Alan Shearer - a name that echoes through the annals of English football, synonymous with striking brilliance and sheer determination.
Today, we delve into the career of the all time top goalscorer in the English Premier League.
In the heart of North East England, in the bustling city of Newcastle upon Tyne, a legend was born. The date was August 13th, 1970.
Alan Shearer, a boy born into a working-class family, was destined for greatness. His father, a sheet-metal worker, and his mother, a housewife, instilled in him the values of hard work and perseverance.
From an early age, Shearer's talent for football was evident. He was a natural goalscorer, and his potential didn't go unnoticed. Attending Gosforth High School, Shearer's exceptional talent led him to be scouted by several clubs, eventually signing a youth contract with Top Division-side Southampton.
His debut in the top division came back in April in 1988, at the age of 17. It was an astonishing one indeed, securing a win for the Saints v Arsenal with three goals to his name, what is also known as a hat trick, in an epic 4-2 win.
Shearer played a total of 559 top-flight matches in English football, scoring a total of 283 goals, in a career spanning 18 years, from 1988 to 2006. He played for three clubs, Southampton, Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United.
In 1992 the top tier division in English football was rebranded as The Premier League. Effectively making it a new timeline in the top division in the country, although there were no fundamental new changes to the league format. The biggest change was that Sky Sports came in with a broadcasting deal that would forever change the economics of the game, bringing more money into football and paving the way for English clubs becoming powerhouses of European football.
One consequence of the formation of the Premier League was that many of the old records was effectively nullified. Intentionally or not, after Sky Sports and The Premier Leauge directors doing their best to build up the Premier League brand as something fundamentally new, even though this was hardly the case.
Alan Shearer was one of the players that both benefited and was affected negatively by this rebranding process as his career was in both eras of the game.
The positive first: He is the all time top goal scorer in the Premier League, recording 260 goals in 441 matches for Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United between 1992 and 2006.
The negative aspect being that his entire Southampton-career has been somehow devaluated over the years. He played 118 games, scoring 23 goals in his time at The Dell from 1988 to 1992.
This video is primarily a tribute to a fantastic player. But even though Alan Shearer deserves all the praise he gets, we feel it is also appropriate to give credit to Jimmy Greaves, who is the all time goal scorer in the English top division. Between 1957 and 1971 he scored 357 goals in what was known as the First Division. We think this information is especially relevant for those that are unfamiliar with how the English have rebranded their top division, and thereby easily could believe Shearer to be in possession of the title as the all time top goal scorer in the English game.
But we won’t take anything away from the achievements Shearer have made and his footprints on the game, making him one of the all time English fan favourites.
At Blackburn Rovers he led the Lancashire-club to an epic league title triumph in the 1994-1995 season, and was widely regarded as one of the best strikers not just only in England but in the whole world.
The dominant team in England in the mid 1990s was Manchester United, and their legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson made more than one attempt to attract Shearer to Old Trafford, and what was known as “The Theathre of Dreams”. But the prolific striker had other dreams instead, he wanted to play for his hometown club. When he joined Newcastle United in 1996 for a record fee it was much more than a regular high profile transfer, it was the homecoming of the city's biggest hero. Most would probably have collapsed under the immense pressure of the big hopes the Toon Army-supporters put him under - for a club who in the modern era never managed to clinch a trophy. But Shearer proved he was unphased by the pressure, and delivered both on and off the pitch.
Even though Shearer never managed to bring the league title to the north east, Shearer still remain the most popular player to ever have played for the Magpies.
Shearer retired from professional football after the 2005-2006 Premier League season, and fittingly his 260th and final league goal was clinched in a memorable 4-1 win in the Tyne-Wear Derby against Newcastle’s fierce local rivals Sunderland.
Shearer was Newcastle's all-time leading goalscorer, his passion for the club evident in every goal he scored. His bond with the Toon Army was, and still is, unbreakable.
But Shearer didn't just impress at club level. On the international stage, he proved himself as a leading striker for the England national team.
He got his first cap in 1992, going on to earn 63 caps and scoring 30 goals, a testament to his remarkable consistency and goal-scoring prowess. He retired from international duties following the Euros in Belgium and the Netherlands in 2000.
After his playing career Shearer has continued being a part of the Premier League arena, most notably in his role as a pundit on BBC's Match of the Day.
He also had a short stint as a manager. At the end of the 2008-2009-season he was recruited as an interim manager when his former club called upon his services.
At the time he stated that he did not have any aspirations of becoming a manager, but that he couldn't turn down the proposal of his beloved Newcastle United. Unfortunately it was not a successfull spell, as the Magpies only won five out of 24 points in his 8 games in charge of the club. This meant that Newcastle got relegated to the second tier of English football. After the relegation Shearer left his managerial duties and returned to broadcasting. Newcastle won promotion the following season, with Chris Hughton at the helm.
Outside of football, Shearer's time in his first professional club, Southampton, had a huge impact on his personal life. As it was here he met his future wife Lainya, whilst playing for the south coast-club.
The couple got married in 1991 and have three children.
His achievements at St. James' Park and football pitches across the country thoughout his illustrious career has made him one of the true legends of the game.
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