Newcastle striker Alan Shearer announced his retirement from football on this day in 2006.
The 35-year-old former England captain confirmed he had to retire earlier than planned after tearing knee ligaments in a Tyne-Tees derby at Sunderland.
Shearer had been due to bring the curtain down on a stellar career at the end of the 2005-06 season but was ruled out of Newcastle's final three games.
"Deep down when I was walking out of the game on Monday I knew something had gone but I was just hoping and praying that it wouldn't be as bad as feared," Shearer said after scoring a penalty in Newcastle's 4-1 derby win.
"But to go out in Sunderland, score and get the best result in 50 years wasn't a bad way to go."
Shearer began his career at Southampton, where he scored a hat-trick on his full debut at the age of 17 years and 240 days, before joining Blackburn in 1992.
He won the Premiership title at Blackburn in the 1994-95 season – the only major trophy of his 18-year career – and joined his hometown club Newcastle in the summer of 1996 for a then world-record fee of £15million.
Shearer scored 206 goals in 404 appearances for Newcastle, eclipsing Jackie Milburn's record to become the club's top goalscorer.
In domestic competitions, he scored 379 goals in 733 appearances and his Premier League record of 260 goals stands to this day.
Shearer made his England debut in 1992 and went on to score 30 goals in 63 appearances before retiring from international football after Euro 2000.
He made a brief foray into management at Newcastle when he was put in charge for the final eight games of the 2008-09 season.
But he won only five points from 24 as Newcastle's 18-year stay in the top flight was ended by relegation, and he has since focused on his successful media career.
Shearer was awarded an OBE in 2001 and a CBE in 2016 for charitable services to the community in the north east.
