Peter Shearer
{{short description|English footballer (born 1967)}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Peter Shearer
| image =
| fullname = Peter Andrew Shearer{{Hugman|17837|accessdate=27 August 2015}}
| height =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1967|2|4}}
| birth_place = Birmingham, England
| death_date =
| position = Forward / Midfielder
| youthyears1 = | youthclubs1 = Coventry City
| youthyears2 = 1983–1985 | youthclubs2 = Birmingham City
| years1 = 1985–1986 | clubs1 = Birmingham City | caps1 = 4 | goals1 = 0
| years2 = 1986 | clubs2 = Rochdale | caps2 = 1 | goals2 = 0
| years3 = 1986–1988 | clubs3 = Nuneaton Borough
| years4 = 1988–1989 | clubs4 = Cheltenham Town
| years5 = 1989–1994 | clubs5 = AFC Bournemouth | caps5 = 85 | goals5 = 10
| years6 = 1994–1996 | clubs6 = Birmingham City | caps6 = 25 | goals6 = 7
| years7 = 1997–1998 | clubs7 = Peterborough United | caps7 = 0 | goals7 = 0
| nationalyears1 =
| nationalteam1 = England National Game
| nationalcaps1 = 1 | nationalgoals1 = 0
}}
Peter Andrew Shearer (born 4 February 1967) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward or midfielder for a number of teams in the lower divisions of the Football League in the 1980s and 1990s.
Club career
Shearer was born in Birmingham, and began his football career as a schoolboy with Coventry City. When he left school in 1983 he joined Birmingham City as an apprentice, and signed professional forms two years later.{{cite book |last=Matthews |first=Tony |title=Birmingham City: A Complete Record |year=1995 |page=123 |publisher=Breedon Books |location=Derby |isbn=978-1-85983-010-9}} He made his first-team debut as a 17-year-old, on 3 November 1984, as a substitute in a goalless draw at home to Shrewsbury Town in the Football League Second Division. He played four more first-team games that season, at the end of which Birmingham were promoted to the top flight,Matthews, p. 220. but made no further appearances, and in April 1986, he was one of several players released with the club in financial difficulties.{{cite news |url=http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:AWNB:LTIB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0F90AD0750F3FFE3&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=0D0CB57AB53DF815 |title=£250,000 for City |newspaper=The Times |via=NewsBank |date=23 April 1986 |accessdate=9 March 2009}}
Moving on to Rochdale of the Third Division,{{cite web |url=https://www.fchd.info/ROCHDALE.HTM |title=Rochdale |work=Football Club History Database |publisher=Richard Rundle |access-date=9 March 2009}} Shearer played only one league game{{cite web |url=http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/player3/petershearer.html |title=Peter Shearer |work=UK A–Z Transfers |publisher=Neil Brown |accessdate=9 March 2009}} before dropping into non-league football six months later with Nuneaton Borough.{{cite news |url=http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:AWNB:LTIB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0F90B522667E4E5F&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=0D0CB57AB53DF815 |title=Telford poised to savage Burnley |newspaper=The Times |via=NewsBank |date=15 November 1986 |first=Paul |last=Newman |accessdate=9 March 2009}} A year with Nuneaton and a successful spell with Cheltenham Town,{{cite web |url=http://www.ctfc.com/club/history/ |title=History |publisher=Cheltenham Town F.C. |date=21 May 2008 |accessdate=27 August 2015}} during which he was capped for the England's semi-professional representative side, brought him an £18,000 move back to the Second Division with Harry Redknapp's AFC Bournemouth.{{cite web |url=https://www.fchd.info/AFC-BOUR.HTM |title=A F C Bournemouth |work=Football Club History Database |publisher=Richard Rundle |access-date=9 March 2009}}{{cite news |url=http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:AWNB:LTIB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0F91026AD5B5C856&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=0D0CB57AB53DF815 |title=Tinnion on the move to Bradford City |newspaper=The Times |via=NewsBank |date=8 March 1989 |accessdate=9 March 2009}}
Shearer's form at Bournemouth impressed sufficiently for a £500,000 move to First Division club Wimbledon to be projected, but a knee injury spoilt his plans. In December 1992, after the player's return to fitness, Cheltenham manager Lindsay Parsons predicted that Shearer would "be a Premier League player in a month"; Cheltenham Town would receive a third of any fee paid to Bournemouth for such a sale.{{cite news |url=http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:AWNB:LTIB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0F91F5D59D1FF02E&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=0D0CB57AB53DF815 |title=Wye revives Woking's hopes |newspaper=The Times |via=NewsBank |date=7 December 1986 |first=Walter |last=Gammie |accessdate=9 March 2009}}
After trials with Coventry City and Dundee, Barry Fry brought Shearer back to Birmingham in January 1994 for a fee of £50,000.{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/fry-ready-to-put-heat-on-leeds-1318305.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220526/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/fry-ready-to-put-heat-on-leeds-1318305.html |archive-date=26 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Fry ready to put heat on Leeds |date=10 February 1996 |newspaper=The Independent |accessdate=9 March 2009 |first=Phil |last=Shaw |location=London}} Initially he failed to settle, and was soon made available for transfer, but in the 1994–95 season he came into his own. He made a major contribution to the club's winning the Second Division title and the Football League Trophy both with his tenacity and his goalscoring – ten years later, the Birmingham Evening Mail, discussing the young Darren Carter, suggested that "Blues have not had a player capable of scoring goals in that manner from central midfield since Peter Shearer".{{cite news |url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A126615785/STND?u=wikipedia&sid=bookmark-STND&xid=7478205c |title=Carter out to impress |first=Colin |last=Tattum |newspaper=Birmingham Evening Mail |date=30 December 2004 |page=70 |access-date=21 July 2021 |via=Gale OneFile: News |url-access=subscription}} An operation on his Achilles tendon prevented him playing in the last two games of the season, when the club clinched the title,{{cite news |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4713360.html |title=Birmingham City midfielder Peter Shearer is to have an Achilles tendon operation |newspaper=The Independent |date=1 May 1995 |via=Highbeam Research |accessdate=30 September 2010 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104205244/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4713360.html |archivedate=4 November 2012 }}Matthews, p. 230. and he never played for the club's first team again.
Shearer had a trial with Notts County in 1997{{cite news |url=http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/6175119.Forward_thinking_Cox_sparks_goal_spree/ |title=Forward thinking Cox sparks goal spree |newspaper=Bolton Evening News |date=21 July 1997 |accessdate=27 August 2015}} before joining Peterborough United as player-coach. He played for Peterborough's reserve team,{{cite news |url=http://www.oxfordtimes.co.uk/news/6638868.End_of_United_s_nightmare/ |title=End of United's nightmare |date=20 August 1998 |accessdate=27 August 2015 |newspaper=Oxford Times}} but his only appearances for the first team were three outings as an unused substitute.{{cite news |url=http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/sport/S-Posh-midfielder-scored-a.4909264.jp |title=S: Posh midfielder scored a hat-trick of penalties but we still lost |newspaper=Peterborough Evening Telegraph |date=24 January 2009 |first=Alan |last=Swann |accessdate=9 March 2009}}{{cite web |url=http://www.uptheposh.com/seasons/110/playing/unused_substitutes/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080723225226/http://www.uptheposh.com/seasons/110/playing/unused_substitutes/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=23 July 2008 |title=1997/98 Playing Records: Most Times as an Unused Substitute |website=UpThePosh.net |accessdate=9 March 2009}}
Honours
Birmingham City
- Football League Second Division: 1994–95
- Football League Trophy: 1994–95{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/fry-s-delight-as-carlisle-succumb-to-sudden-death-1616946.html |title=Fry's delight as Carlisle succumb to sudden death |first=Trevor |last=Haylett |website=The Independent |date=24 April 1995 |access-date=29 April 2024}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shearer, Peter}}
Category:Footballers from Birmingham, West Midlands
Category:English men's footballers
Category:Men's association football forwards
Category:England men's semi-pro international footballers
Category:Coventry City F.C. players
Category:Birmingham City F.C. players
Category:Rochdale A.F.C. players
Category:Nuneaton Town F.C. players
Category:Cheltenham Town F.C. players
Category:AFC Bournemouth players
Category:Peterborough United F.C. players