In 48 hours' time a goal plunderer of great derring-do will be hailed one last time by a packed audience of his worshippers. Alan Shearer, the local boy plucked from a crowd to be king, will take his testimonial bow having appropriately been carried from the field of battle on his shield. Courage epitomised Shearer's attitude and, having scored for the 206th time in the black and white favours of Newcastle, he left the land of bitter rivals with a busted knee and a few broken hearts. No one knows Shearer and what makes the most private of public figures tick as much as Jack Hixon, the 85-year-old former British rail clerk who stood on a school playing field in Newcastle watching a 13-year-old perform on the right wing and has remained firmly by his side ever since through the most glorious and glittering of careers. Ask Hixon about his protege and the words come tumbling out. "Ability takes you to the top but it's character that keeps you there," insisted Jack. "Shearer is a man. He has courage and, above all else, loyalty. He's black-and-white through and through, striped like a stick of rock. "He gave his all for Southampton and Blackburn Rovers but it was in the stars that he had to come here. "Newcastle is the Geordie fans' club and he's a Gallowgate-ender. It's so appropriate that a bar at that end of the ground should bear his name and that a huge banner thanking Alan for 10 wonderful years should currently hang there as a tribute. "It would have been a travesty of justice had Shearer not finished his career at St James' Park. "He has given the club everything, especially loyalty. We were always hearing this and that about the likes of Patrick Vieira at Arsenal, whether he would stay or he would go. "But there was never a whiff of such desertion from Alan. He never threatened to leave if things weren't won. He was where he belonged." That being the case, and with a love affair between superhero and crowd rock solid, surely Shearer will be back? "He has all the ingredients to be a manager," confessed Hixon. "He's all about standards - in himself and in other people. That's his hallmark. "Some day - and I stress some day - Alan will return as manager at Newcastle. I just hope I'm still alive to see it! "Football needs him but, above all else, he needs football. If he wasn't going to bother with that side of the game why would he be taking his coaching badges? If there was no objective why would he squander his time? "He has an inherent passion for the game - yes, he'll take 12 or 18 months out but it'll be a sabbatical. He'll return - he won't be able to turn his back on Newcastle United." In the meantime, of course, Shearer will become a BBC pundit on television, imparting his wisdom and his honest assessment throughout the World Cup finals and beyond. "Yes, he's a fine capture for the BBC because he's an effective analyst who doesn't talk above people," said Jack. "He talks to them." A career signposted in pure gold from the day Hixon sent him to t'other end of the country to seek great fame and vast fortune saw Shearer score 206 goals for United, 130 for Blackburn, 43 at Southampton, 13 in 11 games for England Under-21s, and 30 from 63 caps at full level. That's 422 bullseyes in all, a colossal monument to his consistency. Such were Shearer's natural qualities that he skippered every side he ever played for including his country, which hardly surprises a man Alan has privately referred to as "family." The closeness of the pair epitomises what normally comes only through a direct bloodline. They are like a second father and son, adviser and friend, bonded so close no-one could split them asunder. When Shearer was to sign his first pro contract he turned to Hixon for financial advice. Years later, when Jack lay in a hospital bed, Shearer asked England boss Kevin Keegan for compassionate leave to fly back to Tyneside from abroad and visit his mentor. He brought with him his England shirt from an international against Uruguay, Shearer's last appearance at Wembley for his country. Lest you may not give due credit, Shearer wasn't spotted by a one-star scout who got lucky. Hixon had spirited away to Burnley so much North East talent that once they fielded a team of all Geordies. The best of his Turf Moor collection were undoubtedly Ralph Coates, Les O'Neill and Dave Thomas with the strain passing on through Shearer right up to Michael Bridges, who brought Sunderland £6m from Leeds United before severe injury caused a temporary halt to development. Jack was indeed top of the beanstalk. What you do at your peril, mind you, is label Hixon the man who `discovered' Shearer. "I did not," he says with some considerable force. "I deplore that word. He wasn't lost so how could he be discovered. "All I did was help give him an opportunity he thoroughly deserved." Maybe so, but what were the qualities Hixon first saw in a 13-year-old and what were the qualities of the marauding skipper of Newcastle and England, the man in his pomp? "Alan was playing for Newcastle Boys at Benfield," recalled Jack. "What he had was determination and bravery - you can to some extent develop pace, improve technique etc but you cannot instil competitive spirit in anyone. "God puts that there. Alan was mature beyond his years, never precocious but a real thinker. What he became, well, the world could see that. "They say you must mask your weaknesses and develop your strengths. Maybe Alan didn't have the best left foot ever witnessed but what a goalscorer. "And what a creator - with his back to goal, dropping off wide, whatever. It was ironic I saw him as a boy playing wide right because he became one of the best crossers in top-flight football. "The pity was that he couldn't head in his own crosses! "Then there was the defensive part of his game - how many defensive headers did he win at the near post off corners? "All-round he was the perfect leader, the best ever in my time. Honesty sums him up, on and off the field. He was and is no cheat. "Shearer became known as Big Al but what was big about him was his heart. That was bigger than his body. "He might be big-limbed with a heavy build but he was never tall. "He stands 5ft 11in but could win the ball against defenders 6ft 2in. He and Neil "Razor" Ruddock (right) were called the Bruise Brothers at Southampton they won so much in the air. "Alan was born on August 13, 1970 but what I like about that is his star sign. It's Leo the Lion. And that sums him up." Courage comes at a cost of course - injuries, the curse of the footballer. "But the self same thing also gets you through the dark days. "From his first serious knee operation in Cambridge on February 15, 1993 he has been a realist," explained Hixon. "When he was struck down with Newcastle at Goodison Park, his agent Tony Stephens collected him from hospital. "Shearer was sitting in the back of the car propped up by pillows and on his mobile to me. "He said the injury was bad, he had suffered a dislocation that had been jumped back in without anaesthetic. "`They had to scrape me off the ceiling,' he laughed, `but you just have to get on with it.' He confronts things rather than avoids them." Now, however, Shearer is about to walk into the sunset like a Hollywood gunslinger who has just hung up his holster. "I honestly think he is irreplaceable at St James' Park," maintained Jack. "They can make do and mend but there isn't another of his type." Thursday will see us all pay our respects to a No 9 legend. Only when such men are gone is their true value realised. Jack Hixon, a special fan and friend, will be an important part of the farewells, as it should be, tomorrow night on Shearer's family table at a star-studded banquet and on Thursday as the guest of United chairman Freddy Shepherd at the pre-match dinner and testimonial itself. The eyes will be moist but pride will be the over-riding factor when Shearer takes a special bow. Page 2: I am proud of them all | 
