Coote ‘more than likely to get fired’ for video, Lineker departure confirmed

End of an era

The BBC has now confirmed the reports that Gary Lineker will be leaving.

Lineker will be calling time on his stellar career with the BBC at the conclusion of the 2026 World Cup.

However, he will be less regular on screens at the end of the season with the former England striker to stop presenting Match of the Day from then.

The 63-year-old has been Match of the Day’s presenter since 1999, replacing legendary broadcaster Des Lynam at the helm.

Reacting to the news, BBC colleague Danny Murphy said on talkSPORT’s Kick Off: “I didn’t know [he was leaving].

“I knew the contract was up at the end of the season. So there’s been a lot of talk about it. I am a little bit surprised.

“I’ve got, you know, Gary’s a friend of mine and he’s been phenomenal to me since the day I walked in the building. And a warm, charismatic, intelligent man who knows his football and has become part of everybody’s furniture, if you like, on a Saturday evening.

“I’ll just tell you quickly, I mean, from my first… I’d done a few shows and he was always great.

“And in my first tournament, I was thrust into the World Cup in Brazil really quickly.

“And it was quite daunting as Alan Hansen was there, Alan Shearer, you know, a lot of these people who I’d looked up to. And between Gary and Alan, and Gary especially was the first one to always, even if I wasn’t working on the same show as him, leave me a message saying, ‘we’re going to be eating here, we’re going to be in this bar, we’re going to be in this hotel. Come and meet us, get a cab to there, we’ll be there.’

“You know, all those type of little things that brought me in. And I’ll never forget how he treated me and how welcome he made me, how good he made me feel.

“And just a very intelligent football man, loves his football. You know, him and his sons, they all love the football as well. And he’s doing so many good things.

“He’s getting on a bit, just because he looks good for his age doesn’t mean he isn’t old. He’s getting tired in his old age, probably wants to just cook his Sunday roast.”