In football a header is not easy thing to do. It takes timing and power and position sense. But there are some players who will just be naturally gifted in the air. If there is a good cross in, they will know exactly where to be and how to head the ball with their head. We have seen some brutal strikers ( or defense players ) that made heading the ball seem like a walk in the park.
The Premier League and it’s talented players have scored plenty of goals with their heads. Who is the top scorer? Which player has scored the most headed Premier League goals?
In this article we will cover the top players who had the most headed goals. Also you will get a bit of background on them, their clubs and what made them so dangerous in the air.
Let’s get into it!
10 Players Who Scored Most Headed Goals In Premier League History
1.Peter Crouch
Peter Crouch’s incredible aerial consistency in the Premier League has never gone unnoticed. Meanwhile his height has also contributed to his ability to score headed goals.
Crouch started off at Queens Park Rangers in 1998 but it was his move to Aston Villa in 2002 that led him to achieve a place in the elite ranks of English football.
While he wasn’t the greatest player who ever went from being a huge star to a real threat to be reckoned with, the goals he made during his loan spell at Portsmouth were a testament to this high standard and he enjoyed a remarkable season of scoring 18 goals in all competitions.
In 2005 Liverpool signed Crouch for £7 million. Crouch scored 13 goals in the league (including notable headers in European competition), before returning briefly to Portsmouth in 2008 and then going to Tottenham Hotspur in 2009 where he scored 8 times for Spurs.
However, it was at Stoke City that Crouch made his name for his legendary heading ability, he bagged 53 headed goals in the Premier League in his time at the club.
Premier League Stats
Appearance: 468
Goals: 108
Goals per match: 0.23
Headed goals: 53
Goals with right foot: 34
Goals with left foot: 7
Assists: 58
2.Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer’s name is synonymous with goals, and having spent most of his career playing in the Premier League solidified his status as one of the greatest strikers in British football history.
Shearer started off his Premier League career with Southampton, where he was touted at every level (below), then moved to Blackburn Rovers for then-season’s biggest transfer ever (an unprecedented £3. 6 million).
His club debut came in their 1994–95 campaign, a season during which Shearer scored 34 goals as Blackburn came out on top in the Premier League (which is one of Blackburn’s greatest achievements).
In 1996, Shearer made a high-profile move to Newcastle United for a British record £15 million; while he spent most of his career at Newcastle he became the club’s all-time leading goalscorer with 148 Premier League goals.
Shearer became a regular for Newcastle, often using his aerial game to his advantage, often scoring from close range. By 2006 he had scored 46 headed goals, often from headiness, largely because of his dominant position in the box.
His career stats of 260 Premier League goals remain unbeaten.
Premier League Stats
Appearances: 441
Goals per match: 0.59
Headed goals: 46
Goals: 260
Assists: 64
3. Dion Dublin.
Dion Dublin’s playing career is perfect example of the virtues of the aerial player; he started his career at Cambridge United, before moving on to Manchester United in 1992.
Although his first spell at a Manchester United was brief, it set the course for his successful career that followed. Next up was Crystal Palace, where his early goals began to pay off. However, the highlight of his career came when he joined Aston Villa in 1994.
At Aston Villa, this was no longer a problem because there was an added bonus of having great headers. In all, he scored 50 goals during his time at Aston Villa (which is a great number by any standards). He then moved on to Coventry City in 1998 and had several very successful seasons there.
At Coventry he was both a fantastic goal-scorer and also a tremendous influence on the play. He was really physically strong and as a result very good at timing his effort in the air. He made 45 headed goals in the Premier League.
After leaving Coventry, Dublin spent time at Millwall and Leicester City, but it was in the Premier League that his reputation as a deadly header of the ball began to be built.
Premier League Stats
Appearance: 312
Goals: 111
Goals per match: 0.36
Headed goals: 45
4. Harry Kane.
Harry Kane’s career began at Tottenham Hotspur, where he joined the academy at the age of 11. He made his debut in the first team in 2011. He spent time on loan at Leyton Orient, Millwall, Norwich City and Leicester City while playing first team football with them, and developed all aspects of his game, including his aerial skills.
Back in London from 2014 onwards, Kane became the club’s leading striker, and in more than 250 appearances in all competitions for Spurs, he has netted 40 headed goals.
His first headed goal came in 2014 and over the following few seasons he added to his haul,p often turn underhit passes or darting corners into chances to go on and score a winning goal.
Kane left Tottenham in 2023 to join Bayern Munich, and his Premier League legacy is certainly all those of his time at Tottenham, as he didn’t only lead the league in goal (multiple times) but also had one of the best aerial finishers in the league.
With 35 headed goals in all competitions (although now away) Kane is firmly among the Premier League’s all-time aerial scorers.
Premier League Stats
Appearance: 320
Goals: 213
Goals per match: 0.67
Headed goals: 40
Assists: 46
Goals with right foot: 130
Goals with left foot: 41
Penalties scored: 33
Freekicks scored: 2
5. Les Ferdinand
Les Ferdinand was among the most successful headed players in the Premier League. He started his career at Bristol Rovers. In 1978, he moved to Queens Park Rangers (QPR), where he had a very promising career.
There, during the first few years, Les Ferdinand helped the club to a lot of success with headed goals. As a result, he quickly became one of the best heading strikers in the league. And when he moved to Newcastle United in 1995, for £6 million, he really hit the ground running. Ferdinand scored 12 headed goals in his career at Newcastle United.
Ferdinand has been involved in similar work in his previous career, including spells at Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United and Wimbledon. He scored 40 headed goals in that period, putting his physicality, timing and positioning to good use.
Appearance: 351
Goals: 149
Goals per match: 0.42
Headed goals: 40
Assists: 46
6. Dwight Yorke
Dwight Yorke’s Premier League career is one of genius and stability, driven by his ability to create goals using his head and feet. And he started out his career in the Premier League at Aston Villa – his time in the ranks was marked by good speed, intelligent positioning and clinical finishing.
He made an impression with the goal-scoring ability at both ends of the park after he moved to Old Trafford in 1998 and went on to have a career at Old Trafford.
Yorke contributed to Manchester United’s success. In addition to that he forged a very legendary friendship with Andy Cole, the two of whom helped United win trophies for years, most notably the Premier League and the Champions League in 1999. He had 38 headed Premier League goals.
After leaving United Yorke spent a successful spell at Blackburn Rovers and later Australia’s Sydney FC, before retiring.
Premier League Stats
Appearance: 375
Goals: 123
Goals per match: 0.33
Headed goals: 38
Assists: 50
7. Teddy Sheringham
Teddy Sheringham only played in the Premier League for four clubs during his four-year stint at the top flight, and he was really prolific between those four clubs.
He started his career at Millwall where he was pretty good, and after leaving the club to move on to Nottingham Forest in 1991. Sheringham went straight to the big club when he signed for Tottenham Hotspur in 1992 and made his presence felt in the Premier League, scoring a bunch of goals – including many headed.
In 1997 Sheringham left Spurs for Manchester United and went on to become a success there, winning several Premier League titles (including the famous 1999 treble). Sheringham remained prolific in attack with his head, also scoring many important goals at United.
He returned to Tottenham for a second spell in 2003, then spent the rest of his Premier League career at Portsmouth. Sheringham scored 36 headed goals during his career.
Premier League Stats
Appearance: 418
Goals: 146
Goals per match: 0.35
Headed goals: 36
Assists: 76
8. Christian Benteke.
Christian Benteke’s first stint in the Premier League actually began in July 2012 when Aston Villa paid £7m for the Belgian forward from Genk. In four seasons at Villa Park he scored 42 league goals, 18 of which were headed strikes that deceptively showed he was a powerhouse of his time in the box.
Benteke joined Liverpool for an undisclosed fee in July 2015, having spent £32. 5 million on the transfer. In the Premier League for 2015–16 he scored 10 goals (six coming through headers) in the Reds’ push to finish in the top four.
Benteke made his new name at Crystal Palace in July 2016, signing for a £27million fee. In five seasons in charge of Selhurst Park he netted 30 times, seven of them headed in to earn points for the Eagles.
Also for mid-season was a loan spell at West Bromwich Albion, which added more couple goals, but more of his major aerial success followed with spells at Villa, Liverpool and Crystal Palace. By the end of his Premier League career, Benteke had scored 33 headed goals.
Premier League Stats
Appearance : 280
Goals: 86
Goals per match: 0.31
Headed goals: 33
Goals with right foot: 41
Assists: 22
Goals with left foot: 12
Penalties scored: 10
Freekicks scored: 1
9. Olivier Giroud
Olivier Giroud arrived in the Premier League in July 2012 when Arsenal paid about £12 million for his services, fresh off a Ligue 1 title with Montpellier. Over six seasons at Arsenal, Giroud found the net with his head on roughly 26 occasions in the league.
His knack for meeting crosses and set‑pieces helped him chip in vital goals, many coming in tight games where a pinpoint header made all the difference.
Giroud was sold to Premier League side Chelsea for around £18 million in January 2018 and over the course of his three and a half years at the club he scored about 6 more headed goals in Premier League, including the winner against his old club in a 2–1 home victory as well as helping the Blues win the Europa League in 2019 and the Champions League in 2021.
Across both spells, Giroud became one of the top header-drivers in the Premier League, with 32 headed goals (which are definitely worth remembering) across both spells. He later on left for AC Milan, but those 32 headers tell the story of his performances in England’s top flight.
Premier League Stats
Appearance: 255
Goals: 92
Goals per match: 0.35
Headed goals: 32
Assists: 28
Goals with right foot: 8
Goals with left foot: 50
Penalties scored: 2
Freekicks scored: 0
10. Tim Cahill
Tim Cahill’s Premier League chapter centers on Everton, where he arrived from Millwall in August 2004 for about £1.5 million. Before that, Cahill had scored 51 goals in 217 appearances for Millwall, but it was at Goodison Park where his headed goals truly stood out.
He netted 56 times in the league between 2004 and 2012, with 31 of those coming from headers.
Cahill’s first Premier League header came against Bolton Wanderers in September 2004, and he soon became a regular on the field because of his timing and leap at setpieces. Season after season he rose above defenders to leap to meet corners and crosses that often turned out to be crucial goals, sometimes they are.
Cahill left Everton in July 2012 for New York Red Bulls, but his 31 headed goals in the English Premier League are still remain a last record.
Appearance: 226
Goals: 56
Goals per match: 0.25
Headed goals: 31
Assists: 22
Goals with right foot: 12
Goals with left foot: 5
