A 9-foot, 6-inch brass statue of former Newcastle United player Alan Shearer was on Monday unveiled outside St. James' Park. Named "Local Hero," the statue was uncovered by Shearer himself, "as the Mark Knopfler song Local Hero was played over loudspeakers." Shearer, who was born locally in Gosforth but who played for Southampton and Blackburn before "securing a move to his beloved home-town club," scored 206 goals in 10 years with the Magpies. He also briefly became manager in '09, "failing to arrest a slump of form which ended with the club dropping into the Championship." The statue cost £250,000 ($333,400) -- or approximately 1/120th of the sum raised when Newcastle sold Moussa Sissoko to Tottenham Hotspur -- but was "not paid for by the club." Instead, the family of former Chair Freddy Shepherd raised the cash for the bronze big "Al," with Shepherd saying that the statue would honor the striker's "unique career" (London TELEGRAPH, 9/12).
Barcelona opened a second training academy in the U.S. The new academy is in Charlotte, North Carolina. The club founded its first American academy in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in '14. The club said that the academy's goal "is to train young players" in the same "creative and attacking style" as the top team. Barcelona has 20 training schools around the world (AP, 9/12).
