Gary Lineker made a seven-word joke as he got his final episode as the host of Match of the Day up and running on Sunday evening. The 64-year-old is set to depart the BBC following a 25-year stint as presenter of the popular highlights show.
Lineker had planned to stay with the BBC for another year to present their FA Cup coverage next season as well as their 2026 World Cup offering. But the Beeb confirmed at the start of the week that he would leave the corporation earlier than planned after he had apologised for sharing a social media post about Zionism. The post caused widespread offence as it featured a rat, a symbol that has historically been used as an antisemitic insult.
The Match of the Day starting credits were changed at the start of Sunday’s show in honour of the former striker as footage of some of his goals were screened. He then welcomed viewers by exclaiming: “It wasn’t meant to end this way.”
However, he quickly added: “But with the title race over and the Champions League places confirmed, the Champions League was all we had left to talk about.”
He went on to introduce pundits Alan Shearer and Micah Richards before talking viewers through the Premier League table ahead of the final round of matches. The football action then got underway with Manchester City’s clash with Fulham at Craven Cottage.
The final Match of the Day of the season is typically action-packed as every Premier League encounter kicks off at the same time on the same day.
That meant there were 10 matches for Lineker and his BBC colleagues to get through during the 100-minute show on Sunday.
The last day of the campaign ultimately proved to be an underwhelming affair for much of the afternoon, with only 12 goals hitting the back of the net in the first 65 minutes of action.
Manchester City eventually secured third-place in the Premier League table courtesy of a 2-0 victory over Fulham, with Arsenal seeing off Southampton 2-1 to cement second place behind champions Liverpool, who drew 1-1 with Crystal Palace.
Chelsea overcame Nottingham Forest 1-0 at the City Ground to grab fourth, with Newcastle taking the final Champions League spot, despite losing 1-0 at home to Everton.
Lineker has been tipped to return to television in the future and has already been linked with the likes of ITV and Sky Sports.
But for now, he will keep himself busy with his podcast, The Rest is Football, which has attracted a huge following since launching in August 2023.
And he could even be a media disruptor in the coming months as he has been in discussions with Dazn about screening Club World Cup highlights on The Rest is Football this summer.
