Focus on Big Al's landmark moments in football

Mar 31 2009

Alan Shearer Factfile:

1970: Born August 13, Newcastle.

1988: Signs professional forms with Southampton on April 14, five days after making his full debut for Saints when he became the youngest player to score a Football League hat-trick in a 4-2 win over Arsenal at The Dell.

1990: Scores three goals in 26 league matches for Saints in 1989-90.

1991: Nets four times in 36 league games during 1990-91 season. Earns England Under-21 call-up, going on to score a record 13 goals in 11 appearances at that level.

1992: Makes senior England debut at Wembley on February 19, scoring in 2-0 win over France. Travels with England squad to European Championships in Sweden, playing in 0-0 draw against France in Malmo.

July - Moves to Blackburn in then British record £3.3million deal. Scores twice on debut in 3-3 draw with Crystal Palace. Goes on to net 22 times before suffering cruciate knee ligament injury against Leeds on Boxing Day and missing the rest of the campaign.

1994: Voted Footballer of the Year having scored 31 Premiership goals in the 1993-94 season.

1995: His 34 Premiership goals leads Blackburn to their first championship for 81 years. Voted PFA Player of the Year.

1996: Becomes first player to reach 100 goals in the Premiership, taking just over three seasons to do so. Wins Golden Boot as top goalscorer at Euro 96.

Moves to hometown club Newcastle in then world record £15million deal.

Injury sees Shearer miss large parts of 1996-97 season, but he still scores 28 goals in all competitions as Newcastle finish second in the Premiership and qualify for the Champions League.

1997: Suffers a broken leg and ruptured ankle ligaments during the pre-season Umbro Tournament at Goodison Park in July and misses England’s final two World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Italy.

1998: Scores the only goal of the game as Newcastle beat Sheffield United at Old Trafford on March 7 to reach FA Cup final. Finds the net twice as England beat Portugal 3-0 at Wembley on April 22.