Manchester United Top Scorers of All Time

If you thought of Wayne Rooney, we should say you’re right; he’s the

top goal scorer ever, and with a narrow margin of 4 goals from the second position occupied by Sir Bobby Charlton.

The truth is that Bobby Charlton was the Manchester United highest goal scorer of all time until 2017 that his record was broken by Wayne Rooney. And as mentioned above, this is just by a narrow margin of 4 goals.

The List of Highest Goal Scorers in Manchester United of All Time

So, who comes after Wayne Rooney and Bobby Charlton on the list of

highest goal scorers in Manchester United of all time?

Read on to know.

Wayne Rooney (253 Goals)

Number one on the list of Manchester United top scorers of all time, Wayne Rooney has scored a total of 253 goals in the 559 appearances that he has made for Manchester United. That actually gets him a goal-to-appearance ratio of 0.45 which means the 34-year-old English forward has scored almost one goal (exactly 0.9) in every 2 appearances that he has made for the Red Devils.

From among all the 253 goals Wayne Rooney has scored for

183 have been scored at league level which actually comprise 72% of all his Man Utd goals. The rest of the goals Rooney has scored for Man Utd (70) have been scored in FA Cup (22), in League Cup (5), in European (39), and in other competitions (4).

Manchester United is the club Rooney has served more than any other club during his career; actually for 13 years from 2004 to 2017 which is 6 times longer than the time he has served other clubs.

And the number of goals Rooney has scored for Manchester United at league level (183) are at least 8 times higher than the number of goals he has scored for other clubs. And the number of appearances he has made for Manchester United (393)? That is 6 to 13 times higher than the number of appearances he has made for other clubs. Rooney also served the English national team from 2008 to 2013 and scored 53 goals in the 120 appearances that he made for them; again almost one goal (exactly 0.88) in every two appearances.

Bobby Charlton (249 Goals)

The all-time top goal scorers in Manchester United history up until 2017, Bobby Charlton is a 83-year-old retired English footballer who has scored 249 goals in the 758 appearances that he has made for Manchester United which actually gets him a goal-to-appearance ratio of 0.33 meaning that the retired English footballer has scored almost 2 goals (exactly 1.98) in every 6 appearances that he has made for the Red Devils.

If it was not for 4 goals that Bobby Charlton is behind Wayne Rooney, he would be now topping the list of

top scorers in Manchester United of all time

. Anyway, that’s that! Even Wayne Rooney’s record might be broken some day by a new star. Manchester United is actually the club Booby Charlton served more than any other club during his career; actually for 17 years between 1956 and 1973.

Bobby Charlton served 3 other English and 2 Australian clubs after he waved goodbye to Manchester United; each one of them for a year or so. So, with that account, Bobby Charlton is better considered as a

Player, not to mention that he’s also a product of Man Utd.

From among all the 249 goals Bobby Charlton has scored for Manchester United 199 have been scored at league level which actually comprise 79% of all his Man Utd goals. The rest of the goals Bobby Charlton has scored for Manchester United (50) have been scored in FA Cup (19), League Cup (7), European (22), and other competitions (2).

The retired English footballer also served his country’s national team between 1958 and 1970 and scored 49 goals in the 106 appearances that he made for them during this time.

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Denis Law (237 Goals)

The first Scottish footballer on the list of Manchester United top scorers of all time, Denis Law is an 80-year-old retired footballer who has scored 237 goals in the 404 appearances that he has made for Manchester United overall.

That actually gets him a goal-to-appearance ratio of 0.58 which means the retired Scottish footballer has scored almost 3 goals (exactly 2.9) in every 5 appearances that he has made for the Red Devils.

From among all the 237 goals Law has scored for Manchester United 171 have been scored at league level which actually comprise 72% of all his Man Utd goals. The rest of the goals Law has scored for Man Utd (66) have been scored in FA Cup (34), League Cup (3), European (28), and other competitions (1). Manchester United is the club Law has served the most; actually for 11 years between 1962 and 1973 which is 3 to 6 times longer than the other clubs he served during his career.

The number of goals Law has scored for

only at league level (171) are 8 to 17 times higher than the goals he has scored for other clubs, and the number of appearances he has made for Man Utd (309)? Something around 4 to 12 times.

Law also served the Scottish national team for quite a time - actually for 16 years between 1958 and 1974 - and during this time he scored 30 goals in the 55 appearances that he made for them which actually gets him the same goal-to-appearance ratio as his Man Utd’s (0.54).

Jack Rowley (211 Goals)

The first passed footballer on the list of

Manchester United top scorers of all time

, Jack Rowley scored 211 goals in the 424 appearances that he made during his career for Manchester United which actually gets him a goal-to-appearance ratio of 0.5 meaning that the passed English footballer scored one goal in every 2 appearances that he made for the Red Devils.

From among all the 211 goals Rowley scored for Manchester United 182 were scored at league level which actually comprise 86% of all his Man Utd Goals. The rest of the goals Rowley scored for Man Utd were scored in FA Cup (26) and in other competitions (3).

Manchester United is the club Rowley served the most during his career; actually for 17 years between 1937 and 1954. And the number of goals Rowley scored for Man Utd at league level are more than 10 times higher than the number of goals he scored for other clubs. The passed English footballer also served the England national team between 1948 and 1952 and scored 6 goals in the 6 appearances that he made for them.

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Dennis Viollet (179 Goals)

Halfway through the list of Manchester United top scorers of all time we reach Dennis Viollet who is actually the second passed English footballer on the list with a total of 179 goals scored for Manchester United in 293 appearances which actually gets him a goal-to-appearance ratio of 0.61 meaning that the passed English footballer scored 3 goals in every 5 appearances that he made for the Red Devils.

Having the second highest goal-to-appearance ratio on the list of

Manchester United top goal scorers ever

, Viollet scored 159 goals for Man Utd at league level which actually comprise 88% of all his 179 Man Utd goals. Viollet was a Manchester United product and also served the Premier League club more than any other club during his career; actually for 9 years at the start of his career between 1953 and 1962.

The second club he served the most was Stoke City, however, the number of goals he scored for Man Utd are 2 times higher than those he scored for

. The passed English footballer also appeared two times for his country’s national team and scored one goal for them in these two appearances.

George Best (179 Goals)

Sharing the fifth position on the list of Manchester United top scorers of all time with Dennis Viollet, George Best is the first Irish and the third passed footballer on the list who scored 179 goals for

during his career.

However, unlike Dennis Viollet, Best scored this number of goals in 470 appearances which actually gets him a goal-to-appearance ratio that is half of Viollet’s: 0.38. That means Best scored almost 2 goals (exactly 1.9) in every 5 appearances rather than 3 that Viollet scored in the same number of appearances.

From among all the 179 goals Best scored for Manchester United 137 were scored at league level which comprise 76% of all his Man Utd goals. The rest of the goals Best scored for Man Utd were scored in FA Cup (21), League Cup (9), European (11), and other competitions.

Best is the first and the only footballer on the list of Manchester United top scorers of all time who served more than 15 club during his career, however, the club that he served the most was Manchester United for whom he played for 11 years between 1963 and 1974 and scored at least six times higher than other clubs. The passed Irish footballer also played for his country’s national team and scored 9 goals in the 37 appearances that he made for them between 1964 and 1977.

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Joe Spence (168 Goals)

And here comes the fourth passed footballer on the list of

Manchester United top scorers of all time

: Joe Spence with 168 goals scored for Manchester United in the 510 appearances that he made for them during his career. That means he gets a goal-to-appearance ratio of 0.33 which in turn means he scored almost one goal (exactly 0.99) in every 3 appearances that he made for the Red Devils.

Spence served Manchester United for 14 years between 1919 and 1933 and during this time scored 158 goals for them at league level which actually comprise 94% of all his Man Utd goals. The 10 remaining goals were scored in FA Cup.

The number of goals Spence scored for Manchester United at league level (158) are between 6 to 16 times higher than the number of goals he scored for the two other clubs he served during his career, namely

and Chesterfield for whom he scored 27 and 10 goals respectively. Spence also made two appearances for his country's national team in 1926 and scored one goal for them.

Ryan Giggs (168 Goals)

The first Welsh footballer on the list of Manchester United top scorers of all time who shares the 6th position on the list with Joe Spence, Ryan Giggs has scored 168 goals in the 963 appearances that he has made for Manchester United between 1990 and 2014.

That actually gets him a goal-to-appearance ratio of 0.17 which is also the lowest on the list and means that the retired Welsh footballer has scored a little bit more than one goal (exactly 1.02) in every 6 appearances that he has made for the Red Devils.

From among all the 168 goals Giggs has scored for Manchester United 114 have been scored at league level which actually comprise 67% of all his Man Utd goals. The rest of the goals Giggs has scored for Man Utd have been scored in FA Cup (12), League Cup (12), European (29), and other competitions (1).

Giggs is the first footballer on the list of

top scorers in Manchester United of all time

who is both a product of Manchester United and has played all his career for them. He’s also on the list of

with the 672 appearances that he has made for the Red Devils at league level (11th position).

The 46-year-old retired Welsh footballer has also served his country’s national team between 1991 and 2007 and has scored 12 goals in the 64 appearances that he has made for them.

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Mark Hughes (163 Goals)

The second Welsh footballer on the list of Manchester United top scorers of all time and also the first footballer on the list to have served Manchester United in two time periods, Mark Hughes has scored 163 goals in the 467 appearances that he has made for Manchester United between 1983 and 1986 and 1988 and 1995 - a total of 10 years.

That actually gets him a goal-to-appearance ratio of 0.35 which means the retired Welsh footballer has scored a little bit more than one goal (exactly 1.05) in every 3 appearances that he has made for the Red Devils.

Other than Manchester United Hughes has served other top clubs such as Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Southampton during his career, however, the number of goals he has scored for Manchester United at league level (120) are almost five times higher than the number of goals he scored for the second club he scored the most goals for, namely

 for whom he scored 25 goals during his career, and 20 or more times higher than the other clubs mentioned above.

As mentioned above, from among all the 163 goals Hughes has scored for Manchester United 120 have been scored at league level which actually comprise 73% of all his Man Utd goals. The rest of the goals Hughes has scored for Man Utd have been scored in FA Cup (17), League Cup (16), European (9), and other competitions (1). The 56-year-old retired Welsh footballer also served his country’s national team between 1984 and 1999 and scored 16 goals in the 72 appearances that he made for them.

Paul Scholes (155 Goals)

The second footballer on the list of

Manchester United top scorers of all time

to have served the Premier League club in two time periods, Paul Scholes is a retired English footballer who has scored 155 goals in the 718 appearances that he has made for Manchester United between 1993 and 2011 and 2012 and 2013.

That actually gets him a goal-to-appearance ratio of 0.22 - the second lowest on the list - which means the retired English footballer has scored a little bit more than one goal (exactly 1.1) in every 5 appearances that he has made for the Red Devils.

Scholes is in one respect like Ryan Giggs and in another respect like Mark Hughes. He’s like Ryan Giggs because he’s a product of Manchester United and has only played for them during his career, and he’s like Mark Hughes because he has served the Premier League club in two time periods. You might ask how this is possible that a player has served only one club and in two time periods. Didn’t he serve any other club in between the time he served Man Utd?

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Our answer to the first question is yes and to the second no. Scholes actually wanted to retire in 2011 after 18 years of service to

, however, he changed his mind after a season, and served Man Utd for another season, namely 2012-13 season, and then he retired. This is how it is possible that a player has served only one club and in two time periods.

And how many goals has Scholes scored for Manchester United at league level? 107 which actually comprise 69% of all his Man Utd goals. The rest of the goals Scholes has scored for Man Utd have been scored in FA Cup (13), League Cup (9), and European competitions (26). The 45-year-old retired Enlgish footballer has also played for the English national team between 1997 and 2004 and has scored 14 goals in the 66 appearances that he has made for them.

The List of Manchester United Top Scorers of All Time Does Not End Here

Surely the list of

all-time top goal scorers in Manchester United history

does not end here. There are other great players like

, David Beckham, and Eric Contona who deserve to be mentioned here, but since it’s out of our readers’ patience to continue the post in the above fashion we have to cut it short here, and just mentioned these great players and also some other Man Utd top scorers in the list below.

• Ruud van Nistelrooy, Goals: 150, Apps: 219, Ratio: 0.68, Ntl: Dutch

• Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Goals: 127, Apps: 365, Ratio: 0.34, Ntl: Norwegian

• Andy Cole, Goals: 121, Apps: 274, Ratio: 0.44, Ntl: English-Jamaican

• Cristiano Ronaldo, Goals: 118, Apps: 292, Ratio: 0.4, Ntl: Portuguese

• David Beckham, Goals: 85, Apps: 387, Ratio: 0.21, Ntl: English

• David Herd, Goals: 83, Apps: 146, Ratio: 0.56, Ntl: Scottish

• Eric Cantona, Goals: 81, Apps: 179, Ratio: 0.45, Ntl: French

• Marcus Rashford, Goals: 71, Apps: 221, Ratio: 0.32, Ntl: English

• Anthony Martial, Goals: 71, Apps: 226, Ratio: 0.31, Ntl: French

• Dwight Yorke, Goals: 65, Apps: 152, Ratio: 0.42, Ntl: English-Trinidadian-Tobagonian

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