Progression of England association football goalscoring record

This is a progressive list of association footballers who have held or co-held the record for international goals for the England national football team, beginning with William Kenyon-Slaney who scored the first ever international goal. He scored twice in the second international game played, the first game having finished 0-0.

Criteria

For the early decades, records of players appearances and goals were often considered unreliable. RSSSF and IFFHS have spent much effort trying to produce definitive lists of full international matches, and corresponding data on players' international caps and goals. Using this data, the following records can be retrospectively produced. Note that, at the time, these records may not have been recognised.

One point of note is that early matches by the England Amateur side were played against the full national side of opponents. These matches are counted as full internationals by the IFFHS and the opposing FAs, though not by the (English) FA. This affects Vivian Woodward, who scored 29 goals 23 in full internationals and a further 44 in amateur internationals. This article uses the Football Association's definition, and therefore excludes goals scored in Woodward's international amateur appearances.

England record

Player

Goals

Date

Opponent

Score

Notes

William Kenyon-Slaney

2

1873-03-08

4-2

Charles Bambridge

2

1879-04-05

5-4

Jointly with Kenyon-Slaney

Charles Bambridge

4

1880-03-13

4-5

Bambridge scored twice in this game

Charles Bambridge

5

1881-03-12

1-6

Charles Bambridge

6

1882-02-18

13-0

Howard Vaughton

6

1882-03-11

1-5

Jointly with Bambridge

Charles Bambridge

7

1883-02-03

5-0

Charles Bambridge

9

1884-02-23

8-1

Bambridge scored twice in this game

Charles Bambridge

10

1885-02-28

4-0

Charles Bambridge

11

1885-03-21

1-1

Tinsley Lindley

11

1888-03-31

5-1

Jointly with Bambridge

Fred Dewhurst

11

1889-02-23

4-1

Jointly with Bambridge and Lindley

Tinsley Lindley

12

1890-03-15

3-1

Tinsley Lindley

14

1891-03-07

6-1

Lindley scored twice in this game

Steve Bloomer

15

1898-04-02

3-1

Bloomer scored twice in this game to overtake Lindley

Steve Bloomer

17

1899-02-18

13-2

Bloomer scored twice in this game

Steve Bloomer

19

1899-03-20

4-0

Steve Bloomer

20

1900-04-07

1-4

Steve Bloomer

24

1901-03-18

6-0

Bloomer scored four times in this game

Steve Bloomer

25

1901-03-30

2-2

Steve Bloomer

26

1904-04-09

1-0

Steve Bloomer

27

1905-02-25

1-1

Steve Bloomer

28

1907-04-06

1-1

Vivian Woodward

29

1911-03-13

3-0

Woodward scored twice in this game to overtake Bloomer. He held the record either individually or jointly for 47 years - the longest ever.

Nat Lofthouse

29

1956-05-20

5-1

Jointly with Woodward

Tom Finney

29

1958-06-08

2-2

Jointly with Woodward and Lofthouse

Tom Finney

30

1958-10-04

3-3

Finney held the record alone for a single match - the shortest time ever

Nat Lofthouse

30

1958-10-22

5-0

Jointly with Finney

Bobby Charlton

30

1963-06-05

8-1

Jointly with Lofthouse and Finney

Bobby Charlton

31

1963-10-12

4-0

Bobby Charlton

32

1964-05-17

4-3

Bobby Charlton

32

1964-05-24

3-1

Bobby Charlton

33

1964-05-27

10-0

Jimmy Greaves

35

1964-10-03

4-3

Greaves scored three times in this game to overtake Charlton

Jimmy Greaves

36

1964-12-09

1-1

Jimmy Greaves

37

1965-04-10

2-2

Jimmy Greaves

38

1965-05-05

1-0

Jimmy Greaves

39

1966-05-04

2-0

Jimmy Greaves

43

1966-06-29

6-1

Greaves scored four times in this game

Jimmy Greaves

44

1967-05-24

2-0

Bobby Charlton

44

1968-04-03

1-0

Jointly with Greaves

Bobby Charlton

45

1968-05-22

3-1

Charlton finally regained the record alone; he has held it for 42 years and over 470 games

Bobby Charlton

46

1968-06-08

2-0

Bobby Charlton

47

1969-05-07

2-1

Bobby Charlton

48

1970-04-21

3-1

Bobby Charlton

49

1970-05-20

4-0

See also

  • England national football team records
  • Progression of England association football caps record

References