English Premier League record goalscorer and BBC pundit
Since hanging up his football boots in 2006, Alan Shearer – the English Premier League’s most prolific striker with 260 goals – has enjoyed a second career on BBC as a football pundit, save for eight games in 2009 when he served as the manager of his boyhood club Newcastle United.
This year, at Baselworld, Shearer took on emceeing responsibilities in a historic showing of exhibition football organised by the World Cup’s official timekeeper Hublot. The match showcased the talents of speedster Usain Bolt and footballing greats such as David Trezeguet, Hernan Crespo and Robbie Keane. Playing a cameo as player-coach was football’s enfant terrible and now elder statesman Diego Maradona. Speaking after the game, Shearer speaks of life and his friendship with Hublot’s own heroes.
I’ve met Jean-Claude Biver (Hublot’s current board member) several times. He leads a magnificent life, often skiing in the mountains and making his own cheese which he’s very proud of. I’m also in awe of Ricardo Guadalupe, the brand’s current CEO who seems to be in a different country every day. It’s lovely to see that Hublot loves football, and since 2009 when I first met them, they have been committed to the game and are a supporter of my foundation (which supports children and young adults with disabilities).
If you ask me about what time means to me – I would think about it in the context of a footballer, in that it is very important. How you approach time on the pitch and off really counts. You have to use the latter to rest wisely, to recover for the next game.
I’ve always been a fan of timepieces. We couldn’t afford watches when I was growing up in Tyneside; it was only when I left to play football that I could buy one. I am wearing Hublot’s All Black which I’m very happy with as it’s light and casual. (Hublot has also made a limited series of two King Power Unico Alan Shearer timepieces, one which he wears and the other which was auctioned to raise funds for his foundation).
These days, working as a pundit, I still get some butterflies on live TV, but there’s no comparison to that feeling of scoring a goal. That’s the greatest feeling I’ve ever had in the world.
For World Cup this year, I would love for England to be there in the final. England versus Brazil would be fantastic – I don’t expect it will be but I hope I’m wrong.
