Gary Lineker (1978–1994, Leicester City, Barcelona and England)

Gary Lineker was a prolific striker and one of England’s finest goalscorers, born in Leicester in 1960. He began his career with his home city club, Leicester City, finishing as the First Division’s joint top scorer in 1984-85, then moved to Everton, where in a single season he won both the PFA Players’ Player of the Year and the Footballer of the Year awards.

In 1986 he joined Barcelona for a fee reported at around £2.8 million, one of the largest of the era, winning the Copa del Rey and the European Cup Winners’ Cup across three seasons in Spain. He returned to England with Tottenham Hotspur in 1989, winning the FA Cup and a second Footballer of the Year award, before finishing his career with two seasons at Nagoya Grampus Eight in Japan.

He is the only player to finish as the top scorer in England’s top division with three different clubs, Leicester City, Everton and Tottenham Hotspur.

For England he won 80 caps and scored 48 goals between 1984 and 1992, and took the Golden Boot as the leading scorer at the 1986 World Cup, also reaching the semi-finals in 1990.

Famously never booked in his entire career, he received the FIFA Fair Play Award in 1990. He was appointed OBE in 1992 and inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2003.

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Gary Lineker – Rookie Cards and Significant Others

His earliest known cards are both from 1980-81, during his early days at Leicester City:

• 1980-81 Daily Star Football #131
• 1980-81 FKS Soccer Stars Stickers #132

After a gap, his cards resume in 1983-84 with:

• 1983-84 FKS Soccer Stars #81
• 1983-84 Panini Football Stickers UK #115

A standout from his peak is:

• 1986 Panini FIFA World Cup Stickers #415

This was issued for the tournament where he won the Golden Boot as the leading scorer

See the 2003 Hall of Fame Inductees or browse the full list.