Everton signed me after winning the Golden Boot but I was booed on my debut

Gary Lineker has admitted winning Everton fans over was a challenge when he arrived at Goodison Park.

In 1985, the Match of the Day presenter joined a Toffees side still flying after winning the league by a mammoth 13 points. Then manager Howard Kendall had just controversially sold Andy Gray to Aston Villa despite the Scotsman winning three trophies in two seasons.

Lineker was tasked as his replacement and bagged an impressive 40 goals in 57 games across all competitions. While his own contribution cannot be questioned, Lineker’s solitary year on Merseyside ended trophyless and was sandwiched between two title-winning campaigns.

A dream move to Barcelona beckoned after the 1986 World Cup - where he finished as the tournament’s top scorer. But it was not always an easy adjustment to life at Everton.

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Speaking to The Rest Is Football podcast, the BBC host opened up about his frosty reception when he replaced Gray almost 40 years ago. Lineker said: “I remember when I joined Everton and replaced Andy Gray. He was a big hero there. In the first home game I had, the tannoy read out the team before the game.

“Peter Reid, Kevin Ratcliffe (loud cheers), Trevor Steven (more cheers), Gary Lineker… boo! That was my debut. In defence of the Everton fans, a minority cheered. I just thought ‘oh god’. I didn’t score in my first three games and I was getting hammered.

Then I started scoring but it took me until Christmas (to settle in). I scored three goals over the Christmas spell, one of those was against Man United. That was the turning point. I got accepted after that.