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How 11 year old Alan Shearer fell in love

9 years ago
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Alan Shearer says that it feels like it was only yesterday when he fell in love with Newcastle United 33 years ago.

The Geordie legend remembering the first Newcastle match he ever went to and the feeling of ‘total adulation’ when Kevin Keegan scored on his United debut.

Shearer says he will always appreciate the role Keegan played as well 14 years later when he brought Shearer to St. James’ Park as a player.

‘I remember my first game like it was yesterday.

It was August 1982 and Newcastle were facing Queens Park Rangers.We took the metro and got there especially early to soak up the atmosphere, I bought a scarf on the way and couldn’t believe my dad when he told me he’d kept it to this day.

I’ll never forget the feeling of entering the Gallowgate, I couldn’t really see much of the game, but when we scored I got lifted in the air and felt total adulation. The atmosphere was unbelievable, we won 1-0 and I’d never felt anything like it before.’

That special moment:

‘Seeing us win on my first game was special, but what made it even better was Kevin Keegan making his debut that day and scoring the winning goal. Seeing him run over to us with his arms held aloft was pure ecstasy, it was then that I knew I had to become a professional footballer.

The story continued when I was a ball boy at his (Keegan’s) final match for Newcastle, before he eventually signed me in 1996 and gave me the chance to represent my boyhood club and live out the best years of my career. I’ll always appreciate his role in helping me get to where I am today.’

Alan Shearer was speaking as he helped Barclays launch a new initiative which will see thousands of match tickets given away, to encourage another generation of fans to fall in love with football.

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