Shearer Special

When it comes to Newcastle United centre forwards, we have been richly blessed, from Hughie Gallacher to Alan Shearer and we all have our favourite based on personal observation and what we look for in a player. 

Let me therefore preface this piece by saying straight away that my personal idol in the black and white number nine shirt was Len White, scorer of 108 first division league goals in a four season purple patch which coincided with my most consistent period as an avid observer on the terraces. 

Others might opt for the explosive talent of Supermac, the bravery and astounding heading ability of Wyn Davies or the historically captivating exploits of wee Hughie.

Local boys

What we have in common is a love of goalscoring centre forwards, and the two players who, in aggregate terms, scored more Newcastle goals than anyone else - local boys Jackie Milburn and Alan Shearer. 

This pre-supposes of course that you discount the extraordinary wartime record of Albert Stubbins who scored 237 times in 218 appearances at a time when the league competiton was suspended.

He nevertheless had a phenomenal strike record which he carried on when the club unaccountably sold him to Liverpool shortly after the league programme began again after the cessation of hostilities in 1946.

There is little point in trying to prove whether Milburn was a better player than Shearer or vice versa. They played in different teams in different eras when different systems were employed so you would be unable to compare like with like. Better to rejoice in the fact that both played for our team and are up there with the very best ever to wear the number nine shirt.

Jackie, like Alan Shearer, was a local man. He was born in Ashington and signed for Newcastle in 1943 after playing in a couple of trial games and scoring six in the second.

Blessed

Milburn was blessed with tremendous pace. His parents must have known a thing or two when they christened him John Edward Thompson (JET) Milburn. Naturally left footed, he packed a tremendous shot in both feet and, contrary to folklore he was also more than useful in the air. 

He suffered intermittently from fibrositis in his neck which made him a reluctant header of the ball, but when he needed to he did it to excellent effect. It was Jackie's header, after all, which put Newcastle ahead in the opening minute of the 1955 FA Cup Final against Manchester City at Wembley.

That first minute goal, which set Newcastle on their way to a 3-1 win, was a fitting climax to his Newcastle career because it was with the FA Cup that both Jackie and Newcastle United were most significantly associated during his time at St James'. 

Those who saw him score a hat trick against Portsmouth at Fratton Park in the 4-2 win, which took Newcastle into the Cup semi finals of 1952, believed it to be his finest performance and one of the press reporters of the day described it as the "most complete performance by a centre forward I have ever been privileged to witness."

Jackie Milburn's statue

Milburn scored the goals which won the FA Cup in 1951 - the first after he was sent clear from the half way line and the second a pile driver from Ernie Taylor's back heel.  He scored in every round including the final and he was back at Wembley the following year before picking up his third winner's medal in 1955.

Hat trick

Jackie also played 13 times for England and scored 10 goals including a hat trick against Wales, but it was his exploits in the black and white shirt which made him a legend on Tyneside. 

There was nothing quite like the sight of Jackie in full flight with that old fashioned shirt billowing in the breeze. He was a fabulous player and a man of great modesty who was described at his funeral as "the perfect Geordie".  

Ray Oliver, himself an England amateur international centre forward and a member of the great Bishop Auckland team of the 50s and 60s, was with me at Jackie's funeral.  The area around Newcastle Cathedral was gridlocked; a mass of people there to pay their tributes. St Nicholas itself was packed to overflowing. "Some turn out this," I said to Ray.  "No more than the lad deserves," Ray replied. Exactly right.

It would take something and someone special to match him. Len White had the same self-effacing charm. Supermac the same explosive, electrifying pace, but it was another local lad, Alan Shearer, who was to become a talisman of the same proportions as Milburn.

When Kevin Keegan paid Blackburn Rovers a then world record fee of £15m to bring Alan Shearer to St James' Park to take over the mantle of the famous Number 9 black and white shirt, it was a case of an already mighty star in the football firmament returning to his roots. 

Automatic choice

Shearer was England's automatic choice as centre forward and had scored goals consistently since his debut hat trick for Southampton against Arsenal as a 17 year old kid.

Unearthed by the legendary scout Jack Hixon as a local boys club player, Gosforth born Alan Shearer spend his early career on the South Coast before Jack Walker's millions took him to Ewood Park where he was a key player in Blackburn's Premiership winning team before Kevin Keegan pounced.

The crowds which turned out to greet him on his unveiling at St James' were indicative of the levels of hope and expectation he engendered and he did not disappoint. 

A free kick on his home debut against Wimbledon was the start and he has found the back of the net with remarkable consistency since then. He scored 28 goals in his first season at Newcastle including the 25 in the Premiership which won him the golden boot for the third successive season.

Shearer completes his hat trick

Serious injuries hampered his progress but he fought back to fitness with the same fierce single mindedness he displayed on the field, and as the seasons unfolded he moved inexorably closer to Jackie Milburn's all time aggregate goalscoring record for Newcastle. 

Improbable

He scored his first hat trick against Leicester City in February 1999 to turn a 3-1 deficit into an improbable 4-3 victory. In April of that year, he scored the two goals against Spurs at Old Trafford which took United to the FA Cup Final at Wembley.

When Bobby Robson took over the reigns of management from Ruud Gullit in September 1999, Alan Shearer celebrated by scoring an astonishing five goals in Bobby's first game against Sheffield Wednesday. His next landmark was his 100th black and white goal against Ipswich in the League Cup in November 2001, and the Shearer goal machine continued to function consistently.

In March 2003 he underlined his ability to score goals anywhere, against any company in any competition, with two against mighty Inter Milan at the San Siro stadium in the Champions League. 

When he announced his intention of retiring at the end of the 2005 season, Milburn's record looked safe, but a change of heart and the decision to play on for one more season meant that serious injury aside, there was nothing which would prevent him from overhauling Jackie's record.

Record breaker: Alan Shearer

Creaking joints, advancing years, a team playing indifferently; all these factors meant that it took longer than Alan and the fans would have wished, but when he finally achieved the ultimate in black and white immortality, it was with the same sense of occasion and talismanic destiny which had been a feature of his career on Tyneside. 

Vital

A manager sacked, a club in crisis, a relegation battle threatening, a new man temporarily in charge and a team needing to stand up and be counted in a vital match against fellow strugglers Portsmouth at St James' Park - what a scenario!

Newcastle led 1-0 in a game they had to win, but nerves were beginning to fray, then a back heel from Ameobi and the great man's predatory instincts surfaced. He drilled the ball home in front of the adoring fans in the Gallowgate end to win the game, ease the pressure on everyone connected with Newcastle United and carve his name indelibly in the record books.

Two contrasting but incredible strikers playing in different eras for vastly different rewards, yet Milburn and Shearer had much in common - local lads, Newcastle fans, great goalscorers, Geordie icons. 

There is no point in arguing over who was the better; the real point is that they both played for us, gave us thrill upon thrill, goal after goal. They are two of the greatest; they stand at the top of the all time goalscoring tree and our hope for the future must be that before long another local lad with passion in his heart and goals in his boots comes along to threaten Shearer's record. 

It would be an audacious challenge but the reward of being mentioned in the same breath of Jackie Milburn and Alan Shearer would make it worthwhile.  Let it be soon!