The top goal scorers in Liverpool history

After coming up with Atletico Madrid, Spanish striker Torres made the move to Liverpool. He came right out of the gate with gusto, scoring 24 Premier League goals in the 2007-08 season. Throw in his play during Spain’s Euro 2008 win and Torres ended up third in the Ballon d’Or voting for that year. While he never had that much personal success again, but was part of Spain’s World Cup 2010 and Euro 2012 teams, Torres totaled 81 goals during three seasons and some change with Liverpool.

Suarez is a controversial player, but his ability to score goals with the best of them in his prime is not up for debate. The Uruguayan made a splash with Ajax but the move to the Premier League represented a real step up. Though Suarez only played three full seasons with Liverpool, in two of them he tallied over 30 total goals. In fact, in the 2013-14 Premier League season he became the rare player to hit the 30-goal mark in league play. Suarez then moved to Barcelona where he took his game to the next level.

Stubbins’ career got off to a complicated start, as he debuted for Newcastle right before World War II. He missed over five years of playing time due to the war, and when English football picked back up he made the move to Liverpool. Stubbins totaled 84 goals for Liverpool and made enough of an impression on the local lads that he ended up on the cover of the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s” album.

One of the best Welsh players in history, Toshack started his career with Swansea, ended it with Cardiff, and would go on to manage Wales internationally. In the middle of his playing career, though, Toshack spent the bulk of the 1970s with Liverpool. This was a great era for the club, as it won the then-top division of English football three times and the European Cup, precursor to the Champions League, once. Toshack’s 96 goals across all competitions played a role in that.

And yet, Toshack spent his time playing second fiddle to Keegan. Now, Keegan’s 100 goals are only a few more than Toshack, and Keegan played many more games for the club. However, Keegan was English, and he had that hairdo, and that made him stand out domestically. Plus, all things considered, Keegan was a better player. His Ballon d’Or wins in 1978 and 1979 (when he was played domestically in Germany) speak to that.

Born in Jamaica, Barnes represented England internationally and was a star in his adopted country for years. A winger, as opposed to an out-and-out striker, Barnes spent a full decade with the Reds. Given his position, Barnes wasn’t able to always rack up the goals, but in each of his first four seasons he totaled double-digit goals. He ended up with 108, though over 407 contests.

Balmer debuted as a 19-year-old with Liverpool in 1935, but of course that means his career was majorly impacted by World War II. Liverpool won the title in 1946-47, the first postwar season, and Balmer had three hat tricks that year. The striker played his entire career with Liverpool, and while there is conflicting information on whether he finished with 110 or 111 goals, that’s not really underselling him — or overselling him — much in either direction.

During Jurgen Klopp’s heyday at Liverpool, Firmino was third among the attacking players the team had tormenting opposing clubs. The Brazilian was the “engine” of Liverpool, renowned for his pressing ability and his willingness to play defense even given his scoring prowess. Indeed, let us not forget that Firmino potted 111 goals with Liverpool, including a remarkable 11 during the 2017-18 Champions League run.

St. John is notable in that he’s a star Liverpool player who actually saw time in the second division. Famed manager Bill Shankly signed the Scottish forward prior to the 1961-62 season, and Liverpool swiftly earned promotion. St. John then continued to produce, helping the club win two first division titles and an FA Cup. Though St. John did get to beat up on second-division opposition for one season, and though he played 425 competitive games for the club, his 118 goals are still impressive.

Mane teamed with Firmino under Klopp after the German manager identified his promise at Southampton. In four of his six seasons with Liverpool, Mane scored over 20 goals across all competitions. During the 2018-19 season he had 22 goals in the Premier League alone. Mane, the top goal scorer in Senegal history, may have only scored nine more goals than Firmino, but he did it in roughly 100 fewer games.

As World War I was ending, Forshaw was debuting for Liverpool. Though he was thought of as slimly-built even for the era, the striker managed to pour in the goals. At the time, there wasn’t much going on outside of league play, so 117 of his 124 goals for Liverpool came in the domestic league. Notably, Forshaw then left Liverpool for Everton — yes, the rival across the Mersey — and he actually won titles with both clubs.

Football was fundamentally different when Parkinson played, as his birth date in the 1880s indicates. The striker debuted for Liverpool in 1903, and he played his last game for the club in 1914. That being said, in terms of bang for your buck, Parkinson delivered. He scored 128 goals in 219 games, which is, for example, slightly better than Fernando Torres.

And Raybould is even older than Parkinson. Hey, they’ve been playing football in England for ages. This sort of thing will happen. Between 1900 and 1907, Raybould played in a whopping 219 games for Liverpool, 211 of them in league play. He totaled 130 goals.

It feels fitting to both enter the top 10 and the list of players to score at least 150 goals with Liverpool at the same time. All that, and the man they called “Smiler” caught a tough break. Chambers signed with Liverpool in 1915, and then World War I suspended league play for, you know, a few years. In fact, Chambers didn’t get to play his first competitive game until 1919, and that was after he served in the Irish infantry during the war. Chambers immediately established himself as one of the top scorers of the era, managing 151 goals with the Reds. (Chambers is the guy to the left of the guy in the middle wearing black).

Okay, we know we’ve been in a real old-timey run for a bit. However, here’s a familiar name to football fans who grew up on the Premier League (and color television). During his run with Liverpool, Owen won two Premier League Golden Boots as top goal scorer and the 2001 Ballon d’Or. Simultaneously he emerged as a star for England. While injuries hampered Owen throughout his career, especially later on with other clubs, at Liverpool he managed 158 goals in 297 games.

Dalglish is a Liverpool legend. He had managerial success there later on, but his playing career was remarkable as well. After leaving Celtic in his native Scotland, “King Kenny” immediately went and hit the 20-goal mark in league play in each of his first two campaigns with Liverpool. The last few seasons of his career, Dalglish was a player-manager (emphasis on “manager”) and barely played, but he scored 172 goals through it all.

It’s those 12 goals that Fowler scored with Liverpool when he returned for a two-year stint late in his career that really got him over the top. Okay, so maybe not, but they did get him to 183 goals, which got him over Dalglish. At the start of his career, Fowler had three seasons in a row with over 30 goals across all competitions. Some called him a poacher, but clearly Fowler had a nose for the net.

Gerrard is in the running for the foremost legend in Liverpool history. He captained club and country for years and was as formidable a midfielder as you could find. Yes, let us not forget that Gerrard was a proper midfielder and not some sort of false-nine. Never shirking his work from box to box, Gerrard totaled 186 goals. Now, that was over a hefty 710 games but, again, he was a midfielder. A great midfielder, at that.

Once again, math and history pair well for the Reds. The top five begins with the first 200-goal scorer in Liverpool history. Liddell, a winger from Scotland, spent his entire professional career with Liverpool. On the one hand, Liddell played during a down time in Liverpool history, a rare one at that. He had four 20-goal seasons in the second division of English football. On the other hand, he signed with Liverpool in 1938 and due to World War II didn’t debut until the 1946 FA Cup, and didn’t play a league game until the 1946-47 season. That all balances out, right? Liddell scored 228 goals for the club.

Though he played in the 1920s and 1930s, Hodgson was the kind of player whose skill was so immense that his legacy has sustained itself over the ensuing decades. Standing 6’2’’, more notable for that time, Hodgson was considered a highly-skilled forward who also happened to be an elite goal scorer. He scored 241 goals in 477 games. Among the top-50 goal scorers in Liverpool history, Hodgson has the best goals-per-game ratio.

The only current Liverpool player on the list, Salah needs no introduction to anybody who has followed football for the last decade. He’s considered one of the best players in Premier League history. That, of course, makes him one of the best players in Liverpool history. The “Egyptian King” is a living legend of the game at this point. Of course, if Salah wants to take a run at the top-two, he’ll have to stick around at Liverpool after the 2024-25 season, and that’s a murky situation at best.

Among Englanders of a certain age, Hunt is beloved because he scored three goals for the 1966 World Cup winners. Otherwise, he’s best remembered for his scoring acumen at Liverpool, which helped turn the club around. Hunt scored 244 of his 285 goals in league play, so technically he holds the club record for league goals. However, he played three seasons in the second division and once had 41 goals in a season down there, so maybe an asterisk is necessary.

In truth, Salah could stick around another five seasons at Liverpool and he might not catch Rush. Though he did spend a season with Juventus, sandwiching that season Rush spent 14-ish campaigns with the Reds (he only appeared in nine games his debut season, hence the “ish”). Though Rush didn’t score quite as many league goals as Hunt, the Welshman impressed in plenty of cups and racked up a staggering 346 goals. Truly, Rush is one of the best goal scorers in the history of the sport.