Alan Shearer’s net worth
When you’re the leading goal scorer in the world’s most watched football league and a regular on television it’s hardly a surprise that you have a few bob. So, exactly how much is Alan Shearer’s net worth? Let’s find out.
What is Alan Shearer’s net worth?
As of 2021, Shearer has a net worth of a mammoth £40 million. In some ways, it’s no surprise that he boasts such a substantial wealth but put it into the context that it’s double somebody’s like Jamie Carragher and you start to realise just how impressive it is. So, where does it come from?
Early life
In August 1970, Shearer was born to his working class parents, Anne and Alan, in Gosforth. It is a suburb of Newcastle and just an eight minute drive from St James’ Park. Shearer would spend his formative years in the area.
He loved football as a youngster and was actively encouraged by his dad to train as much as possible but it wasn’t something he took too seriously to begin with despite being captain of his school team. That changed when he led his school team to a tournament win on the grass of St James’.
From there he joined the famed Wallsend Boys Club. That’s the same club that birthed players such as Peter Beardsley and Steve Bruce. It was here that Shearer would be spotted for the first time. Shearer became part of the Southampton academy at the age of 16.
Starting life as a Saint
One of the biggest things about joining Southampton was the uprooting it caused to his life; the south coast city was some 320 miles away from Gosforth. Even so, things worked out alright in the end. Off the pitch, his move south enabled Shearer to meet his wife, Lainya. She lived near to the Dell. The pair were married in 1990 when Shearer was just 20 and now have three children. It wasn’t his wife that drove his net worth though. Oh no, that was his footballing ability.
After impressing at youth level, Shearer’s senior bow came as an 18-year-old. His debut passed without much note as he came off the bench against Chelsea. Fast forward a fortnight though and he was handed his first start.
It was a home league match against Arsenal that the Saints won 4-2. Shearer scored three. It made him the youngest player to score a top flight hat-trick, which broke the long standing record previously held by England World Cup winning squad member Jimmy Greaves. At the time, Shearer was earning just £35 per week. Come the end of that season, he would sign his first professional deal.
Well managed and kicking on
Despite possessing strength beyond his years, then Southampton boss Chris Nicholl was keen to protect his young star. As such, Shearer only played a limited role during the 1988/89 and 1989/90 seasons adding a further five goals to that debut hat-trick. His involvement picked up in 1990/91. Shearer hit 12 goals in all competitions but it was a year later when things really took off.
He was already winning plaudits for his excellent hold up play but 18 goals in the 1991/92 campaign saw him linked with some of England’s biggest clubs – namely Manchester United, who ultimately ended up signing Dion Dublin, and Liverpool. His inaugural England call up came too. Predictably, he scored on his international debut.
The move that actually materialised saw Shearer, who was approaching his 22nd birthday, join Blackburn Rovers for a British record fee of £3.6m.
Rampaging with Rovers
Shearer didn’t waste much time repaying Rovers’ faith in him. He scored 16 league goals in an injury filled first campaign that saw him make 21 appearances whilst another six goals took the club into the League Cup semi-final. He was the team’s top scorer despite his restricted appearances. By the 1993/94 season, Shearer had returned to fitness and broke the 30 goal mark with 34 goals across all competitions; 31 came in the league. Blackburn finished second.
In that off season, Shearer was joined up front by Chris Sutton. He and Shearer became the league’s most expensive strike duo at a combined cost of £8.6m. They were a deadly pairing and fired Blackburn to the Premier League title in 1995. Again, Shearer top scored for Rovers with 37 goals (34 in the league). The next season saw Shearer and co struggle to juggle the Champions League and domestic calendars. Blackburn finished in a lowly seventh in spite of another 37 goal haul by their main man.
What followed that summer was Euro 96. It would be Shearer’s first taste of a major international tournament and, boy, did he put his name in lights. England crashed out on penalties against Germany in the semi-final but Shearer won the golden boot for scoring a competition high five goals; he scored penalties in both the shoot-outs England faced top. He was arguably the most in demand player in the world.
Heading home
Shearer had grown up a Newcastle United supporter and although Man United again wanted to sign him, Shearer joined his boyhood club for a £15m fee to prove he is one of the most loyal football players in Premier League history. It was a world record transfer. The wages weren’t too shabby either at a reported £34,000 per week salary. It doesn’t sound much in today’s world of bonkers wages. At the time, it was nearly double the amount Dennis Bergkamp was earning at Arsenal and some £27,000 north of the average Premier League wage.
Shearer would go on to spend a decade with his boyhood club. Despite knocking in goals at a phenomenal rate, which included him topping the league scoring charts in his first season, he couldn’t help them to silverware. What he did do, however, was rebuff the opportunity to make shed loads more money and win honours with bigger clubs in order to remain loyal to the club he loved. The Toon Army recognised this and worshipped the ground he walked on.
When he decided to hang up his boots in 2006 he did so having posted a Premier League record of 260 goals; that’s 52 clear of Wayne Rooney in second place. What’s even more remarkable is that there is another 23 league goals not counted in that tally because they came before the Premier League was formed in 1992. That wasn’t his legacy complete though because a total of 206 Newcastle goals makes him the Magpies top scorer of all time. He had broken Jackie Milburn’s target of 200.
International career
In addition to the Euro 96 tournament we’ve already touched on, Shearer also featured at France 98 and the European Championships in 2000. He was named England captain prior to the former and retired from international duty after the latter. His goal scoring record stacks up on the international scene too. He scored 30 goals in 63 appearances putting him comfortably into the top 10 England goal scorers of all time.
Life after football
After hanging up his shooting boots, Shearer joined the BBC as a pundit. Most of his work has been built around the weekly highlight show ‘Match of the Day’, which is hosted by Gary Lineker, although he’s been part of their team for live tournament coverage too. The former Toon legend was pulling in an annual salary of £445k from his BBC contract until their recent efforts to reduce the gender pay gap. Even so, a drop of £50k per annum still leaves him with a contract worth £395k.
His work in the media isn’t just limited to television though. It has recently been announced that he’s joined the sport subscription site ‘The Athletic’. What impact that will have on his net worth remains to be seen but it’s fair to say he won’t be working for peanuts given his reputation in the industry.
It’s not always been punditry and opinion work since retirement though. Shearer did have a short taste of management back in 2009 when his beloved Newcastle were caught in a tough spot. He was only in the post for eight games though and just one win in that time saw the team relegated. It’s hard to apportion too much blame to Shearer though.
Finally, there is the charity work that Shearer gets involved in. A lot of former players take part in charity events – such as Socceraid – which is true of Shearer too but he also does a lot more than that. He was honoured with a testimonial during his Newcastle days and used funds from that to launch the Alan Shearer foundation; it’s a charity that provides support disabled people. He was awarded a CBE in the 2016 as part of the Queens honours list.
There you have it, Alan Shearer‘s net worth – £40m.