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9 Days Of Shearer: Remember This?
By Newcastle-Online.com 02 May 2006
July 1996 - Football didn't quite come home, deciding to head off to Germany instead, but Alan Shearer was coming home. Here we chronicle that amazing day...
By Colin Randall
The Daily Telegraph
July 07 1996
Alan Shearer became the world's most expensive footballer yesterday when he agreed to join his home town club, Newcastle United, for £15 million.
After mounting speculation about the Blackburn Rovers striker's future, news of the record transfer was announced by Newcastle during a pre-season Far East tour.
"This is a signing for the people of Newcastle," said the club manager, Kevin Keegan, who returned to Britain from Bangkok at the weekend to complete negotiations.
Shearer, 25, whose value on the international transfer market soared when he finished top scorer with five goals in the Euro 96 tournament, is expected to undergo a medical examination today before flying to join his new team-mates.
The transfer, sweeping aside the previous British record of £8.5m paid by Liverpool for Stan Collymore a year ago, takes him back to St James's Park, where, as an ardent boyhood supporter of the "Magpies", Keegan was his hero.
Shearer attended Gosforth High School, about two miles from the ground, but his early footballing promise was not fulfilled until he was lured to Southampton at 17.
In a game where loutish antics on and off the field are as likely as sporting excellence to bring players to public attention, Shearer has earned a reputation as a model professional.
Alex Ferguson, the Manchester manager, had hoped to buy Shearer to strengthen his team as he prepares its Premiership title defence
He is married with two young daughters. He met his wife, Lainya, also 25, while a £25-a-week apprentice at Southampton. Their relationship prospered despite her lack of interest in football and the player's Geordie accent which she at first found impenetrable.
Shearer has little love for nightclubs and discos, preferring to spend free time with his family, playing golf or listening to Rod Stewart.
His return to Tyneside - a move expected to boost his pay to at least £30,000 a week on top of a substantial signing-on fee - leaves fans of Manchester United and Blackburn disappointed.
Alex Ferguson, the Manchester manager, had hoped to buy Shearer to strengthen his team as he prepares its Premiership title defence.
Despite the player's opt-out clause with Blackburn, giving him the right to a transfer, Rovers officials and fans hoped he would remain at Ewood Park. Robert Coar, the Blackburn chairman, said the club - which repeatedly insisted Shearer was not for sale - had "fought tooth and nail" to keep him.
"The supporters are obviously surprised, but we must reiterate Alan asked to leave and that made events inevitable," Mr Coar said. Shearer had made clear his wish to play for his home town club.
Shearer said his four years at Blackburn had been "magnificent". He praised the multi-millionaire businessman Jack Walker, whose investments enabled the club to win the Premiership after years without success.
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By Henry Winter
The Daily Telegraph
July 30 1996
In a sport which appears populated more with professional models than model professionals, Alan Shearer is the genuine footballing article.
Outwardly modest, yet inwardly driven; an uncomplaining warrior in a world of flying feet and elbows; a man committed to the team and his family; a manager's joy; the champion of the terraces. If any footballer is worth £15 million, Alan Shearer is.
There are no grey areas with this uncomplicated North-Easterner, which makes him so well suited to the black and white of Newcastle United. No posturing, no need for nannying, Shearer is almost a throwback to a more dignified age, when grace was valued as much as pace.
Shearer's well-earned reputation as a serial scorer, one that underpinned a championship that now seems an age away, only partly explains his phenomenal popularity at Blackburn. His willingness to take knocks and play in pain, to shift impatiently on the bench when Kenny Dalglish held him back following cruciate ligament surgery, made him the idol of Ewood.
Before each kick-off he focuses on the pending contest while taking time out to shake hands with clamorous match sponsors. Like Gary Lineker, his predecessor as England's lead striker, Shearer has "ambassador" in his footballing passport.
Shearer scored on his England debut against France in 1992 and Lineker observed then that he "might become something special because of his strong character". The sight a season ago of Shearer staring at a seething Gallowgate then drilling in a penalty for Blackburn, confirmed Lineker's words.
The Gallowgate, where Shearer's passion first flickered, will revel in the return of the prodigious son. Geordie acquaintances of this observer walk to work dreaming of the day Shearer wears football's most famous stripes. That day has arrived.
Shearer is almost the Identikit Newcastle No 9. There are scorers who head the ball better, shoot better with left or right but none with the balance of all three or the determination that suffuses Shearer's game. He offers much more than the current No 9, Les Ferdinand, who reaps his goal harvest from running in straight furrows. Shearer can run wide, create space, play with his back to goal and race through for the ball clipped over the top.
Shearer remains employed by a club committed to width (which Manchester United would also have provided). He should relish playing with two such accurate crossers as David Ginola and Keith Gillespie. With Faustino Asprilla or Peter Beardsley and Robert Lee able to slip the ball through the middle, Shearer is surely headed for another 30-goal season. The best thing about this prospect is that it will not change Shearer, the model professional, one iota.
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By Henry Winter
The Daily Telegraph
August 07 1996
It takes special people to reach for the sky while keeping their feet on the ground. Newcastle United, a rich club of the people, somehow managed this yesterday as Alan Shearer returned home amid extensive scenes of massed revelry. Newcastle do not need a tube strike to gridlock their town.
After what Kevin Keegan called "the signing for the people", Newcastle laid on the press conference for the people. Each sensible answer Shearer emitted was followed by raucous applause from the hundreds of supporters allowed into St James' Park, by limited ticket only, to watch from the Leazes End of the ground.
Outside, in an overflowing car park, 15,000 more roared their approval as Shearer's simple words flowed out of giant speakers. There was black and white everywhere, chequered grand prix flags waved above a sea of painted faces. Imagine the scenes when he scores.
The city centre was awash with black-and-white shirts, a material reminder of how Newcastle are paying for their £15 million man. Some roads leading to St James' Park were cordoned off, people on official and unofficial holidays gathering for a glimpse of the returning idol. Eager fans, many ambitiously clasping autograph books, weaved in and out of slow-moving cars in the charge up to the hi-tech mecca on the hill.
On they dashed, past the club shop which briefly ran out of Hs and Es for spelling out Shearer's name on shirts. On they hurried, this tide of humanity diverted only by security officials past the main entrance until they reached the swelling throng at the back of the Leazes.
Silence stilled their merry hubbub only when Shearer's voice filtered forth, talking of his pleasure at coming home, the joy at playing "in front of my mum and dad", the privilege of wearing the fabled No 9 shirt. Despite the rain, despite the troubled employment situation that still besets this unique region, the thousands needed little encouraging to party. Shearer had come home; all problems could be forgotten.
Newcastle's DJ did not need to intensify the fervour. "Did you hear that question?" he shouted to the swaying thousands. "That journalist said that Manchester United were champions . . . but that was last year."
Cue Bedlam. He was spinning discs as well as twisting the knife. "This one's for Manchester United." And, blaring from every quarter, came: "We will, we will rock you." There may not be much charity at Sunday's Charity Shield, when Shearer can expect a less one-sided reception.
Shearer's signing is a reward for all those loyalists who followed the club through thin and thinner.
Many of those short-sleeved thousands cavorting in the rain had earlier queued for the few remaining Charity Shield tickets. Some still had their sleeping bags with them. This was an occasion of mass devotion.
Yesterday was a celebration of Newcastle support. Fans filled every corner, from spot-lit dais to puddle-stained car park. Supporters everywhere, whether in the form of Sir John Hall, a fan as well as a businessman, the local brewery sponsors, and even Shearer, the first £15 million fan who once stood shoulder to shoulder on the Gallowgate with those who now chant his name. These fans' money, from chairman to sponsor to ticket-buyer, had combined to bring home one of their own. "It's your money," Keegan declared.
Shearer's signing is a reward for all those loyalists who followed the club through thin and thinner. It is a signing for those thousands of diehards who travelled down to Leicester City four years ago, knowing that their beloved Toon stood on the brink of oblivion.
It is a signing for all those who have watched the club sell their precious players, like Chris Waddle and Paul Gascoigne, both sons of the city. The night before, those not already en route to St James' could have watched BBC footage of Malcolm Macdonald scoring for Arsenal against Newcastle, who had just pocketed £333,333 for him.
Those selling days were over, Keegan thundered. "It's lovely to see a Geordie coming home," Newcastle's manager said of Shearer. "We've sold them time and again. We've built stands with the money they brought in." But St James' had large stands and a small trophy cabinet.
The transformation wrought by Keegan's inspirational presence in the dressing room, and Sir John's millions and enthusiasm, borders on the phenomenal. When Shearer joined his last club, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle were standing in the shadows. Now they are firmly among the limelight clubs.
Shearer, confident but not bragging, spoke yesterday in a stand that had little more than a workers' hut on it less than four years ago. Liam O'Brien even put a free-kick through one of the hut's windows. O'Brien and Portakabins: it seems a lifetime ago.
This season is the test. Newcastle have spent millions and need a tangible return.
Yet Sir John, Keegan and Shearer know well that the club have not achieved anything except a guarantee of full-house notices. On Sunday, against the team they love to bait, Newcastle enjoy a first chance of acquiring some silverware, however insignificant the Charity Shield may be.
The championship is the challengers' real crucible. Those delirious thousands yesterday are the same people with despair suffusing every facial feature last spring, as a weak defence ushered an inspired Manchester United past. The Double-winners have won trophies throughout the Nineties; Newcastle have won only friends and sympathy. Shearer can change that.
This season is the test. Newcastle have spent millions and need a tangible return. Shearer will doubtless contribute by maintaining his goalscoring rate - not bad for a striker who spent part of his Newcastle schoolboy trial playing in goal.
With Shearer leading an impressive attacking line-up, Newcastle will probably score at least twice a match. But Keegan's defence can only be allowed one slip. Although not captain material, Shearer leads by example and his refusal to countenance defeat should inspire colleagues in times of trouble. His competitive debut comes at Everton on Saturday week; when Blackburn won their championship, Shearer produced a display of extraordinary obduracy at Goodison. As the clock ticked down, as Everton threatened equality, Shearer even booted the ball almost into Stanley Park. If Newcastle are looking for a winner, they have found one in Shearer.
Keegan insisted Shearer will be partnered by Les Ferdinand, who has handed over that No 9 shirt. If they do manage to click, Newcastle will indeed possess, in Keegan's words, "a terrific strikeforce".
And an expensive one: £21 million. Sir John, encouragingly, talked briefly about ensuring that the early - ultimately expensive - exodus had ended. "We're going to invest money in our soccer academies so that future Alan Shearers don't have to leave the region.
"This club is going places now," Sir John said. Starting with Wembley on Sunday. "Anyone got spare tickets?" Shearer laughingly enquired. He is back where he belongs: reaching for the sky surrounded by family. "After all I'm just a sheet-metalworker's son from Newcastle."
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By Peter Ball
The Times
August 08 1996
A
lan Shearer will have to wait until the Charity Shield on Sunday to make his Newcastle United debut, but he has already made an impressive start at his new club. Just by turning up at St James' Park yesterday, he sent Newcastle into a lather of excitement.
"This is a great day for the club," Sir John Hall, the Newcastle chairman, told the media, an elite group of supporters inside the ground and a larger gathering outside. "This club is going places and Alan, together with all the other players, is an investment for the future. It is very difficult to improve on the squad we have, but I'm sure everyone today will agree that we found the right player."
Indeed they did. Although Shearer's arrival was greeted by rain rather than the sunshine that his £15 million transfer probably demanded, thousands of supporters braved the weather in the Leazes End car park at St James' Park to pay homage.
Even meeting the supporters was transformed into a high-gloss affair, despite the weather. Usually, if news of a big-money signing leaks out, little groups of diehards congregate outside the ground hoping for a glimpse of their new player.
Yesterday, the rain might have dissuaded some from attending, estimates of the crowd varying between from 5,000 and 15,000, but nonetheless the event was stage-managed from start to finish, more like an American media party than an English sporting occasion. At 2pm, with the press corralled in the Leazes End stand and those lucky few supporters, guests of the sponsors, seated behind, the Newcastle directors appeared and took their seats on a temporary stage erected on the pitch, followed by Kevin Keegan, who was greeted with loud cheers, then Shearer, to still louder cheers.
Keegan was still delighted with his capture, announcing with relish: "Even with the great players we've got, we know that this guy is going to improve them." With expectations already sky-high on Tyneside, such words might have put further pressure on Shearer, who is carrying the tag of being the world's most expensive player, but he was his usual, level-headed self.
His delight at joining his home-town club 11 years after turning them down as an apprentice was evident, but he gave no sign that the pressure would get to him. "I've always said I wanted to play for Newcastle and I can't wait for the first game to come," he said. "I think this team is good enough not only to win the Premier League, but to conquer Europe as well. The price tag is nothing at all to do with me. I don't set the price. All I can do is go out and try to do my best and, if that means I score goals, which makes me worth £15 million, that's fine."
Shearer was equally dismissive of suggestions that he will feel pressure. "If pressure is going out and enjoying yourself and being sung to by 30,000 or 40,000 fans, then give me more," he said. Every reply was punctuated by roars of approval from the crowd, whose excitement suggested that Shearer actually playing might be unnecessary all he has to do, it seems, is turn up.
On the decision to leave Blackburn Rovers and join Newcastle, he said: "It was the saddest decision and, in another way, the best decision of my life. Leaving Blackburn was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. Jack Walker couldn't have tried any harder to keep me and telling him that I was going was very difficult. I had four years of unbelievable success under some great managers and under Jack Walker, who was a great influence.
"I had a long meeting with him on Sunday [last week] and asked if I could see my options, see what I wanted to do. I met Alex Ferguson [the Manchester United manager] on Monday and was very impressed with him and then met with the boss [Keegan] on Tuesday and again I was very impressed and, as everyone knows, I always wanted to play for this club at some stage. I want to play for Newcastle with my best years in front of me, whereas if I'd gone somewhere else for four years, it would then be with my best years behind me."
Even Kenny Dalglish was unable to persuade Shearer to stay with Blackburn, although the Scot finally told him that, whoever he chose, "you can't lose". With Shearer having scored 30 goals in each of the past three seasons and the only player to score 100 goals in the FA Carling Premiership that seems a reasonable forecast, although his integration into the Newcastle side has still to happen. There have been doubts about the ability of Shearer and Les Ferdinand to work together.
Last season, Keegan had advised Terry Venables, the England manager, to play Ferdinand and Shearer as a partnership and he has no doubts about their capacity to play together. "I think they will make a terrific strike-force," the Newcastle manager said. "I think they can take each other to the places they dream about going."
There is no doubt, however, who is going to be the senior partner. Despite his modesty, Shearer likes his own way and has already taken over the No 9 shirt, with its special place in Geordie folklore. "I would play in any number shirt for Newcastle United, but the No 9 at Newcastle is something very special and I've always wanted to wear it," he said. "I mentioned it to the manager, he mentioned it to Les and Les has been very kind and given it to me."
And the crowd roared again. Despite all the cheers, as his words were relayed to the crowds waiting outside, Shearer punctured one pervasive myth in virtual silence. It had been part of Newcastle history that they had failed to sign him because, when he went there on trial, they played him in goal. Not so.
"I came for a trial with a lot of other lads and there was a shortage or something, so everyone had to take a turn in goal," he said. "I was no different from anyone else, I had my 20 minutes just like everyone else, but I said to someone that I'd played in goal for Newcastle when I was on trial and I've never heard the last of it." It should not be long before the Newcastle supporters are talking about some rather more memorable performances. |
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