Investigating who is the top goalscorer from every decade in Manchester United history.
We all know Wayne Rooney is Manchester United’s highest ever goalscorer – but did you know he was not the most prolific Red Devils star between 2000 and 2010?
Similarly, Sir Bobby Charlton’s 249 goals are behind Rooney’s 253 – but the 1966 World Cup winner did not top the chart for United across a single decade.
United In Focus has studied the Manchester United goalscoring records from January 1 at the start of each decade in club history, to December 31 at the end of each, to examine who is the top goalscorer across each 10-year period.
It throws up a few interesting figures, keep reading on to see how many you would have predicted, including the top Manchester United scorer of the 2020s so far…
1880s
Formed as Newton Heath in 1878, the club played the majority of friendly matches before entering league football for the first time in 1888.
Jack Doughty scored 19 goals for the club during the period from the start of the season in 1888 to the turn of the calendar year in the second season in 1889/90.
1890s
Joe Cassidy was the top scorer for Newton Heath in the 1890s, the club which later became Manchester United in 1902.
Cassidy scored 93 of his total 100 goals, netting the remaining seven in the second half of the 1899/1900 season.
Robert Donaldson scored 66 goals for the club between 1891 and 1897.
1900s
George Wall scored 58 goals for Manchester United during this period. He ended his career with exactly 100, after signing for the club in 1906.
Sandy Turnbull ran him close, scoring 48 goals, and ending his career at the club one ahead of Wall with 101 when he retired in 1915.
Sandy Turnbull was tragically killed fighting in World War One in 1917 in Arras, France.
His 25 league goals in 1907/08 were pivotal towards United winning a first ever league title, finishing nine points clear of Aston Villa, with George Wall netting 19.
1910s
Enoch West scored 80 goals for Manchester United between 1910 and 1915, including 19 league goals in the 1910/11 title-winning season.
His career was then cut short by a staggering 30-year ban from football for match-fixing. He protested his innocence and the ban was later lifted in 1945, after his retirement.
1920s
Joe Spence was Manchester United’s top goalscorer in the 1920s, with the decade his peak years in a spell that ran from 1919 to 1933.
Spence scored 118 goals for the club during the 1920s, adding to 10 he scored in the first half of the 1919/20 season.
1930s
Tommy Bamford was Manchester United’s top scorer in the 1930s with a total of 57 goals between 1934 and 1938. George Mutch followed with 49 and Tom Manley netting 41.
Joe Spence also contributed the final 40 of his 168 goals for the club. He was United’s all-time top scorer when he left the club, with Jack Rowley later overtaking him.
1940s
Jack Rowley was Manchester United’s top goalscorer during the 1940s, scoring 99 of his total 211 goals for the club.
Rowley’s goal tally would have been even more prolific, having scored 19 goals in the late 1930s, before the Second World War suspended play between 1939 and 1945.
Stan Pearson ran Rowley close, scoring 75 of his 148 goals for the club in the 40s. Like Rowley, the rest of his goals were split across the 30s and 50s.
1950s
Dennis Viollet scored 149 goals for Manchester United during the 1950s, ending his career with 179 in total, leaving the Red Devils in 1962.
Tommy Taylor scored 131 goals for Manchester United after joining in 1953, before his tragic death in the 1958 Munich Disaster.
Jack Rowley scored 93 goals for Manchester United in the 1950s.
1960s
Denis Law set an unbeaten record for a player in Manchester United history with the most goals in a single decade, scoring a total of 205 goals in the 1960s.
Denis Law‘s best season saw him net 46 goals in 42 games in 1963/64. Adding in his goals the next decade, he ended up with 237.
Bobby Charlton scored 149 goals during the 1960s. This is the highest total scored by a Manchester United player in a decade who did not finish up as top scorer.
Charlton eventually reached a total of 249 for the club, with 35 in the 70s, following his haul of 65 in the 50s. Charlton’s career tally made him United’s record scorer, a tally eventually broken by Wayne Rooney in 2017.
George Best scored 113 of his 179 goals for Manchester United during the 60s, forming part of United’s famous Trinity.
1970s
Lou Macari struck 84 goals for the club during the 1970s. He scored 97 in total for the Red Devils.
George Best pushed him closest. Despite leaving United in 1974, he scored 66 goals for the club in the 70s, including a six-goal haul against Northampton.
1980s
Bryan Robson scored more goals for Manchester United than any other player, putting up 85 in total, out of his eventual 99.
Striker Frank Stapleton followed with 78 goals between 1981 and 1987, while Mark Hughes netted 72 for United across two spells. It could have been more if not for a break where he played for Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
1990s
Andy Cole was Manchester United’s top goalscorer during the 1990s, netting a total of 96 goals, out of his total of 121 for the club.
After joining United in 1995, Cole took over from Mark Hughes, who scored 91 goals during the first half of the decade. Hughes had 163 goals in total split across the 80s and 90s.
Eric Cantona netted a total of 82 goals for the club during his spell, with Ryan Giggs scoring 80 during the 90s, out of his total of 168.
2000s
Ruud van Nistelrooy scored all 150 of his goals for the club between 2001 and 2006, showcasing his ability as one of the most feared strikers of his era.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored 118 goals between 2003 and 2009, with Wayne Rooney netting 117 during this timeframe.
Ronaldo returned to United in 2021, increasing his total tally to 145 goals.
2010s
Wayne Rooney established himself as Manchester United’s record goalscorer. He netted 136 of his 253 goals for the club between January 2010 and his exit in 2017.
Marcus Rashford scored 61 goals since making his debut in 2016 to the end of 2019. This saw him edge past Javier Hernandez (59) and Anthony Martial (58).
2020 – onwards
Bruno Fernandes has scored 102 goals for Manchester United since joining the Red Devils from Sporting in January 2020.
He is set to become the first midfielder since Bryan Robson in the 80s to lead the scoring for his team in a decade instead of a striker.
Marcus Rashford has run him closest with 77 goals since the start of 2020.
And as of right now, Fernandes is still adding to his tally.
from United In Focus https://ift.tt/tACHd3S