Why Gary Lineker quit Baller League UK ahead of season two as competition CEO details honest conversation with England icon

Lineker’s side fared well in the first season of the Baller League UK - a six-a-side indoor football tournament where teams are played in and managed by a mix of ex-pros and influencers, and other celebrities. Lineker managed alongside his fellow TV pundits and podcasters Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, but left ahead of the second season, despite the team topping the league stage. The former England, Barcelona and Tottenham striker's old team is now co-managed by Richards and Daniel Sturridge, while Shearer has switched to managing Wembley Rangers alongside Ian Wright.

Lineker, who presented Match of the Day for 26 years, departed the BBC in May amid a social media impartiality row after a controversial Instagram post. He will now focus on his lucrative podcast company and is set to host a new game show for ITV called The Box, which is scheduled to air on in 2026. A major part of his work involves his podcast production company, Goalhanger Podcasts, which he co-founded and produces hit shows like The Rest Is Football, The Rest Is Politics, and The Rest Is History. With his full exit from the BBC, Lineker now has more freedom to voice his opinions on social media without being constrained by the broadcaster's impartiality rules, and he’s left Baller League UK, too. 

Baller League CEO Felix Starck told talkSPORT why Lineker has stepped away from the competition: "We sat down and had a conversation with Gary - Does it make sense to continue or not? I think you have to fall in love with this project to continue because it consumes your time.

"It's very time-consuming. It's full of people who spend hours and hours (investing their time in it). John Terry calls me every single week and complains that he's spending so much time, but then he says it's the best thing ever, it’s the best thing ever. I think with Gary, he has a lot on in his life; he has a very busy schedule, and if you don’t fall in love with it, you can't be with this game. It's really up to you."

Starck added: "Micah Richards has a team together with Daniel Sturridge now. And he called me eight weeks ago in the offseason. He was like, 'I hate you,' and I was like, 'What's your problem now? Why do you suddenly hate me?' He's like 'I'm in Barbados, I don't get to rest, I'm on my phone trying to convince people to come to my team.' So I think a lot of these people became hyper, hyper invested. John Terry's every day at the Chelsea ground, looking who's about to get cut and then take him over? I'm hoping I'm not saying something wrong, and John's gonna have an issue, but they are very much invested!"

Starck has huge hopes for the fledgling league, but wants to to be very different to the type of football on show in the Premier League, with a unique ethos. At the launch of season 2, he said: "What we want to do is move away from everything that's not football culture, which is politics and greed and money and talking about football like it's a product. This is not a product, this is a sport. And it’s not a whiteboard sport, like NFL or basketball. It’s an instinct sport – give me the ball, and I’m gonna do something amazing with it. People don’t laugh anymore playing football. We need to make it fun again."