Who's that with Dixie Dean?

Snickers Man

Most little boys know that the record number of league goals scored by a single player in the premier English division (ie the Premiership or the old first division) is 60 set by Dixie Dean of Everton back in the twenties.

He was helped in the fact that the offside law had just been changed from two players + goal keeper between attacker without the ball and goal line to just one player + goal keeper. Until defences got used to it, attackers held the whip hand.

But the question is who held the previous record before him and how many goals did he score in a season?

I've tried to make this Google proof but you could probably still find it.

(60 feckin LEAGUE goals in a season!!!!!! A striker who could score half that many nowadays would be beyond price. So would anybody who could score the same number of goals as the previous record holder)

javaboy

Was it Bert Freeman?

I'm showing my age now

Snickers Man

Nope. And I never heard of him either.

javaboy

He scored 38 in a season with Everton back in 1909. I thought that was the record up until Dixie Dean. I guess my memory's not so good now

javaboy

Damn now I remember. It was young Eddie Harper for Rovers with 43 in 37 if I remember rightly. What a player he was.

Snickers Man

Nope. This guy held the record BEFORE Dean. And nobody's ever heard of him.

He would be a millionaire if he played today.

javaboy

I meant 43 goals in 37 matches. Not in 1937 sorry. I was fairly sure it was Eddie Harper. The only player apart from Dean to score more than 50 was George Camsell but that was Division 2 so I'm stumped for now.

kerash

So I asked my Granda! He suggests Sandy Turnbull, 27 in 25 matches?...

Zaph

javaboy wrote: »

Damn now I remember. It was young Eddie Harper for Rovers with 43 in 37 if I remember rightly. What a player he was.

Snickers Man wrote: »

Nope. This guy held the record BEFORE Dean. And nobody's ever heard of him.

He would be a millionaire if he played today.

Actually according to this javaboy is correct. Unless you're thinking of George Camsell who scored 59 the season before Dean, but that was in division 2.

kerash

He must mean Camsell, unless it's Evertons leading scorer before Dixie Dean, which was Wilf Chadwick 28 goals. I think...

Edit: I mean chrononogically, right before Dean (1924) cos freeman would be otherwise...
Is it a trick question or wat!!!!

javaboy

OP did say a single player. Maybe Eddie Harper was married when he got his record

Come on OP, what's the story?

interlocked

George Campsell scored 59 for Middlesborough in Division 2 the season before,

Poor old George, immortality only lasted one season.

Dixie scored his 60 in 39 gsmes one less than Campsell, this included seven in the last two matches of the season, the last match included a hat trick against Arsenal. In all, that season he scored 100 goals in 66 matches including cup, international and representive matches.

Another of his records is that he scored 37 hat tricks in his career, that at a time when a hat trick was to score three in sucession!

379 League goals in 437 marches, some going,

So name the League of Ireland club with whom he won a runners up FAI cup medal

Denis Irwin

Sligo

interlocked

Dat's rite, and within a minute!

Denis Irwin

I wiki'ed it

interlocked

Naught step for you!! So how many goals did he score for them is your next question!

BTW Harper was the previous Division 1 record holder with 37 for Blackburn. Kudos to Javaboy

Snickers Man

OK I messed up.

Camsell was the guy I was thinking about. I thought he scored them in the First Division but I was wrong.

Scratch that.

Still, 59 league goals in a season is some going for somebody few have ever heard about.

kerash

Thats ok, I forgive you:p

Snickers Man wrote: »

Nope. This guy held the record BEFORE Dean. And nobody's ever heard of him.

He would be a millionaire if he played today.

This was what threw me off! A lot of people have heard of camsell!!
I'm just glad its over with!