Gary Lineker has taken a football management role following the revelation he won’t be working on Match of the Day next season. Lineker, 63, will take control of a team competing in the Baller League, that is launching in the UK and USA.
The former Spurs striker will combine with Alan Shearer and Micah Richards to coach one of the UK teams, whilst ex-Arsenal Invincibles Robert Pires, Freddie Ljungberg and Jens Lehmann will manage another.
Sidemen members Miniminter and Tobi, YouTuber and Twitch stream Angry Ginge, plus former international players John Terry and Luis Figo will all manage their own sides.
Famous Arsenal fan KSI will be the UK league’s president, while IShowSpeed will serve the same role in the US Baller League. Ronaldinho is one icon to have been confirmed as a player in the American version.
In the official tournament trailer, the likes of Terry and Figo are shown performing tricks, before the Portugease playmaker volleys a ball that is made to look like it lands in a studio where Lineker, Richards, and Shearer are sat. The three pundits fight for a header which the ex-Manchester City man wins, before falling flat on his face and ripping his trousers.
That prompts the two former forwards to burst out laughing, with Lineker mocking his BBC colleague by saying “talk about bursting on the scene.” The joke is reference to the infamous argument between Richards and Roy Keane on Sky Sports.
The two-minute advert concluded with the three former Gunners having a kick-about in an airport, before KSI boards an aeroplane to find Ronaldinho already sat down. The footage then teases viewers with the caption ‘landing 2025’.
In a released statement, organisers said that more details, inluding dates and tournament formats, would soon be announced. They also promised that “the remaining managers of the UK league” would soon be confirmed.
Despite his esteemed playing career and work as a pundit and presenter, Lineker will be in unchartered territory. He declined to go into coaching following retirement, always insiting he preferred working in television.
Richards, 36, also went straight into work with Sky Sports and the BBC. Shearer has brief experience in professional management, taklng charge of Newcastle’s final eight games of the season in the 2009/10 campaign.
However, the club’s record goalscorer failed to save his side from Premier League relegation. Despite appearing in contention to take the role full-time, he was then overlooked in favour of Chris Hughton.
