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Trivia
- Alan Shearer joined Newcastle United for a world record fee of £15m from Blackburn in July 1996 and scored a club-record 206 goals.
- Shearer, unable to play through injury, kicked the game off, and was then replaced by Chopra. He came on in 90 minutes at 2-2 and a pre-arranged penalty was awarded just so he could score. Celtic fans are infuriated after travelling long way and paying expensive ticket prices for a sham.
Review
Chopra, Charles N'Zogbia and Shola Ameobi all had good chances in a forgettable first half, but Paul Gascoigne raised the noise level again by scoring in the half-time penalty shootout.
The goals rained in during the second half, Albert Luque opened the scoring in the game before Shaun Maloney's penalty and a John Hartson header put Celtic ahead.
A Paul Lawson own-goal made it 2-2 before Shearer's scoring finale.
Teams
Newcastle:-
Given (Harper 45), Carr (Ferdinand 71), Boumsong, Bramble (Taylor 45), Babayaro (Elliott 45), Watson (Faye 31) (Lee 67), Emre (Pattison 45), Clark (Speed 34), N'Zogbia (Ramage 45), Ameobi (Luque 45), Shearer (Chopra 1min, Shearer 90).
Goals:- Luque, Lawson o.g., Shearer.
Celtic:-
Marshall, Wilson (Virgo 86), Varga, Mulgrew (Camara 75), McManus, Petrov (Wallace 69), Lennon (Telfer 45), Thompson (Pearson 45), Zurawski (Lawson 45), Maloney (Quinn 78), Dublin (Hartson 45).
Goals:- Maloney, Hartson.
Att:- 52,275
Ref:- Mark Clattenburg (England).
Articles
- Match Report (see end of page below)
Pictures
Articles
Shearer ends career on high note
BBC
It's just been very, very special – it was absolutely brilliant
Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer came on to score a penalty with the final kick of the game as Newcastle beat Celtic 3-2 in his testimonial match at St James' Park.
A knee injury suffered three weeks ago prevented the 35-year-old playing a proper role, but he kicked the first and last balls of the match.
"There was more than just a tear in my eye when I was walking around. I defy anyone not to have a tear," he said.
"The fans have been just incredible. Where else do you get that?"
Albert Luque opened the scoring in the game before Shaun Maloney's penalty and a John Hartson header put Celtic ahead.
A Paul Lawson own-goal made it 2-2 before Shearer's scoring finale.
Newcastle old boys Steve Watson, Gary Speed, Rob Lee and Les Ferdinand all made appearances, to the delight of a crowd of 52,275, who generated about £1m for charity.
It was the final appearance of a Newcastle career which began when he joined for a world record £15m from Blackburn in July 1996 and included a club-record 206 goals.
Shearer's final competitive appearance for Newcastle was in the 4-1 derby win at Sunderland on 17 April, when he scored from the spot before suffering the injury that brought his final season to a premature end.
"I thank the fans for everything they have given me," he said after completing a lap of honour and being escorted from the pitch by a spectacular firework display.
"It's just been very, very special. It was absolutely brilliant – a big thanks to them all."