Top 80 Gary Lineker Quotes

In terms of politics, I just look at people’s policies, and sometimes I agree with something, sometimes I won’t.

I hear it all the time in the street: ‘It’s the crisp bloke.’

We are in the entertainment business and we all know if you are top of the tree you get the big money. Those of us who have been in it are the fortunate ones but we understand that we probably don’t deserve it as much as the nurses or teachers.

The best, most successful managers in the modern era are those who can keep a player happy even if he is not in the team. Given the size of the squads and the use of rotation nowadays, that’s tougher than it’s ever been.

You’ve got no chance of reaching the top if you’re just playing for money.

I’ve been in the public eye so long, I can’t remember how it was when it was different – from my mid-20s onwards, when my career started to blossom and I became an international, world cups and things.

It’s only a matter of time before the English clubs become a lot more competitive in Europe, if not dominant, because our league is, by far, the richest league in the world.

It would be a great adventure for Leicester to be in the Champions League.

Football’s the big cheese, if you like. It’s easy to have a swipe. There’s a lot of footballers, and when they fall foul, they become big news.

I’ve heard things said on football pitches that players clearly don’t mean, whether it’s racism or just an abusive comment in the heat of the moment.

I’m more of a 5 Live man. But I might listen to a bit of Coldplay or The Smiths.

I’ve quite often written tweets that I think are across that line, but I just delete them.

We’re all concerned about sports rights being so expensive. Obviously, we are funded by the licence fee payers, so it’s not always easy to compete with those who can get greater revenue.

I’ve only got a Saturday job so my weekdays are generally pretty free.

When Bob Wilson left the BBC for ITV, I got the ‘Football Focus’ job, and it went from there. It came completely out of the blue, but the fact I had a high profile certainly helped.

I’m not that moody. I don’t have big ups and downs.

I think medically, football is generally well looked after. There are always checks made. Anything which can be done to make footballers or sportsmen of any area safer has to be encouraged.

Football matters so much to people, and they get very defensive – or angry.

Some players are quite homely, and they don’t see themselves going abroad; others would relish the challenge. I can only speak personally, but I always wanted the challenge, and to go and live in a place like Barcelona was great.

The truth is I don’t feel too bad for my age. I actually have a better shape now than I used to.

In terms of the pricing of football tickets, there’s no need – given the massive amount of money that’s coming in now from television rights, there’s no need for them to be greedy. Look after the supporters; make sure they can still afford to go and watch football.

I think people come and go, ‘I’m going to find the real Gary. What is it… the real Gary? I’ve got to find it.’ But the thing is, it’s pretty much what you see is what you get. I’m just like this. There’s no hidden viciousness.

I try to avoid saying ‘fantastic’ too often and ‘obviously’ is a dangerous word for all broadcasters.

When I see old photos of me on the beach I don’t look too bad… but it’s hard trying to breathe in for such a long time when I spot the photographers!

I’ve now been in over 100 adverts for Walkers, and we’ve had a lot of laughs along the way.

I’ve got about 5 million followers on Twitter, and if I tweet anything, there will be faux outrage.

You never know how long a player has left, especially with strikers. Once you turn 30, as a striker, you are usually on the way down, and playing from the age of 16, at such a high level, has to take its toll.

Our games are not always the best, but they are exciting, which is what people love to see.

Football is losing its heart and sense of humour.

I generally have a brand of brief on every day.

I don’t feel that I’m particularly political. I’m interested in politics; I’ll express my view if I feel strongly about something, but humanitarian issues, I think, are slightly different.

I try very hard to be bad, but people never take me seriously.

On TV, if you fluff your lines, nobody gives a toss. But if you fluff a penalty in the World Cup, well – we all know how much that matters.

I think the important thing we have to remember about football in this country is that it is very vibrant, and it’s very good to watch, not only in the flesh but also on TV, because our stadiums are full.

In any other corporation, if there was so many things that were found to be corrupt, then the man at the top would go – but that doesn’t seem to be the case with FIFA.

I was quite good at football once, although other than that my speciality would be maths. I’m great at sudokus and find all the spin-off games pretty easy too.

In terms of aesthetics, I probably look better than I did when I played.

I wouldn’t want to go out six nights a week and watch somebody’s reserves playing to check out a footballer to see if we’re going to buy him.

Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win.

I’ve known Mark Hughes for half a lifetime. We joined Barcelona in the same summer of 1986, played together under Terry Venables and Luis Aragones, and have kept in touch ever since.

In this country, since footballs made from pigs’ bladders were whacked into goals without nets, we’ve played on full-size pitches. Whatever our age.

I’m disappearing from twitter for a while. Need a break from the bile. Local prejudice just seems to bring out the worst in some people.

My fiancee’s brother-in-law was recently paralysed in an accident and it really brought home the fact that thousands of young people live with spinal injuries. It’s an issue I wish had more coverage.

The possibility that a provincial town could win the League completely bucks the trend.

I know I could never be in a pop band. I honestly have an appalling voice.

A couple of defeats, and you are gone – that’s the danger of World Cups.

I know I am extraordinarily lucky to be doing what I am doing. I have worked hard along the way and I have been blessed too. I have had a great life.

People are possibly not spelling ‘Leicester’ correctly everywhere round the globe, but they are at least saying it correctly now.

I don’t think there was a definite day, but it would have been around my mid-20s. I was always interested in the media side of things. When we travelled with England away, or to World Cups, I used to sit with journos while they wrote their copy.

I’m in good shape.

Ooh, it’s too embarrassing to share my innermost romantic secrets – although I have written Danielle the odd poem. If anything they are more comedic than romantic. They used to be well-received but that was before she started studying Shakespeare at drama college. Now I feel so inept.

In the time I spent with him, Jurgen Klopp was enigmatic, larger than life, and extremely quick-witted. He is quite unique as a football manager in many ways, and that is what makes him so entertaining.

I remember Nayim at Tottenham dived all over the place, and we used to say to him, ‘What are you doing?’ You do talk about it.

People are fed up with the way things are. There is a lot of bitterness out there, a lot of anger about a lack of jobs and concerns for the next generation.

Twitter has been a godsend for travelling.

We have got too many kids around the house to have a romantic meal at home. But Danielle is a fantastic cook. She does a brilliant lasagne, great roasts and a great chilli dish. She knows the way to my heart.

That’s what being a footballer is, really: you train at this time, you finish at that time, then you do that, then you go home, then you’re not allowed out, then you do this… there comes a point in your career – about thirty, thirty-one – when you get a bit sick of being screamed at.

The only way to get to the other end of the pitch is to belt it and then belt it again.

In all sports, people get competitive; things happen that shouldn’t happen.

Presenting football is something that I love to do. I’m very fortunate being able to do one of the BBC’s flagship shows.

Personal records are not what football is all about, but as goalscorers, we live and die by figures and numbers because, ultimately, that’s how people will judge you.

People make mistakes. They say stupid things.

Looking at the way the game is played, I’m envious of the conditions. We played on some ropey World Cup surfaces. I genuinely never look back and wish I earned the money they do today, but I do think of that element.

Feel ashamed of my generation. We’ve let down our children and their children.

We are living in difficult times. There are a lot of people out of work – am I going to stand there and whinge? No, because I am lucky to have such a wonderful job.

I know people think that a lot of sports stars are a little bit up themselves, but they all have their heroes, too.