Top 10 highest Premier League goalscorers of all time
The Premier League was born on 20 February 1992, following the decision of clubs in the Football League First Division to break away from the Football League and take advantage of a lucrative television rights deal. This deal is now worth in the region of £1 billion a year domestically as of 2013-14, with BSkyB and BT Group securing rights to broadcast 116 games and 38 games respectively.
In the first three Premier League seasons, the league consisted of 22 clubs, meaning that 42 games were played in a single campaign. The number of teams in the league was eventually reduced to 20 clubs (38 games) for the start of the 1995/96 season and has remained the same ever since.
This means that the players who featured in the Premier League from 1992 through to 1995 have a slight advantage over those who began after the league capacity reduction, as they would have played 42 games in a season, whereas those that began after can only play 38.
With that being said, let's take a look at ten of the Premier League's all-time top goalscorers.
All figures via Premier League
All transfer data via Transfermarkt profiles
#10 Teddy Sheringham - 146 goals
A prospect of Millwall's youth academy, Teddy Sheringham went on to become an elite striker, scoring for sheer fun in the top tier of English football.
He was often utilised as a target man, as he had the ability to set up just as many goals as he could score. Sheringham's career peaked during his time spent at teams like Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United. His performances remained consistent up until his retirement in 2007.
The first time Sheringham featured in the Premier League was at age 25, whilst playing for Nottingham Forest. The year was 1992 and the Premier League had just been formed. He only made three appearances for Forest, however, before being sold to Tottenham Hotspur for £2.84m at the end of his first season.
It was here at Spurs, though, where Sheringham really came into his own. Across the five seasons, Sheringham was with the club, he featured in a total of 166 matches, and scored a respectable 75.
These performances caught the eye of Manchester United boss, Sir Alex Ferguson, who signed the 31-year-old for £4.7m in 1997. He spent four seasons at Old Trafford and scored just 31 goals in 134 appearances, which is well under par for a player of his ability.
From here, Teddy Sheringham's career began a gradual decline in terms of goals scored. He returned to Spurs on a free transfer in 2001, and spent two seasons with the club, scoring 22 times in 70 matches. Another free transfer saw him turn up at Fratton Park, where he scored nine in 32.
At the end of that season, Sheringham was signed on a free yet again, this time by West Ham. He scored just eight goals in 43 appearances, before retiring aged 41.