10. Dwight Yorke – 107 goals
Source: thepeoplesperson.com
The Smiling a$$a$$in – as he was called, for his
jolly appearance contradicting his mean eyes for
goal – Yorke plied his trade for a host of Premier
League clubs, including Aston Villa, Manchester
United, Birmingham and Sunderland. Bursting upon
the scene after nearly a decade with the villains,
Yorke scored a mammoth 97 goals before making a
controversial move to Manchester United.
He enjoyed a moderately successful period there –
most notable of which was his legendary bromance
with Andy Cole, in a season the Red Devils would
go on to win the treble. He was an important, if not
indispensable, a$$et in Sir Alex Ferguson lifting
three consecutive league titles, scoring 64 goals in
188 appearances.
Despite a rumoured fall-out with Sir Alex and his
subsequent low-key performances at Blackburn,
Birmingham and Sunderland, the Tobagonian
established himself as an iconic Premier League
figure and an absolute student of the game,
notching 107 personal goals by the time he was 30.
9. Jermain Defoe – 116 goals
Avid followers of the English league would know
that Defoe is still part of relegation-threatened
Sunderland, but they’d also know that wasn’t
where he made his name. Jermain Defoe – aside
from his prolonged love story with Tottenham
Hotspur – is known for his poaching ability and
tendency to score the odd spectacular.
Impressing at West Ham, Defoe left the club in
somewhat acrimonious circumstances after they
were relegated. On either sides of a brief switch to
Portsmouth, Defoe established himself as a potent
center-forward for Spurs, having a knack of
popping up in the right place at the right time. He
could have achieved a lot more at another club, but
has held himself in fond memory of the Lilywhites
nonetheless.
After all, scoring 116 goals before aged 30 can be
considered achievement enough.
8. Robbie Keane – 121 goals
Source: www.zimbio.com
Next on the list is Robbie Keane, another gifted
forward with a lust for Tottenham. After having a
somewhat mediocre footballing career at Inter
Milan, a move to Spurs revolutionized his track.
The Irishman would go on to score a commendable
80 goals for the Lilywhites.
Amidst fighting and on-going attitude issues,
Keane was a gifted player with a brilliant eye for
goal. He returned to Tottenham after the briefest of
spells with Liverpool, and was named club captain.
Keane was known for his versatility along the front
line and his unnerving finishing, but he faded in
his second stint at Spurs and bore the brunt of
various loan spells.
He eventually moved to LA Galaxy where he plays
to this day, but has scored enough goals to
warrant a place on this list.
7. Robin van Persie – 122 goals
Source: bleacherreport.com
The Feyenoord striker was plucked out by Arsenal
in 2005 for a meagre fee of £2.75m. After suffering a
mediocre six years or so at the club – where
injuries and lack of consistency affected his form –
the Dutchman took the league by storm from the
2010/11 season, nearly winning the Golden Boot
despite playing only half of the season.
Arsene Wenger’s decision to make the Dutch
international a lone striker paid dividends as van
Persie scored 30 goals in the season to follow,
carrying Arsenal to third in the league. He won the
league in Sir Alex’s farewell season after leaving
Arsenal in acidic circumstances, scoring 30 goals
in all competitions for them.
Despite fading out in later seasons culminating in a
move to Turkey, van Persie produced enough to
crack seventh on this list courtesy of some
memorable, important and sensational goals.
6. Andrew Cole – 136 goals
Source: http://strettynews.com/wp-content/
uploads/2013/08/Andy-Cole.jpg
Playing for as many as eleven English clubs
including for Arsenal, Blackburn Rovers,
Manchester City and Portsmouth, Andy Cole is
better known for the six years he spent for
Manchester United. In between 1995 to 2001 the
Englishman scored 93 goals for them in all
competitions, including being a huge a$$et in their
1998-99 season.
Starting his varied career at Arsenal, Cole would go
on to play for an array of top Premier League clubs
before making himself known by a successful stint
at Newcastle United, where he scored 55 goals. His
talent earned him a sudden and abrupt move to
United, where he formed a lethal partnership with
the aforementioned Dwight Yorke.
Despite scoring a myriad of goals, Cole also
achieved the unique distinction of winning every
accolade he could, from the PFA Young Player of
the Year to the UEFA Champions League.
5. Michael Owen – 146 goals
Source: talksport.com
The Englishman endured a colourful yet torrid
career together, with injuries halting his
development as raising the question of what could
have been. Even so, he still managed to score 146
Premier League goals before reaching 30, despite a
move to Real Madrid in the interim.
Owen peaked at Liverpool for around six years,
becoming their top goalscorer and being a rare
English recipient of the coveted Ballon D’Or. He
also plied his trade with Real Madrid, Newcastle
United but a series of recurrent hamstring injuries
prevented him from taking the world by storm
regularly.
He achieved a lot with Liverpool including the ‘cup
treble in early 2000s, but after a controversial –
and perhaps desperate – move to Manchester
United, the goals dried up along with his
appearances. He was forced to call retirement with
Stoke City aged merely 33, a huge nod to how
injuries curtailed his development.
4. Robbie Fowler – 152 goals
Source: www.putoscracks.com
The sixth-highest goalscorer in the history of the
Premier League, Robbie Fowler played for a host of
clubs but was always known for his first eight
years at Merseyside. The Englishman scored more
than 30 goals in three consecutive seasons for
Liverpool, which included one of the fastest
hattricks in the league against Arsenal.
He was forced to call time on Liverpool after
Michael Owen and Emile Heskey usurped his
position, and a series of hip injuries coupled with
his new club’s nosedive, meant that Fowler’s
transfer to Leeds didn’t
work out as he hoped. However, he would always
be held in fond memory for Liverpool fans for being
their “God who returned to Heaven” in 2006 for a
second stint at Kopside.
3. Thierry Henry – 174 goals
Source: www.dailypost.in
Following his leader and mentor Arsene Wenger to
Arsenal, Thierry Henry suffered a slow start to life
at North London. However, when the goals came –
starting at Southampton – they simply did not stop
pouring in, as Henry kept breaking records with a
nonchalant shrug and won trophies at Arsenal by
the minute.
The Frenchman was known for his blistering pace
and eerie calmness at sidefooting the ball in the
farthest of corners. He raced to 174 Premier League
goals in merely eight seasons – winning the
Golden Boot thrice along the way, an EPL record –
before departing to Barcelona. His emotional return
to Arsenal in 2012 notwithstanding, his enormous
contribution to Arsenal meant that Thierry
established himself as one of the best strikers in
the world.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s open relief when Thierry
departed the English league tells you all you need
to know about the player.
2. Alan Shearer – 176 goals
Source: zeenews.india.com
Despite being a late bloomer, Alan Shearer still
found time to score a maddening 176 goals for
Southampton, Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle
United before he reached 30. Despite being the
guru for all sorts of free kicks, long-range efforts
and headers, Shearer’s elation at achieving his
boyhood dream – wearing the number 9 for
beloved club and country – is what makes this
footballer so relatable and likeable.
After scoring a host of goals for Southampton and
Blackburn, he won the league with Kenny Dalglish
before snubbing Manchester United to move to his
boyhood club, Newcastle United. He also
captained England, although he never got close to
winning any major honours aside from the
traumatic loss to Germany in the semi-finals of
Euro 1996.
While memories of his five-goal haul against
Sheffield Wednesday and possibly his best goal –
a thunder volley against Everton – stand out, his
record of 260 Premier League goals (one that may
never be broken) is what makes him a true legend.
1. Wayne Rooney – 187 goals
Source: www.independent.co.uk
The boisterous but brilliant lad from Everton
thumped in wonder-strikes and memorable volleys
before United and Sir Alex Ferguson came calling.
He moved to Manchester in 2004 for £25m – a fee
seemingly ludicrous at the time for an 18 year old
– but scored all kinds of worldies to justify his
price tag, winning the league more times than he
could count.
Especially loathed among Liverpool fans for his
affiliations to their fiercest rivals, Rooney won
laurels for Manchester United in the last decade of
Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign. The overhead bicycle
kick he scored against Manchester City in 2011 is
widely considered to be the best Premier League
goal since its inception.
His 30th birthday occurring recently comes on the
back of anonymous performances for Louis van
Gaal, but despite his recent dip in quality, Rooney
has established himself as an iconic Premier
League figure, and an England and Manchester
United legend.
– trollfootball
