Ranking the Women’s Super League’s 11 best goalscorers of all time, ft Kerr, Miedema, Mead | OneFootball

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Since its inception in 2011, the Women’s Super League has been graced with a number of world-class goalscorers.

Whether it’s been a player rising through the ranks to become their team’s biggest attacking threat, or an already-established star brought in on a lucrative deal, every season there’s always been at least one striker that everyone is talking about.

But who is the WSL’s best goalscorer of all time? GiveMeSport has had a go at ranking the top 11, taking into consideration the amount of goals scored, their impact, and the player's consistency throughout the history of the league. From Beth Mead to Sam Kerr, this list features a number of elite goalscorers.

11 Rachel Williams

Rachel Williams was the Golden Boot winner in the very first season of the WSL, scoring 14 goals in as many games for Birmingham. She now has a tally of 45, and has been included on this list due her sheer consistency over the years.

Williams’s goals have been scored for Birmingham City, Chelsea, Notts County, Tottenham Hotspur, and now Manchester United. The 35-year-old may not have converted many times for the Red Devils, but some of her goals have come at crucial times, including a late winning strike against Reading.

10 Natasha Dowie

Natasha Dowie has just announced her retirement after a successful career which took her all over the world. This included stints in the WSL with Everton, Liverpool, Doncaster Rovers, Reading and Liverpool, scoring 38 goals in total.

The 35-year-old earned the Golden Boot in the 2013 season, firing Liverpool to their first WSL title with an impressive 19 goals in 21 matches. She then helped the Reds to another league title the following campaign.

9 Rachel Daly

Rachel Daly has spent very little of her career playing in the WSL, choosing to ply her trade in the United States instead. She scored four goals over two seasons for Lincoln City Ladies more than 10 years ago, before hitting the net three more times for West Ham after joining the team on loan in 2020–21.

But it is her phenomenal 2022–23 season for Aston Villa that earns Daly a place on this list. The 31-year-old scored 22 goals in as many games, winning the Golden Boot.

8 Khadija Shaw

Khadija Shaw, affectionately nicknamed "Bunny", scored 29 goals during her first two WSL campaigns with Manchester City. Of these strikes, 20 came during an impressive campaign last season. The 26-year-old is a fearsome goalscorer, and only needs a couple more prolific seasons to rapidly rise up this list.

7 Nikita Parris

Nikita Parris once held the status of the WSL’s all-time top scorer, hitting 49 goals for Everton and Manchester City between 2011 and 2019. She then departed to Lyon until 2021, during which time Vivianne Miedema stole her crown.

Parris returned to the WSL to join Arsenal, before moving on to Manchester United. During this time, the 29-year-old has scored five times, bringing her tally to 54 goals.

6 Beth Mead

Beth Mead started her WSL career with Sunderland, winning the Golden Boot in her first season in the top flight by scoring 12 goals. She hit another six goals the following season, before attracting interest from Arsenal.

Once with the Gunners, Mead boosted her WSL goal tally to 55. She is set to return from an ACL injury in the coming weeks, and will be desperate to get back to her old goalscoring ways.

5 Fran Kirby

Fran Kirby is now most known for her excellent performances in midfield, but the 30-year-old started her career as a striker. Her goalscoring exploits for Reading in the second tier of English women’s football caught the eye of Chelsea boss Emma Hayes, and the rest is history.

Kirby has scored 60 goals for the Blues in the WSL, with 16 coming in an astonishing 2020–21 campaign which saw the star named player of the season. Injury and illness has seen Kirby struggle to recreate this form in recent times, but there's no doubt she will add to her impressive tally at some point this campaign.

4 Beth England

Beth England is a born goalscorer, hitting the back of the net 69 times in the WSL. She started her time in the league with Doncaster Belles, before signing for Chelsea. Her best season at the club – 2019-20 – saw her score 14 WSL goals.

The 29-year-old struggled to get minutes on the pitch for Chelsea in more recent campaigns, and so moved to Tottenham Hotspur last season. She picked up where she left off, scoring 12 goals to help Spurs avoid relegation from the WSL.

3 Ellen White

Now retired, Ellen White has left behind a legacy of goalscoring prowess. She scored 61 times in the WSL during stints with Arsenal, Notts County, Birmingham City and Manchester City. The former England star earned one Golden Boot during her time in the WSL, scoring 15 goals for Birmingham City in the 2017–18 season. White will certainly be remembered as one of the greatest goalscorers in England's top flight of women's football.

2 Sam Kerr

Sam Kerr makes it to second place on this list, despite playing her first match for Chelsea in January 2020. She has been in prolific form since then, scoring 54 goals in the WSL and winning two Golden Boots in a row.

The 30-year-old’s goals have often come at crucial times for Chelsea, helping the side earn trophy after trophy. During her time with the Blues, Kerr has won an astonishing four WSL titles.

1 Vivianne Miedema

As the all-time top goalscorer in the WSL, Vivianne Miedema more than deserves her place at the top of this list. The 27-year-old has hit the back of the net an astonishing 78 times in the WSL since joining Arsenal in 2017, winning the Golden Boot twice. She even once scored six goals in one game, during a ruthless 11-1 victory against Bristol City.

The Dutch star is currently out with an ACL injury, but defenders around the WSL will be terrified once she returns to the football pitch later this season.