who is the best England striker ever

[Diego Maradona]

I dont know who to say between Lineker and Greaves

both have good ratio and played in different ERA's and scored against good countries, Charlton was obviously good as well but no IMO as the above 2

It is said that Lofthouse retired so early but that is the way life is I guess, hell look at Van Batsen

[argentine soccer fan]

I guess if by striker you mean pure goalscorer, I would say Lineker. He was primarily a poucher. Nothing wrong with that of course, being a great poucher helps win games, plus it takes great skill, instinct and understanding of the game.

Still, if we're talking best all-around player who happened to be a striker, not necesarily just scoring goals, I like Kevin Keegan. I tend to be partial to more complete players, and Keegan had a much more complete overall game. But maybe in terms of definition he fits more into 'forward' than 'striker'.

But probably we should hear from the English fans. I'm sure there are some old timers who might be considered better. Some legendary player from the old days, like maybe Dixie Dean.

[lanman]

Just going by the numbers then you have to go with Greaves. He's the all time leading scorer in the English top flight and has 44 goals in 57 games.

Tommy Lawton is often rated as the best by those who saw him (including Tom Finney and Joe Mercer), but his England career was over at 28 (having already lost 6 years to WWII) when he dropped down to the Third Division South.

[YooAhJin]

If you mean best English striker then i would say Dean, if best that played for the national team then probably Greaves.

[RichardL]

Tommy Lawton is often rated as the best by those who saw him (including Tom Finney and Joe Mercer), but his England career was over at 28 (having already lost 6 years to WWII) when he dropped down to the Third Division South.
Far from being over, Lawton was perhaps in one of his best spells for England. From May 47, when still at Chelsea (setting a club goal-scoring record) to his last game for England in September '49, he scored in 6 of the 8 England games he played in, scoring 10 goals.

It's been suggested that he dropped to Notts County because they were able to pay him extra indirect payments, getting round the wage-cap of the era. Although he'd done nothing illegal, I'm sure the FA would have taken a rather dim view of it.


As for the question, I too would go for Greaves. If he hadn't become an alcoholic when at the peak of his career, I don't think anyone would have even needed to ask the question.

[comme]

Two big ones not mentioned are Viv Woodward and Steve Bloomer. Both were massively prolific in the pre-WW1 era.

Also Nuts Cobbald, G.O. Smith and Tinsley Lindley but all three were more like forwards than strikers.

Personal choice would be Greaves.

[lanman]

Far from being over, Lawton was perhaps in one of his best spells for England. From May 47, when still at Chelsea (setting a club goal-scoring record) to his last game for England in September '49, he scored in 6 of the 8 England games he played in, scoring 10 goals.

It was the move that spelled the end of his England career. He won his last cap just after dropping down to Notts County.
I don't think anyone would doubt he could have carried on for at least another 4 or 5 years with the national side.

I'm sure I read somewhere that he trained as a physio at Notts County and was paid extra for that.

[lanman]

Two big ones not mentioned are Viv Woodward and Steve Bloomer. Both were massively prolific in the pre-WW1 era.

Woodward had a phenomonal record for both England and England Amateurs, but his domestic record was quite poor in comparison (less than 1 in 2).

[Leeds92]

Woodward had a phenomonal record for both England and England Amateurs, but his domestic record was quite poor in comparison (less than 1 in 2).

Depends on the point of the thread I suppose. As you say at international level he had a record of about 1.3 goals per game.

Are we talking best England international striker or English striker at club level??

At club level without doubt I would pick Shearer even though I couldnt stand him.

[thepowerofsoccer]

Shearer....the best in the most recent era.

[Perú FC]

I'd say Jimmy Greaves over Kevin Keegan or Gary Lineker.

[Antonio81]

Don´t know about pure strikers, but Stanley Matthews for best all-around attacker.

[Big Soccer Member]

Should have been Owen, but remains Greaves.

[Tony Dellbird]

I guess if by striker you mean pure goalscorer, I would say Lineker. He was primarily a poucher. Nothing wrong with that of course, being a great poucher helps win games, plus it takes great skill, instinct and understanding of the game.

Still, if we're talking best all-around player who happened to be a striker, not necesarily just scoring goals, I like Kevin Keegan. I tend to be partial to more complete players, and Keegan had a much more complete overall game. But maybe in terms of definition he fits more into 'forward' than 'striker'.

But probably we should hear from the English fans. I'm sure there are some old timers who might be considered better. Some legendary player from the old days, like maybe Dixie Dean.

Damn right! :p

[The Double]

Steve Bloomer.

................is watching.

[Seaside Mafia]

Don´t know about pure strikers, but Stanley Matthews for best all-around attacker.

Being a Blackpool fan I really should agree with you. However, my understanding from fellow older Pool fans whose views I respect is that Tom Finney was general recognised to be a more versatile and all-round forward than Stan. Backed up to an extent by the fact that Finney scored 30-odd goals for England whereas Stan scored around 10.

My personal favourite would be Alan Shearer around the time of his Blackburn days. I never saw Jimmy Greaves play. Lineker was a swift opportunistic player who scored the same type of goals regularly. In his pomp Shearer was scoring from everywhere. Unfortunately, for me his injuries meant that he didn't really realise his potential at international level.

[schafer]

It's weird to think that Shearer only featured in one World Cup in an 18 year professional career. While Beckham could conceivably play in 4 by the time he retires.

[Antonio81]

Being a Blackpool fan I really should agree with you. However, my understanding from fellow older Pool fans whose views I respect is that Tom Finney was general recognised to be a more versatile and all-round forward than Stan. Backed up to an extent by the fact that Finney scored 30-odd goals for England whereas Stan scored around 10.


Don´t know enough about Finney, but a large part of SM´s career was during World War II, and pre-war (when British teams played very few international matches.) One of the best dribblers of all time (long before the Garrinchas, Libuda, etc.)

[lanman]

Don´t know enough about Finney, but a large part of SM´s career was during World War II, and pre-war (when British teams played very few international matches.) One of the best dribblers of all time (long before the Garrinchas, Libuda, etc.)

Finney also lost a sizeable chunk of his career to WWII - he was 24 before he made his professional debut.

Everything I've seen and heard would indicate Finney to be a better all-round player than Matthews. Matthews was a phenomonal right winger - certainly one of the best ever, but Finney played all five forward positions over his career and excelled on both flanks and centrally. He was also completely at ease using either foot whereas Matthews was almost all right foot.

[DenzilTFF]

I'd say Jimmy Greaves over Kevin Keegan or Gary Lineker.
I don't think Keegan registers on this radar.

I'm too young to have seen Greaves (apart from on Saint & Greavsie), so in my mind it's a tie between Lineker and Shearer - the Shearer before all the knee surgeries anyway.