Top 10 Footballers With the Most Headed Goals in Premier League History

More than any other place in the football-loving world, England is known for its love and appreciation of aerial play. So the metric of top 10 footballers with the most headed goals in Premier League history is both important and interesting. While you might think that the number one spot is a lock for the regular suspect, you’ll be mistaken. The number one PL all-time scorer had to watch this record of his slip from his grasp after retirement.

And of course, we’re looking at the top 10 footballers with the most headed goals in Premier League history since its inception in 1992. With the first two players sharing the number 10 spot.

#10 Christian Benteke (Aston Villa, Liverpool, Crystal Palace) – 31 headed goals

One of the few still active players on this list of top 10 footballers with the most headed goals in the Premier League. Yet, like the other two as well, Christian Benteke isn't a part of the league anymore. Benteke scored 86 total PL goals, so the header rate is at 36% of his overall goals! Even though he didn't satisfy at Liverpool, the Belgian international scored a headed goal every ninth match on average throughout his league campaign. Aged 33 in 2023, it's hard to imagine Benteke returning to the PL from the MLS to improve his record.

#10 Tim Cahill (Everton) - 31 headed goals

The Aussie who was synonymous with aerial duels and headers during his time, despite being the joint-shortest man on this list of top 10 footballers with the most headed goals. Standing at 178 centimetres, Tim Cahill had quite the leap in order to beat the Premier League defenders, and not just for goals, as he was a target man in David Moyes's Everton, bringing the long balls down. He has the biggest percentage of headed goals with 56 goals scored total, making headers 55.3% of them! With a headed goal every 7.2 games, the high-jumping Aussie could be the biggest heading specialist in PL history!

#9 Olivier Giroud (Arsenal, Chelsea) – 32 headed goals

Not only did Olivier Giroud score a bunch of headed goals in the Premier League - he did it without ruining his styled hair. Giroud is the second of the still active players on this list due to his efforts at the London clubs, Arsenal and Chelsea. The Frenchman scored 90 Premier League goals overall, meaning that more than a third of them have come with his head. He has a great record of headed goals per game, as he needed just 7.9 matches to shake the net with his forehead. Giroud is also one of the tallest of this bunch of top 10 footballers with the most headed goals, standing at 192 cms.

#8 Teddy Sheringham (Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, West Ham United, Portsmouth, Nottingham Forest) – 36 headed goals

Tottenham Hotspur icon, Teddy Sheringham played a lot of games in the Premier League, 418, and every 11.6 of them on average, he would score with his head. Of his total 146 goals in the league, he scored nearly a quarter of them with his head - 24.6%! Sheringham appears on other pages of the Premier League record book, most notably as the oldest player to score in a PL match While also being 13th on the PL all-time goalscoring list.

#7 Duncan Ferguson (Everton, Newcastle United) – 36 headed goals

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The Everton legend has been quite prolific with his head, scoring 52.9% of his total Premier League goals after a neck twitch towards the net. Duncan scored with his head every 7.4 games he played for the Toffees and Magpies combined. Second-tallest of this bunch of Premier League top 10 footballers with the most headed goals at 193 centimetres, the Scottish striker can be primarily called an aerial threat.

#6 Dwight Yorke (Aston Villa, Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers, Sunderland, Birmingham City) – 38 headed goals

One of the biggest Premier League striking cult figures, the Trinidad and Tobago international scored 123 goals in his 375 league matches! He shares his height with Tim Cahill, at 178 centimetres tall, being yet another of these top 10 footballers with the most headed goals with a shorter height! Yorke's scored 30.8% of his total PL goals with his head, and on average scored a header every 9.8 matches.

#5 Les Ferdinand (Tottenham Hotspur, Queens Park Rangers, Newcastle United, Leicester City, West Ham United, Bolton Wanderers) – 40 headed goals

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With 349 games and 149 goals, Les Ferdinand is an icon of his era of the Premier League. Being in the league from before the rebrand in 1992, and playing until 2005, Les proved to be a prolific goalscorer. With 26.8% of his PL goals coming by scoring with his head. While he is another player who proved that you don't need to be tall to do it well, even at the highest level, as he was 180 cms tall. Scoring a header every 8.7 matches on average.

#4 Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur, Norwich City) - 40 headed goals

When the best English player of the last five years (maybe even the full 10) packed up his bag and left for Germany, the main talking point was him turning his back to potentially winning the all-time Premier League goalscoring record. Yet Harry Kane left with one minor record at his immediate grasp as he is near the very top with 40 PL goals scored by heading. But Kane will have to satisfy himself with the top five ranking spot - for now at least, as there is a chance of his eventual return to the shores of England.

Kane played 320 Premier League matches, mostly all for THFC, with three matches in the yellow shirt of Norwich City. Hence he has the better headed goal per game ratio than the number one. Harry scored a goal with his head every eight game he played, on average. But he will not be remembered for his aerial ability due to his overall well-rounded game. However, a feat of 40 goals scored with headers shouldn't go unrecognized. Kane also scored nine headed goals in the Premier League in the 2022/2023 season, equalling Duncan Ferguson's single-season record in the competition from the 1997/1998 campaign.

#3 Dion Dublin (Manchester United, Coventry City, Aston Villa) - 45 headed goals

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Starting his career as the Premier League started off as well with its current format, Dion Dublin is one of the few former Aston Villa players on this list of top 10 footballers with the most headed goals. Standing 188 centimetres tall, Dublin scored 40.9% of his 110 total goals with his head! Having played 312 games in the league, 155 for Villa, 145 for Coventry, and 12 for United, Dublin has the best headed goal-to-game ratio of these players with a successful header every 6.9 matches.

#2 Alan Shearer (Newcastle United, Blackburn Rovers) – 46 headed goals

Known for his aerial ability, the best sharpshooter the Premier League has ever seen, yet the number one spot in the heading department slipped away from his reign. Yet, no one could be mad at the lad holding the title now. Alan Shearer famously scored 260 goals in the Premier League, so 17.6% of those came by heading! If not for the sheer numbers, Shearer still might be the king when it comes to the number of beautiful-headed goals scored. As the boy from Newcastle launched himself in the box time and time again.

With 441 Premier League games played, Shearer punished his hairline for a good reason every 9.5 matches by scoring a header. Considering he is only 183 centimetres tall, unlike the giant who took his spot, Shearer still probably holds the claim for the best technique on heading.

#1 Peter Crouch (Stoke City, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, Portsmouth, Aston Villa, Southampton, Burnley) - 40 headed goals

Of course that he is, the man who was laughed on at every pitch across Britain when he was starting went on to become the best at what his countrymen appreciate more than others - headers. The number one spot for the 10 footballers with the most headed goals in Premier League history belongs to Peter Crouch! Even if he was a couple of goals behind, it would be hard not to cheat a bit and place the loveable lanky striker up front. Crouch has marked the 21st-century era of aerial attack in Britain, and it wasn’t just the illusion of his height, the numbers back it up.

Crouch has been a bit of a nomad in his playing career, as clubs were keen to hire such a character as it assured no downside in the locker room. Hence, seven total Premier League clubs and 467 games for them. Meaning Crouchy scored a header every 8.8 matches. More impressively, headers account for nearly 50% of his total Premier League, as his overall tally is 108 goals in the English top flight. Overall, it might not be strange that a two-metre and one-centimetre-tall striker is the best heading goalscorer in Premier League history. But it wasn’t a given for Crouch. He learned to play to his strengths.