Alan Shearer’s celebration is iconic.
The Newcastle United legend famously raised his hand in the air every time he hit the back of the net – something he did a lot during his Toon career.
With 206 goals, Alan Shearer is still Newcastle United’s all-time leading goalscorer.
He is also the Premier League’s all-time leading scorer, scoring 260 Premier League goals for the Magpies, Blackburn Rovers and Southampton.
While nowadays we see extravagant celebrations, Shearer always kept it simple. It might have been boring to some, but spectators certainly saw it a lot during the striker’s playing career.
Alan Shearer explains his iconic celebration
Now Shearer has revealed how his celebration actually came about, having been asked about it during an appearance on the Optus Sport YouTube channel.
“I couldn’t tell you where it came from,” he said.
“It just sort of happened when I was at Southampton. I saw I was getting a bit of grief for being dull and boring, then as soon as someone said that I just thought ‘I’m going to do it all the time’.”
The one time Shearer changed his celebration after scoring for Newcastle United
The 54-year-old did change his celebration once, but only once.
“I tried something different once when I went back to Blackburn when I was playing for Newcastle,” he said.
“I was getting a little bit of criticism. I changed it slightly and thought I looked a right fool after the game, so I never did it again.
“I reverted back to the good old one arm in the air and that was it. It worked, didn’t it. It’s got us talking about it so it couldn’t have been that bad.”
The goal in question was the first that Shearer scored at Ewood Park after his world record transfer from Blackburn Rovers to Newcastle United.
He broke the deadlock in the 21st minute of an FA Cup fifth round tie, producing a smart finish to put Newcastle 1-0 up.
After hitting his trademark arm in the air celebration, Shearer then stopped and stood completely still. He had one arm in the air, while the other pointed at the Newcastle United badge on the chest.
Shearer is right, he did look a bit of a fool! That is why he never did it again.
Newcastle United’s current trademark celebrations
None of the current Newcastle United players have a celebration as iconic as Shearer’s. However, there are some trademark ones that we regularly see.
Alexander Isak usually wags his thumb over his shoulder whenever he scores. However, Isak ditched his usual celebration after his goal against Brentford. Instead, he immediately ran over to celebrate with Jacob Murphy who had supplied the assist.
Elsewhere, Harvey Barnes has his bow and arrow, while Fabian Schar twirls his finger in the air. Unfortunately, Toon fans did not see that celebration on Monday night during the win over Leicester, as Schar could only hit the bar after shooting from his own half.
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