Does Newcastle Utd Legend Alan Shearer Regret Not Joining Man Utd?
It’s amazing that the debate about Alan Shearer’s decision to reject Manchester United’s advances in favour of joining hometown club Newcastle United still rages on, twenty-two years after the event.
It seems some Man United fans just can’t accept the fact and believe that the former striker must regret his decision based on the medals he would’ve won had he joined the Red Devils instead of the Toon.
Certain people seem to wait for Alan to tweet something before hijacking it and stating he made a huge mistake by not moving to Old Trafford. We should remember that he actually turned the Red Devils down twice!
So does the man himself really regret his decision?
“Of course I was tempted to join Manchester United, but I do not regret either decision,”
“I had a magical time at Blackburn, winning the league. And I completed my own dream of playing for my home town club of Newcastle.”
“I have memories I will hold forever and a goalscoring record that makes me extremely proud.”
I think people forget the circumstances when they look back at this situation.
Firstly, Shearer had won the Premier League with Blackburn Rovers. If that was an ambition then he’d already have achieved that goal.
Obviously the lure of playing for your home club can be huge. Shearer clearly still cherishes the hero status that he still has enjoys in the North East and always will.
Yet I think people kind of forget how big Newcastle Utd were at that stage. They were the second best team in the league, having finished just four points behind Sir Alex Ferguson’s Man United side in 1996.
Alan Shearer probably felt he was moving to a side that was progressing and that would be challenging for titles. Many spectators at the time thought Shearer’s goals would be the difference maker for the Magpies.
In his debut season, Shearer scored twenty-five league goals (the most that term) and Newcastle again finished second, finishing above Arsenal due to goal difference. Those goals proved the difference between a Champions League place and a UEFA Cup place.
He missed the Champions League though at Newcastle Utd. Well he didn’t really, he still managed ten appearances and score six goals in that particular competition for his beloved hometown team.
His 206 goals for Newcastle United, made Shearer the club’s top goalscorer in their history. He still has the record for the most goals in the Premier League and won sixty-three England caps (scoring thirty times).
Everyone’s different and it’s the same with footballers. Some players want all the medals, some want the biggest bank balances and others want to become heroes at the clubs they supported as kids.
Alan Shearer clearly chose the last option and, by god, he gave that team everything and his fellow Toon supporters adored him for it. That is enough to satisfy the man and who can really argue with that?
Posted on March 12th, 2018 by scott
Filed under: Article
giggs scholes etc even rooney to a point more players should be like shearer playing for the club they love, if Newcastle had been less of a force then he may have gone to old trafford who knows but he was right then and should be praised for it. He might have liked more trophies but thats not the same as regretting a decision
Ambition should always come before loyalty in football and shearer could have played for MUFC for 5yrs then gone to NUFC to end his career.