Alan Shearer

Alan Shearer, OBE (born Newcastle upon Tyne, England, August 13 1970) is a successful and widely-admired English professional footballer, currently in the twilight of his career at hometown club Newcastle United.

Newcastle and England (1996-2000)

Straight after the tournament, Shearer became the country's most expensive footballer when his home town club Newcastle United, managed by Shearer's boyhood hero Kevin Keegan, paid 15 million pounds to secure his services. Despite the enormous price tag and the pressure of being the local boy coming home, Shearer just carried on scoring goals. He put away 25 from 31 games in his first season at the club, while also scoring five goals in England's steady start to their qualification campaign for the {{Wc|1998}}. At the end of his first season at Newcastle, he picked up his second PFA Player Of The Year award.

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Glenn Hoddle was now England coach, and he had controversially awarded Shearer the captaincy of his country, even though Tony Adams, captain during the 1996 European Championships was still in the squad and was seen as the more natural leader, not least because he was the long-time captain of his club, whereas Shearer had never been a captain at any of his clubs. Adams later criticised the decision in his autobiography, but at the time accepted it without comment.

Related Topics:
Glenn Hoddle - Tony Adams - Autobiography

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In the summer of 1997, Shearer suffered a cruciate ligament injury which greatly restricted his number of appearances, but he still helped Newcastle United (now managed by his old boss Dalglish) to the FA Cup final. However, Arsenal conclusively won the game 2-0, though Shearer hit the post during the match when it was still tightly balanced. Also in the latter part of that season, controversy surrounded Shearer when he appeared to aim a kick at Leicester City player Neil Lennon during a Premiership match. Hearsay spread that Shearer threatened to walk out on the World Cup squad if he was punished by The Football Association. Shearer denied this - and also claimed the incident with Lennon was entirely accidental - and he was not punished. That summer he was named as skipper as England went to France for the World Cup.

Related Topics:
1997 - Cruciate ligament - FA Cup - Leicester City - Neil Lennon - The Football Association - France

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Shearer headed home England's first goal of the tournament as Tunisia were dispatched 2-0. He didn't score again as England got through the group to face Argentina - like Scotland and Germany, another grudge team - in the second round.

Related Topics:
Tunisia - Argentina - Grudge

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The game was hugely eventful. Shearer put away a penalty to make it 1-1 after his teenage strike partner Michael Owen was fouled; then with the game at 2-2 (and England a man short after David Beckham's infamous sending-off), Sol Campbell thought he'd got a late, heroic winner for England only for the referee to rule out his goal for a foul by Shearer on the Argentine goalkeeper. The game went to penalties and Shearer scored again but colleagues Paul Ince and David Batty didn't, and England were eliminated.

Related Topics:
Michael Owen - David Beckham - Sol Campbell - Paul Ince - David Batty

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Hoddle later departed the England job and Shearer's former Newcastle boss Keegan took over, maintaining Shearer's role as captain as England set about their qualifying campaign for {{Ec2|2000}}, which had not started well under Hoddle. Newcastle, meanwhile, made the FA Cup final again - this time Ruud Gullit was the manager - and again they were outplayed, this time by Manchester United.

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In September 1999, Shearer showed immediate morale progress like fellow compatriot Steve McManaman from Keegan's arrival and hit his first England hat-trick in a qualifier versus Luxembourg and was at the centre of club controversy when Gullit dropped him for the fiery north-east derby match against Newcastle's sworn enemies, Sunderland. Sunderland won the game and Gullit was not in his job for much longer, replaced by Bobby Robson. More controversy came when Newcastle directors Freddy Shepherd and Douglas Hall were covertly recorded by a News Of The World journalist describing Shearer as a "Mary Poppins" figure.

Related Topics:
September - 1999 - Steve McManaman - Luxembourg - Sunderland - Bobby Robson - Freddy Shepherd - Douglas Hall - News Of The World - Journalist - Mary Poppins

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England qualified for the European Championships thanks to a play-off victory over two legs against Scotland. By now, Shearer was approaching his 30th birthday and he announced before the tournament that he intended to retire from international football as soon as England's involvement in the competition was over. Though Keegan was his biggest fan and his place didn't seem in doubt as a result, many observers claimed this was Shearer's slightly cynical way of guaranteeing a spot in the squad.

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Shearer didn't score in England's opening 3-2 defeat against Portugal but scored the all-important goal as England defeated Germany 1-0 in Charleroi, giving England a chance of qualifying for the last four provided they beat Romania in the final group match. Shearer scored a penalty as England went in at half-time 2-1 up, but Romania ultimately won 3-2. England's tournament, and Shearer's international career, was over. From his 63 caps, he scored 30 goals, level with Nat Lofthouse and Tom Finney. He remains joint fifth in the England scorers all-time list.

Related Topics:
Portugal - Charleroi - Romania - Nat Lofthouse - Tom Finney

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