Newcastle unveil £250,000 bronze statue in honour of club record goalscorer Alan Shearer
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NEWCASTLE have unveiled a statue of record goalscorer Alan Shearer outside St James' Park.
The 9ft bronze sculpture was shown to hundreds of supporters on Monday as Shearer was joined by ex-manager Kevin Keegan and former coach Terry McDermott.
However some supporters have pointed out that statue, named 'Local Hero', has Shearer with one finger pointed towards the sky - when in usual iconic celebration is him when an open-palm salute.
The artwork cost a cool £250,000 to make but it was stumped up by former club chairman Freddy Shepherd and his family.
The Sun columnist Shearer bagged a stunning 206 goals in 395 appearances for the club over a 10-year period.
After the unveiling, the Match of the Day pundit said: "I'm very proud and honoured to be stood here with this statue.
"When I come down this road seeing it will make me immensely proud. It is here because I enjoyed playing football."
Shearer became the world's most expensive player when he joined Newcastle from Blackburn for a fee of £15million in 1996.
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In his first season at Newcastle he won the Premier League Golden Boot for the third time with 25 goals in 31 games.
Shepherd was also quick to pay tribute to Shearer saying his unique career is now "properly recognised".
He said: "It is now 10 years since he retired and our family decided that fans shouldn't have to wait any longer for his unique career to be properly recognised."