Legends on legends - Newcastle

A statue of Shearer outside St James’ Park is a constant reminder of his famous ‘one arm in the air’ celebration, a celebration we saw 260 times in the Premier League alone. Career-wise, he scored 379 goals in 734 matches for Southampton, Blackburn and Newcastle.

Initially snapped up by Southampton in 1987, Shearer lifted the title at Blackburn in 1995 before taking the Golden Boot during England’s run to the semi-finals of Euro 96, and then joining Kevin Keegan’s entertainers back home at the Toon.

Unstoppable in the mid-1990s, Shearer topped the Premier League’s goalscoring charts for three successive seasons and following Euro 96, was third in both the Ballon d’Or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards. He recovered from a serious injury to keep scoring goals and fire Newcastle to successive FA Cup Finals and Champions League qualification. He broke Jack Milburn’s goal record of 200 at Toon in 2006 and, typically, signed off with a goal against rivals Sunderland later that year.

Shearer scored on his England debut in 1992 and went on to bag 30 goals in 63 matches, captaining his country 34 times. He scored in Euro 96, Euro 2000 and the 1998 World Cup.

Teddy Sheringham earned 51 caps between 1993-2002 and played with Shearer on 29 occasions for the Three Lions. The highlight was unquestionably the run to the semi-finals of Euro 96 and the 4-1 victory over Holland in the group stage, where both players scored, and Teddy provided Shearer with a deft assist for one of the famous England goals of the modern era.

Teddy on Shearer

“We clicked,” said Teddy. “Everyone knew he was the number one striker in England at the time, around Euro 96. It was a case of who was going to partner him and there were some unbelievable players around like Les Ferdinand, Robbie Fowler, Ian Wright, everyone wanted to be his partner because you knew he was number one. Our roles suited each other. I was very pleased that Terry Venables picked me to play alongside him, because he was number one, and it was about fitting in around him. Our styles complemented each other.

“Alan had obviously been brought up with hard centre-forwards and knowing about how strong and committed you had to be as a striker. He came along at a time when the game was probably just changing, foreign players were coming in, but he still played the game as hard and as ruthless as what he’d been brought up on, standing on the terraces at St James’ Park, watching all those famous number nines playing, how strong they were, how powerful they were in the air. He combined the two fantastically.

“He was full of running, full of power, full of aggression and when he got a chance, he hit the target. He was very similar to Harry Kane now, probably more robust, you had to be, that was what it was all about. He wasn’t the tallest but hard, powerful, strong, decisive in what he had to do, ran the channels in his early days and took on central defenders at their own game. He picked up injuries as well - cruciate, ankle, all sorts - but testament to him, he still came back every time to score goals at the level he’d been accustomed to.”