Gary Lineker reveals how he changed Match of the Day forever with tweak to ‘stop people moaning’
GARY LINEKER has revealed the tweak he made to Match of the Day that has changed the show forever.
Lineker, 63, has been hosting the nation’s beloved football highlights show since 1999.
The England legend has become synonymous with the programme since he started hosting some 25 years ago, with many football fans never experiencing the show without the former Leicester ace.
Lineker hasn’t just put his own spin on the show with his presenting style though, but also with a tweak he helped the BBC make back in 2004.
The BBC had lost the rights to show Premier League highlights to broadcasting rival ITV in 2001.
So when they regained the rights in 2004, at the end of ITV’s three-year contract, Lineker wanted to “stop fans moaning” about the coverage.
The former Barcelona bagsman asked if the show could provide highlights for EVERY Prem match, something it had not been doing previously.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast this week, Lineker revealed: “When it came back, when we got the rights back, I said, ‘Is there any way we could show all the games?’
“We found a way of doing it and I thought, ‘Right, we finally won’t get people moaning that they’re never on Match of the Day‘.”
Since 2004 every Premier League match has been squeezed into the show so that fans up and down the country can catch up with how their side got on.
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But Lineker didn’t stop all the moaning, with the Beeb’s star presenter revealing that people now whinge about where their team is placed in the programme’s running order.
He joked: “But of course then it becomes about where they are on Match of the Day, on the running order! ‘We’re always last’.”
Lineker also described the role as Match of the Day presenter as the “toughest” show he’s ever been apart of.
However, he is certainly compensated handsomely for his hard work, after the BBC revealed that the retired footballer is the company’s best-paid sports star.
Lineker pockets a whopping £1.35MILLION per year, that’s more than TRIPLE what BBC Sport’s second highest earner, Alan Shearer, is getting paid for his role.
Although Lineker may not be on the payroll for too much longer as he cast doubt over his future with the company as he heads into the final year of his contract this season.
He said: “I don’t know [how long I’ll stay]! It depends how long they want me, I suppose.
“I love doing it at the moment; I’ve still got another year left, at least.
“So we’ll have to wait and see what happens. Obviously it’s another change in football and television and the rights of the Premier League and stuff like that.
“All of these things will play a part. But I just feel it’s been an absolute privilege to have presented it for 25 years now. I must be getting old!”
Lineker has already been snubbed for the BBC’s new Champions League highlights show that begins this season.
Instead, Gabby Logan is reportedly set to be the head presenter for the new European football show.