Gary Lineker has come clean about the ‘tactical error’ he made when deciding which football team his first born son, George, would support
Gary Lineker has confessed to a blunder when he told his eldest son, George, that he couldn’t support Manchester United.
The Leicester City fan, who will step down from hosting BBC’s Match of the Day at the end of this season and shares four sons with ex-wife Michelle Cockayne, made a misstep when his firstborn expressed a desire to support the Red Devils.
As Lineker grew up supporting his hometown Foxes, he would likely have expected that said fanaticism would passed down to son George – though he was gravely mistaken.
A quick refusal to the prospect of leaning United’s way only encouraged his now 33-year-old son to further such love – a move the 63-year-old now recognises as an error.
When quizzed by a listener on The Rest Is Football podcast about how much sway one should have over their child’s football allegiances, Lineker admitted: “I made a kind of tactical error with my eldest son George, who is very contrary, let’s say.
“I think I’ve talked about his support for Manchester United. All my other three boys support Leicester, and I perhaps learnt from my previous mistake. George came home from school one day, he must have been about four or five, he went, ‘Dad, dad, I’m gonna support Manchester United like my friend John.’ I went – and I made a mistake – I said ‘no you’re not.’
“And immediately he thought, ‘oh, I like this; I like this contrary aspect’. So, that’s why I’ve got one Manchester United supporter and three Leicester fans.”
Speaking alongside fellow pundits Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, the burning question of allegiances was put to the former: “Well, my son was born half a mile from St James’ Park, so he didn’t really have a choice. It was always going to be Newcastle. Well, the girls… Newcastle, yeah.”
Lineker couldn’t resist stepping in, directing the spotlight towards Richards who kicked off his football aspirations with Leeds United in his schoolboy years, before signing with Manchester City at the age of 14, reports the Express.
“Now this is the interesting question Micah Richards, your young son,” Lineker probed. “How are you influencing him in terms of what team he supports?”
“It’s a disaster,” Richards chuckled. “It’s an absolute disaster. He talked about Man United because of [Marcus] Rashford, and I said I will never take you to football again if you support Man United. He’s a Yorkshireman. We can’t do that. Then, he started liking [Erling] Haaland, but he also likes [Bukayo] Saka as well. He’s got a half-and-half scarf at the moment. Embarrassing!
“Who would I like him to support? I would say Man City, only because… Because the club there have been amazing with me, obviously, my son as well. Manchester City, I’m not going to give you an explanation,” which prompted Lineker to cheekily retort: “I can’t wait to see him in an Arsenal kit!”
Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Learn more
