The 20-Goal Strikers

Of course, the main man in terms of goals was Gareth Ainsworth. It’s why I went back to 96/97 because that was the last time we had a striker I felt was feared. That does another man a disservice, as I’ll explain shortly, but in 1996/97, Gareth Ainsworth bagged 22 goals. He did so from 45 starts, giving him a ratio of 0.49 goals per game, or roughly one in two. However, of those goals, three were penalties, meaning he netted 19 times from open play – impressive.

In 2004/05, another man broke the 20-goal mark, Simon Yeo, and he was feared. He did so whilst also seeing Gary Taylor-Fletcher get among the goals, which makes his record more impressive. Also, Yeo started 38 matches that season, meaning he had an average of 0.55 goals per game, better than Ainsworth. Again, three of those goals were penalties.

The only other man to reach 20 in a season, in league fixtures, was Matt Rhead in 2015/16. Of course, that’s in non-league, rather than the Football League, but it’s still an impressive achievement. Again, there were a number of penalties in there, five in total. I’m not putting down penalties, but they can bulk up a striker’s tally. It would be unfair to label a player with 15 goals and five penalties a 20-goal striker, but then ignore a player like Taylor-Fletcher, who scored 16 times in 2003/04 and was not on penalties.