Gary Lineker OBE will be honoured along with Jill Scott MBE (Image: Getty)
Gary Lineker and Jill Scott have been honoured with the prestigious 2025 Legends of Football Award. Previous winners of the gong include the likes of Pele, , and .
Scott, who won , is the third women’s player to win the award since a female category was established in 2022. The announcement comes a matter of months after Lineker, the ‘s highest-paid presenter with a reported salary of around £1.35m, announced he would be standing down .
The award ceremony was first held in 1996 and is a fundraising event raising money for music therapy charity Nordoff and Robbins. Reacting to his latest award, Lineker said: “I am delighted to be receiving the 2025 Legends of Football award. This acknowledgement is an honour and would not be possible without the support of my former managers and team-mates.
“I’m thrilled to be part of an incredible evening that celebrates football and music, all in support of Nordoff and Robbins. Their work is vital in transforming lives through the power of music. Music therapy offers an extraordinary means of helping individuals express themselves and connect with others.”
Scott also echoed those sentiments, saying: “I am absolutely thrilled to receive the 2025 Legends of Football award. It’s truly an honour to follow in the footsteps of my former international teammates, Fara Williams and Ellen White, who have also been recognised in recent years.
“The incredible work Nordoff and Robbins do cannot be overstated. Seeing the charity’s incredible impact through its use of music therapy to transform the lives of people with life-limiting conditions has been inspiring. I’m really looking forward to the evening and excited to raise money for Nordoff and Robbins.’’
Scott has also become a popular sports media personality as well as a Lionesses legend (Image: Getty)
Lineker and Scott will be honoured at London’s J W Marriot Grosvenor House on October 6 in a glitzy celebration where a standard table is £5,500 and a ‘Legends’ package is £12,500. In November, it was confirmed that Lineker will walk away from his role as Match of the Day host.
The ex- and England star replaced Des Lynam in 1999 and continued to host the show for 25 years. He will be replaced by a tripartite of Kelly Cates, Mark Chapman and Gabby Logan, who will take turns hosting the Saturday, Sunday and mid-week episodes.
Lineker will not be completely gone from the , as he will host coverage for the 2025-26 FA Cup campaign and the 2026 World Cup, which takes place in the United States, Mexico and Canada.