Newcastle United striker Alan Shearer was still at the peak of his powers at the turn of the millennium, with the England striker hitting 95 goals across five seasons between 1999 and 2004.
By 2000, Shola Ameobi was breaking into the Newcastle first team as an 18-year-old, learning from the best. He started 12 consectuive games in the 2000/01 season as main strikers Alan Shearer and Carl Cort were both out injured, and looked a great prospect for the future at St. James' Park.
The 2003/04 campaign is where Ameobi truly managed to get a run of games starting in a Newcastle shirt, but his lack of goals ultimately started seeing other strikers preferred ahead of him. While Ameobi never expected to start ahead of Shearer, he did feel like he deserved more opportunities to prove his worth in the starting XI.
Newcastle United substitute status 'grinded' on Ameobi
"Early on, Shearer was quite rightly the main man, and I suppose I accepted the fact I was backup to him and Bellamy and that I’d be a sub more often than not," Ameobi admits to FourFourTwo.
"In Premier League history, only three or four players have made more substitute appearances than me – but do you know something? I hated the role. It really grinded on me."
As the former striker highlights, only James Milner, Peter Crouch, Shane Long and Jermaine Defoe have more substitute appearances than Ameobi in the Premier League.
"I’m seen as being quite a laid-back guy, but I can tell you that after three or four years, I had a number of chats with various bosses about my role," Ameobi adds. "I wasn’t afraid to tell them that I felt I wasn’t getting the opportunities I deserved.
"Don’t get me wrong: I never thought I should be ahead of Alan. But as the years wore on, I considered myself a first-team player and tried to make my case whenever I needed to."
In total, Ameobi came off the bench 142 times in England's top flight, while he started 170. In those appearances he bagged 79 goals, a figure that is certainly a gripe he has from his career.
Ameobi never actually managed to hit double figures in a Premier League season, and when asked if he was prolific enough in front of goal, Ameobi is unequivocal in his answer.
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"No," he admits. "When I look at my career [league] record and see ‘70’ alongside my name, I realise that it should have been more. I really don’t like that stat.
"In my defence, I was never an out-and-out goalscorer – my game was as much about assists, bringing team-mates into play and decoy runs as putting the ball in the net. But I definitely wasn’t as ruthless as I should have been. I never had that killer instinct and selfishness of a natural striker.
"I heard Alan say recently that he’d rather score a hat-trick in a 4-3 loss than walk off goalless after a 1-0 win. That wasn’t me."
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