THEY are the star goalscorer and shotstopper for Premier League side Newcastle United FC, but there the similarity ends.

Graham Alvez, striker and captain, wears the coveted number 9 shirt for the Black and Whites in Gibraltar while team-mate Nicky Ferrary stands between the sticks.

But whereas Alan Shearer and Shay Given wear number 9 and 1 for Newcastle on full-time, million-pound contracts, Alvez and Ferrary don the shirt in their spare time for free.

Both are meter readers for Lyonnaise Des Eaux, part of the former Northumbrian Water Group, in Gibraltar, a British colony which has no natural source of drinking water.

They were presented with shirts signed by their famous counterparts as a gift from Northumbrian Water during a visit by a press delegation to Gibraltar.

The peninsula boasts three amateur leagues which play at weekends in the country's national stadium.

The real Newcastle United are currently third in the Premier League, a position replicated by their not-so-famous namesakes in Gibraltar.

Alvez, speaking after being presented with the shirt, said: "This is a great honour. I never expected to get a shirt signed by Alan Shearer."