Travel Tips

?15 Million... It was a world record fee Newcastle paid Blackburn to secure the services of the top scorer of Euro 96. The transfer sent shock waves around the football world and seemed to symbolise Kevin Keegan's cavalier style - buying the striker at a time when the Newcastle fans were hardly goal starved!

Shearer's first season at Newcastle was quite remarkable. Though the club did not win any honours, Shearer scored 25 league goals in 31 games, was made captain of his country, and was voted into third place in both the European Footballer of the Year and World Footballer of the Year. He was also voted PFA Player of the Year.

Previously, a wonderful 1994/5 season had cemented his position as England's premier striker. He equalled a Premiership record that most observers thought would stand for years.

When Andy Cole struck 34 goals for Newcastle in 1993/4, Shearer was the second top scorer. But the then apple of Kenny Dalglish's eye equalled Cole's remarkable feat the very next year, scoring close to half the Champion's goals.

Both on and off the pitch, he is a picture of calm self-control. His first touch is superb, his pace still good despite the knocks of a career in the top flight, and his goal-scoring instincts deadly - quite simply he has everything a striker needs.

Shearer's attitude on the pitch makes him a frustrating proposition for any defence. He is above any intimidation and seldom gets distracted by any effort to distract him. Quite simply, Shearer is a goal machine and he lives to hit the back of the net. He grabbed two hat-tricks in a month during the Championship-winning season at Blackburn.

His subsequent stature in the game and at Newcastle was most evident during the final turbulent months of Ruud Gullit's reign in August 1999. It was the Dutch superstar rather than Shearer who left the club and the striker's scoring touch immediately returned with a vengeance following the appointment of Bobby Robson. The Newcastle and England captain hit a personal record of five goals in the 8-0 thrashing of Sheffield Wednesday.

He retired from international football after Euro 2000, and has confounded his critics by continuing to smash in the goals for Newcastle.