Alan Shearer pays tribute to his father at Newcastle's EFL Cup parade

Alan Shearer was visibly emotional at Newcastle's Carabao Cup trophy parade, fighting back tears as he paid a heartfelt tribute to his late father before a crowd of thousands. The former striker, a club legend for the Magpies, joined fans on Saturday during a celebratory bus parade marking Newcastle's first domestic trophy since 1955. His father, also named Alan, passed away at age 80 in May 2024 after a recurrence of cancer—a diagnosis that followed an earlier bout with the disease at 65. In a poignant gesture, Alan Sr. chose to have the Match of the Day theme played at his cremation, and Shearer recalled that carrying his father's coffin was "the hard

est thing I've ever done."

A lifelong Newcastle supporter who grew up near Gosforth, Shearer’s father witnessed the club’s victory in 1969 when they won the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. His passing, however, meant he missed the club ending their 70-year domestic trophy drought earlier this month when Newcastle beat Liverpool 2-1 in the Carabao Cup final. Speaking to a packed crowd in Newcastle’s city centre, the Premier League's all-time top goalscorer said, "Yeah, unfortunately, my dad passed away last May. He was lucky enough to be at the final in '69. I just wish he could have hung on for one more year just to see and sample this. But he would have been watching on and would've been as proud as I was."

The procession left St James' Park at 4:30pm, with the streets lined by hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic fans creating a jubilant atmosphere. The open-top bus made its way to the Town Moor, where a ticketed event featured a Q&A with club legends including Les Ferdinand and Shearer himself. Later at 6:30pm, the current squad took to the stage to salute the fans, with Newcastle superfans Ant and Dec leading chants of "Toon! Toon!" as players and staff took turns lifting the trophy amid cheers.

In a light-hearted moment after interviews with Eddie Howe and assistant manager Jason Tindall, club captain Bruno Guimarães led the crowd in a singalong of "Hey Jude." The festivities culminated with goalkeeper Martin Dúbravka taking the mic to lead a playful song about winger Joelinton, remarking humorously, "He's Brazilian, he only costs £40million."