PLAYER HISTORY-ALAN SHEARER

Shearer the Geordie gem
Shearer has been the scourge of keepers
throughout his career
Alan Shearer's OBE puts the seal on one of
football's great comic-book hero stories.
But life was nearly so different for the Geordie
gem after the young Shearer was continually
overlooked as a schoolboy.
It was not until he was 16 years old that Shearer
was snapped up by Southampton following a tip-
off from North East scout Jack Hickson.
Shearer highlights
1988: Scores debut hat-trick
against Arsenal
1991: Earns England Under-21
call-up
1992: Makes senior England v
France.
July - Joins Blackburn in British
record £3.3m deal.
1994: Voted Footballer of the
Year.
1995: Helps Blackburn to
championship
Voted PFA Player of the Year.
1996: First player to reach 100
goals in the FA Carling
Premiership.
Wins Golden Boot as Euro 96
top scorer
Moves to Newcastle in world-
record £15m deal
Wins 50th cap for England
2000: Scores five goals in 8-0
rout of Sheffield Wednesday
Scores 300th career goal.
2001: Awarded OBE in Queens'
Birthday Honours
By then, the young striker had been turned down
by West Bromwich Albion, Sunderland and
Manchester City.
Worse still, his home-town club Newcastle
offered him a trial but then put him in goal.
Soon enough though, Shearer was finding the
goal for all the right reasons as he carved himself
a career path that would ultimately lead him back
to St James' Park.
His debut for Southampton on 9 April 1988
served early notice of Shearer's potential.
The precocious 17-year-old bagged a remarkable
hat-trick in a 4-2 win over Arsenal at The Dell as
Shearer became the youngest player to score
three times in a First Division game.
Yet, after such a glorious start, Shearer played
only two more league games that season, failing
to find the net again.
The following season, he managed just three
goals in 26 league games and his 1990-91 haul
was four in 36, hardly the making of legends.
Shearer was always destined to
return to Newcastle
But his promise was enough to earn him an
England Under-21 call and Shearer blasted a
record 13 goals for the young England side.
Seven of those came in just four games as
England Under-21s won the Toulon tournament
in France and, after just one B cap, Shearer won a
surprise call to the full England squad.
Replacing Gary Lineker against France in February
1990, Shearer scored one and made one in a 2-0
win at Wembley.
As Shearer's reputation grew, he began to
command attention from the leading clubs in the
country and it was ambitious Blackburn who
won the race for his signature for a then-British
record fee of £3.3m in July 1992.
Snubbing Old Trafford in favour of Ewood Park
eventually proved a shrewd move, but Shearer's
development was threatened again by a career-
threatening injury.
Injury has wrecked much of
Shearer's career
The striker damaged cruciate ligaments in a
Boxing Day clash with Leeds, ruling him out for
the rest of the campaign and leaving England
without their leading striker as they failed to reach
the 1994 World Cup finals in America.
But Shearer battled back to full fitness and
returned as sharp as ever, 31 league goals firing
Blackburn to second place in the Premiership and
earning Shearer the title of Footballer of the Year.
The following season tasted even sweeter for
Shearer and Blackburn.
Rovers' first Championship for 81 years was
complemented by Shearer being crowned PFA
Player of the Year and it was not long before the
familiar raised-arm celebration was put into action
for the 100th time in the Premier League.
He continued to shine on the international scene
too, five goals in Euro 96 helping the hosts to the
semi-finals before the bowed out against
Germany.
But Shearer still felt the need to prove himself.
The chance could have come in the shape of
Manchester United but Shearer once again
resisted their overtures and opted for a return
home.
Fence painting
Again, it was a British record deal which took him
to Newcastle, a £15m fee seeing his career turn
full circle.
Shearer then, as he does now, failed to see what
all the fuss was about.
Hardly surprising for a man who once said he
prefers to paint his fence than paint the town red
after a game.
His dream return did not quite work out as
planned as Shearer and Newcastle narrowly failed
to deliver the Premiership title to the Geordie fans.
Shearer weighed in with 28 goals - a remarkable
feat given that injury ruled him out for much of
the campaign - as Kevin Keegan's side finished
runners-up behind Manchester United in 1997.
And despite his efforts in battling back from a
broken leg and an ankle injury, Shearer could do
nothing to prevent Newcastle losing successive
Wembley cup finals - or England from crashing
to more penalty heartache at World Cup 98.
His much-publicised falling out with Newcastle
boss Ruud Gullit also threatened to sour the latter
stages of Shearer's career.
But when the resultant stand-off ended with Gullit
being sacked, it seemed to suggest that, in this
case, one player is as big as the club.