Travelling over 300 miles from the North East down to Southampton at only 15 years of age wasn't always easy for young Alan Shearer, luckily the Southampton youth coach, Dave Merrington, who was also from Newcastle, was very helpful and understanding. Southampton would always let the players go back for the weekend when times were hard.

As well as forging their footballing skills, Southampton would train these young players and make them into men, developing characters. Alan always had what you could call a "positive" approach to the game, and was never afraid to say what he thought, he was already a lot more mature than most of the boys there.

Alan met Lainya during his time at Southampton. They were both 17 years old at the time, and met in a pub one evening. At the time, Lainya was earning more than Alan, so it's safe to say she didn't go for him because of the money.

In his very first season, Alan did well for the youth team, scoring loads of goals, and Dave Merrington tried to fit Alan in the first team after only 12 months, because he was ready for it ! But it wouldn't happen yet. Alan's second season at Southampton was a mixture between playing for the youth team and playing for the reserves. And one day, the call-up came, 9th April 1988. Southampton striker Danny Wallace had failed a fitness test that morning and as Alan was having lunch around about 12.30PM, Chris Nicholl, the Southampton manager came and told him he was IN ! Alan came out on the pitch that afternoon and made a name for himself in front of the whole nation. He scored his first Senior goal after only 5 minutes ... and famously went on to score a HAT TRICK, he was only 17 years and 240 days old...

Alan's days as an apprentice were soon over after that, as he was called into Chris Nicholl's office a few days after the hat trick to sign his very first professional contract. Before long Alan and Lainya were living together in their own home. However Alan only played another 2 games after that in his debut season, not scoring any goals this time.

His second season wasn't prolific either, still in the shadow of the first team regulars, Shearer only played 8 games without scoring any goals. His third year, 89-90, was much more encouraging, Alan scored in his first appearance of the season, coming on as a sub against QPR. And later went on to score 5 goals in total. In September 1990 Shearer established himself in the first, this was his third season at the Dell. In all he played over 45 games and scored 14 goals. International recognition came along as well: Alan was picked for the England Under 21 side to play in the Toulon tournament, where England won in the Final against France, Alan scored. He also picked the awards for top goal scorer and best player of the tournament. Shortly after that Lainya and Alan got married in Southampton.

1991/1992 was to be Alan's final season at the Dell. Under new manager, Ian Branfoot, he ended as the club's leading scorer with 21 goals in all competitions, playing a staggering 60 games. He also continued his good form for the Under 21s. But it wasn't long before he just couldn't be ignored anymore by the full England setup. Graham Taylor played him in a friendly against France at Wembley, and Alan scored on his full international debut, to put his country on the way to a 2-0 win. Taylor even selected Shearer in his squad for the Euro 92 finals in Sweden, but he only featured in one group game - a goalless draw against France - and England were eliminated at a disappointingly early stage.

It was inevitable that every time Alan went away on international duty he would catch the eye of coaching staff around the country. Ray Harford who had worked with Shearer at England under 21 level was now a Blackburn Rovers coach, and had been recommending Alan to the Rovers' board for quite some time. Blackburn soon started to make inquiries but at the time they were still in the old second division.

In the summer of 92, Blackburn Rovers, who had just gained promotion under the guidance of Kenny Dalglish, had another inquiry to speak to Alan granted. Blackburn had become very ambitious and were armed with chairman Jack Walker's unlimited finds. The deal involved a move for David Speedie going the other way. And Alan joined Blackburn for a total fee of £3.3 million, beating the British record. He was also offered terms by Manchester United but turned them down. Lainya was already 7 months pregnant at the time, and they all had to move up to Lancashire leaving the South coast where she had lived all her life. Alan's days as a Dell boy were over.

Continued > Blackburn days