFPro World XI: 2005
• World Soccer World Player of the Year: 1994
• Named 21st in World Soccer’s 100 Greatest Players of the 20th Century
• FIFA World Player of the Year (2nd place): 1995
• Ballon d'Or (3rd place): 1994, 2003
• Onze d'Or (3rd place): 1995

Player Statistics

Senior Club and National Team Statistics

Period	Team	Appearances (Goals)
1984–	AC Milan	621 (29)
1988–2002	Italy	126 (7)

Gary Lineker

Full Name: Gary Winston Lineker
Date of Birth: 30/11/1960

Like him or love him, there are few people who would say they don’t have a soft spot for Gary Linekar. He is not only a football legend but a national English treasure and the face of football on the BBC. Lineker was a predator in the six yard box. He seemed to know exactly where to position himself so the ball would arrive at him and he’d grab a quick goal. Not the most flamboyant of players but certainly one of the most deadly in terms of scoring goals. He is England’s second highest scoring goal scorer of all time. And who’d have thought it from a TV presenter!

Making Leicester famous for more than just crisps…

Gary Winston Lineker always loved sport. He grew up in Leicester in the very middle of the middle of England. His father was a greengrocer and the trade had been with the Linekers for over 70 years. Linker had his heart set on sport though and was more than accomplished at most he played. An old school report famously said about Lineker that “He must devote less time to his sport if he is to be a success”.

Gary was spotted playing football by local team Leicester City when playing at 13 and he was invited to play for their youth team. When he was 16 Gary started playing full-time. At 18 he started playing for the first team and within a couple of professional years he was already starting to make a prolific name for himself, finishing each season with enough goals to place him up there with the other leading goal scorers in the then Division One. In 1984/85 season Gary finished as top goal-scorer with 24 and this prompted attention from the England international team.

Ferry across to the Mersey

Gary moved to Everton in 1985 and didn’t stop scoring for them either. He bagged a staggering 38 goals in only 52 games for The Toffees and finished top goal scorer again. During this period though it was when the rest of Europe started to become very tempted by such a deadly match-winner as Lineker and the skinny lad from Leicester soon fell onto the radar of the big boys from Spain.

Big-ears goes to big club

Barcelona called and Gary answered and in 1986 Lineker moved to Spanish giants Barcelona. In the same year Gary played in the Mexican World Cup and won the Golden Boot for scoring the most goals in the competition. The Spaniards were rubbing their hands at the prospect of a repeat performance at the Nou Camp.

Gary did it again and he netted 21 goals for Barca in only 41 games, including a hat-trick against arch rivals Real Madrid, which led him to cult status amongst the fans. He was becoming prolific and an absolute nightmare to defend against. With Lineker up-front Barcelona went on to win the UEFA Cup and the Copa del Rev but a fall out with Dutch legend Johan Cruiff, when he was suddenly moved out of position to the right-wing, spelt time at the Barca for golden-boot-Gary.

Tottenham Hot-stuff

Lineker passed on Manchester United’s generous offers and decided his return to English football would be with north London’s Tottenham Hotspur. It was here that Gary entered the peak of his form. From 105 games Gary scored in over half of them with a whopping 67 goals. He helped them win the FA Cup and, playing alongside Paul Gascoigne for most of it, he made Spurs a force to be reckoned with. Gary was voted third in the first ever FIFA World Player of the Year awards in 1991.

The Setting Sun of Japan

One of the most unexpected transfer moves of all time came when Gary Lineker decided to move to Japan to play for Nagoya Grampus Eight. No one in Europe seemed to even know Japan had a football league, let alone feel they deserved such a legend as Lineker. But Gary felt his struggling injuries and weariness of the European game meant a growing football nation would suit him perfectly and also hugely benefit the country’s desire to improve their football profile. He was loved in Japan and, although he only played 23 games in the two seasons he was there, he still couldn’t resist scoring 9 more goals to add to his huge tally.

Gary finished his club football career having never received a yellow or red card. He was the ultimate sportsman and the ultimate gentleman. He was one of the greatest examples of an England player we have ever seen and his goals for his country were some of the most crucial in history.

Player Statistics

Senior Clubs

Years	Club	Appearances	Goals
1978-85	Leicester City	194	95
1985-6	Everton	41	30
1986-9	FC Barcelona	103	43
1989-92	Tottenham Hotspur	105	67
1992-4	Nagoya Grampus Eight	23	9
	Total	466	244
1984-92	England	80	48

Awards and Honours

• Fifa World Cup - Golden Shoe: 1986 (Mexico)
• English League Top Scorer: 1985, 1986, 1990

We’re singing for England….

It began in 1984 against Scotland. It ended with 80 appearances and a staggering (but expected from Gary) 48 goals. None were more vital than in the Mexico World Cup finals when Gary helped England to qualify for the knock-out stages by scoring an incredible hat-trick against Poland. Then against Paraguay he struck twice again to send them into the quarter finals to face Argentina. But sadly Lineker’s one goal was no match for another legend called Maradona’s two. England went out but would be back in 1990 for more drama.

Italia 90 will go down in history as being one of the most dramatic moments in football for all teams involved but particularly for England. Lineker scored one of only two England goals in the group stages but then made up for it when they got to the quarter finals having beaten Belgium in the round before. His two penalties against Cameroon in the quarter-finals meant England would face their arch-rivals West Germany in the semis. It would go down as one of the most famous games of football ever. Gazza’s tears, Lineker’s 80th minute equaliser and that penalty shoot-out. Which England of course lost.

After this came a somewhat sad end to his England career when, in the Euro 92 tournament, new coach Graham Taylor subbed Lineker and prevented him from trying to beat Bobby Charton’s top goal scoring record. He was upset and didn’t play for England again.

Off the pitch…

At times you’d be forgiven for even remembering that Lineker was even a footballer. He is such an icon of British sport on television now that it seems he’s always been doing it. Coming on as sub in the early nineties for Des Lynam but eventually being promoted to the first team, Linker was to be the new face of the institutional Match of the Day programme. He also rose up the ranks in TV when he was a regular captain on the sports game-show They Think It’s All Over, which often revealed a more humane and jovial side to him. Gary still presents Match of the Day today, as well as the BBCs coverage of The Masters and various other occasional programmes.

Aside from sport, Gary is also well know for his appearance in the Leicester-based company Walkers Crisps adverts. Which have used his squeaky clean image and reversed it to show how irresistible they are. Here is one when Gary came back from Japan.

In his personal life Gary married his child-hood sweet heart Michelle and they had four sons together. His oldest boy George was diagnosed with leukaemia when he was only a baby but he has since made a full recovery. He divorced from Michelle in 2007 but they remain amiable.

Lineker continues to present sport on the BBC as well as voicing narration for children’s programme Underground Ernie and appearing as himself in the odd film too. He will always be a national treasure for the English. A man we all wish we knew; he feels like one of us. A great footballer and a great ambassador for the game of football and for sport in general.