Alan Shearer was stuck on the train with Sunderland fans for FOUR hours – but no one saw him
Alan Shearer has revealed he was stuck on a train with Sunderland fans for four hours on Saturday – but somehow went unnoticed.
The Newcastle boyhood fan and club legend scored four goals against their fierce rivals during his career, and it's fair to say he's no… particularly I liked it on Wearside.
So it is no wonder he was suddenly overcome with panic when he discovered he had booked a train with hundreds of Black Cats returning from a 3-1 win at Portsmouth.
Remembering their fun trip in The rest is football Speaking in a podcast, the former striker said: “I was at a wedding in Italy and we flew back on the Saturday. We had to wait in the lounge for about four and a half hours before the flight back to Newcastle.
“We'd been sitting there for three hours or so and the board showed us that the flight to Newcastle had been cancelled. I was furious.
“I go to guest services and then to gate 17 to make sure there were no options. There were two other flights that night, but there were no seats available.
“By now they've booked me on a flight for today at 2.30pm. I was already thinking: 'No, I have to go home because it's my son's birthday and Newcastle are playing'.”
“My friends and I were thinking about what we were going to do. We looked for a train and they were all full. Suddenly, one became free at 7.30pm. It took us 90 minutes to get from Heathrow to Kings Cross.
“There was a lovely lady from LNER who said they were almost sold out but she would do her best.
“Blessed be he, he got us enough seats. He got us into the carriages and told us that it was going to be very busy because it was the only train running on a Saturday night and that unfortunately there were going to be a lot of football fans.”
And as a sea of red-and-white-clad fans headed toward the train, Shearer understood.
Laughing, he continued: “We were on coach C and I thought 'oh my God… Sunderland played Portsmouth away from home'.”
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“I have my cap on and I'm stuck in the corner and more and more people come. There's not a single free seat.
“The whole hall is full of Sunderland fans and they're all drunk. They've got bottles of beer.
“Within half an hour, I was scared to lift my head. They started singing the Newcastle songs. Then they started singing the Shearer songs. I couldn't even sing the other songs. I was there for four hours, my neck hurt. I couldn't lift it. I had my head down for four hours.
“Half of them got off in Durham and the other half stayed in Newcastle. I was very scared to get off. No one recognised me. I was motionless for almost four hours and no one recognised me.
“They chanted and swore at me for almost four hours and they didn't even know I was on the train. My friend said, 'Al, why don't you just walk right through them and ask them if they want a drink?'
“It was an absolute nightmare. So, to all the Sunderland fans travelling on the C bus, fuck you.”
Sunderland are the only English Football League team to have won their first four league games.
The Black Cats currently sit top of the Championship after beating Cardiff, Sheffield Wednesday, Burnley and now, Pompey under new manager Regis Le Bris.
And luckily for Shearer, his weekend improved dramatically after his uncomfortable train ride, as Newcastle beat Tottenham 2-1 The next day.
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