Gary Lineker has opened up on a ‘weird’ mistake he made during his final appearance on BBC Match of the Day on Sunday.
The 64-year-old bowed out after 26 years as host of the show and is leaving the Beeb for good after sparking controversy following his decision to share a pro-Palestine video on social media.
That storm proved to be one too many for the former England striker, who ‘mutually’ agreed a premature departure from the BBBC – having originally been scheduled to leave after the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Lineker, during his final show, struggled to maintain his composure.
The ex-Barcelona, Tottenham and Leicester striker said: “I don’t know if I can speak. I’ll try.
“For one last time, here’s the Premier League table.”
Lineker then scrambled to find the paper on which the Premier League table was written, forcing him to improvise.
He added: “And I can’t find the copy. So I tell you what, you can just read it for yourselves because it doesn’t matter.
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“Let’s have a look at the bottom of the table – it’s the first time I’ve ever ad-libbed this.
“Ermm, the bottom three are going down as they do tend to do at the end of the season.
“One of those teams is, of course, Leicester which is not really how I wanted to finish.”
Lineker’s blunder had pundits Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, who are also his long-time friends, laughing.
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Now, speaking on the Rest is Football podcast, the Match of the Day host has elaborated on what happened – and how the incident left him flustered.
He explained: “When they played the montage, I was struggling, especially when I saw my boys.
“Thankfully, that wasn’t the last clip because I’d gone at that point and needed time to get myself together to try and get through the end of the show.
“It’s weird, isn’t it? I presented it for 26 years and I always finish with the Premier League table and then a closing line.
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“But for the first time ever, because of everything that was going on, I completely lost what we call the copy, the written form of what I read out over the tables.
“That’s written by the subs and it needs to be accurate – you can’t make any mistakes.
“For the first time in 26 years, I couldn’t find it and it wasn’t there, so I just bust which was a bit different.”
There has been talk of Lineker potentially joining a rival broadcaster following his BBC exit.
However, the former footballer intends to stick to his podcast instead – with Richards and Shearer primed to keep appearing as guests.
Kelly Cates, Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan will all replace Lineker on Match of the Day next season.