 Alan Shearer, who had taken over from Lineker as England's core centre-forward, was the tournament's top scorer with five goals.Due to tension between himself and the FA over the extension of his contract after the tournament, Venables announced in January 1996 that he would step down after the European Championships , although it became widely and inaccurately reported that Venables was told by the FA he would not be employed further.This was because of ongoing worries about his business interests.