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Top 20 England players of all time - #14

Sports Mole's countdown of the top 20 English players of all time continues with number 14 - Alan Shearer.

Alan Shearer (63 caps, 30 goals)

Alan Shearer celebrates scoring for England against Holland on June 18, 1996.© Getty Images

The closest England have ever come to replicating the glory of 1966 was 30 years later when, in their next tournament on home soil, they reached the semi-final of Euro '96 before being eliminated in agonising fashion.

Alan Shearer's relentless goalscoring in the early Premier League years had ensured that he was the main man up front for Terry Venables's side, despite England being blessed with incredible strength in depth at the time - the likes of Robbie Fowler, Les Ferdinand, Teddy Sheringham and Andy Cole all had to play second fiddle.

The striker more than justified his place too, scoring five goals to win the tournament's Golden Boot as England came within a penalty shootout of booking their first major final since that World Cup triumph.

Shearer had actually failed to score in 12 games and 21 months for his country heading into the tournament, but Euro '96 acted as a springboard for the rest of his international career and he went on to score 30 goals in 63 appearances before retiring aged just 30 and resisting numerous attempts to coax him back to the international scene.

The Newcastle United stalwart continued to go from strength to strength at club level, though, playing on for another six years to establish himself as comfortably the leading goalscorer in Premier League history with 260 to his name.

Silverware was lacking with the Magpies, but Shearer had already lifted the Premier League title with Blackburn in 1995 and, on an individual level, was twice named the PFA Players' Player of the Year, won three Premier League Golden Boots and was third in the voting for the 1996 Ballon d'Or.

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Barney Corkhill
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TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
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2Chelsea1594235181731
3Arsenal1585229151429
4Manchester CityMan City158342721627
5Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest157441918125
6Aston Villa157442323025
7Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton156632522324
8Bournemouth157352320324
9Brentford157263128323
10Fulham156542220223
11Tottenham HotspurSpurs1562731191220
12Newcastle UnitedNewcastle155551921-220
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd155461918119
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham155372028-818
15Everton143561421-714
16Leicester CityLeicester153572130-914
17Crystal Palace152761420-613
18Ipswich TownIpswich151681427-139
19Wolverhampton WanderersWolves1523102338-159
20Southampton1512121131-205


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