West Ham United Top Scorers of All Time
West Ham United has a long history. In fact, the club was founded in 1895 and as Thames Ironworks which later in 1900 was changed to West Ham United. In this post, we are to West Ham top scorers history, of course, based on West Ham records.
Before anything else, we should say that none of West Ham United top scorers of all time are among
Premier League top scorers
. As you might know, the first three Premier League top scorers are Alan Shearer, Wayne Rooney, and Andy Cole who never played for West Ham during their careers. Also the rest of the list of Premier League top scorers doesn’t include any of the West Ham United top scorers of all time.
And about
West Ham top Premier League scorers in 2020/21
season we should say they are Tomas Soucek, Michail Antonio, and Jesse Lingard with 10, 10, and 9 goals respectively. What you shouldn’t expect, of course, is that West Ham top Premier League scorers in 2020/21 season or even in earlier seasons up to this date are among West Ham United top scorers of all time since the latter have scored much much more goals.
A List of West Ham United Top Scorers of All Time
Well, let’s see what West Ham top scorers history is, indeed, based on West Ham records. What is quite interesting about the list of West Ham United top scorers of all time is that no footballer on the list actually belongs to 21st century’s football - we mean the career of all the footballers on the list ended before the start of the new century.
Vic Watson (326 Goals)
Number one on the list of
West Ham United top scorers of all time
, Vic Watson is a passed English footballer who served three English clubs, namely Wellingborough Town, West Ham United, and Southampton, during his career with West Ham United being actually the club he served for a major part of his career; actually for 15 years between 1920 and 1935 during which he managed to score 326 goals in the 505 appearances that he made for the club - almost two goals (exactly 1.92) in every three appearances. From all these 326 goals 298 were scored at league level and 28 in FA Cup, and again from all the 298 league goals Watson scored for West Ham 208 were scored at the then top tier of the English league system, Division 1.
While with West Ham, Watson managed to score 13 hat-tricks for the English club with three of them being actually four-goal hat-tricks and one of them a six-goal one: The six goals he scored in a match against
Leeds Unitedin February 1929 that ended in his sides’s 8-2 victory. In the final season of his career (1935-36), Watson served Southampton and with the 14 goals he scored in 36 appearances he actually became the club’s top scorer in the same season. And he also served the English national team sometime between 1923 and 1930 making 5 appearances and scoring 4 goals for them in the process. Watson was indeed a prolific goalscorer but he never won a club trophy with West Ham or the other two clubs he served during his career despite all the goals he scored for them.
Geoff Hurst (252 Goals)
Sir Geoffrey Charles Hurst, simply known as Geoff Hurst in the world of football, is an 80-year-old former English footballer who served six clubs during his career including
West Ham Unitedwhom he served for a major part of his career; actually for 14 years at the start of his career and between 1958 and 1972. During this time, Hurst managed to score a total of 242 goals in 500 appearances for the Hammers - almost one goal (exactly 0.96) in every two appearances.
From all the 242 goals Hurst scored for West Ham 180 (74%) were scored at league level, 23 (9%) in FA Cup, 36 (16%) in League Cup, and 3 (1%) in other competitions. Hurst also made 49 appearances and scored 24 goals for the English national team between 1966 and 1972. Although Hurst was not a key player in the English national team in 1966 FIFA World Cup that was actually won by the same team - their only World Cup win, he scored a hat-trick for them against Germany in the final of the same competition which ended in England’s 4-2 win, and by doing so he actually became the only footballer to have scored a hat-trick in a World Cup final; what no other footballer, even the legendary ones, could achieve or have achieved yet. And unlike Watson who didn’t win a single club trophy during his career, Hurst won three club trophies with West Ham plus that he also earned a handful of individual honors including three West Ham United Hammer of the Year awards in 1965-66, 1966-67 and 1968-69 seasons.
John Dick (166 Goals)
The only non-English footballer on the list of West Ham United top scorers of all time, John Dick is a passed Scottish footballer who served West Ham United for 9 years between 1953 and 1962 making 326 appearances and scoring 153 goals for the English club in the process. That means almost one goal in every two appearances, and by that account, you can call Dick a prolific goalscorer at least for West Ham United. To tell you the truth, that prolific goalscoring also continued in the 3 final years of Dick’s career as he scored 45 goals in 72 appearances for
Brentford- 1.2 goals in every two appearances. It might be interesting for you to know that despite his goalscoring talent, Dick was not a Scotland’s first-team forward, on the contrary, he made only one appearance for his country’s national team and in 1959. The only club trophy Dick won during his career was a Football League Fourth Division title with Brentford. He died in September 2000 at the age of 70.
Jimmy Ruffell (166 Goals)
Having scored just as many goals as John Dick (166), Jimmy Ruffell is a passed English footballer who played for West Ham United for almost all his career; actually from 1920 to 1937 during which he managed to score 166 goals in 548 appearances for the English club which translates to almost one goal (exactly 0.9) in every three appearances. The interesting fact about this top scorer is that he didn’t score a single goal for West Ham in 1921-22, 1932-33, and 1936-37 seasons despite his role as a forward or winger, however, he became the club’s top scorer in 1927-28 and 1934-35 seasons. Also with that number of appearances (548), Ruffell held the record for the most number of appearances made for West Ham United, of course, up until 1973 that his record was broken by Bobby Moore. He also made six appearances for the English national team between 1926 and 1929 but didn’t score a goal for them. Ruffell died in September 1989 at the age of 89.
Tony Cottee (146 Goals)
One of the two players on the list of
West Ham United top scorers of all time
to have served West Ham in two time periods, Tony Cottee is a 56-year-old retired English footballer who played for West Ham for 9 years and, as mentioned above, in two time periods: Once from 1982 to 1988 and another time from 1994 to 1997. He actually served West Ham more than any other club during his career and managed to score 145 goals for them in 335 appearances across all competitions which translates to 2.15 goals in every 5 appearances averagely.
Cottee is not a very decorated footballer at all and despite the fact that he served West Ham more than any other club during his career, he didn’t win a single club trophy with them. He has only two club trophies to his name, namely the League Cup he won with Leicester City in 2000 and the Malaysia FA Cup with the Malaysian club,
Selangor, in 1997, and one individual award which is the PFA Young Player of the Year award he won in 1985-86 season. They say Cottee had a milestone of scoring more than 200 goals for himself which he actually reached by scoring 293 goals during his career, however, he just fell short 7 goals of the next milestone of 300 goals he had in mind.
Johnny Byrne (107 Goals)
Delving more into
West Ham top scorers history
, we reach another passed footballer who actually died in October 1999 at the age of 60: Johnny Byrne. Unlike other footballers already mentioned on the list who actually served West Ham United more than any other club during their careers, Byrne did not do so. Although he served West Ham for 5 years during his career, it was Crystal Palace that he served the most; actually for seven years, however, still West Ham is the second club he served the most, as you see, and during the time he served them, he actually managed to score 79 goals in 156 league appearances for them which translates to one goal in every two appearances.
The 1963-64 season was actually the season Byrne bloomed with the Hammers: He not only won an FA Cup with the club and was named Hammer of the Year putting Bobby Moore behind who finished second in the contest but also became the club’s top scorer with the 33 goals he scored in 45 appearances in the same season, this time beating Geoff Hurst who only managed to score 25 goals in 50 appearances across all competitions. Another thing to note about Byrne is that the fee he was transferred to West Ham for in 1962 (£65,000) was a second division British record transfer fee at the time. The passed English footballer also made 11 appearances and scored 8 goals for the
English national teambetween 1961 and 1965, however, due to an argument with the former England favorite, Don Howe, on the pitch, he was not included in the English national team who won 1962 World Cup.
Pop Robson (104 Goals)
The second top scorer on the list of West Ham United top scorers of all time to have served the English club in two time periods, Pop Robson is a 76-year-old retired English footballer who served West Ham for six years; once from 1971 to 1974 and another time from 1976 to 1979. Although West Ham is not the club Robson served the most - Newcastle is that club whom were actually served by him for 9 years between 1962 and 1971, he made the most number appearances and scored the most number of goals for, at least at league level, during his career: He scored a total of 94 goals in 227 appearances - 2.05 goals in every five appearances - for West Ham, while for Newcastle which is actually the club he served the most during his career, he scored 82 goals in 206 appearances.
Things worth mentioning considering Robson’s time with the Hammers are his at-the-time record transfer fee of £120,000 for which he was transferred from Newcastle United to West Ham in 1971 and that he became the club’s top scorer in two seasons out of six that he served them.
Trevor Brooking (102 Goals)
One of the only two midfielders on the list of
West Ham United top scorers of all time
, Trevor Brooking is a 73-year-old retired English footballer who served West Ham United for almost all his career. In fact, if he didn’t make a handful of appearances between 1984 and 1985 for some lower-tier British clubs, we could say he had served West Ham for all his career. Trevor is a West Ham product who actually served them between 1966 and 1984 making a total of 647 appearances and scoring 102 goals for them in the process - a little bit more than one goal (exactly 1.05) in every seven appearances which is not bad for a midfielder.
Brooking won two editions of FA Cup, namely the 1975 and 1980 editions, with West Ham scoring a vital goal against Arsenal in the final of latter edition which ended in West Ham’s 1-0 win. The 73-year-old retired English footballer was part of the West Ham team who won the Second Division title in 1981 and was also named Hammer of the Year - West Ham United Player of the Year, in fact - in 1972.
Malcolm Musgrove (100 Goals)
Another passed footballer on the list of West Ham United top scorers of all time, Malcolm Musgrove served only two clubs during his career: West Ham United and
Leyton Orient. He actually served West Ham sometime between 1953 and 1962 when they competed in Division 2, the fourth tier of English football league system. Malcolm played as a left winger and during his service to West Ham he managed to score 84 goals in 283 league appearances for them which translates to 1.16 goals in every four appearances. He never served the English national team and with West Ham he only managed to win one Second Division title in 1957-58 season. Malcolm died in September 2007 at the age of 74.
Martin Peters (100 Goals)
Having scored exactly the same number of goals for West Ham as Malcolm Musgrove’s, Martin Peters is also a passed footballer who died December 2019 at the age of 76. He played as a midfielder and served West Ham at the start of his career and actually more than any other club during his career: For 11 years between 1959 and 1970 during which he made a total of 302 appearances and scored 81 goals for them only at league level which translates to 1.04 goals in every four appearances. Unlike Musgrove, Peters has a little bit more club trophies to his name which includes a European Cup-Winners' Cup with West Ham in 1964-65 season and two League Cup trophies in 1970-71 and 1972-73 seasons and one Anglo-Italian League Cup in 1971 with Tottenham Hotspur.
Peters was also part of the English national team who won their only FIFA World Cup trophy in 1966. He actually made a total of 67 appearances and scored 20 goals for England during his international career - as you see, his goalscoring record with the English national team was better than that of his club with almost one goal in every three appearances - and was also part of the English national team who were eliminated in 1974 World Cup quarter-finals by West Germany - they lost 3-2 to the Germans in extra time.
Other Considerations about the List of West Ham United Top Scorers of All Time
Well, up to here, we introduced footballers in West Ham history who actually scored for the club in one of the four top tiers of the English football league system. But to tell you the truth, based on
West Ham records
, there are also footballers who scored for the club either in war time - we mean WWII - actually in no competitive match or between 1908 and 1948 that the club competed in South League Division One and Two - the seventh and eighth tiers of the English football league system. These goals are of lesser importance compared to the ones scored in higher tiers whose scorers were mentioned in this post, however, if you would like to know who scored these goals and how many of them, here is a list of them:
George Foreman, Pos: forward, Ntl: English, West Ham Career: From 1939 to 1946, Goals: 188, War-Time Goals: 187, Other Goals: 1
Danny Shea, Pos: forward, Ntl: English, West Ham Career: From 1908 to 1913 and in 1920-21 season, Goals: 186, War-Time Goals: 64, South League Goals: 121, Other Goals: 1
Billy Grassam, Pos: forward, Ntl: Scottish, West Ham Career: From 1900 to 1903 and from 1906 to 1909, Goals: 68, South League Goals: 68
Dick Leafe, Pos: forward, Ntl: Englsih, West Ham Career: From 1913 to 1922, Goals: 44, South League Goals: 37, Other Goals: 7
Harry Stapley, Pos: forward, Ntl: English, West Ham Career: From 1905 to 1908, Goals: 41, South League Goals: 41
Herbert Ashton, Pos: winger, Ntl: English, West Ham Career: From 1908 to 1918, Goals: 36, War-Time Goals: 11, South League Goals: 25
George Hilsdon, Pos: forward, Ntl: English, West Ham Career: In 1904-05 season and from 1912 to 1915, Goals: 35, South League Goals: 35
George Webb, Pos: forward, Ntl: English, West Ham Career: From 1908 to 1912, Goals: 32, South League Goals: 32
Fred Blackburn, Pos: midfielder and forward, West Ham Career: From 1905 to 1913, Goals: 28, South League Goals: 28
Richard Dunn, Pos: forward, Ntl: English, West Ham Career: From 1939 to 1948, Goals: 28, War-Time Goals: 26, Other Goals: 2
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