Gary Lineker's alibi over Shropshire Star snack attack story
It was hardly the crime of the century – but it caused an online sensation after Gary Lineker saw fit to plead his innocence.
The Match of the Day presenter is the face of Walkers crisps, featuring in adverts for a firm that is a big employer in his home town in Leicester.
The adverts portray him as a crisp thief, sneaking around taking packets from unsuspecting children or old grannies.
So when he heard the Shropshire Star had run a story about thieves stealing crisps from Newtown Football Club, Lineker felt obliged to copy the article to his 3.24 million Twitter followers:
The comment was retweeted more than 1,500 times within minutes of being posted, and led to a lively online debate from his followers about what that alibi could have been.
Zac Johnson replied: "Is this why you weren't on Match of the Day last night, you were explaining your alibi to the boys in blue?"
And Max Mitchell tweeted: "I'd like to donate one packet of crisps to Newport FC."
The former Spurs, Barcelona and England striker is prolific on Twitter and found himself in hot water after letting a swear word slip on Twitter as his Leicester beat Manchester United 5-3.
Lineker was on safer ground with his jocular reaction to the Shropshire Star article.
It referred to a break-in at Newtown Football Club back in February when thieves forced their way into the club's refreshment hut but only stole two packets of crisps.
