Gary Lineker has rescued a dog from California and named him Filbert... after Leicester's former ground Filbert Street.
Lineker, 61, was born in the East Midlands city and started his professional career with the Foxes, scoring 103 goals in all competitions before moving to Everton in the summer of 1985. Leicester left Filbert Street for the King Power in July 2002.
The Match of the Day host adopted Filbert after visiting the US on holiday. The adorable pet was rescued from the streets of Los Angeles and appears to be a Siberian Husky cross, although this is yet to be confirmed by Lineker.
"Meet Filbert, the new and already much loved member of the Lineker family," tweeted the ex-striker on Wednesday evening, accompanied by a picture of Filbert. "He's a rescue from the streets of LA. Met him through his foster parent and friend Reggie, on a recent holiday, and it was love at first sight. I've been dogless for far too long."
Lineker shared another picture of Filbert on Thursday during a morning walk. "Yes, Filbert, we get sunshine here too sometimes," joked the presenter.
Lineker was devastated when Snoop, his Labrador, passed away aged 11 in November 2019. "Profoundly saddened to tell you that my beloved dog, Snoop, passed away last night," he tweeted at the time. "He was my friend, my companion, my boy.
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"Whether I left the house for two weeks, two days or two minutes - he would greet me with equal measure of enthusiasm and love. I'll miss him greatly. RIP Snoop."
Many footballers have dogs - including Roy Keane, Harry Kane, Alexis Sanchez, Lionel Messi, Aaron Ramsdale, Jordan Pickford, Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford, Kalvin Phillips, Ben White, Sergio Ramos, Tyrone Mings, Harry Maguire and Ben Chilwell.
"Growing up in Cork we always had dogs and then when I went to England, with the pressure of matches, I always found spending time with my dogs a great way to relax," said Keane in 2015.
"I have two dogs at the moment, a German Shepherd and a Labrador and they are a massive part of my family. I’d be lost without them, they are a massive part of our lives... my dogs could tell what the result [of a game] was by the way I came home. They could tell from my body language!"
Kane's two Labradors - Brady and Wilson - announced the birth of his and wife Kate's first child Ivy in the summer of 2016. "Mum and dad are getting us a human!" read the adorable message. "Guard dog duty starts January 2017!"
A source told the Daily Star in 2015: "He [Kane] is obsessed with them and is out walking them every minute he can. He calls them his ‘lads’ and having them around helps him relax. He gets a bit of stick from the rest of the team for talking to them on FaceTime when he is on the team coach or in a hotel, but he doesn’t care."
