How long has Gary Lineker hosted Match of the Day? Who presented Match of the Day before Lineker?
Many have been keen to know the answers to these questions after the BBC told the 62-year-old to step down from his role as host of the iconic football highlights show.
Lineker has become embroiled in a dispute with the BBC after he compared the language used by the UK Government towards their new Stop the Boats campaign to that of Nazi Germany in the 1930s.
As a result, he will not present the show “until an agreement is reached on his social media use” – as announced by the BBC.
So, how long has Gary Lineker hosted Match of the Day? And who presented Match of the Day before Lineker?
Let’s take a look…
How long has Gary Lineker hosted Match of the Day?
Well, Lineker has presented Match of the Day since 1999 after previously working as a guest on the show, and also as a football pundit on BBC Radio 5 Live.
It is the longest run of any presenter in Match of the Day history.
Who presented Match of the Day before Gary Lineker?
It was Des Lynam who hosted Match of the Day before handing the reins to Lineker in 1999.
In total, there have only ever been five hosts of the BBC’s flagship football show.
You can see a list of all five – and their tenures – below.
Kenneth Wolstenholme (1964 – 1967)
David Coleman (1967 – 1973)
Jimmy Hill (1973 – 1988)
Des Lynam (1988 – 1999)
Gary Lineker (1999 – present)
Gary Lineker profile
Full name: Gary Winston Lineker
Age: 62
Height: 5 ft 10 in (1.77 m)
Date of birth: 30th November 1960
Place of birth: Leicester
Nationality: England
Nationality of parents: England
Clubs played for:
- Leicester City
- Everton
- Barcelona
- Tottenham Hotspur
- Nagoya Grampus
Trophies:
- Football League Second Division (1979/80)
- FA Charity Shield (1985)
- European Cup Winners’ Cup (1988/89)
- Copa del Rey (1987/88)
- FA Cup (1990/91)
- FA Charity Shield (1991)
Yellow card record: 0
Red card record: 0
Salary: £1.35m-a-year
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