Gary Lineker's final Match Of The Day opening: ‘It wasn't meant to end this way'
As the episode started, Lineker said: 'It wasn't meant to end this way… but with the title race over and the relegation places confirmed, the Champions League was all we had left to talk about about.'
Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker outside his home in London. Mr Lineker has announced he will leave the BBC after Match Of The Day on Saturday (Ben Whitley/PA)
His early exit comes after he faced criticism for sharing a social media post about Zionism which featured an emoji of a rat, historically used as an antisemitic trope.
Lineker, the BBC's highest-paid presenter, issued an unreserved apology as it was confirmed he would leave his presenting role at the BBC early and will no longer front the corporation's coverage of the 2026 World Cup or the FA Cup next season.
Presenting the final episode alongside fellow pundits, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, with whom he also hosts podcast The Rest Is Football, Lineker's departure will be marked with a tribute similar to the one given to Ian Wright when he left in May 2024, it is understood.
Lineker joined the programme after starting out as a BBC Radio Five Live presenter, also working on Grandstand during his early years in broadcasting.
He is the co-founder of Goalhanger Podcasts which makes The Rest Is History series and its spin-offs about politics, football, entertainment and money.
Gary Lineker takes part in The Rest Is Football live show, at the Audley Public House in Mayfair, central London (Ben Whitley/PA)
The presenter was temporarily suspended from the BBC in March 2023 over an impartiality row about comments he made criticising the then-government's new asylum policy.
In February of this year he was also among 500 other high-profile figures who signed an open letter calling on the BBC to rebroadcast a documentary, Gaza: How To Survive A War Zone, to BBC iPlayer.
Gabby Logan, Kelly Cates and Mark Chapman will replace the Leicester-born star and share the presenting role on Match Of The Day from the next Premier League season.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Metro
27 minutes ago
- Metro
Benedict Cumberbatch blasts 'grossly wasteful' film industry
Benedict Cumberbatch has revealed his intense diet plan which led to over-indulgence in order to acquire his Doctor Strange physique. The aftermath left the London-born actor feeling 'horrific' as he was instructed to eat beyond his appetite. The 49-year-old Marvel star said he could have fed a family with the 'amount he was eating.' Cumberbatch recently appeared on podcast Ruthie's Table 4, where he exposed all of his eating secrets that made him Doctor Strange. Throughout the podcast, he discussed all things food, which led to him criticising the film industry for being 'grossly wasteful.' Speaking to host Ruth Rodgers, he said: 'You have someone who can prescribe you what you're eating and they can cook for you.' He went on to share the pure volume of food he was given, adding: 'We had a fantastic chef on the last Doctor Strange film. He needs to be on this many calories a day. 'He needs to have five meals, he needs to have a couple of boiled eggs between those five meals, some kind of high protein snack, cheese and crackers or almond butter and crackers, crackers, lots of crackers.' It was not all negative for Cumberbatch as he did enjoy the exercise part of his transformation and felt as if he was fueling his body properly for gruellingly long days of filming. 'For me, the exercise is great and the end result is that you feel strong and you feel confident, you hold yourself better, you have stamina through the exercise and the food that makes you last through the gig,' he added. The Sherlock Holmes star continued to speak passionately on the film industry and how it contributes to waste. He went on to say: 'It just slowly, slowly, you have to meet people where they are on these issues in filmmaking. 'So let me think about set builds that aren't recycled, think about transport, think about food, think about housing, but also light and energy.' 'The amount of wattage you need to sort of create daylight and consistent light in a studio environment. It's a lot of energy,' he added. Cumberbatch continued to speak out on behalf of actors and producers who often stay silent when it comes to speaking on global issues: 'So the first people to stick their head above the parapet to talk about anything to do with climate and excessive use of things, or hypocrisy, or systems that don't work, get slammed if they're actors, because they're ferried about.' More Trending He carried on by saying: 'It is a systemic thing, but as a producer, I'm really hot on that. 'I try to push the green initiative, the green handshake into every agreement I can.' There are two Doctor Strange films in the Marvel Universe franchise – both starring Cumberbatch post-bodybuilding. The Marvel star also starred as Sherlock in the BBC mystery crime drama series, which ran from 2010 to 2017. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Major stars and Hollywood icons who've appeared in Casualty from Tom Hiddleston to Kate Winslet MORE: TV fans can now binge 'must-watch' crime drama after season 2 is confirmed MORE: Meet the 'hidden' Russo sibling leading her Marvel director brothers' studio
Glasgow Times
30 minutes ago
- Glasgow Times
Sunderland close in on former Arsenal midfielder Granit Xhaka
The PA news agency understands the Black Cats have agreed personal terms with the 32-year-old former Arsenal skipper and are attempting to thrash out a fee with Erik ten Hag's Bundesliga club. Switzerland international Xhaka, who began his career at Basel before heading for Borussia Monchengladbach, spent seven years with the Gunners and is well acquainted with England's top flight. Granit Xhaka won two FA Cups during his seven-year stay at Arsenal (Adam Davy/PA) He joined Arsenal in a £35million switch from Monchengladbach during the summer of 2016 and made 297 appearances for the club, winning two FA Cups, before returning to Germany with Leverkusen in July 2023. Xhaka, who has been caped 137 times by his country, won the league title at the end of his first season and made 49 appearances in all competitions, 10 of them in the Champions League, during the last campaign. A combative player, Xhaka was stripped of the Arsenal captaincy in November 2019 after a heated exchange with home fans at the Emirates Stadium.
Metro
an hour ago
- Metro
BBC drama that 'perfectly encapsulated grief' celebrated by fans 9 years later
It's been almost a decade since Phoebe Waller-Bridge's groundbreaking BBC drama Fleabag offered one of the most poignant explorations of grief on TV. The Emmy-winning show started as a one-woman show at Edinburgh Fringe Festival before making the leap to the small screen in 2016, with the first episode airing on July 21. The fourth-wall-breaking show stars Phoebe as the titular Fleabag who is navigating the complicated and sudden loss of her best friend Boo (Jenny Rainsford). As she navigates this trauma, we meet the people who make up her small, and chaotic, world, including her uptight sister Claire (Sian Clifford), her snooty stepmum Matrigna (Olivia Colman) and, later on in the show, the man she falls in love with but can never have – Andrew Scott's (Hot) Priest. The two-season comedy has built a loyal fanbase over the years and, with its regular inclusion in people's favourite shows of all time, it is also constantly being discovered by new viewers. Praised for its wit and surprising depth, fans are reminiscing on just what made the show so good – from its fundamental understanding of bereavement to its ability to flesh out flawed characters. During one scene, when Fleabag is describing the heaviness of Boo's loss, she explains: 'I don't know what to do with it. With all the love I have for her.I don't know where to put it now.' Sharing this moment on X, user @moralgrey simply wrote: 'When fleabag perfectly encapsulated grief.' Another user, @weirdnelipit, added: 'genuinely, my favourite one was this whole boo and fleabag conversation after her mom died, 'Like it sparked a new layer of understanding of grief & all of our unconditional love for someone & the closest people we have will always be on our side.. a love that will always remain.' 'Thank you Fleabag for one of the most beautiful depictions of grief,' chaoticguitar echoed. 'Fleabag summed up a lot of the grief we feel after a loved ones death in this scene,' Layal Shakeir agreed. Over on Reddit, fans were in agreement about the show's impact. User sgt-snuggles wrote: 'I didn't truly see it on first watch but Fleabag really has such a unique and real portrayal of grief. When I rewatched it after losing someone close I felt like I was seeing it through different lenses. 'The desperation to be close to people while pushing away real closeness, the fear of confronting how everything truly feels, it's so real and beautifully shown in such a deep yet silly manner.' 'The spiraling, confusing, messy grief is so well displayed in Fleabag with Boo. It's cold and snowy out, so I'm going to make beef stew and watch Fleabag and cry and drink wine,' soup-creature echoed. This was not the only moment fans were profoundly moved by. For many, the highlight of the show is the portrayal of sisterhood in all its messiness, and more importantly, all its unconditional love. 'I'm so grateful for the depiction of Claire and Fleabag's relationship — the ugliness and heartbreak and enormity of love and care. how different they're & how they choose to stick with each other,' @apparitionow said. In one scene, Claire tells Fleabag that she's the only person she would run through an airport for in a bid to do a grand gesture (typically reserved for romance). 'Portrayal of the sibling relationship in Fleabag still remains one of my favourite aspects of the show. As someone who has always struggled to verbalise her love for her sibling, this bit was like a eureka moment for me,' d_majumdar92. Other highlights include the heartwrenching exchange in which Fleabag confesses her love for Priest, only to be told 'it'll pass'. Or when Priest is the only one to 'ask her a question in 45 minutes'. Or when he's the only one who can break the fourth wall with her. For @alison_epp, these moments were an 'absolute surprising and beautiful way to show someone truly being seen'. More Trending Another fan shared their love for the scene when Fleabag is talking with an older woman who has been through menopause, Belinda, who delivers a layered monologue about 'women being born with pain built in' and the freedom you find in your later years. If you haven't watched Fleabag, then let this new milestone be your sign to watch it. You won't regret it. View More » Fleabag is available to stream on BBC iPlayer now. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: BBC's Celebrity Traitors is 'blowing a whopping £760,000 on cast salaries' MORE: Rob Brydon admits major blunder he made that almost ruined BBC series MORE: The most 'absurd' show on the BBC just dropped 6 new episodes
