16 Great Goals in Alan Shearer's Stellar Career

Believe it or not, it is nine years to the day since Alan Shearer—one of English football's most legendary No. 9s—was forced to announce his retirement from football, as reported by the BBC.

The Premier League's all-time record goalscorer, thanks to 260 strikes in 441 games—a whole 73 goals more than second-placed Andy Cole and 76 more than Wayne Rooney in third—Shearer's raised arm thrust skyward in celebration came to represent an era in which the division boomed and transformed into what it is today.

After starting out at Southampton, Shearer went on to represent Blackburn Rovers and boyhood club Newcastle United, as well as England 63 times. He scored 30 goals for his country and captained them for the final four years of his international career.

Shearer was quite simply a 1990s and early noughties football superstar, and here are some of his finest moments.

Everton, December 2002

The great man's best ever goal? Well, he says so himself, so that's good enough for us.

Newcastle were 1-0 down at home to 10-man Everton in December 2002, with the Blues holding onto Kevin Campbell's early strike impressively, despite having Joseph Yobo dismissed on 21 minutes.

Enter Shearer.

When Laurent Robert's long ball forward was nodded into the Newcastle skipper's path by Shola Ameobi, the Toon No. 9 unleashed a stunning, dipping, almost violent volley that was past goalkeeper Richard Wright before he even had time to think about getting in the way of it—not that he'd have wanted to.

Once the celebrations had died down, there was still time for Craig Bellamy to strike a late winner for the hosts, but everyone left St. James' Park that day talking about the equaliser.

Sunderland, September 2002

Back in the days when Newcastle used to beat Sunderland—as opposed to the current sorry run of five successive defeats to their north-east rivals—Shearer was a regular thorn in the side of the luckless Black Cats.

Bellamy had given Newcastle the lead early on in the Tyne-Wear derby in September 2002, and then it was left to the local hero to effectively settle the tie with a trademarked powerful effort just before half-time.

Nolberto Solano and Robert stood over a free-kick 20 yards out, but there was only ever going to be one man to take it. After Solano touched the set piece to him, Shearer fired home a fierce low drive to double his side's lead.

The famous celebration wasn't too far away. 

Georgia, April 1997

We're on to another free-kick now, only this one took place right on the edge of the six-yard box.

Georgia were one of the opponents that England had to navigate their way past in order to reach the 1998 World Cup in France, and after a 2-0 win over their limited opponents in Tblisi in November 1996, Glenn Hoddle's side repeated the scoreline when the teams met again at Wembley five months later.

The second of those goals came about after a Georgian back pass gave England an indirect free-kick from a position that is normally reserved for goal kicks from the opposition goalkeeper.

Teddy Sheringham's clever backheel gave Shearer a little more room in order to get his shot away, and when he did so, his effort crashed into the back of the net.

Manchester United, November 2004

Running past players was never considered a Shearer strength in his later seasons as a Newcastle player, but the forward rolled back the years to score this fine goal against Manchester United in his penultimate season as a professional.

Utilising his great strength to hold off Wes Brown, Shearer then surged past Paul Scholes and others before burying a low shot past visiting goalkeeper Roy Carroll.

The strike served as an equaliser for Newcastle with less than 20 minutes to go, but as so often in Shearer's time as a player, it was the Red Devils who were to have the last laugh, with a penalty from Ruud van Nistelrooy and Wayne Rooney's second goal of the game confirming a 3-1 victory.

Germany, June 2000

England endured a miserable Euro 2000 in the Netherlands and Belgium, but their one high point of a dismal group stage exit was Shearer's winner against old enemy Germany in Charleroi.

The pair had been billed as the most likely to qualify from Group A, but in the end both fell at the first hurdle, but at least a diving header from England's captain in his final international tournament gave the Three Lions fans a moment to savour.

Early in the second half, a fantastic cross from deep from David Beckham bypassed all of the Germany defenders, and Shearer was on hand to stoop to conquer and nod his side into a lead that they would never let go of.

Netherlands, June 1996

The heady summer of 1996 was what defined an era for many English football fans, as they watched their team reach the semi-finals of their own tournament at Euro '96.

With five goals, Shearer was to claim the Golden Boot, as Terry Venables and his side crashed out in the last four, but not before they scored this wonderful team goal in a never-to-be-forgotten 4-1 thrashing of the Netherlands at Wembley.

The typical hustle and bustle of Paul Gascoigne was involved as the midfielder cut inside from the left in his usual rampaging way, before his pass was then cleverly shifted onto Shearer by strike partner Teddy Sheringham, and England's ruthless finisher was able to do the rest in emphatic style.

Swindon Town, October 1993

We're back to Shearer's Blackburn Rovers days for our next strike, a goal that showcased that the No. 9 really was one of the best out-and-out forwards of the 1990s.

Shearer was strong and powerful, but as this goal at Swindon shows, he was also pretty quick, too.

Racing away from the defenders, he rounds goalkeeper Fraser Digby and rolls in this effort—one of two he managed in a 3-1 victory during the season prior to Blackburn's Premier League title win in 1995.

Queens Park Rangers, November 1994

By all means, feel free to enjoy all of the goals on this vintage video that features the BBC's Goal of the Season competition from the 1994/95 season, but if you're just in the mood for Shearer strikes, then you can scroll to about one minute in.

Against Queens Park Rangers at Ewood Park, Blackburn's Shearer controlled a loose ball before absolutely nailing an effort that flew into the back of the net via the underside of the crossbar, which, of course, always makes goals look even better.

Not only was it brilliant, the strike also completed a hat-trick for Shearer as Rovers dispatched the Londoners 4-0 on the way to their Premier League title success—although it missed out to Matt Le Tissier's strike for Southampton at the same end of Ewood Park (Goal 5 in the video) in the Goal of the Season vote.

Tottenham Hotspur, April 1999

The FA Cup would elude Shearer throughout his career, but the closest he got to winning it came in successive finals with Newcastle in the late 1990s.

The second one of those was secured with a semi-final victory over Tottenham Hotspur in 1999, which required extra-time. Shearer's penalty opened the scoring in the 109th minute, and then he saved something special to seal victory with two minutes to go.

With Newcastle intent on keeping possession in the Tottenham half, a pass from Silvio Maric (remember him?) was played into the Magpies' skipper, who lashed home a terrific strike into the top corner of the net to send his side to Wembley, where they lost to Manchester United.

Tottenham Hotspur, December 1996

Kevin Keegan's Newcastle both delighted and thrilled in equal measure during their 1996/97 campaign, which ultimately ended in a disappointing second-place finish to Manchester United.

On their day, they could take apart any team, but by their final Premier League game of 1996, they had gone seven matches in the division without a win—and then Tottenham Hotspur turned up at St. James' Park.

Spurs were on the end of a 7-1 hammering, in which Shearer scored twice, as did Les Ferdinand and Rob Lee, with Philippe Albert also getting on the scoresheet.

For this strike, Shearer takes on three Tottenham defenders all by himself, flicks the ball over Stephen Carr and rifles in a fine effort.

Wimbledon, April 1996

We're back to Shearer's Blackburn Rovers days for our next strike—this precise, but powerful effort for the reigning Premier League champions in a 3-2 win over Wimbledon in April 1996.

It was to be a disappointing campaign for Rovers as they followed up their title success by finishing seventh—level on points with Everton and Tottenham Hotspur—with this match being the last one in which Shearer would score for them before his move to Newcastle.

What a goal this one was, though, with a clever take, a brilliant spin and a precise finish just underlining the qualities that Shearer produced in his Rovers career, which was made up of 130 goals in 171 games.

Southampton, October 2003

Southampton were the club where it all began for Shearer, but he wasn't averse to inflicting some pain on them when the opportunity arose.

It was vital that he did so for Newcastle back in October 2003, as after six winless games since the start of the 2003/04 campaign, the Geordie talisman delivered his side's first league victory of the season with this smart finish in a 1-0 win.

Jermaine Jenas' pass to his captain was perfect, but the accuracy and precise nature of Shearer's finish was a joy to behold—except for those Southampton fans who used to cheer his name, of course.

Manchester United, November 2002

Shearer's 100th Premier League goal for Newcastle was somewhat apt, given that it was a wonderful strike that ultimately wasn't enough to get the better of Manchester United—the great bane of both the Magpies' and Shearer's existence during the Old Trafford club's great successes.

Sir Alex Ferguson's United won this high-scoring clash 5-3 (and would later win 6-2 at St. James' Park that same season), but Shearer's milestone moment at least gave his side hope as he reduced the deficit to 3-2.

Goalkeeper Fabien Barthez was left with little chance, as the forward's free-kick ripped into the top corner of the net to bring up his three-figure haul, but it ultimately proved to be in vain, thanks to a Ruud van Nistelrooy hat-trick and efforts from Paul Scholes and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Arsenal, May 2000

This Shearer free-kick against Arsenal on the final weekend of the 1999/2000 season was so good that someone decided to slooooooooooooow it right down.

In this super-slow-mo replay, you see the sheer force of this stunning free-kick, which gives Arsenal's Alex Manninger absolutely no chance on the way to helping the Magpies to a 4-2 victory—a nice way to finish off an otherwise disappointing season that saw them finish 11th in the league table following the early departure of boss Ruud Gullit.

Shearer still managed 30 strikes across all competitions, though—the most he ever achieved in a single season for the club.

Aston Villa, November 2001

Aston Villa actually led the Premier League table when they came to St. James' Park in November 2001, but they were cut down to size by a Newcastle side that joined Leeds United in being just a point behind them thanks to a 3-0 victory.

If this seems like a strange time in the division's history (although Arsenal ended up winning the league), then one constant was stunning goals from Shearer, who fired in Rob Lee's lofted cross with a volley of unerring accuracy, which left a goalkeeper as good as Villa's Peter Schmeichel completely helpless.

Craig Bellamy grabbed Newcastle's other two goals on the day, but neither were as good as his skipper's.

Chelsea, April 2004

We'll end with this stunner that finished off Chelsea's title aspirations under Claudio Ranieri in the 2003/04 season—a campaign in which Newcastle narrowly missed out on a Champions League spot.

Joe Cole and Shola Ameobi swapped goals in the first half to leave the match level, but it was then settled by a piece of brilliance from Shearer, who held off no less a defender than Marcel Desailly before leaving goalkeeper Marco Ambrosio helpless with a terrific swerving effort from distance, which was only going to end up in one place—just like plenty of other spectacular efforts did during a fine career.