Gary Lineker had hosted the BBC’s Match of the Day(MOTD) since 1999. In November 2024, it was announced that Lineker would be leaving the show. This news came after several rumours had circulated about his departure.
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Despite leaving MOTD, the former footballer will still cover the FA Cup in 2025–26 and the World Cup in 2026. In January, the new team for MOTD was announced, featuring Kelly Cates, Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan.
Five months after announcing he was leaving MOTD, Gary Lineker sat for an exclusive interview with the BBC and discussed the reason for his departure.
Gary Lineker felt the BBC wanted him to leave
In the interview, one of the first things Gary Lineker addresses is the reason he left Match of the Day after so many years. The BBC's Amol Rajan asked the former England striker why he would leave the show despite his popularity.
Lineker explained that there was ‘the sense’ that the broadcaster wanted him to leave. He said:
Well, perhaps they want me to leave. There was the sense of that.
Gary’s sentiment may echo the BBC’s statement concerning his departure, which said that MOTD ‘continually evolves for changing viewing habits’. Nonetheless, Lineker admits that ‘it’s time’ to step down as he has ‘done it for a long time’.
That being said, Gary adds that if he were given the option, he would have done MOTD for three more years before giving it up, but the BBC preferred he didn’t do ‘one more year’.
I always wanted one more contract, and I was umm-ing and ahh-ing about whether to do three years [more].
In the end, I think there was a feeling that, because it was a new rights period, it was a chance to change the programme. I think it was their preference that I didn't do Match of the Day for one more year, so they could bring in new people.
Gary Lineker reflects on his suspension from the BBC
During the interview, Gary Lineker also discusses the time he was suspended from the BBCfollowing a social media post criticising the then-government’s immigration policy.
In March 2023, Lineker had compared the government’s video about the asylum policy to ‘Germany in the 30s’ and said the policy was ‘immeasurably cruel’.
Reflecting on his choice to post that, Lineker revealed he doesn’t regret it, but in hindsight, he wouldn’t do it again despite ‘being right’. Indeed, the former footballer explained that he would choose not to do it due to the ‘kerfuffle’ it created.
I don't regret saying them publicly, because I was right – what I said, it was accurate – so not at all in that sense.
Would I, in hindsight, do it again? No I wouldn't, because of all the nonsense that came with it…
Adding:
But I wouldn't do it again because of all the kerfuffle that followed, and I love the BBC, and I didn't like the damage that it did to the BBC... But do I regret it and do I think it was the wrong thing to do? No.
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Sources used:
BBC: ‘I felt BBC wanted me to leave Match of the Day, says Gary Lineker’
The Guardian: ‘Gary Lineker says he felt BBC wanted him to leave Match of the Day’
