Ex-footie ace Gary Lineker's ancestor was a 'chicken poacher'!

Retired UK football ace, Gary Lineker was shocked to learn that his ancestor stole chickens to feed his children.

At first, the Brit star, 52, found it funny when he was told on BBC's 'Who Do You Think You Are?' that his great great great grandfather, James Pratt, was a petty thief, who spent his years in and out of prison, the Mirror reported.

But when experts went deeper into Lineker's family tree, they found that Pratt only stole to survive in the 1840s, but he also lost two daughters in their infancy.

The father-of-four, whose eldest son survived leukemia as a baby, said that though nicking chickens was quite comical, it was not at all amusing when put in the perspective of losing children due to famine.

When Lineker was asked to comment on this new revelation, he observed that Pratt must have been pretty desperate to keep stealing the chickens.

Lineker added that even though the story was terribly sad and deeply poignant, the truth was that most of us would do anything for our children to keep them well and fed.