Campaign for Shearer’s field
A CAMPAIGN has been launched to name the field where a young Alan Shearer honed his football skills after the legendary Newcastle United striker.
The Toon icon took his first steps on the road to international stardom on land on the Grange Estate in Gosforth.
Local councillors want to name it after him in a bid to inspire other young people in the neighbourhood.
Shearer has previously backed a successful effort to prevent a housing development on the site, warning losing the land would be “hugely disappointing”. He wrote about the importance of the field, which is just off Park Avenue, to his development as a footballer in his autobiography My Illustrated Career.
“They were humble beginnings, no different from many thousands of other Geordie kids, but my childhood on the Park Avenue Estate in Gosforth was exceptional in my eyes,” he wrote.
“It was there that I learned how to kick a football, or rather I was made to kick one... When I was old enough to step into the outside world, or rather the patch of grass on the estate near my house, my football education took another step forward.”
Now Parklands councillors Robin Ashby, Pauline Allen and David Down are spearheading the campaign to have the link celebrated by renaming the land.
Coun Ashby said: “As councillors we opposed plans to develop bungalows on the land because there isn’t much green space around here and it’s important for young people to have somewhere to play sports.
“When we found out Shearer honed his football skills here we got in touch with him and he was very supportive of efforts to stop it being built on.
“It played a big role in him becoming the footballer he did so we just had the idea to name it in his honour.”
Initial discussions with the council have taken place but there are still a lot of technical hoops to jump through before the renaming can be completed.
The councillors have reached out to Shearer about the change and it’s understood he’s happy about the proposal.
Coun Ashby said the name change is about more than just commemorating the Shearer link, saying it’s about inspiring others.
He said: “We want to send a message to kids around here that it’s possible to achieve something incredible like that no matter what your background is.”
The online petition can be found at this URL: https://signme.org.uk/1451