Alan Shearer will walk on to his playground for the last time tomorrow night to take the acclaim of the Geordie nation.

The 35-year-old may be able to do little else than kick off his testimonial game against Celtic because of the knee injury which ended his career three weeks early, but that will have little bearing on the reception he will get as a decade of loyal service draws to a close. The fact they have not also yielded a single winner's medal is a disappointment, but the knowledge he has spent the better part of his professional career doing what he loves in front of thousands of devoted worshippers is reward enough.

"I would just say to look at every kid in every playground in the north east and the joy they get when they score a goal," he said. "I'm exactly the same."