Bandaged Shearer on target
IT was an image which perhaps summed up Newcastle United’s very own ‘Captain Courageous’, Alan Shearer.
Here, we see the Toon skipper wheeling away in celebration after scoring United’s second goal - a penalty - against Sunderland at St James’ Park on this day 15 years ago.
With his head bandaged after picking up a head wound in a Champions’ League (yes, that’s the Champions’ League) clash in Kiev, Shearer fearlessly led the line as the old enemy were routinely dispatched 2-0.
A 52,181-strong crowd roared on a supremely well-balanced Magpies outfit packed with pace (Dyer, Robert and Bellamy - who’d scored the first goal), guile (Solano) and power (Speed and Shearer).
The soon-to-be knighted Bobby Robson had assembled a fine side which had finished the previous season in fourth place, after spending the middle part of the campaign at the very pinnacle of the Premier League.
In this 2002-2003 season, they would go one better, finishing a heady third in the table.
As for Peter Reid’s visiting red and whites, it would be a disastrous season, as they slumped to a bottom -place finish, securing just 19 points, and another relegation.
(For those interested in such stats, Sunderland have to date suffered 10 relegations, including one to the third flight, since 1958).
After the game Shearer, complete with bandaged head, told the Chronicle: “Put yourself in my shoes. There I was, a Geordie boy, captain of Newcastle United and scoring a derby goal against Sunderland.
“Whatever those fans felt, multiply it 20 times and that was my feeling. It was something I will never forget for the rest of my life.”