CALLING THE TOON TO GET SHEARER AT RECORD £15m
ALAN SHEARER’S world-record homecoming 25 years ago in front of an impromptu St James’ Park crowd still sets Geordie pulses racing.
Newcastle’s response to being caught on the line by Manchester United for the 1996 Premier League title was to out-manoeuvre Alex Ferguson to sign the Blackburn striker for £15million – then the biggest fee paid for any player in the world.
The proviso for the deal which shook football was that the cash had to be paid up front – although Rovers owner Jack Walker, who had seen Shearer help Blackburn win the Premier League 12 months earlier, had driven an even harder bargain with Manchester United, insisting they would need to pay £20m.
“Apparently, Jack had a grudge against the Old Trafford club due to a previous transfer wrangle,” recalled Kevin Keegan, who as manager had helped transform Newcastle’s fortunes.
“The club that once tried to stop me signing a player for £90,000 had agreed the biggest deal in football history. It had people asking whether football had lost its mind.”
Tyneside which had been wallowing in despair at seeing Keegan’s ‘Entertainers’ lose a 12-point lead in the Premier League title race, was now dancing with joy after capturing Shearer, son of a Newcastle sheetmetal worker, who had stood on the Gallowgate End back in 1982 watching Keegan’s own debut for the Toon.
Around 15,000 Newcastle fans flocked to St James’ Park to grab a view of Shearer’s official unveiling.
These days, under owner Mike Ashley – who is desperately trying to sell the club – it’s about scouring the bargain basement rather than pushing the boat out for big signings.
Back then under Keegan and Sir John Hall it was all about competing on the pitch with the big boys.
But even Sir John admits he was caught out by having the chance to sign Shearer. “Freddie Fletcher [the Chief Executive] had a great relationship with Jack Walker. He came in one day and said Jack had been on the phone telling him we can buy Shearer,” Hall recalled.
“I said, ‘What are you talking about?’. He went on saying that Manchester United wanted to buy him but Jack didn’t want to sell him to them. He wants to give us the first chance – put £15m down on the table and he’s ours.”