LINEKER, Gary Winston O.B.E. (1989-92)
Position: Striker
Height: 5ft 11ins
Weight: 12st 2lbs
Born: Leicester, 30 November 1960
Signed from Barcelona June 1989
Transferred to Grampus Eight May 1992
Also played for: Leicester City, Everton, England
Spurs record:
Debut: 19 August 1989 v Luton Town (FL) (h) won 2-1
Appearances: League 105, FA Cup 9, League Cup 16, Europe 8
Goals: League 67, FA Cup 3, League Cup 8, Europe 2
England’s premier goalscorer of the 1980s, Gary Lineker was desperately unlucky not to beat Bobby Charlton’s then-England record of 49 international goals, finishing just one short having played in 80 internationals compared to Charlton’s 106.
Often referred to as a penalty box predator, Lineker may not have scored many spectacular goals but score goals he did, and at a rate any striker would be proud of.
He first made his name with Leicester City, operating out wide where his blistering pace made him dangerous but it was when he switched to a central role that his career blossomed, his coolness in the box and knack of finding space evident even in a struggling team.
It was no surprise when Everton snapped him up for a cool £800,000 in June 1985 and 40 goals the following season made him a certainty for England’s 1986 World Cup campaign when he really came to the fore.
England were struggling in the group stage, victory over Poland essential if they were not to return home early. A Lineker hat-trick saw England through and with goals against Paraguay and Argentina following he finished the competition with the coveted Golden Boot.
Now an international star, Everton could not resist a £2.75 million offer from Terry Venables’ Barcelona and within weeks of returning from Mexico, Lineker was off to Spain. With his easy-going personality and willingness to adapt to the Spanish way of life, he soon became popular with Barcelona’s fans even if unable to deliver the Spanish title they craved.
A bout of hepatitis left Lineker below par for the 1988 European Championships and when fit to return, he found himself out of favour at the Nou Camp. It was fan power that restored Lineker to the team but in a wide position where he was not at his most effective.
When Venables – now at Spurs - offered him the chance of playing in his favoured role in N17, Lineker did not take much persuading. The £1.2 million fee was a snip for Spurs, although Lineker’s White Hart Lane career did not start in the blaze of goals expected. It took him six matches to get off the mark but once he began to settle in his class was obvious. He scored 24 league goals in his first season to continue where he had left off at Everton, top of the First Division scoring chart.
Lineker’s pace remained his greatest asset but his all round game had matured. He was as quick as ever but now it was over a distance of a few yards only, just enough to get his away from an opponent. He had learnt the knack of dragging his marker into areas of no danger and then spinning away to utilise the space behind. His reading of the game had been refined so he knew just where to position himself to have the best chance of getting a shot in on goal and his anticipation was second to none. He gave defenders no time to relax, a split-second lapse would see him in the clear.
Lineker always did his most potent work in the box, rarely joining in build-up play but he was a goalscorer, not a creator, and did his job to perfection. Whatever angle the ball came to him at, he always seemed to get it under control, perhaps not totally but enough to get in his shot. He was not always the cleanest striker of the ball but more often than not the shot would be on target and he often managed to find a shot when goalkeepers least expected one. In one-on-one situations with a ‘keeper it was rare for Lineker not to come out on top.
In his second season at the Lane, he kept sticking the goals away, none more important than the two in the FA Cup semi-final with Arsenal. The first was toe-poked home from two yards, the second, just as Arsenal were beginning to get on top, blasted past David Seaman from 15 yards after Lineker had run at the Arsenal defence.
Lineker did not score in the final against Nottingham Forest. He should have, but his penalty was saved by Mark Crossley and when he did get the ball in the net it was wrongly disallowed for offside.
In his final season with us, he netted 33 goals before departing at the end of the campaign to become England’s ambassador to the Japanese J League with Nagoya Grampus Eight.