Sports Nicknames - Smokey

Alan Shearer will certainly go down as one of the greatest players in Premier League History on the basis of all his records, achievements, and accomplishments.



It would be fair to say that the Striker revolutionized the art of goal scoring with his classic center-forward play. He possessed a great physical stature that allowed him to dominate on the pitch, while his hard work and dedication refined his shots and heading ability, which put him among the most prolific goal scorers of all time. He managed to get his name registered in the record books multiple times based on his natural ability and efforts.


Nickname - Smokey:

He had a very graceful and charming nickname, "Smokey". However, the nickname was not given by his teammates or fans but had originated during his childhood. In a television interview, Shearer revealed that he was given the nickname "Smokey" because he absolutely loved Smokey Bacon Crisps during his childhood. Since then, his friends and family have called him "Smokey". Later, the fans also called him "Smokey" as he would smoke the ball into the netting regularly.


Start to the Career:

Shearer started playing football from a young age and was scouted by Southampton FC at the tender age of 16. His professional career started with Southampton FC, and he started off with a bang, scoring a hat-trick in his debut game against Arsenal and shattering the record for being the youngest player to score a hat-trick in English Football at 17 years of age. That was just the start of a career that featured more English records than any other player. In four seasons, he made 118 appearances for Southampton and scored 23 goals for the Club.


First Record-Breaking Transfer of his Career:

In 1992, Shearer was transferred to Blackburn Rovers for a record fee of 3.6 million GBPs. While the lavish transfer made headlines, Shearer fulfilled the promise and lived up to the faith shown by the Rovers as he scored goals for fun in the next four years. The major success came in the 1994-95 Premier League season as the Rovers won the Premier League, thanks to a record 34 goals by Shearer that won him the Premier League Golden Boot award. He also won the Premier League Player of the Season award that year. He appeared for 138 games for the rovers and scored at a stunning rate of 0.81 goals per game. Thus, accumulating 112 goals during the four seasons.


A career with Newcastle:

Based on his prolific goal-scoring abilities and eye-catching records, both Manchester United and Newcastle United wanted to acquire him and were willing to throw in all the money. Since it was his childhood dream to play for his home team, he chose New Castle United and signed for a then World Record 15 million GBPs. His goal-scoring dream run continued as he also won the Golden Boot for the 1996-97 season. He led New Castle to two back-to-back FA Cup finals but failed to get to the silverware. He played for New Castle till 2006 and became the leading goal scorer in the history of the Club with 206 goals.


International Career:

For the National Team, he debuted in 1992 and retired after the UEFA European Championship 2000. He won the bronze medal for England at the UEFA European Championship 1996 and was also the recipient of the Golden Boot in the competition. In 63 games for England, he scored 30 goals.


Records:

He scored the most goals (260) in the premier league history and was the top goal scorer for Newcastle United with 206 goals. He also holds the record for scoring the most goals in a season, with 34 goals in his title-winning season. He was the fastest to 100 premier league goals, getting there in only 124 games, and also managed to score the most European goals for Newcastle United (30). He also held the record for scoring most penalties with 56 conversions. Moreover, he also holds the record for scoring the most goals in a single match with 5 goals.

He was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2004.

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