The 10 oldest goalscorers in Premier League history | OneFootball

Highlights

The Premier League has seen over 20,000 goals scored throughout its history from countless players, but who are the top 10 oldest goalscorers in the football division's history? The competition has seen some unbelievable moments from some legendary players, including those who were heading towards the end of their careers in the top flight of English football.

In many walks of life, age is just a number, but being a professional football player is a career that ultimately has a short shelf-life, although some players look to defy time to continue at the top level for longer than others. These players are the ones who take particularly good care of their fitness and play with a style that has more longevity.

The 41-Year-Old Who Won The Ballon d'Or

Play Video

There are a number of club legends who have gone into their late 30s and early 40s at the top level, feats that are usually only reached by the savviest players going, and some of those feature in the top 5 oldest Premier League goalscorers list!

Here are the 10 oldest Premier League goalscorers in the history of the league, including England international legends and more.

10 Gary Speed - 37 years and 351 days (Bolton Wanderers vs Reading)

Speed is a fondly remembered name within the Premier League after the former Wales international's tragic passing in 2011, only four years after his goal that got him onto this list. The midfielder was playing for Bolton Wanderers during the 2007/08 season and scored a header against Reading in a 3-0 win in the league.

At the time, this goal continued his record of having scored in each and every Premier League season to that point. This was a record later surpassed by Ryan Giggs in the following seasons, but it still remains an impressive fact that the Welshman scored in more than 15 consecutive campaigns in the English top flight.

9 Mick Harford - 38 years and 35 days (Wimbledon vs West Ham)

Another headed goal, this time by a perhaps lesser-known name, Mick Harford. The goal in question came for Wimbledon against West Ham United. The forward was the only man over 38 years old to have scored in the Premier League at the time as his goal was scored in the 1996/97 season.

Modern fans may be less aware of Harford and this is probably due to the fact that the majority of his career was spent in the lower tiers of English football with the likes of Luton Town and Derby County. His record may have now been overtaken by six different players, but Harford is still firmly within the top 10, more than 25 years later.

8 Tugay Kerimoglu - 38 years and 99 days (Blackburn vs Portsmouth)

Better known to fans as 'Tugay', the former Blackburn Rovers midfielder made a name for himself as a scorer of screamers. The Turkish player was a solid presence in the middle of the park throughout his time in England and marked his place as one of the oldest goalscorers in the history of the division.

The cult hero's final goal for the club came against Portsmouth in November 2008 as he rifled a shot past a despairing David James in the Pompey goal. It was fitting to see Tugay sign off in goalscoring terms with a bang after having stunned fans on many occasions before. To some, he even gets filed under players 'the streets won't forget'.

7 Mark Hughes - 38 years and 150 days (Blackburn vs Leicester City)

The best years of Mark Hughes' career came at Manchester United and Chelsea, with the Welshman even being considered one of Man United's best-ever strikers. His career did tail off slightly after his time at Stamford Bridge came to a close in 1998, with stints at Southampton, Everton and Blackburn Rovers following.

His final goal in the Premier League came in Blackburn's 2-1 loss against Leicester City in 2002. The goal came via a header as Hughes scored the equaliser at the time, although the Foxes went on to grab a winner. This was the last of Hughes' 64 goals in the division, with the majority of his career strikes coming prior to the inception of the Premier League in 1992. The former Wales international went on to manage the club he scored his final goal for after his retirement later in 2002.

6 Graham Alexander - 38 years and 180 days (Burnley vs Sunderland)

Graham Alexander made his Premier League debut in the 2009/10 season at the age of 37, which made him the oldest Premier League debutant at the time. The Burnley man latched onto this opportunity and scored seven goals in the top flight of English football, with his first goal coming on matchday six against Sunderland.

Turf Moor would see Alexander score a penalty in a 3-1 victory over Sunderland. Alexander's other goals in the 09/10 campaign came in pivotal draws with Manchester City and Arsenal, and he grabbed a brace on matchday 11 in a 2-0 win over Hull City.

5 Stuart Pearce - 38 years and 211 days (West Ham vs Arsenal)

Stuart Pearce is an icon in English football, most notably for his time at Nottingham Forest in the 90s. However, Pearce became one of the oldest scorers in the competition's history during the 2000/01 season when he played for West Ham United.

The fullback had to wait until matchday 10 of the 2000/01 season to get on the scoresheet. The goal occurred during the 56th minute of the game when he hit a direct free kick past David Seaman to grab a consolation goal for West Ham in a 2-1 loss to Arsenal. Pearce's second and final goal of the campaign would come against Southampton in a 3-2 victory, where the free kick specialist fired in another spot kick to put West Ham 2-1 up just before halftime.

4 Thiago Silva - 39 years and 51 days (Chelsea vs Manchester City)

The newest addition to the list, Chelsea's Rolls-Royce at the back became the oldest scorer in the Premier League for more than a decade when he found the bottom corner of the net during a thrilling 4-4 draw against Manchester City in the 12th game of the campaign. This was Silva's sixth Premier League goal for the club after signing from Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer in 2020.

The veteran defender had enjoyed many successful years across Europe with both the French giants and AC Milan before embarking on his journey in England. Even with his advancing age, the 39-year-old remains one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League with his intelligence far outweighing any physical attributes that have been lost.

3 Ryan Giggs - 39 years and 85 days (Manchester United vs QPR)

Ryan Giggs is one of the most successful Premier League players of all time, winning the competition 13 times with Manchester United. He is also one of the few players in history to have over 100 goals and 100 assists in the competition. In achieving this, he became the man with the most assists in Premier League history with 162.

However, the 2012/13 season saw Giggs cement himself as one of the oldest scorers in the competition's history, after bagging two goals in 22 appearances. Giggs' goals came against Everton and QPR, which would be the final time the Welshman would score in the Premier League.

2

The 2008/09 season saw Dean Windass continue to set records for Hull City after an unforgettable 07/08 playoff campaign which saw Hull promoted to the Premier League. Windass only had 5 appearances for Hull in their 2008/09 Premier League campaign and had to wait until matchday 14 of the campaign to grab his first Premier League goal at 39 years seven months and 21 days old.

Windass' goal came at a pivotal point in a 2-2 draw with Portsmouth at Fratton Park, where the forward scored a late goal in the 87th minute to equalise. He was the reason for the Tigers' Premier League status at the time after his memorable volley in the Championship play-off final against Bristol City at the end of the prior season.

1 Teddy Sheringham - 40 years and 264 days (West Ham vs Portsmouth)

Teddy Sheringham is one of the Premier League's most iconic strikers, scoring 146 goals in 418 appearances. However, the 2006/07 season saw Sheringham get his 145th and 146th goals which would be his last in the competition at the age of 40. He was plying his trade at West Ham at the time he set this record, and it will take some doing for anyone to overtake, with the former Manchester United man being the only player over 40 years old to score in the Premier League.

Sheringham's first goal came on matchday 10 of the 2006/07 season against Blackburn Rovers. The English forward opened up the scoring at Boleyn Ground after finishing off a pass from Yossi Benayoun, catalysing a win for the Hammers. His second of the season came in a 2-1 loss against Portsmouth, where he grabbed a consolation goal in the 81st minute, which remains the goal scored by the oldest player in Premier League history!