'I worked with Gary Lineker at the BBC - I won't forget how he treated me'
With BBC Match of the Day stalwart Gary Lineker in line to step down from his role as host, one of his friends and soon to be future colleagues has issued a gleaming tribute
BBC pundit Danny Murphy has thanked outgoing Match of the Day host Gary Lineker for his "welcoming" and "warm" demeanour.
Lineker will step down from hosting the BBC show at the end of the current season. However, he continue with the broadcaster up until at least the 2026 World Cup, also anchoring their FA Cup coverage next season.
The 63-year-old has been hosting Match of the Day since 1999, when he replaced Des Lynam. Murphy - who starred for the likes of Liverpool and Fulham and has often appeared alongside Lineker on the programme - believes the kind-hearted pundit will be sorely missed. Murphy first started his career with the BBC in 2013, and such praise likely stems from the welcome he received from Lineker.
“I'll never forget how he [Lineker] treated me and how welcome he made me, how good he made me feel,” Murphy told talkSPORT. “You know, Gary's a friend of mine, and he's been phenomenal to me since the day I walked in the building.
“And a warm, charismatic, intelligent man who knows his football and has become part of everybody's furniture, if you like, on a Saturday evening. I'll just tell you quickly, I mean, from my first… I'd done a few shows, and he was always great.”
Lineker’s footballing nous sticks in Murphy's memory, with the pundit adding: “[He is] just a very intelligent football man, loves his football. You know, him and his sons, they all love the football as well. And he's doing so many good things.
“He's getting on a bit, just because he looks good for his age doesn't mean he isn't old. He's getting tired in his old age, probably wants to just cook his Sunday roast.“
Murphy was then asked who he would choose to replace his friend, and he opted for another BBC colleague. “I feel that they've got [a candidate], Mark Chapman, who I work with a lot on Sundays,“ Murphy added. “I think he's a brilliant presenter and very, very knowledgeable on sport and football.
“Somebody who is ready-made for it. Whether he wants it or not, I don't know. That's a different question, you'd have to ask him. But he would be the glaring, obvious choice for me.“
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