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As the birthplace of football, it’s only natural that England has produced more than its fair share of top attacking talent.
Encompassing various forward roles which have morphed throughout the history of the game, this is FourFourTwo‘s list of the best English attackers EVER!
Let’s get straight to it…
32. Emile Heskey
An exceptionally well-rounded target man, Emile Heskey’s unwavering selflessness was invaluable to Liverpool and England’s causes during the early years of the 21st century.
Having made a name for himself with hometown club Leicester City – helping them to two League Cups – Heskey joined Liverpool for a then club-record £11m in 2000, forming a formidable strike partnership with Michael Owen which they replicated at international level.
Capped 62 times by the Three Lions, Heskey memorably scored in the historic 5-1 thrashing of Germany in 2001.
31. Jermain Defoe
A highly reliable striker wherever he went, Jermain Defoe was the 20th player to hit the 100-goal mark in the Premier League – where he struck 162 times in total across spells with West Ham, Tottenham, Portsmouth, Sunderland and Bournemouth.
Capped 57 times by England, Defoe scored 20 goals for the Three Lions – including a crucial winner against Slovenia at the 2010 World Cup.
30. Peter Crouch
With 22 goals in 42 caps between 2005 and 2010, Peter Crouch was one of England’s most free-scoring centre-forwards of the modern era.
Towering over near enough everyone else on the pitch at six-foot-seven, cult favourite Crouchy won the 2005/06 FA Cup with Liverpool – and reached the final of the following season’s Champions League.
29. Les Ferdinand
Holder of the record for the most Premier League goals without ever scoring a penalty (149), Les Ferdinand was voted 1995/96 PFA Players’ Player of the Year.
That season, ‘Sir Les’ hit a career-high 25 league goals – finishing third in the Golden Boot race behind Alan Shearer and Robbie Fowler – while helping Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle finish second in the top flight.
He also scored Prem goals for QPR, Totttenham, West Ham, Leicester and Bolton – as well as netting five times in 17 England caps.
28. Teddy Sheringham
A 1998/99 treble winner with Manchester United – famously scoring his side’s equaliser in their extraordinary comeback victory over Bayern Munich in the final – Teddy Sheringham scooped the inaugural Premier League Golden Boot, bagging 21 goals in 1992/93.
He amassed 146 in the competition overall, also enjoying two goal-laden spells with Tottenham and helping England to the final of Euro 96, where he scored twice.
27. Jamie Vardy
In one of football’s great rags-to-riches stories, Jamie Vardy went from part-time football with Stocksbridge Park Steels to Premier League champion with Leicester City – and England international – in the space of six years.
Blessed with immense pace at his peak, Vardy world-class finishing ability saw him hit the 20-goal mark in three separate top-flight campaigns – as well as set a new Prem record of scoring in 11 straight games en route to the title in 2015/16.
26. Bukayo Saka
Still not quite in his prime at the time of writing, Bukayo Saka had established himself as one of the most devastating wingers in world football by his early 20s.
A product of Arsenal’s youth system, the 2022/23 PFA Young Player of the Year – and 2021/22 and 2022/23 England Men’s Player of the Year – played a starring role in the Three Lions’ run to the final of Euro 2020, and was a mainstay of their 2022 World Cup team.
He lifted his first major trophy with Arsenal in 2020, winning the FA Cup.
25. Robbie Fowler
Another of the Premier League’s all-time leading marksmen, Robbie Fowler was on target 163 times in the competition – 128 of them for Liverpool, where he burst onto the scene as a 17-year-old.
Capped 26 times by England, scoring seven goals, Fowler – simply dubbed ‘God’ by his adoring Anfield public – was named PFA Young Player of the Year in 1995 and 1996, and helped the Reds to a 2000/01 treble of the FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup.
24. Andy Cole
Prolific before and after his shock, British-record switch from Newcastle to Manchester United in 1995, Andy Cole plundered 187 Premier League goals between 1993 and 2006.
Golden Boot winner with 34 goals for Newcastle in 1993/94 – a Prem record until Erling Haaland arrived almost 20 years later – Cole, who also scooped that season’s PFA Young Player of the Year award, went on to star in United’s 1998/99 treble triumph, winning five top-flight titles with the Red Devils in all.
23. Raheem Sterling
Raheem Sterling became the most expensive English footballer of all time when he joined Manchester City from Liverpool for £49m in 2015 – and he would go on to become one of his country’s most successful players of the modern era.
A four-time Premier League champion with City, Sterling – who made his England debut as a 17-year-old – won PFA Young Player of the Year and the prestigious FWA Footballer of the Year award in 2018/19.
He left City for another of the Prem’s biggest hitters, Chelsea, in the summer of 2022.
22. Stan Mortensen
Iconic Blackpool centre-forward Stan Mortensen was one of the finest footballers England has ever produced – and, while he’s best remembered for his hat-trick in the 1953 FA Cup final, he notched just shy of 200 goals in the First Division.
Mortensen’s best campaign was 1950/51, when he notched 30 league goals in 35 appearances, registering in a record 15 consecutive games.
He netted a prolific 23 times in 25 England caps.
21. Ian Wright
An absolute legend at Arsenal and Crystal Palace, Ian Wright was plucked from non-League football by the latter shortly before his 22nd birthday.
A later bloomer he may have been, but Wright well and truly seized his chance at the highest level, banging in almost 200 top-flight goals and posting two 23-goal Premier League campaigns.
He helped fire Arsenal to the title in 1997/98, his final season with the club.
20. Roger Hunt
Liverpool’s second-highest goalscorer of all time – behind only Ian Rush – Roger Hunt got on the scoresheet 285 times in 492 appearances for the Reds.
A two-time First Division champion and an FA Cup winner in the mid-60s, Hunt scored 18 goals in 34 caps for England – and featured in all six games en route to 1966 World Cup glory, partnering Geoff Hurst up front.
19. George Camsell
Holder of the record for the most goals in an English second-tier campaign (59 in 1926/27), Middlesbrough and England great George Camsell found the net 233 times in the top flight at an average of 0.69 goals per game.
Boro’s leading marksman in each of his first 10 full seasons at the club – who he joined from Durham City for £500 in 1925 – Camsell also helped himself to 18 goals in just nine international appearances.
18. Gary Lineker
The first England player to win the World Cup Golden Boot, poacher extraordinaire Gary Lineker top-scored with six goals at the 1986 tournament – despite the Three Lions only making it as far as the quarter-finals.
A 1988/89 Cup Winners’ Cup winner with Barcelona, the former Everton and later Tottenham man and Match of the Day presenter’s 48 international goals made him one of his country’s all-time leading scorers.
17. Geoff Hurst
The first player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final – and, until Kylian Mbappe repeated the feat in 2022, the only one – Geoff Hurst assured himself of immortal status in English football with his exploits against West Germany at Wembley in 1966.
An FA Cup and Cup Winners’ Cup winner with West Ham – where he spent most of his career – the striker retired one goal short of the 300-mark for club and country.
16. Joe Bradford
Joe Bradford (pictured above right) never played for Bradford City – disappointing – but he certainly played for Birmingham City, finding the net 267 times to rank as the club’s record scorer by well over 100 goals.
Birmingham’s leading league marksman in all but one season between 1921/22 and 1932/33, Bradford also bagged seven goals in 12 England caps.
15. David Jack
Signed by Arsenal at a knockdown price after manager Herbert Chapman sneakily got Bolton Wanderers’ representative drunk during negotiations, David Jack (pictured above middle) took his First Division goals tally past 250 with the Gunners – having struck 144 times in the top flight for Bolton.
A three-time champion of England while in North London, Jack bagged three goals in nine caps for England.
14. Charlie Buchan
Born in London, Charlie Buchan didn’t make the grade at Arsenal as a youngster, instead breaking through at Sunderland – for whom he racked up 209 First Division goals either side of World War 1.
In 1925, though, the 1912/13 First Division champion and 1922/23 top scorer finally got his chance with the Gunners – where he went on to score a further 49 times in the top flight.
13. Gordon Hodgson
One of Liverpool’s all-time leading goalscorers, Gordon Hodgson was born to English parents in Transvaal Colony (part of modern-day South Africa) in 1904.
Capped three times by England and twice by South Africa, Hodgson registered 233 First Division goals for the Reds, 51 for Leeds and four for Aston Villa.
12. Michael Owen
Eighteen-year-old Michael Owen’s solo wondergoal against Argentina at the 1998 World Cup marked him out as one of the hottest properties in world football – and he did go on to fulfil that promise.
If not for the hamstring issues which plagued him throughout his career, Owen – who burst onto the scene at Liverpool and later played for Real Madrid and Manchester United – would have had an even greater career, but the 2001 Ballon d’Or winner was something seriously special between the late 90s and early 00s.
11. Nat Lofthouse
No player is more synonymous with Bolton Wanderers than local hero Nat Lofthouse, who chalked up a total of 255 goals during a 14-year career spent exclusively with the Trotters – who he captained to 1957/58 FA Cup glory.
On target 33 times to finish as 1955/56 First Division top scorer, the ‘Lion of Vienna’ – so nicknamed for his astonishingly combative winner for England against Austria in 1952 – notched 30 goals in 33 international caps, making him one of the most prolific Three Lions players ever.
10. Steve Bloomer
So revered is the immortal Steve Bloomer (pictured above right) by fans of Derby County that the club named their anthem in his honour: ‘Steve Bloomer’s Watchin”.
Apparently born to score goals, Bloomer – who made the net ripple 28 times in 23 caps for England – was renowned for his viciously powerful and accurate low shots.
9. Dixie Dean
It’s almost impossible to see Dixie Dean’s record of 60 league goals in a single season – which he managed during Everton’s title-winning campaign of 1926/27 – ever being broken.
First Division top scorer for a second time (with a comparatively paltry 44 goals) as Everton were crowned champions again in 1932/33, Dean also plundered 18 goals in 16 outings for England.
8. Tom Finney
Named FWA Footballer of the Year twice during the 50s, Tom Finney was one of the best players in the world during his prime, scoring 210 goals for hometown club Preston North End and a further 30 for England.
Renowned for his sportsmanship, the forward helped Preston to the 1954 FA Cup final and was a First Division runner-up with them in the 1952/53 and 1957/58 seasons.
7. Alan Shearer
The ultimate goalscorer, Alan Shearer found the net 409 times for club and country over the course of his career – with more than half of those goals coming for Newcastle, the club where he pretty much became a god.
For Blackburn Rovers – where he was an English champion in 1994/95 – and Newcastle, Shearer racked up a whopping 260 Premier League goals, winning three straight Golden Boots between 1995 and 1997. Capped 63 times by England, he also finished as top scorer at Euro 96.
6. Jimmy Greaves
The late, greater than great Jimmy Greaves was one of the most iconic goalscorers the game has ever seen, making the net burst the best part of 500 times throughout his career – including a record 357 in the old First Division.
A member of England’s 1966 World Cup-winning squad, Greaves bagged 220 of his First Division goals for Tottenham – where he won two FA Cups – 124 for Chelsea and 13 for West Ham.
He also won the 1961/62 Serie A title with AC Milan.
5. Wayne Rooney
With 53 goals in 120 caps, Wayne Rooney was England’s record goalscorer for a number of years – and, as of 2023, he held the same honour at Manchester United, where he won everything there was to win (on a team and an individual level).
After bursting onto the scene as a 16-year-old and scoring this iconic winner for Everton against Arsenal, Rooney went on to establish himself as one of the best players of his generation and starred for the Three Lions at three World Cups and three European Championships, impressing at Euro 2004 still aged just 18.
4. Harry Kane
Prolific for Tottenham, Bayern Munich and England, Harry Kane broke Wayne Rooney’s England goalscoring record in March 2023 – having surpassed Jimmy Greaves’ Spurs goalscoring record the previous month.
A Premier League and World Cup Golden Boot winner, all-round attacking threat Kane – who took over as England captain ahead of the 2018 World Cup – is right up there with the finest strikers of all time.
3. Kevin Keegan
England’s first multiple Ballon d’Or recipient, Kevin Keegan scooped the game’s ultimate individual accolade for the first time in 1978 – and he only went and retained it the following year.
A European Cup winner and three-time English champion with Liverpool, the magnificent forward – who scored 21 goals in 63 international caps – also won the title in Germany with Hamburg, before returning to England to star for Southampton and Newcastle.
2. Stanley Matthews
Knighted will still playing (ok, he did go on until he was 50, but still), Stoke City, Blackpool and England legend Stanley Matthews is rightly remembered as one of the finest players of all time.
The iconic Wizard of the Dribble won the inaugural Ballon d’Or in 1956 – as well as FWA Footballer of the Year twice, 15 years apart (in 1948 and 1963). Capped 54 times by his country, the twinkle-toed outside right inspired Blackpool to 1952/53 FA Cup glory, stealing the show in what came to be known as the Matthews final against Bolton Wanderers (despite teammate Stan Mortensen’s hat-trick!).
1. Bobby Charlton
When Bobby Charlton died in October 2023, the outpouring of grief from throughout the football community said it all about just how highly the Manchester United and England great was regarded.
One of an elite group of players to win the World Cup, European Cup and Ballon d’Or, Charlton survived the horror of the Munich air disaster in 1958 to forge a legendary and trophy-laden career. His individual honours included the Golden Ball for player of the tournament in England’s 1966 World Cup victory.
Sir Bobby was not just England’s best ever attacker but their best ever in any position.
