Alan Shearer made history when he joined Newcastle United in 1996, turning down Manchester United in the process.
It was a blockbuster transfer, with Newcastle signing Shearer from Blackburn Rovers for £15million. At the time, he was the most expensive player in world football.
It was a remarkable statement of intent from Newcastle United and Kevin Keegan, who also completed the deal ahead of Manchester United. Sir Alex Ferguson also wanted to sign Shearer, and got extremely close to getting his wish.
Alan Shearer was initially going to snub Newcastle United homecoming for Manchester United
In fact, Shearer has admitted in the past that he was actually going to move to Man United over Newcastle after speaking with Ferguson and Keegan.
During an interview with Gary Neville for the Overlap in November 2021, Shearer admitted that he met with both managers following a Bryan Adams concert in July 1996.
After those conversations, his initial plan was to leave Blackburn for Man United. However, that changed after one more call with King Kev.
“I was still undecided, because it is such a big decision,” he said.
“Manchester United, as you know, huge football club and manager. We don’t have to talk about him because we know how big he is.
“At one stage, I’d made a decision. I’d gone home and said I’m going to go to Manchester United. We even had a drive around Manchester. We were going to buy Graeme Souness’ house.
“Not so long after that [Bryan Adams] concert that we were both at, I got another call from Kevin to say can I have another half an hour with you. I did and I thought you know what I’m going to go back home and come back to Newcastle. I can’t let this opportunity go.”
Newcastle United always remind Manchester United about what Alan Shearer did with famous chant
Shearer decided to snub Man United and move to Newcastle, completing an emotional return to Tyneside to play for his boyhood club.
It is a decision that many onlookers think he will regret given the number of trophies he could have won at Old Trafford. In contrast, he did not win a single piece of silverware at St James’ Park.
However, Shearer has no regrets. He captained his boyhood club, while he also became Newcastle’s all-time leading scorer with 206 goals in all competitions.
He was and still is idolised at Newcastle United, with the Man United faithful always reminded of what Shearer did whenever the two sides meet.
During every Newcastle vs Manchester United game, there are always chants of ‘Shearer turned you down’ from the Toon Army.
In reply, the Man United supporters usually bellow out ‘cheer up Alan Shearer…’ or ‘Shearer sent you down’ in reference to his disappointing spell as Newcastle United manager that ended in relegation to the Championship.
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