Many wondered what tone Gary Lineker would strike in his last-ever Match of the Day, given the circumstances of his departure. Would he be his usual witty self? Would he dial it down? Would he be apologetic?
Millions of eyes and ears around the UK were primed as the clock struck 10.30PM, and Lineker’s face filled the screen on BBC One, just as it has for the last 26 years.
‘It wasn’t meant to end this way,’ uttered Lineker. He loves an opening with connotations towards other situations, and today was no different.
These were not seven words regarding the manner of his exit from the BBC, but rather about how little there was to play for on the final day of the Premier League season. Although we are not silly, that’s not what he was actually implying.
‘With the title race over and the relegation places confirmed, the Champions League was all we had left to talk about,’ he continued.
The camera then panned to his co-stars Alan Shearer and Micah Richards with the former clearly sniggering in a desperate attempt to stop laughter belting out in the studio, while the latter beamed from ear to ear.
Gary Lineker opened his final Match of the Day show with a subtle tounge-in-cheek line
Lineker was joined by both Alan Shearer (left) and Micah Richards (right) for the final time on the show
Lineker will leave the BBC after apologising amid anti-semitism allegations following a post he shared
It was the most obvious of nods to the anti-semitism row which has engulfed the news this past week and has led to an earlier than planned exit.
Lineker has never been shy to utter words that many wouldn’t dare, not least on national television. And despite cutting an apologetic figure in midweek, he was showing no signs of sorrow on the screen.
The majority of the show that followed was exactly what you would expect. Lineker guided us through the story of the final day with his usual panache, as Shearer and Richards analysed the drama that unfolded on Sunday.
Whatever you think of him, there is a reason that Lineker is seen as the best presenter about. He makes the job look so simple that much of the audience believes they could take his place. Everything is seamless, silky smooth, and easy to watch (not like his early days on the job).
His final time in the hot seat was no different. It felt like you were watching the same show that you have seen for the past two-and-a-half decades, just the footage was more modern. That’s how it should be, it’s a formula that has had the country tuning in week after week.
Good luck to Mark Chapman, Kelly Cates, and Gabby Logan trying to replicate his elegance on screen. They are all brilliant presenters and worthy of taking the show forward, but we may never again see any football player reach the levels Lineker has as a presenter.
Well, I say this was a run-of-the-mill show, but it really wasn’t. There were some slight differences throughout that signalled his departure from the iconic show, starting at the very beginning.
Before the famous theme tune blasted out of the TV, a montage showing Lineker’s best bits as a football player – of which there were many – blessed our screens. Then, a much less silver fox and a greyer Lineker from the early 2000s says, ‘The end of an era,’ before the real credits start.
The show opened with a montage of Lineker’s best bit followed by a old clip of him stating ‘the end of an era’
Liverpool boss Arne Slot took time to pay a classy tribute to Lineker during their interview
Former BBC pundit Alan Hansen also paid tribute to Lineker during an end-of-show montage
Old clips of Lineker during his early days on BBC’s flagship show were also shown during a 10-minute tribute
Good luck to Gabby Logan, Mark Chapman, Kelly Cates (from left to right) trying to follow in Lineker’s footsteps
Small tributes are then made throughout the show, with the most unexpected, but kindest, perhaps coming at the end of Lineker’s final interview for the BBC. Arne Slot, who was draped in his Premier League medal, showed a touch of class.
‘Thank you for being such a great presenter of a BBC show that I watched many times when I lived in Holland, and now still,’ Slot said to Lineker. ‘Great what you did. I Like that I could give you a Liverpool shirt instead of the other club you played for.’
Despite the reputational damage that Lineker brought to the BBC with the pro-Palestine Instagram video, which featured an emoji of a rat that Lineker reposted on Instagram, they showed class by celebrating his career as the presenter of Match of the Day.
With the way the relationship has broken down, the BBC could have easily ended Lineker’s tenure without any tributes. That wouldn’t have been the right thing to do, though, and that’s why they didn’t do it. Lineker has provided top-class coverage for two decades, and they had to recognise that.
They pulled out all the stops to give Lineker a proper send-off; it wasn’t half-hearted. A nearly 10-minute montage of tributes from the likes of Shearer, Danny Murphy, Alan Hansen, Lineker’s children, and even famous opera singer Andre Bocelli graced the screen. Overboard? Yes. Deserved? Based on his presenting alone, wholly.
Then, after over a quarter of a century of fronting the BBC’s flagship, Lineker’s farewell message had come, and emotions were clearly high in the studio.
‘Time to say goodbye.’
