Official – Everton FC's Tim Cahill is the greatest header of a ball in Premier League history!
EVERTON’S talismanic marksman Tim Cahill has been hailed the “greatest scorer of headed goals in Premier League history.”
And the Aussie headmaster has the stats to prove it!
A top 10 list of the Premier League’s aerial specialists puts the Everton player out in front, ahead of renowned headers of the ball like Alan Shearer, Les Ferdinand and even former Goodison team-mate Duncan Ferguson.
Cahill’s last minute clincher at Birmingham last weekend was his 27th headed goal in 170 Premier League matches.
With a growing rapport between Cahill and Leighton Baines – the full-back has set up eight of Cahill’s last 14 league goals – there could be more to come.
“If it would have been anyone else I probably wouldn’t have gone for it,” explained Baines “but when you know Tim Cahill’s in there, then you know there is always a chance of a goal.
“He was on the spot as always to seal the victory.”
Cahill scores with his head on average every 6.30 games, with Dion Dublin his closest rival on 6.93 and Duncan Ferguson third.
Ironically Howard Kendall tried to make Dion Dublin an Everton centre-forward in December 1993 but was denied the funds by the Goodison board, an act which led to Kendall’s resignation.
Kendall was, however, responsible for bringing one of the greatest modern day headers of a ball to Goodison Park.
Andy Gray preferred to put his head in where other players used their feet!
The courageous header against Notts County in the 1984 FA Cup quarter-final was so low that his nose scraped the turf.
Such was his desire to celebrate a close range header at Leicester City that he ran straight into a goalpost and was flattened – bouncing straight back up again to run away in delight.
Two flying headers against Sunderland in the run-in to the 1985 League title are part of Goodison folklore – as is the swooping header he converted as part of his European Cup Winners Cup quarter-final hat-trick against Fortuna Sittard.
Everton have long been synonymous with players of considerable aerial expertise.
The original, of course, was the late, great Dixie Dean, considered by many to be simply the greatest header of the ball in football history.
A third of his record-breaking 60 league goals in 1927/28 were scored with his head.
The legendary Manchester United manager Matt Busby wrote in his autobiography: “To play against Dixie Dean was at once a delight and a nightmare.
“He was a perfect specimen of an athlete, beautifully proportioned, with immense strength, adept on the ground but with extraordinary skill in the air. However close you watched him, his timing in the air was such that he was coming down before you got anywhere near him, and he hit that ball with his head as hard and as accurate as most players could kick it. Defences were close to panic when corners came over.”
Dean took his successor, Tommy Lawton, under his wing so it was little surprise that the young pretender also developed formidable aerial prowess – developed by heading a medicine ball.
Since then there has been a long list of Everton stars renowned for their heading ability.
Joe Royle, Alex Young – who possessed an almost ethereal ability to hover in the air – Bob Latchford, Duncan Ferguson – and not just strikers, either, Mick Lyons’ supremely brave diving header to nod the ball past the feared Norman Hunter’s swinging boot could have come from the head of Cahill himself!
Top 10 scorers of headed goals in the history of the Premier League
1 Tim Cahill – 27 headed goals in 170 Premier League matches (6.30 games per headed goal)
2 Dion Dublin – 45 in 312 (6.93)
3 Duncan Ferguson – 35 in 270 (7.71)
4 Les Ferdinand – 43 in 351 (8.16)
5 Gustavo Poyet – 22 in 187 (8.50)
6 Peter Crouch – 27 in 232 (8.59)
7 Chris Armstrong – 23 in 216 (9.39)
8 Alan Shearer – 46 in 441 (9.59)
9 Niall Quinn – 26 in 250 (9.62)
10 Dwight Yorke – 38 in 375 (9.87)
*All players have scored at least 20 headed Premier League goals and 40 Premier League goals in total.
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/everton-fc/everton-fc-news/2010/10/09/official-everton-fc-s-tim-cahill-is-the-greatest-header-of-a-ball-in-premier-league-history-100252-27433574/
EVERTON’S talismanic marksman Tim Cahill has been hailed the “greatest scorer of headed goals in Premier League history.”
And the Aussie headmaster has the stats to prove it!
A top 10 list of the Premier League’s aerial specialists puts the Everton player out in front, ahead of renowned headers of the ball like Alan Shearer, Les Ferdinand and even former Goodison team-mate Duncan Ferguson.
Cahill’s last minute clincher at Birmingham last weekend was his 27th headed goal in 170 Premier League matches.
With a growing rapport between Cahill and Leighton Baines – the full-back has set up eight of Cahill’s last 14 league goals – there could be more to come.
“If it would have been anyone else I probably wouldn’t have gone for it,” explained Baines “but when you know Tim Cahill’s in there, then you know there is always a chance of a goal.
“He was on the spot as always to seal the victory.”
Cahill scores with his head on average every 6.30 games, with Dion Dublin his closest rival on 6.93 and Duncan Ferguson third.
Ironically Howard Kendall tried to make Dion Dublin an Everton centre-forward in December 1993 but was denied the funds by the Goodison board, an act which led to Kendall’s resignation.
Kendall was, however, responsible for bringing one of the greatest modern day headers of a ball to Goodison Park.
Andy Gray preferred to put his head in where other players used their feet!
The courageous header against Notts County in the 1984 FA Cup quarter-final was so low that his nose scraped the turf.
Such was his desire to celebrate a close range header at Leicester City that he ran straight into a goalpost and was flattened – bouncing straight back up again to run away in delight.
Two flying headers against Sunderland in the run-in to the 1985 League title are part of Goodison folklore – as is the swooping header he converted as part of his European Cup Winners Cup quarter-final hat-trick against Fortuna Sittard.
Everton have long been synonymous with players of considerable aerial expertise.
The original, of course, was the late, great Dixie Dean, considered by many to be simply the greatest header of the ball in football history.
A third of his record-breaking 60 league goals in 1927/28 were scored with his head.
The legendary Manchester United manager Matt Busby wrote in his autobiography: “To play against Dixie Dean was at once a delight and a nightmare.
“He was a perfect specimen of an athlete, beautifully proportioned, with immense strength, adept on the ground but with extraordinary skill in the air. However close you watched him, his timing in the air was such that he was coming down before you got anywhere near him, and he hit that ball with his head as hard and as accurate as most players could kick it. Defences were close to panic when corners came over.”
Dean took his successor, Tommy Lawton, under his wing so it was little surprise that the young pretender also developed formidable aerial prowess – developed by heading a medicine ball.
Since then there has been a long list of Everton stars renowned for their heading ability.
Joe Royle, Alex Young – who possessed an almost ethereal ability to hover in the air – Bob Latchford, Duncan Ferguson – and not just strikers, either, Mick Lyons’ supremely brave diving header to nod the ball past the feared Norman Hunter’s swinging boot could have come from the head of Cahill himself!
Top 10 scorers of headed goals in the history of the Premier League
1 Tim Cahill – 27 headed goals in 170 Premier League matches (6.30 games per headed goal)
2 Dion Dublin – 45 in 312 (6.93)
3 Duncan Ferguson – 35 in 270 (7.71)
4 Les Ferdinand – 43 in 351 (8.16)
5 Gustavo Poyet – 22 in 187 (8.50)
6 Peter Crouch – 27 in 232 (8.59)
7 Chris Armstrong – 23 in 216 (9.39)
8 Alan Shearer – 46 in 441 (9.59)
9 Niall Quinn – 26 in 250 (9.62)
10 Dwight Yorke – 38 in 375 (9.87)
*All players have scored at least 20 headed Premier League goals and 40 Premier League goals in total.
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/everton-fc/everton-fc-news/2010/10/09/official-everton-fc-s-tim-cahill-is-the-greatest-header-of-a-ball-in-premier-league-history-100252-27433574/
