adminGary Lineker has torn into Leicester City chief football officer Jon Rudkin after the Foxes latest heartbreaking news. Like all fans of the Foxes, Lineker was heartbroken by the latest devastating news.
Ten years ago, Lineker sported some Leicester City boxer shorts on Match of the Day, a matter of months after proclaiming he’d present the flagship show in his underwear if the club went on to win the Premier League in 2016. It proved to be one of the defining images of that magical triumph under Claudio Ranieri.
A decade on from his moment of television gold, Lineker, like all Leicester fans, has been presiding over the wreckage of this nightmare campaign, which has seen poor form and a six-point deduction condemn the Foxes to the third division. The diehard Leicester fan and England legend believes the bulk of the club’s issues lie at the door of Rudkin.
After a Leicester fan sent a message into the Rest is Football podcast, asking why Rudkin does not resign, Lineker said: “I’ll start with Jon Rudkin because I share the view that every fan at Leicester shares. The demise has really been gradual over the last few years.
“But it’s really been when he’s become so influential at the club, when he’s pretty much been the director of football. He has pretty much man-to-man marked Top, the owner, wherever you see him, he’s there at his side.
“He has somehow managed to worm his way up the club. I mean he has never really…I think he coached a little bit, at the academy, at one point. But he’s got no background, really, in football and he’s made a lot of bad decisions.”
Lineker did go on to state when analysing the club’s troubles, the horrific helicopter crash which killed former owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha as well as Kaveporn Punpare and Nusara Suknamai and pilot Eric Swaffer, should also be remembered.
The ex-World Cup golden boot winner added: “Also, I think it is also an important thing to say about Leicester is it all started to go down, to a degree, with the helicopter crash and the loss of the father, who was the chairman at the time, the owner of the football club.
“The club has suffered because of that, it was a massive blow, on and off the pitch in all sorts of ways, so I think it’s important to mention that.”
During the 2-2 draw at home to Hull, which resulted in the club’s relegation, fans targeted Rudkin with protests outside of the stadium. Top did issue a statement to supporters after the match, saying: “Responsibility sits with me.
“We have experienced the highest highs and now the lowest lows, and the pain is shared by all of us. I am truly sorry for the disappointment we have caused.
“I understand the strength of feeling among our supporters, and we do not take your support for granted, especially at moments like this.”
In March 2026, Rudkin was appointed to the role of chief football officer, a move which did not chime well with the club’s fan-base at the time.
Throughout the campaign, he was regularly seen alongside owner Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, or Khun Top as he is more commonly known at the club.
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