Goals on and off the pitch Gary Lineker, 52, made his international debut in 1984 and scored 48 goals for England. Only Bobby Charlton has scored more. The son of a Leicester greengrocer, Lineker left school at 16 to play for Leicester City, later moving to Everton and Barcelona. He joined Tottenham Hotspur in 1989, before finishing his career with the Japanese club Nagoya Grampus Eight. After retiring in 1994 he became a sports presenter. His initial work as a pundit was followed by a stint on They Think It's All Over. He now presents the BBC's Match of the Day, and anchors England football coverage for Al Jazeera Sports. He is honorary vice-president of Leicester City, after leading a consortium that saved the club from liquidation. Since 1995 he has appeared in television adverts for Walkers Crisps. Lineker lives in southwest London with his wife Danielle. He has four sons from his first marriage. Did you think you would get to where you are? I never envisaged that I would be so successful in football. My progress happened gradually. Whatever level I played at I managed to score goals, but it clearly was not overnight success. I did not play for England until I was 24. My parents were supportive, but certainly not pushy. I had raw talent and raw pace, and I was always a good finisher. I worked very hard at my game and I was able to prove myself. What is the secret of your success? It is a mixture of things. It comes down to determination and desire, and a lot of luck. That's the most important ingredient of all. But you have got to be born with some talent as well. You cannot conjure it up. When you get to the top you need mental strength, and the ability to achieve under massive pressure. Do you want to carry on till you drop? I will certainly try to carry on for as long as I am fit and healthy. I feel fortunate that because of what I have achieved in my professional life I am in a position where I can make a difference, either through raising funds or raising awareness. I enjoy what I do, so I don't see it as onerous. It is a great thing to be paid to watch football, which is something that I would do anyway, even when retirement is forced upon me. Have you made any pension provision? I have one, but I don't think any of us have a great deal of faith in them any more. It is important for everyone to try to save in some way or invest in something that is relatively sound. I am no financial expert, but some things have worked for me and others haven't. Overall, I have done reasonably well. It has been down to the good people around me, who are a lot wiser in these matters than I am. What is your commitment to charity? Probably not enough. I don't think you can ever do enough really. One of my sons was treated at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) for leukaemia. I will always feel I have some debt towards the hospital for their brilliance, and the way they got him through it. George was just a couple of months old when he was taken ill, but he is 21 now and he is fine. I am the patron of the Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity Tick Tock Club, a major donor club. Members pledge £25,000 a year for three years, and we have a number of get-togethers a year that I host. Overall we have raised £20.6m in the past six years. It's amazing to see that the work has come to fruition. The facilities are so much better than they were a couple of years ago. When you had raised your first £1 million were you tempted to slow down? At the Tick Tock Club we had two goals, to raise £10m for the new Heart and Lung Centre, and a second £10m for the Children's Kidney Centre. I think we raised the first million pounds within six months, by autumn 2006, but how could we slow down? In 2013 we plan to launch a new £10m appeal for a third initiative, a Surgery Centre. Which other causes do you support? I do quite a lot for the Leukaemia Research Fund, and Fight for Life, a charity that raises money to buy state-of-the-art radiotherapy machines to treat kids with cancer. Each machine is about £2.5m. We have been raising money for them for the last 15 years now. They are too expensive to buy, so we lease them. I do my charity golf day each year in the autumn, which raises about £100,000 for Fight for Life. I also host Sport Relief and Comic Relief. When we last did Sport Relief in the spring they raised something like £70m, due to the extraordinary generosity of the British public. What is your basic fundraising strategy? I like to support causes I genuinely believe in, that have affected me personally. Then I have to like the people I'm involved with, and know that they share a similar passion. Sometimes the method of fundraising hinges on fewer people making large donations, as in the case of the Tick Tock Club. For Leukaemia Research I have attended events where many people contribute lesser amounts, which nevertheless add up. What has been your greatest professional moment? There have been several. I would say being relatively successful in the two World Cups, 1986 in Mexico, and 1990 in Italy, and on a personal basis, having scored more than any other English player in World Cup finals. I get equal satisfaction from presenting on TV and winning awards. I always thought I was born to play football, which came naturally, but TV was more a case of learning the process. I certainly had no natural gift. Helping to rescue my home club, Leicester City, in 2002 was a very satisfying moment, because they were in desperate trouble. Along with my agent I managed to get 40 blokes whom we knew were in a position to help. We each put in a six-figure sum, and managed to salvage the situation. It was a great thing to be able to do, because Leicester gave me my break and was a huge part of my life. Do you allow yourself the odd indulgence? I like to travel and take good holidays. We both love the Amalfi Coast, New York, and the Caribbean. We go to Los Angeles quite a bit, which is a really cool place. It has a healthy lifestyle, the people are so relaxed, the climate is perfect, and nobody knows me there, which is nice! Do you think Premier League footballers are overpaid? Yes, footballers have always been overpaid. You cannot justify their salary to someone who does a real job, like a nurse or firefighter, but it is the entertainment business. Top musicians and actors don't really deserve what they get either. Top players today are getting between £100,000 and £200,000 a week, which really is quite remarkable.