Fresh goals for scoring machine

The sight of Alan Shearer wheeling away with his right hand in the air celebrating yet another goal was one of English football's most enduring images for nearly two decades.

"It's the greatest feeling in the world," Shearer says glancing at images of his goalscoring exploits. "I haven't had a better feeling than seeing that ball hit the back of the net."

He did it a fair few times - a record 206 with Newcastle, 30 for England and an incredible 112 goals in 138 games for Blackburn - in a career spanning 19 years at the highest level. Not bad for a guy who, as a 16-year-old, was rejected by Newcastle, the team he supported as a kid, who tried him out in goal.

At his peak, Shearer was one of the game's most effective strikers but he won only one major honour - the Premiership title with Blackburn Rovers in 1994-95. He had the chance to sign for Manchester United in 1992 and 1996 but joined Blackburn and then Newcastle instead and it's a decision he's still criticised for by Red Devils fans today.

It's not something Shearer dwells on, however. "I wouldn't change anything in my career," he says in his distinctive Geordie accent.

"I'm not one for looking back. Yes, I probably would have won more trophies if I had gone to Manchester United but I've been so happy in my life and so content.

"I was a lad in Newcastle, didn't have nothing. Mum and dad gave me everything they had, which wasn't a lot, and my dream was to play for Newcastle United, wear the No 9 shirt. I lived my dream for 10 years. It was fantastic."

And that's the great thing about Shearer. In an era in which driving the right car and wearing the right labels is important to a lot of top sportsmen, there are no pretensions with the former England captain.

After years in the game and now a career in punditry, he's clearly comfortable with what he's achieved and his place in the game.

He should be. Although he says he was "never the most gifted or best player around", he's on the Fifa 100 list of the greatest living footballers, he was PFA player of the year in 1995 and 1997, the Premiership's top scorer for three straight seasons between 1994 and 1997, overall player of the decade in the first 10 years of the Premiership and was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2004.

When he limped off Sunderland's Stadium of Light with a knee injury three games before his intended retirement, a managerial career seemingly beckoned. It was expected he would continue to work alongside Glenn Roeder this season but turned this down, and an offer to work with Steve McLaren in the England set-up.

"It was never close because I made a promise to my family and a commitment to the BBC that I would have time out before I went, if ever I went, back into the game," he explains.

"I really couldn't tell you when, where or if I will go back into it. I love the game, love watching it and love playing it so maybe one day I will give it a crack."

Given the ease with which he interacted with youngsters during a two-hour training session in Auckland last week and given his standing in the game, it would be hard to imagine Shearer not getting into management.

He's completing his coaching badges and is Newcastle's sporting ambassador.

For now, though, retirement agrees with him. "I love it. I love getting up on a Sunday morning and not feeling stiff and having no pain and bruises. I'm loving the freedom, my golf is improving and the kids are happy they have dad home a bit more than they're used to."

To his kids, he's just dad. To millions of fans, he's Alan Shearer, one of the greatest strikers to pull on an England jersey. But there will be no more goal celebrations - not as a player, anyway.

Alan Shearer

Age: 36

Clubs: Southampton (1988-92), Blackburn (1992-96), Newcastle (1996-2006)

Shearer scored 30 goals in 63 internationals between 1992 and 2000. He captained England from 1996 to 2000 and finished top scorer at Euro '96.

He first played for Southampton in 1988, and became the youngest player (17 years, eight months) to score a top-flight hat-trick when he achieved the feat against Arsenal on his full debut.

He joined Blackburn in 1992 for £3.6 million. He scored 112 goals in 138 league games, helping Rovers to the Premiership in 1994-95.

Shearer became the world's most expensive footballer when Newcastle paid £15 million for him in 1996, and went on to set a club goalscoring record with 206.