Shearer makes others pay the penalty

Opta take a close look at Alan Shearer's impressive penalty scoring record.

The sight of Alan Shearer thumping a penalty into a rippling net and wheeling away in triumph has been one of the most familiar sights in the Premiership era. Indeed, 1997-98 remains the only Premiership season not to see a trademark Shearer spot kick.

Thanks to a knee injury, however, Shearer's penalty strike against Sunderland on Easter Monday 2006 is likely to be his final ever goal as a professional footballer. He took it as coolly as ever, particularly given the fact it was against Newcastle's hated rivals, but the fact that it was a penalty was not too much of a surprise. The former England international has had to increasingly rely on them to quench his goal thirst as his ageing limbs have declined.

Alan Shearer	 	 	 	 	 
Season	Apps	Goals	Pens	Goals/game	Pen ratio
1992/3	21	16	3	0.76	19%
1993/4	40	31	3	0.78	10%
1994/5	42	34	10	0.81	29%
1995/6	35	31	3	0.89	10%
1996/7	31	25	3	0.81	12%
1997/8	17	2	0	0.12	0%
1998/9	30	14	6	0.47	43%
1999/0	37	23	5	0.62	22%
2000/1	19	5	2	0.26	40%
2001/2	37	23	5	0.62	22%
2002/3	35	17	2	0.49	12%
2003/4	37	22	7	0.59	32%
2004/5	28	7	3	0.25	43%
2005/6	32	10	4	0.31	40%

In only four out of 14 Premiership campaigns have penalties accounted for 40% or more of Shearer's total, but the two most recent seasons fall into that category, as does the 2000-01 term.

Incredibly, when Shearer set a new landmark figure of 10 penalties in 1994-95, they represented only 28% of his monstrous total of 34. This was the striker's rampant heyday when he scored more than 30 goals in three consecutive seasons and helped Blackburn to the title.

Nevertheless, a penalty goal counts just as much as any other, and scoring one in a Newcastle win at Sunderland will surely give Shearer great pleasure for years to come.