Alan Shearer played his last game against Sunderland and went out in style scoring a goal in Sunderland's defeat 4-1. The former England captain spurned Manchester United to sign up with Newcastle in 1996 and gave his all to his new club for the next decade.
Suffering through numerous knee injuries including an anterior cruciate ligament tear that would have surely wrecked his career, Shearer soldiered on and became Newcastle's leading scorer with 206 goals.
Dave Crossan describes the moment that earned Shearer a permanent place in the hearts of Newcastle fans.
The impossible dream appeared set to become reality when Shearer, playing with the likes of Ferdinand, Beardsley, Ginola and Lee, scored the 4th in a 5-0 rout of Manchester United at St. James' in October 1996.
It was a goal Shearer rather enjoyed as he eschewed his typical goalscoring celebration for a fist-pumping stomp down the touchline in front of the Manchester United supporters; the perfect retort to taunts from the fans that he had moved to Newcastle to pad his wallet rather than to win football matches.
His actions that day sealed his place in Geordie affections.
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