The Premier League is home to some of the best strikers in the world like Harry Kane, Romelu Lukaku, and Sergio Aguero. Since its inception in 1992, Premier League has comprised some top-quality strikers who have scored a bucket load of goals and made the league what it is today.

Here we are going to look at the top 10 leading goal scorers in the Premier League history:

1. ALAN SHEARER (260)

Alan Shearer is one of the best strikers ever to have played in the Premier League. Shearer scored an astounding 260 goals in 441 matches in the English top flight.

Shearer was a classic English center forward with great physicality and strength which allowed him to be a major threat in the air. He was a prolific goal scorer throughout his career and scored 112 and 148 goals for Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United respectively.

Alan Shearer scored 260 goals in 441 matches.

Shearer holds many records, including the most goals, the most hat tricks (11), most goals in a 42 games season (34), and the most penalties scored (56) in the Premier League. Apart from that, he is all time leading goal scorer for Newcastle with 206 goals and has scored the most European goals (30) for the club.

Shearer won only one trophy in his career which was the Premier League with Blackburn in 1995 but won loads of individual honors including the Premier League Golden Boot for three consecutive seasons (from 1994-95 to 1996-97), the Premier League Player of the Year award in 1995 and the FWA Footballer of the Year in 1994. He also bagged the 3^rd position in the 1996 Ballon d Or and was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2004.

2. WAYNE ROONEY (208)

Wayne Rooney announced his arrival as a 16-year-old with Everton after scoring an outstanding volley against Arsenal. He spent two years at Goodison Park before joining Manchester United in 2004 after scoring 4 goals in Euro 2004 and winning the Golden Boy award that year.

Rooney spent 13 successful years at Old Trafford where he scored 253 goals and became the all time leading goal scorer for United. Rooney won every trophy possible at the club with the exception of the UEFA Super Cup, and scored 183 league goals for United.

Wayne Rooney scored 183 goals for United and 25 for Everton. (Image Source : Getty)

Rooney was a versatile player and was often deployed as a no.10 and sometimes even as a deep lying midfielder. He was very quick and strong in the early stages of his career though his speed declined due to age and injuries. He was a workaholic and put every ounce of his energy on the pitch.

He was very creative and was an excellent passer of the ball. Rooney accumulated 103 assists in the Premier League which places him 3^rd on the list of players with most assists.

Rooney left United in 2017 for Everton and spent one season with the Toffees before signing with US club DC United. In all, he scored 183 goals for United and 25 for Everton.

3. ANDY COLE (187)

Andy Cole played a key part in the treble winning 1998/99 season for Manchester United and formed a lethal partnership with strike partner, Dwight Yorke. Together, the duo contributed 53 goals that season. Cole scored the winning goal in the final Premier League match against Tottenham which meant that United won the league by a single point. He also scored the winning goal against Juventus in the semi finals of the Champions League in the treble winning season.

Andy Cole scored 93 goals in 195 appearances for Manchester United

In all, Cole scored 93 goals in 195 appearances for Manchester United and represented 6 other clubs in the Premier League. He played for Newcastle United, Blackburn Rovers, Fulham, Manchester City, Portsmouth and Sunderland apart from United and scored a total of 187 goals in 414 appearances in the English top flight.

Cole won the Premier League 5 times, the FA Cup twice and the UEFA Champions League with United and won the League Cup with Blackburn in 2002. He won the Premier League Golden Boot and the PFA Young Player of the Year in 1994.

4. FRANK LAMPARD (177)

Frank Lampard is considered to be one of the greatest midfielders of his generation and arguably the best player ever to play for Chelsea.

Lampard began his career with West Ham United and played with the Hammers for 6 years. He made 148 appearances and scored 24 goals before completing a move to London rivals, Chelsea. He established himself as one of the best players in the world at Stamford Bridge and won a host of trophies with the club including 3 Premier League titles, 4 FA Cups, 2 League Cups, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League.

Lampard is Chelsea’s all time leading goal scorer with 211 goals and made 164 consecutive appearances in the league.

Lampard was an all-round midfielder capable of playing anywhere in the midfield. He was a brilliant reader of the game and made late darting runs which allowed him to score a lot of goals. He had an excellent vision with an eye for a pass and is 4^th in the list of most assists in the Premier League with 102 assists.

Lampard is Chelsea’s all-time leading goal scorer with 211 goals and made 164 consecutive appearances in the league which is a record for an outfield player.

Lampard was runner up in the 2005 Ballon d Or, was the UEFA Midfielder of the Year in 2008 and won the Premier League Player of the Season in 2005. Apart from that, he was included in PFA Team of the Year for 3 consecutive seasons and won the Chelsea Player of the Year thrice.

5. THIERRY HENRY (175)

Thierry Henry is one of the best imports in the Premier League and is widely regarded as one of the best players of his time. Henry arrived on the English shores in 1999 when he signed for Arsenal and left the club as their all time leading goal scorer with 228 goals in all competitions.

Henry terrorized defenders with his pace and dribbling skills and scored some spectacular goals. Although deployed mainly as a striker, he was more than capable of playing on the wings due to his pace and energy.

Thiery Henry is all time leading goal scorer with 228 goals in all competitions.

The Frenchman scored 175 goals in just 258 matches and boasts the best goal-per-game ratio in this list at 0.68. He led Arsenal to 2 Premier League titles including the Invincible season where they won the league without losing a single game and the 2006 Champions League final.

Henry was twice the runner up in the FIFA World Player of the Year, was the runner up in 2003 Ballon d Or award and was included in PFA Team of the Year for 6 consecutive seasons. He also won the Premier League Golden Boot 4 times, won the FWA Footballer of the Year thrice and was included in UEFA Team of the Year 5 times. He was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2008.

6. ROBBIE FOWLER (163)

Robbie Fowler earned the nickname God from the fans and is a club legend at Liverpool. Despite being an Everton fan, Fowler began his career at Anfield and achieved a lot of success with the club.

Fowler formed deadly partnerships with first, Steve McManaman and then with Stan Collymore who named Fowler as the best player he has ever played with. The Englishman scored a total 128 goals in 266 matches for Liverpool in two spells and is considered as one of the best players ever to don the club’s jersey.

Fowler played for Liverpool and scored a total of 163 goals in 379 appearances.(Image Source : Getty)

Fowler played for Leeds United, Manchester City and Blackburn in the Premier League apart from Liverpool and scored a total of 163 goals in 379 appearances.

Fowler won the League Cup twice, the FA Cup, the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Super Cup with Liverpool and is one of only 4 players to have won the PFA Young Player of the Year in two consecutive seasons.

7. JERMAIN DEFOE (162)

Jermain Defoe is the only active player in this list. Currently playing for AFC Bournemouth, Defoe will begin his 18^th season in the Premier League.

Defoe began his career with West Ham United and made 74 appearances for the Hammers and scored 18 goals in the league. He then joined Tottenham Hotspur and established himself as a consistent performer. He scored a total of 43 goals in 139 matches in the Premier League for Spurs and won the club s Player of the Year award in 2004.

Defoe scored 162 goals in 492 matches in the Premier League.

In January 2008, Defoe joined Portsmouth and spent a year with the club, scoring 15 goals in 31 appearances. Harry Redknapp bought back Defoe to White Hart Lane for a fee of 15.75M pounds

Defoe spent 5 years in his second stint with Tottenham and scored 48 goals in 137 appearances for the club. He left for Toronto FC before returning to the Premier League with Sunderland. He scored 34 goals in 87 appearances but could not save the club from relegation last year.

In total, Defoe scored 162 goals in 492 matches in the Premier League and can move above Robbie Fowler if he scores two goals in the coming season.

8. MICHAEL OWEN (150)

Michael Owen lit the Premier League when he scored on his Premier League debut as a 17-year old. In his first full season, Owen scored 18 goals and won the Premier League Golden Boot, the Premier League Player of the Season and the PFA Young Player of the Year. He achieved all this at the tender age of 18.

Owen became a superstar at Liverpool and scored 118 goals in 216 appearances for the club. He was the club’s top scorer in every season he played until his departure to Real Madrid.

At the age of 21, Owen won the prestigious Ballon d’Or award and was also awarded the World Soccer World Player of the Year in 2001. Owen seemingly had the world at his feet and was destined to shatter all the goal scoring records.

He left for Real Madrid in 2004 but returned to the Premier League after just one season with the Los Blancos. His time at Newcastle United was marred by persistent injuries and he ended up making just 71 appearances in his 4 year stay at the club.

He then spent 3 seasons at Manchester United and a season at Stoke City before retiring in 2013. In total, Owen scored 150 goals in 326 appearances.

Owen won the Premier League with Manchester United and won the FA Cup, two League Cups, the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Super Cup with Liverpool.

9. LES FERDINAND (149)

Les Ferdinand made his professional debut with Queens Park Rangers in 1986 and established himself as a starter in 1989. In the first season of the Premier League, Ferdinand scored 20 goals for QPR.

He was a consistent goal scorer at QPR and scored 60 league goals in 3 seasons at the club. He then joined Newcastle where he scored 41 goals in 68 matches in 2 seasons. He is still fondly remembered by the Toon Army for his contribution and his partnership with club legend, Alan Shearer.

Ferdinand scored 149 Premier League goals in 351 games.

In 1997, Ferdinand joined Tottenham, the club which he supported as a boy. His time at White Hart Lane was less successful as injuries hampered his game time and he ended up scoring just 33 goals in his 5 year stay at the club.

He had spells with West Ham United, Leicester City and Bolton Wanderers before finally retiring in 2006.

In total, Ferdinand scored 149 Premier League goals in 351 games. He won the League Cup with Spurs in 1999 and won the PFA Player of the Year in 1996.

10. TEDDY SHERINGHAM (146)

Teddy Sheringham had a long professional career which lasted 25 years and 881 matches and was a consistent goal scorer throughout his career.

Sheringham was often deployed as a second striker due to his vision and passing and often played the second fiddle to the main striker.

He began his Premier League with Nottingham Forest before joining Tottenham in 1992. He won the Premier League Golden Boot in the first season of the Premier League, having scored 22 goals. He spent 4 more years at Spurs and finished with 75 goals in his 5 year stay at the club.

He then joined Manchester United in 1997 and despite not being a regular starter, scored vital goals for the club. At the age of 33, he won his major trophy when United secured the Premier League title. He scored the equalizing goal in the famous comeback against Bayern in the Champions League final in 1999 and provided the assist for the winning goal.

He had a successful spell at United and won 3 Premier League titles, the FA Cup, the UEFA Champions League and the Intercontinental Cup.

He rejoined Spurs in 2001 before spells with Portsmouth, West Ham, and Colchester United brought an end to a highly distinguished career in 2008.

Sheringham holds the record as the oldest outfield player to play in a Premier League match (40 years, 272 days) and the oldest player to score in a Premier League match (40 years, 268 days).

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Soon after, India got its first professional player, namely BK Nehru, in 1905, who went on to play at Wimbledon. He played only at Wimbledon because Australian had come into existence in the same year, and was not a major tournament until 1924. About the French Open, it was only allowed for the French club members to participate, while only the members of the USNLTA (United States of National Lawn Tennis Academy) were permitted at the US Open.

3 years after Nehru, the second Indian professional player graduated, namely Nihal Singh, who competed at Wimbledon from 1908 to 1910, in both Singles and Doubles. Mixed doubles was not a discipline by then. His best performance in Singles was the 3R, in 1910. Mohd Saleem, brothers AH Fayzee and AA Fayzee, and Jagat Mohan Lal, also played at the Wimbledon, who made it to last 16 stages. Also, in 1910, the second tournament of India came into existence, which was the Bengal Lawn Tennis Championships, played at Allahabad. By this time, the craze for the sport growing, growing manifolds, like Football and Cricket.

Being a British colony, the British civil servants were appointed to work in India, and not only in the United Kingdom. One of those civil servants, Steve Jacobs, started playing lawn tennis, and represented India, and not UK, at the Wimbledon Championships. He continued to do it for 10 years, 1914-1923. Also, another player from the British personnel, Lewis Deane, played for India, and was amongst the mixed doubles finalists in 1923, alongside Dorothy Shephard Barron. Also, David Rutnam and Thomas Henderso Brookes are a few those names who played for India, being British nationals.

Initially, the British personnel dominated in the Indian Championships at Lahore and Allahabad, but soon, Mohd Saleem conquered the prestige, winning the tournament in 1915, 1919-26. Thereafter, in 1920, the AILTA (All India Lawn Tennis Association) was formed, after Nihal Singh had completed an over a decade in his career. Hence, India managed to debut for the Davis Cup in the succeeding year.

In 1921. the first team of the Davis Cup consisted of Steve Jacobs, Mohd Saleem, Lewis Deane, and AA Fayzee, who defeated the strong French team in the quarter-finals. Later, from 1921-29, Indians defeated numerous high ranked Europeans players from France, Romania, Holland, Greece, Belgium, and won several ties, but could never reach the finals. Noticeably, teams from Italy, France, Czechoslovakia, England and Yugoslavia (now Serbia) visited India. The most notable amongst foreign visitors during this period were the American Bill Tilden, considered by many as the greatest ever in modern tennis, and Henry Cochet, an all-time great and one of the famous.Four Musketeers of France. At the upcoming 1924 Paris Olympics, Mohd Saleem reached the semi-finals. About 15 years later, Ghouse Mohd, India’s undisputed number one in the 40s, reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon.

After the very painful partition, after the situation of the Indians got somehow settled, there came a name in existence, who was Ramanathan Krishnan, who began the golden and the most fruitful period for the Indian tennis. Winning the Boys Singles title at Wimbledon, he turned professional the same year, i.e. in 1954. He also became the first Asian to play at the Boys tournament at the Grand Slam, defeating Ashley Cooper in the finals. He shone, a lot, representing India on the world map in the 60s. He was seeded number 7 at Wimbledon, 1960-61, lost to the eventual champions in the semi-final, i.e. Neal Fraser and Rod Laver respectively. He was ranked number 4 in 1962, the highest ever in his career, and the highest achieved by an Indian professional. Meanwhile, the Davis Cup team of 1966, consisting of Ramanathan Krishnan, Premjit Lal, SP Misra, Jaidip Mukherjea, captained by RK Khanna, managed to reach the finals, losing to Australia. A noticeable victory for India was noted there, when Ramanathan and Jaidip defeated John Newcombe and Tony Roche, the Wimbledon champions of 1965. The country managed to be the zonal champions at least, every year.

In 1970, the most successful Amritraj, Vijay, came into the show. He turned professional that year, and played at Wimbledon for 19 consecutive years, 1972-1990. He made it to the quarter-finals at the US Open in 1973 and 1981, and also at Wimbledon in 1973 and 1974, defeating the big names such as Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, John McEnroe and John Newcombe. Looking in the increasing interest in the 60s, India began with its first tournament in 1973, the Indian Open, as a part of Grand Prix tennis circuit, played on outdoor clay. Vijay emerged as the only Indian player to win the tournament, which he won four times. It got defuncted in 1979.

In 1974, the Indian Davis Cup team was one of the finalists, but the team forfeited in protest of the apartheid regime. Hence, the South African team was crowned the champion, receiving a walkover. This year also saw Jasjit Singh, becoming the first Sikh to play the Davis Cup. In the latter half of the 80s, Fed Cup team made a debut, not qualifying so far.

26 years after his father accomplished the feat, the 18-year old, Ramesh Krishnan, won the Boys Wimbledon Championship, and at the Roland Garros Championships too. and became the world number 1. He turned professional the same year. After turning a professional, he reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon in 1986, and twice at the US Open, in 1981 and 1987. He was admired for his touch, anticipation and all-round game, but his lack of a killer stroke or a strong service kept him from reaching the very top of the men’s game. Also, the Indian Davis Cup team lost to Sweden in the finals.

Around this time, tennis had existed for 100 years in India, with no player holding a Grand Slam title, in any of the disciplines. Besides, the Indians had prospered perpetually in the sport, but the glory was still far. Not so far, Leander Paes, turned professional in 1991. In 1992, he reached the quarter finals of the doubles event in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics with Ramesh Krishnan.

He went one better at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, where he beat Fernando Meligeni to win the bronze medal, thus becoming the first Indian to win an individual medal since KD Jadhav won bronze at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics more than four decades earlier.

Having won the Olympics medal, a Grand Slam was missing from his CV. Only after Mahesh Bhupati turned professional in 1995, another Indian came into the fixture. In 1997, the two joined hands, played, and won many tournaments together. In the same year, India, finally after 112 years of being into the game, an Indian won a Grand Slam, credited by Mahesh Bhupati, who won the Men’s Doubles at French Open. In 1999, the Indian pair, reached the finals of all four Grand Slams, winning the title at The Wimbledon Championships and The Roland Garros Championships. While Bhupati has won 12 Grand Slams in his career, he also completed a career Grand Slam in mixed doubles, when he won the Australian Open in 2006, with Martina Hingis. Paes has won eight doubles and ten mixed doubles Grand Slam titles, and is the oldest man to have won a Grand Slam title. He holds a career Grand Slam in men’s doubles and mixed doubles, and achieved the rare men’s doubles/mixed doubles double at the1999 Wimbledon tournament. His mixed doubles Wimbledon title in 2010 made him the second man (after Rod Laver) to win Wimbledon titles in three decades.

All about the men, the women’s side lacked the personalities. In 2003, Sania Mirza, the shimmering star of the women’s side, single-handedly shouldered the fame and the game, when she won the Girls Doubles Championships at Wimbledon, and turned professional the same year itself. She, along with a team, with Manisha Malhotra, helped India qualify the Asia/Oceania Group I in Fed Cup, their best performance so far. In 2007-08, India also made a debut at the Hopman Cup, while Mirza and Rohan Bopanna represented the country both the times.

Over a decade had passed since Mirza had turned professional, and the drought of Grand Slam winning was still very active in the minds of the Indian tennis fans. In 2015, she began the year as the Women’s doubles number 5 that year, partnering Hsieh Su-wei, Bethanie Mattek Sands, and Martina Hingis, chronologically. Mirza became the world number 1 in April, when the Indo-Swiss pair won the Family Circle Cup. They became the first team to qualify for the WTA Finals that year, and Mirza ended the year at number. By then, they had won 10 WTA titles, and 2 Grand Slams, including Wimbledon Championships and the US Open, with a 22-consecutive match winning streak. The streak came to an end when they lost their 42^nd match to Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova at the Qatar Open. The Indo-Swiss pair were unbeaten for 11 consecutive months. Mirza ended her partnership with Hingis in August, 2016, but paired up for the WTA Finals. Sania Mirza ended the year, yet again as the world number 1, for the second consecutive time, but lost in the semi-finals of the WTA finals, being a 2-time defending champion.

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As the umpire raised his finger on the Hanuma Vihari induced nick, the world knew that an era had ended. Cook’s score read 147, and he couldn’t have done more. As the entire Indian team gathered to congratulate the legend on his incredible career, Joe Root couldn’t control his tears in the dressing room and neither could we, as England’s most capped cricketer made his way out for the very last time.

And yet, Cook couldn’t have been happier with how his last test had panned out. He was struggling throughout the series, aggregating only 109 in the seven innings he had played so far. Come his last test and he returned to his best, looking no different than his 21-year-old self who had made his debut way back in 2006.

With scores of 71 and 147 in his last test, Cook became only the fifth batsman in the world to score centuries in his first and last test. He also overtook Kumar Sangakkara to become the fifth highest run-getter in test cricket and surpassed Steve Waugh’s 32 test centuries. Asked whether his current form would cause him to reverse his decision, he replied”It absolutely confirms it. This is not just the culmination of three or four low scores, bad games in a Test series. It’s been something that’s been coming for 12-18 months, not just a bit of bad form. That’s happened to me a number of times in my career.”

The prolific English opener had made his debut 12 years earlier, in India at Nagpur, as a replacement for opener Marcus Trescothick. Over the years he has amassed over 15000 runs across all formats for England, scoring more test hundreds than any other English batsman. Not only that, he has converted his hundreds into double centuries on 2 occasions, going above 150 five additional times. In a country where the new ball swings every other way, Cook’s technique and skills have been on full display over the last decade, giving England solid starts time and again, and thwarting the opposition’s efforts at making inroads into the top order.

His sage-like patience with the bat has always been well complemented by his skills at the slips; there is seldom an edge that has gone past his hands. Consistent performances for his team landed him his first job as the skipper of the national Test side in the Bangladesh away series, where he covered for the then captain Andrew Strauss who was rested. He achieved scintillating success, smashing tons in both the tests, and leading the team to a 2-0 whitewash. During this time he also became the youngest Englishman and second youngest overall after Sachin Tendulkar to amass 4000 test runs. However, it was a good two years after this short stint, on 29thAugust 2012, that he permanently took over charge of the England Test side after Strauss retired from all forms of cricket. Interestingly, his first series as the captain was also against India, when he lead the team to a 2-1 series victory in India, for the first time since 1984-85.

One of the toughest assessments that a skipper of an English test side has to endure is the Ashes, and Cook had his fair share of success and failure on the three occasions he has captained the side. The 2013 home Ashes was his first, which England won 3-0. Although he did not have major contributions in the series, his leadership was unanimously applauded. Yet, he couldn’t hold on to the urn for long, as England slumped to a humiliating 4-1 defeat as they toured Australia for the next edition of the high-intensity series. A 3-2 win in 2015 brought redemption, and the dynamic opener could once again pose with the Ashes urn proudly, for the second time in his career.

Immediately after, Alastair Cook underwent a drop in form and the 2016 India series where England suffered a 4-0 drubbing was his last as captain. He lead the English test side for a record 59 tests, turning out positive results on 24 of those occasions.

The 2017-18 Ashes series, did not see the vintage Cook much, until on the second day of the Boxing Day test where he scored a 244, the most by any opening batsman in Tests who had carried his bat.

A 4-1 victory in his last series, that too against a nation he had made his debut opposite to and played his first and last series as captain; the ending could not have been better. In his own words, “I don’t know how I’ve managed it to be brutally honest. But it is nice that it’s happened. I’ve seen a few people go outnot on their own terms and it’s obviously special. But to goout on your own terms when your last ever innings for England was a hundred.”

England cricket’s highest run scorer, world’s highest-scoring opening batsman, the highest scoring left-handed batsman in test cricket, Alastair Cook has created many a record in his long and illustrious career, but we won’t, ever again, see our favourite Cookie cook up a beautiful Test hundred opening the innings for England.

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