Gary Lineker shares Elton John apology note as former Watford owner pays up bet

Watford's former owner was also chairman of the club on two occasions from 1976 to 1987 and then from 1997 to 2002.

As well as being a major pop icon of the world, the 76-year-old is a lifelong Watford fan.

Meanwhile, Lineker is a huge Leicester City supporter, being born in the city and playing for the club where he scored 103 goals.

After the Foxes were relegated from the Premier League, it meant that Leicester and Watford were set to meet in the Championship this season - which they did in November.

It led to Lineker and John putting on a bet on who would win - with the former coming up victorious.

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The two sides met at the King Power Stadium where Jamie Vardy scored twice in a 2-0 win for Enzo Maresca's men.

However, John failed to pay up the bet and left Lineker without his winnings - until now.

Lineker posted a picture on social media of the winnings - £10 - with a cheeky note attached.

It read: "Dear Gary, sorry this is late! With Christmas we were left a little short!

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"Have a great new year. It was so great to see you! Thank you. Love Elton."

Captioning the post on his Instagram story, Lineker wrote: "Never let it be said that Elton John doesn't pay his debts."

John is revered at Watford, where he is an honorary life president, has a stand at Vicarage Road named in his honour and even the road the stadium is on has been renamed after his hit Yellow Brick Road.

He said: "As I've said many times before, Watford Football Club has done more for me in my lifetime than I ever did for it.

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"Along with the stand being named after me here at Vicarage Road, I feel very specially treated.

"And, even coming back here on a non-matchday, there's still a buzz for me because this was where I fell in love with football and my club."