Gary Lineker will forever be remembered as one of the best England strikers the nation has ever produced. With 48 goals in 80 caps, he is undoubtedly a true Three Lions icon.
More than his goalscoring exploits, however, perhaps what is more uniquely impressive about his career is his disciplinary record. As one of the most well-behaved footballers, he somehow went through his entire career without getting a single red or yellow card.
To put that in perspective, Colombian Gerardo Bedoya has the most red cards of any footballer in history, with 46. For Lineker to go through his career without ever getting on the wrong side of the referee is just mindblowing. So how did he do it?
Well, the player has actually revealed that he owes his good behaviour to one particular incident with his father when he was a kid.
Lineker’s Impressive Disciplinary Record
His father played a key role
Recalling his time as a youngster, Lineker explained that he was about 14 when he once clashed with a referee. He swore at the official but his dad overheard. After being firmly told off, the future England star well and truly learned his lesson. He explained:
“Well, people often talk about the fact that I never got booked; I never got a yellow card or a red card in my whole career, and I remember one incident that I remember really well is that, I must of been about 14 at the time, and I was scoring a lot of goals by that stage, and I think the referee gave two or three decisions that I didn’t agree with, and I swore at the ref, and my dad walked on the pitch, grabbed me by the scruff of the neck, and said, ‘Right, if you ever do that again, you will not play football,’ and he took me off the pitch.”
The incident obviously lasted long in the mind for Lineker, who seemed to carry that memory with him whenever going onto the pitch. It clearly served him well too as he shone for his nation, but also domestically scoring 80 goals for Tottenham Hotspur and 51 for Barcelona – becoming an iconic player for both teams.
|
Gary Lineker For England |
|
|---|---|
|
Games |
80 |
|
Goals |
48 |
|
Assists |
4 |
|
Cards |
0 |
Related
Gary Lineker Named the 2 Toughest Defenders He Ever Came Up Against
Even strikers of Gary Lineker’s calibre go through tough times, and the ex-Leicester man once named the toughest defenders he faced.
Lineker Never Got a Card
But he did once stamp on a defender
Despite his obviously calm demeanour on the football pitch, Lineker has since admitted there was one moment where he actually lost his cool. He was so upset, he actually ‘stamped’ on an opposition player but got away without any punishment. When discussing his toughest defensive battles, he recalled the Euro 1992 incident:
“Mine would probably be a defender from France called Basile Boli.
“I remember playing in the Euros and he was marking me from corners but he wasn’t just marking me. He was giving me a bear hug. Not in a romantic way, in the way that I couldn’t breathe and he was squeezing.
“He was just arms around me, and this is obviously before VAR, and he just held me and held me. So he did this about two or three corners, whatever we had, and I said to the ref: ‘I mean come on’.
“Eventually I thought ‘sod this’ and I stamped on his toe. You could get away with something like that but it was only so I could breathe. So I think it was self-defence in some ways.”
Stats via Transfermarkt
About Author
