Alan Shearer CBE
Centre-Forward · Newcastle United · England
About Alan Shearer CBE
Alan Shearer is the Premier League's all-time top scorer with 260 goals — a record that has stood since 2006 and may never be broken. He turned down Manchester United to return home to Newcastle United for a world-record £15m in 1996. At his peak he was simply unstoppable — powerful, courageous, a brilliant finisher from any range, and an exceptional penalty-taker.
Alan Shearer CBE's story
Newcastle's Son
Shearer grew up supporting Newcastle United in the West End of the city. He made his professional debut for Southampton (ENG) at 17, scoring a hat-trick in only his second start. After four seasons and three Premier League Golden Boots at Blackburn (ENG), Kenny Dalglish paid a world-record £15m to bring him home to Newcastle (ENG) in 1996.
The One-Club Loyalty
He rejected Manchester United, who made repeated attempts to sign him, to play for his hometown club. Newcastle never won a trophy under him — their closest was finishing second in 1996. Yet Shearer never expressed regret. He retired in 2006 as the Premier League's all-time record scorer; a statue of him, unveiled in 2016 and moved inside the St James' Park grounds in 2022, now stands by the Gallowgate End.
Life After Football
Shearer is a respected TV pundit for the BBC and Match of the Day. He had a brief, unsuccessful spell managing Newcastle in 2009 when they were relegated. He now focuses on broadcasting and lives in Newcastle.
The Foundation
In 2012 Shearer launched the Alan Shearer Foundation, funding free sensory and leisure facilities for disabled people in the North East through the Alan Shearer Activity Centre and Short Break Centre in Newcastle. The foundation passed £7 million raised as of April 2025. He is also a long-standing NSPCC ambassador, inducted into the charity's Hall of Fame in 2004.
Confronting the Cost
In 2017, having watched former teammates and rivals develop dementia and fearing the effect of thousands of headers across his own 20-year career, Shearer presented the BBC documentary Dementia, Football and Me. He underwent MRI scans and cognitive testing on himself and met the families of ex-players affected, helping push funding toward research into brain injury in football.
The Record Books
Shearer's 260 Premier League goals came in 441 appearances split between Blackburn Rovers (112) and Newcastle United (148). Alongside the overall total, he holds the record for most penalties scored in Premier League history (56), the most goals scored from inside the box (227), and — an Opta statistic — 194 of his 260 goals were struck with his right foot, also a record. He remains the only player to score 100 or more Premier League goals for two different clubs, and was the first player in the competition's history to reach both the 100-goal and 200-goal marks.
Days to Remember
On 19 September 1999, in Bobby Robson's first match in charge of Newcastle, Shearer scored five goals in an 8-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday — a joint Premier League record for goals in a single match, shared with Andy Cole, Dimitar Berbatov, Jermain Defoe and Sergio Aguero. He also holds the record for the most Premier League hat-tricks in a single season, with five in 1995-96, and shares the record for the most goal contributions in a single season — 47, from 34 goals and 13 assists for Blackburn Rovers in 1994-95 — with Andy Cole. His career total of 11 Premier League hat-tricks stood as the outright record until Sergio Aguero passed it in January 2020.
Did you know?
- ⏱️ He held the Premier League record for fewest matches needed to reach 100 goals (124) for almost 30 years — until Erling Haaland broke it in 111 games in December 2025.
- 🎖️ Awarded an OBE in 2001 for services to football, then upgraded to a CBE in the 2016 Birthday Honours in recognition of his charity work in the North East of England.
- 👨👩👧👦 Married his wife Lainya on 8 June 1991; they have three children — Chloe, Will, and Hollie. He settled permanently in the North East, turning down bigger clubs to stay close to home.
- 🏠 He has lived his entire life in the north-east of England and says he has never considered moving away, even when offered vastly more lucrative contracts abroad.
- 📺 He has been a main presenter on BBC's Match of the Day since 2006 — the longest-serving former player pundit on British national television.
- 🏋️ Since retiring he has co-owned Speedflex, a low-impact, high-intensity fitness training company, alongside former Newcastle physio Paul Ferris and entrepreneur Graham Wylie.
- 🎯 His penalty conversion rate across his career was approximately 83% — one of the highest for any player who took more than 50 spot kicks.
- 🏆 He won just one major honour — the 1994–95 Premier League with Blackburn Rovers — yet is widely considered one of England's greatest ever players.
- 🧠 He turned down offers from Barcelona and Juventus, who were both admirers of his style. He told them: "I'm from Newcastle. That's where I belong."
Honours
- Premier League: Blackburn Rovers (1995)
- Premier League Golden Boot x3: 1995, 1996, 1997
- Euro 96 Golden Boot: 5 goals at Euro 1996 in England
- FWA Footballer of the Year: 1994
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