The age of Gary Lineker’s Match of the Day predecessor when he stepped away from presenting football has shocked fans.
Legendary presenter Des Lynam fronted the BBC programme for 11 years before leaving to front ITV's Champions League coverage in 1999. He also hosted Premier League action again when ITV briefly held the terrestrial highlights rights in the early 2000s.
Lynam, now 81, worked at a major tournament for the final time at Euro 2004, when he was 61, two years younger than Lineker, 63, is now. With his debonair appearance and moustache, Lynam looked older than the youthful-looking Lineker, with fans surprised when it was highlighted on social media by Sky Sports reporter Jamie Weir.
He posted: “When he signed off from his last major tournament as an anchor, Des Lynam was two years younger than Gary Lineker is now. That slightly blows my mind.”
Weir added: “They’re both excellent broadcasters. Make something extraordinarily difficult look effortless.” Other posters agreed, with one joking: “It seems that eating crisps keeps you looking young.” Another pointed out: “It’s weird, I think Des’ generation look way older at that age than now. We wear trainers.”
At the time, Lynam said he was leaving the BBC for a “new challenge”. Lynam was also frustrated at the BBC scheduling, with Match of the Day’s start time getting closer to 11pm.
Shortly before his exit, he said: “The moment you put it past 10.30pm, I start fuming.” But there was another reason Lynam made the change – money. Speaking to the Irish Independent ahead of Euro 2024, he revealed: “I was very happy to do Match of the Day, and would have gone on doing it.
"Only ITV came to me with a bucket-load of money! I couldn’t turn it down, it would have been stupid. It was a hell of a lot more than the BBC were paying, for a lot less work.
"At the time, obviously, I didn’t say I was leaving for the money, I just said I wanted a new challenge – and that new challenge was to bank some more money!”