Number 10 – Dwight Yorke, 123 Goals

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Last year he was ranked 9th, but a year into retirement he finds himself a spot down. Yorke started his pro career in England with Aston Villa in 1989 (age of 17), playing in Birmingham for almost a decade before his departure to Manchester United, where he teamed up with Andy Cole for one of the more productive scoring duos the premiership knew. He won three consecutive league titles with United and of course the 1999 Champions League Final. Yorke’s best and final top class seasons came with United, scoring a league best (tied with two other players) 18 goals in 1998-1999 and 20 goals, a career high for him, the next season. Yorke finished his premiership career with Sunderland after short stints with Blackburn and Birmingham (and even a year in Australia), with 374 Premiership matches and 123 goals.

Number 9 – Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, 127 Goals

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The Suriname born Dutchman enjoyed a very fruitful spell in the Premiership after arriving from Boavista to Leeds United, scoring at least 10 goals in his first seven season in England, with an abrupt stop with Atletico Madrid in the 1999-2000 season (24 Goals). He was joint leader in scoring back in 1998-1999 with 18 goals while he played for Leeds United. In 2000-2001 he returned to England, signing with Chelsea, and led the league with 23 goals. He scored the same number again in the next season, finishing second behind Alan Shearer. Hasselbaink continued with Chelsea for two more seasons, before shifting to Middlesbrough, Charlton and ending his career with Championship side Cardiff City. He finished his Premiership career with 127 goals in 288 matches and his entire European career with 197 goals in 468 league matches. Hasselbaink never won a league title.

Number 8 – Frank Lampard, 129 Goals

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The only new edition to our top 10 list and the only midfielder on this list (next up is Ryan Giggs, 17th, 103 goals). Lampard began his Premiership career with West Ham in 1995, playing with the Hammers for six seasons. In 2001 he made the trip all the way to West London and joined Chelsea, where he has been the anchor of midfield for 10 seasons now, winning three league titles and improving his game, becoming one of the best midfielder in the world and maybe the best scoring one. Lampard has scored 10 or more goals in each of the last seven seasons, including a massive 22, good enough for fourth in the league, leading Chelsea to it’s first league title since 2006. At age 31, Lampard is standing at 476 matches with 129 goals.

Number 7(tied) – Teddy Sheringham, 147 Goals

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Sheringham played his last Premiership season three years ago, playing with West Ham before having a retirement year with Colchester United in 2007-2008. Sheringham began his career way back in 1983, playing for Millwall. 1985 Included a weird stint playing in Sweden for Djurgardens. In 1991 he moved to Nottingham Forest, playing there for one season. As the Premiership opened he moved to Tottenham, and was the first player to lead the Premiership in scoring with 22 goals in the 1992-1993 season. In 1997 he moved to Manchester United, winning three league titles, including the 1998-1999 treble season. He returned to Tottenham and also played for Pompy before his final seasons with West Ham and Colchester. Sheringham finished his career with 418 premiership matches and 147 goals.

Number 7(tied) – Michael Owen, 147 Goals

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Only three goals for Michael Owen with Manchester United didn’t move him up any higher than last year, only tied him with Sheringham. As usual, his season ended early. As usual, injury. If only Owen could spend a season without visiting the hospital, he probably would be very close to Alan Shearer at the top of the scoring charts. He led the Premiership in scoring twice (1998-1999), sharing the title with others both seasons. After seven full seasons with Liverpool, never scoring less than 11 goals in a season, Owen ventured to Madrid and spent a so-so season with Real Madrid. He returned to the premiership the next season, joining Newcastle, where he managed to complete only 71 matches in four seasons, playing only 18 in his first two seasons there. Ferguson seemed to install new faith in the 30 year old striker’s career by trying to make him into his “super-sub”, but besides a derby goal in injury time, Owen’s debut season at Old Trafford was rather forgettable.

Number 5 – Les Ferdinand, 149 Goals

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Today acting as Tottenham’s striking coach, Ferdinand played 21 years in England’s (and Turkey’s) pro-ranks. His first season in the Premiership (1992-1993) with QPR was also his breakout year, scoring 20 goals. Two years later he improved his mark to 24, and in 1995-1996, his first season with Newcastle, Ferdinand scored a career best 25 goals as the Jordies blew a huge lead at the top of the league, losing the title to Manchester United. Ferdinand scored 16 the next season, before moving to Tottenham, where he spent six seasons, not with great success. Ferdinand’s final travel stops included West Ham, Leicester (12 goals) and Bolton. He played in the Championship a bit before retiring in 2006.

Number 4 – Robbie Fowler, 163 Goals

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These days showing his remaining scoring skills in Australia, recently signing with Perth Glory, Fowler used to be one of the deadliest strikers in the Premiership. Beginning his career in 1993 with Liverpool, Fowler made an immediate impact, scoring 12 goals in his debut campaign, following with 25, 28 and 18 goal seasons. A year later – injuries began, and so did the decline in Fowler’s numbers, who was eventually sold in a rip-off price to Leeds. From there to Manchester City before going back to Liverpool for a couple of seasons. He spent his last Premiership season with Blackburn, not scoring one goal, before going down under to play for North Queensland Fury next season with Perth.

Number 3 – Thierry Henry, 174 Goals

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Maybe the best striker in the world in the previous decade and Arsenal’s all time leading goal scorer in all competitions had an amazing eight years with the gunners, scoring 174 goals in 254 matches, leading the Premiership in scoring four times and in five consecutive seasons between 2001-2002 till 2005-2006 never scored less than 24 league goals. His best came in 2003-2004, leading Arsenal to it’s second title during his reign, going undefeated in the league. Henry has been with Barcelona for the last three seasons, but after a very dismal 2009-2010 season (tomorrow ends, title on the line), he might be making his way back to the Premiership in the near future. Wenger’s heir? Any bets?

Number 2 – Andrew Cole, 187 Goals

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Andy Cole began his pro career with Arsenal in 1989 and reached the Premiership for the first time in 1993, after leading Newcastle to promotion the previous year. 1993-1994 Was probably Cole’s best, scoring 34 league goals for the magpies. Then came the transfer to Manchester United (January 1995), making Andy Cole the most expensive British transfer in history at the time (7 million pounds). With United Cole won five league titles, scoring 93 goals along the way. He continued his partnership with Dwight Yorke in Blackburn and later on enjoyed successful spells with Manchester City and Fulham. Cole retired after the 2008-2009 season, spending that year with Nottingham Forest in the Championship.

Number 1 – Alan Shearer, 262 Goals

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Despite failing to rescue Newcastle from relegation in 2008-2009, Shearer is still a huge fan favorite at the North East and a true Premiership and Newcastle legend. Shearer started his Premiership career after moving from Southampton to Blackburn Rovers in 1992, immediately establishing himself as one of the best in the game. He scored an amazing 112 goals in 138 matches for Blackburn, leading them to a historic league title in 1995, scoring 34 goals along the way, part of three consecutive seasons scoring 30+. Then came the (then) World record transfer to Newcastle for 15 million pounds. Shearer failed to lead Newcastle to a league title but his term with his hometown club was rather successful personally, scoring 148 goals in 303 matches, retiring after the 2005-2006 season. Shearer was the Premiership’s top scorer in three consecutive seasons (1994-1997) and retired as Newcastle’s top goalscorer in all competitions with 206.

We’re in March 2009, and with the title race becoming one headed in recent weeks(Man U being that one head, big surprise) fans need to turn elsewhere to find a truly competitive battle going on. Yes, you can find relegation battles a suitable replacement, but I find the scoring title race much more exciting. This year doesn’t seem to have the number power of last year, when Ronaldo finished with 31(!!!), the highest since Alan Shearer 31 in 1995/96… back in the days when a 30 goal season for a striker wasn’t such a rarity. Anelka leads the league with 15, and it won’t be a shock if we end with a top scorer who has less than 20. Being nostalgic and all, we’ve decided to bring you those who have been known to score a goal or two while playing under those bright bright premiership lights.

Only one rule before we get started – only premiership goals. To those who don’t remember , in 92/93 the English first division became the Premier League, and our count starts from there. No goals in other division or prior to that season, no cup, no continental and no international competition goals allowed.

Here are the Premiership’s top 10 goal scorers to date, retired and active, still in England or not, with a short recap of their career and video highlights of their best goals.

10th – Ian Wright, 113 goals

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The man who held Arsenals Scoring record before one Thierry Henry came along.

He won the title with Arsenal in 97/98, his final season for the team, which was his lowest scoring season for the gunners, with only 10 league goals.He had15,23,18,15,23 and 10 on his trophy year. He spent one more season in the top flight , with West Ham, scoring 9 goals for the club before he started zigzagging between clubs until his retirement after the 99/00 season. His best finish in the scoring charts was 2nd in the 96/97 season, 2 goals shy of Shearer.

9th – Dwight Yorke, 123 goals (Still Active)

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The 37 year old Trinidad & Tobago Striker still treads the EPL waters, although not as often as before(Only 3 appearances for Sunderland this season so far). Played for Villa, Man U, Blackburn, Birmingham City and currently with Sunderland, but will mostly be remembered for his partnership with Andrew Cole, leading the red devils in 98/99 to a memorable treble. Yorke had only 5 seasons in which he scored 10+ out of his 14 EPL seasons so far but he’s a long distance runner I guess. His best came in 99/00, leading Man U to another League title with 20 goals, finishing 3rd behind Kevin Phillips and Alan Shearer. In 98/99 he scored 18, but it was enough for 3-way joined top scorer title along Owen and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

8th – Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, 127 goals

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Jerrel “Jimmy Floyd” Hasselbaink had a tough time staying in one place for long except for his Chelsea time(4 years… wow!!) but the goals came none the less. 2 seasons for Leeds, 4 for the Blues, 2 for Boro and one forgettable season with Charlton were enough for the Suriname born Dutchman to put his name in history books. He never won the league title with any of his teams, but he did win the scoring title twice. In 98/99 he finished 1st in a 3-way win alongside Michael Owen and Dwight Yorke, with 18. In 00/01 he won it with no competition, 23 goals to his tally. He had 23 the next season as well, but it was enough for 2nd behind Thierry Henry.

7th – Michael Owen, 144 goals (Still active)

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Only 29, if that thing called injuries wasn’t a term so familiar to the baby face striker, Owen would probably be number 2 on this list right now, heading strong towards number one. But Fantasy aside, Owen, injured or not, scored goals. 144 in 278 games is not too shabby. Playing for Liverpool and Currently Newcastle, he has never scored less than 11 goals when playing more than 20 games a season. Has 8 season of 10+ goals, with his best coming in 01/02 and 02/03, scoring 19. In 97/98 and 98/99 he finished joint top scorer, with 18 goals in each season. Can he bounce back from his recent injury to improve his place in the stat sheets of history? We hope so.

6th – Teddy Sheringham, 147 goals

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An unlikely candidate to become one of the top EPL scorers of all time if you take a glance at his career stats – Starting at Millwall, playing at Aldershot and even Swedish side Djurgarden doesn’t usually earn you a shot at glory. But Teddy moved on to better and bigger, and by moving to Nott. Forest and then Tottenham, he started his top flight and Premier League Career. Even though his first goal came for Forest, and the bulk of goals came at White Heart Lane, he’ll be remembered, like Dwight Yorke and Andrew Cole, for that 98/99 team that won the legendary treble. He’s won 3 Championships, all with United but his best scoring year came in the EPL inaugural year, when Teddy scored 22 goals, earning him the golden boot.

5th – Les Ferdinand, 149 goals

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Like Sheringham, Leslie(!!!!) “Les” Ferdinand had a weird foreign spell, one season for Turkish Club Beskitas before returning to the English game, better than ever , and boy was he. He played for Q.P.R in that 92/93 season, and in 3 Premier League seasons with them had 20,16 and 24 goals each. He scored 41 goals in the next 2 seasons for Newcastle, missing out on a championship each time. Then came Tottenham, which is synonymous for disappointment, having trouble regaining his early 90’s scoring form, but injuries and age did their bit. He had a bit of a revival with Leicester City during 03/04, scoring 12 goals, but that was the swan song for Les. He holds a remarkable record of being the first player to score a Premier League goal for 6 different clubs(Q.P.R, Newcastle, Spurs, West Ham, Leicester and Bolton). His best season was in 95/96, when he netted 25, finishing 3rd to Shearer and Fowler.

4th – Robbie Fowler, 163 goals (Still Active)

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Robbie started out with a bang, scoring 83 goals in his first 4 seasons as a pro, all for Liverpool of course, but than slowly faded when injuries started racking up on his skillful legs. Still Active, recently signing with Australian side North Queensland Fury, but it’ll be a safe bet to say he won’t be scoring any more Premiership goals. He played and scored some for Leeds and Man City where he reunited with Steve McManaman, but Fowler will always be remembered as a Liverpool man, although he was an Everton fan as a child(They forgive those who score). His best came during the 95/96 season, when the leading man of the “spice-boys” scored 28 goals, finishing second to Alan Shearer’s 31.

3rd – Thierry Henry, 174 goals (Still Active)

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If Mourinho is the special one, than Henry is the Elegant one. Arsene Wenger got him out of his Juventus hell, and English football was never the same. A wonderful Arsenal side which one 2 championships and reached one Champions League Final was led by Henry, who scored and scored and scored relentlessly for the Gunners. 174 goals in 254 games, never going below 10 goals a season. Henry is currently playing for Barcelona and has lost a step or two the past 2-3 years, but can still get those goals(12 so far this season) maybe hasn’t said his final word regarding English Football. He was the Premiership’s top scorer 4 times, in 01/02(24 goals), and 3 straight times between 2003 to 2006, with 30, 25 and 27, and will eventually be remembered as one of the best forwards and players of this decade.

2nd – Andrew Cole, 187 goals

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Andy later to be known as Andrew Cole took his time before bursting on to the National scene, but he made a very nice impression. Scoring 34 goals in 40 during the 93/94 season for Newcastle brought the attention of the football world, and Alex Ferguson who purchased him midway through the 94/95 season. Despite scoring 5 goals in one game that year(poor Ipswich),still a record, and generally being an efficient striker Cole never struck a chord with United fans… Maybe his tendency to miss was a key factor in that. But he did get some… although he never got close to 34, he had 6 more seasons of 10+ goals for various Premiership clubs, including Man U, Blackburn, Fulham, Man City and Pompy. He won 5 league titles with United and was top scorer of the league once, but will probably be forgotten in the pages of history, due to him being good and not exceptional as most expected of him after his transfer to Man U.

1st – Alan Shearer, 260 goals

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Well… for Shearer like for all of the guys before him the numbers speak for themselves. But they do that much more strongly for Alan. An Icon at both Blackburn and Newcastle, his 260 seems to be out of reach for what seems to be quite a long time.Scored an amazing 112 in 138 for rovers in 4 seasons, including 34 in that historic championship season. His move to Newcastle made him for a short while the most expensive player in the world, and while not bringing the league title to St. James’ park, he managed to score 148 goals in 303 matches for the Jordies. He won the scoring title in 94/95, 95/96 and 97. He has 3 seasons with 30+ goals, 7 of 20+ and 11 of 10+. He wasn’t fast or too quick, but had a cannon for a leg and was very effective in the air(his elbows helped) and his “Player of the decade” award, handed to him on the marking of the EPL first 10 years pretty much says it all about how great Shearer was to his teams and to English football in general.