Leicester fans made their feelings on under-fire former star Gary Lineker abundantly clear as he attended Saturday's showdown with Chelsea at the King Power Stadium.
The former Foxes frontman was pulled from screens ahead of Saturday's Match of the Day in the aftermath of his tweet criticising the government's asylum policies. With new-found free-time on his hands, the 62-year-old travelled back to the Midlands to attend his former side's clash with Graham Potter 's men.
He was full of smiles ahead of kick-off whilst taking selfies with supporters as he arrived at the stadium to a chorus of cheers before then being mobbed by fans inside the arena itself as they requested a number of selfies from the TV personality.
The Foxes' icon began his career in the East-Midlands and went on to make 216 appearances for the club, scoring 103 goals, before a move to Everton in 1985. Since then, Lineker has been a public supporter of the Foxes. He was part of a consortium that saved the East Midlands club from dissolving in 2002. More recently, Lineker made a bet to present Match of the Day in his underwear amid the Foxes' miraculous title win in 2016.
Ahead of the match on Saturday, Lineker was spotted leaving his London home in a smart suit. He was mobbed by media and refused to answer questions before he then got in a chaffeur-driven car to get on his way to Leicester.
He arrived at the stadium around an hour before the match and was handed a spot in the corporate seating.
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As well as Leicester fans, Lineker was certainly not left low on support after the BBC's decision to axe him from programming. Colleagues Ian Wright and Alan Shearer immediately announced that they would not feature on the programme.
They were followed by the likes of Jermaine Jenas, Alex Scott and Micah Richards, among many others. Commentators on the programme then announced that they too would not be working which led to the BBC changing the format completely to just a highlights package without punditry.
Scheduling chaos then continued as Football Focus and Final Score were both then axed as hosts continued to pull out.
Former Head of the BBC, Greg Dyke criticised the decision to take Lineker off screens ahead of the clash with Chelsea. Speaking to BBC Radio 4, he said: "There is a long established precedent in the BBC that if you are an entertainment presenter or a sports presenter then you are not bound by those same rules."
"The real problem today is that the BBC has undermined its own credibility by doing this."
The Mirror has launched a petition to have Gary Lineker reinstated at the BBC and as the host of Match of the Day. Sign it here.
