Who are the top 5 Newcastle United strikers of all time?

Posted on May 25th, 2020 | 3 Comments |

Toon flag.
Newcastle United: A long history of great centre forwards.
With the long pause in Premier League action, I thought it might be a good time to go down memory lane and look at some of our favourite players from times past, so I have decided to list five of the top strikers in Newcastle United’s history. All the players selected played at least 150 games for the Magpies at the highest level, which means that great, but more fleeting Newcastle centre forwards such as Albert Shepherd, Albert Stubbins, Andy Cole, Les Ferdinand etc have not been included. The players are listed in chronological order, starting with the most recent players and going backwards in time.

This may not be the best time for football fans with stadiums across the world closing down. Some countries have opened out the stadiums to players only which is great for players but devastating for fans. There have been reports of cutouts of people and even sex dolls being used to fill up the vacant seats. In an unprecedented situation like this, there is probably only one option to relive the stadium experience – go online. FIFA Ultimate QuaranTeam tournament has been getting a lot of interest lately and definitely worth your football energy. Meanwhile, here is my choice of our top strikers of all time.

Alan Shearer

Alan Shearer

He’s listed in FIFA’s 100 World’s Greatest Living Players in 2004 by Pele and was an automatic selection for the England team until he retired from international football after the Euro 2000 tournament. Even after over 14 years of retirement, with 260 goals, he remains the Premier League’s record goalscorer and the winner of three Premier League ‘Golden Boot’ awards, a feat only bettered by Thierry Henry with four.

Shearer spent 10 seasons at Newcastle United between 1996 and 2006, making 404 appearences and scoring 206 goals, an all time club record though some Jackie Milburn fans might point out that Milburn actually scored a few more in black and white if you count his goals in the Wartime League. Despite his best endeavours, alas, Shearer never won a major trophy at St James’ Park.

Malcolm MacDonald

Malcolm Macdonald

After arriving from Fulham in a white Rolls Royce, ‘Supermac’ established himself as a big fan favourite immediately after scoring a hat-trick on his Magpies debut before being carried off injured. MacDonald went on to make a total of 257 appearences in black and white, scoring 138 goals before being sold to Arsenal after five seasons at the club. One of MacDonald’s achievements outside of Newcastle United was to score five goals in one game for England against Cyprus.

Sadly, MacDonald’s career as a player was eventually curtailed by injury and he retired from playing at 30. Like Shearer, MacDonald didn’t win any major trophies during his spell on Tyneside, however, he did win ‘back to back’ Texaco Cups with the Toon in 1974 and 75 before it became the Anglo-Scottish Cup.

Len White

Len White

Originally an understudy to the great Jackie Milburn, Len White still stands in his shadow which is totally unfair as White was also a truly great Centre Forward who more than deserves to be in this list alongside his former team mate.

White is still the third highest goalscorer in the club’s history behind Shearer and Milburn, with a record of 153 goals in 269 appearences between 1953 and 1962, his scoring rate was at least as good as that of Shearer, Milburn and MacDonald, though not Hughie Gallacher (below). Along with Milburn, he was a part of the 1955 FA Cup winning side.

Jackie Milburn

Jackie Milburn

A much loved figure on Tyneside, not just for his goals but for his modest, self effacing manner and unstinting loyalty in a Newcastle career which started in 1943 and lasted 14 seasons until he went to spend the twilight of his career as a player-manager at Irish side, Linfield.

Originally an inside forward in his early years, it was the vision of new manager, George Martin, which saw him moved over to the centre forward position. Even though his first few seasons at the club were during the time of the Wartime League and his goals from this time were not counted, Milburn was still Newcastle United’s all time record goalscorer for many years with a record of 200 goals in 397 appearences. If you include his wartime games though, his overall Newcastle United record would be 239 goals in 494 appearences, which was still higher than Alan Shearer’s total of 206. In his time at the club, Milburn picked up three FA Cup winners’ medals in 1951, 1952 and 1955, scoring both of Newcastle United’s two goals in the 1951 final and another in the 1955 final.

Hughie Gallacher

Hughie Gallacher

Diminutive Scottish striker, Hughie Gallacher (he was 5’5″), joined Newcastle United in 1925 and like MacDonald, immediately made an impact, scoring two goals in his Newcastle debut. Of all the players on this list, Gallacher was the most prodigious scorer on a game by game basis, scoring 143 goals in only 174 appearences before he was sold to Chelsea in 1930. Whilst Shearer could claim that kind of scoring rate when he was at Blackburn Rovers, as great as his record was on Tyneside, he couldn’t beat ‘Wee Hughie.’ He was such a threat to opposing teams that there are stories of him sitting in the dressing room with bruises, serious wounds and boots soaked in blood. Under his captaincy, Newcastle United won the League Championship for the first time in nearly 20 years in 1927. He ended up marrying the daughter of his favourite pub’s landlord. His death, suicide by jumping in front of a train in Gateshead, was as dramatic as his life.

NUFCBlog Author: workyticket workyticket has written 1093 articles on this blog.

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3 Responses

  1. Great to see my favourite, Len White in the list. He is so often overlooked, but was so good and a great servant to the club, until he was hacked down by a Spurs clogger!!