GOALS win football matches and feature heavily every week in football betting stakes. Therefore, prolific strikers are worth their weight in gold attracting betting attention.
Looking at my own club Queens Park Rangers, here are the top 10 individual scorers in terms of their best ever seasons (with thanks for clarification from club historian Chris Guy)…
RODNEY MARSH
- 44 goals in 1966/67.
Marsh ran riot in our glorious 1966/67 Division Three title and League Cup double-winning campaign…netting 30 in the League, three in the FA Cup and 11 in the League Cup.
This is by far the all-time R’s scoring record by one player in a season - his most celebrated strike being a wonderful solo effort against West Bromwich Albion in the 1967 League Cup Final at Wembley Stadium.
Overall, Marsh scored 134 goals in 242 matches for us. He made the number 10 hooped shirt famous and won the first of his nine England caps as a Queens Park Rangers star.
GEORGE GODDARD
- 39 goals in 1929/30.
Accumulated 186 goals in attack across 260 games for the R’s. That puts him first in our all-time list of Hoops goal scorers.
Goddard was QPR’s leading marksman in seven consecutive seasons: 1926/27 23 goals, 1927/28 26 goals, 1928/29 38 goals, 1929/30 39 goals, 1930/31 27 goals, 1931/32 19 goals and 1932/33 14 goals (joint-leading scorer).
He accrued an impressive total of 12 hat-tricks for Queens Park Rangers and also achieved four goals in a fixture on another four occasions.
BRIAN BEDFORD
- 39 goals in 1961/62.
Amassed 180 goals in 284 games for the R’s. That puts him second in our all-time list of Hoops goal scorers.
Bedford joined us from Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic in July 1959. He was virtually ever-present for Rangers over the next six years where he didn’t once fall below 25 goals in a season.
TOMMY CHEETHAM
- 37 goals in 1935/36.
Scored 93 goals overall in 135 matches for the R’s. Cheetham began his football career as a big centre-forward playing for the Royal Artillery whilst serving in the Army in India.
He signed for QPR in the summer of 1935. His return of 37 goals in 37 League and Cup appearances for Rangers in the 1935/36 season earned him a trial match for the full England squad.
This tally included hat-tricks against Newport County, Crystal Palace and Gillingham plus four against Aldershot.
JACK BLACKMAN
- 31 goals in 1933/34.
A bustling centre-forward who was signed for QPR at the age of 19 from Non-League team Weston United FC early in 1932.
In total, Blackman made 120 appearances for Queen’s Park Rangers and hit the net 71 times.
CLIVE ALLEN
- 30 goals in 1979/80.
The predatory finisher won three England caps as a Queens Park Rangers man. Clive played 157 matches in two spells for QPR and bulged the net 83 times.
His most crucial goal for us came amidst a 1-0 win over West Bromwich Albion in the 1982 FA Cup Semi-Final staged at Highbury Stadium.
He also scored when we beat Crystal Palace 1-0 at Loftus Road in the Quarter-Final during that Cup run and celebrated by running the full length of the pitch!
GARY BANNISTER
- 28 goals in 1984/85.
Bannister supplied two brilliant hat-tricks for QPR during home local derby victories against Chelsea in March 1986 and September 1987 even though he had one leg shorter than the other!
Made 172 appearances for the R’s and scored 72 times.
DON GIVENS
- 26 goals in 1972/73.
Strong in the air, he won 27 international caps for the Republic of Ireland when on the books at QPR. Made 294 appearances for us and converted 101 goals.
Givens was our leading scorer in the fabulous 1975/76 title challenge campaign with 13 strikes where the R’s finished runners-up by a point to Liverpool.
LES FERDINAND
- 26 goals in 1994/95.
A rampaging centre-forward who won seven England caps whilst playing for Queens Park Rangers.
He scored on his international debut versus San Marino at Wembley in February 1993. Ferdinand made 183 appearances in QPR colours racking up 90 goals.
CYRIL HATTON
- 25 goals in 1947/48.
Inside forward Hatton joined us from Notts County in April 1946 and subsequently scored 93 goals in 206 appearances for the R’s.
He was our leading scorer in 1947/48 when QPR won the Division Three South title and clinched promotion for the first time in our club’s history as well as reaching the FA Cup Quarter Finals.
*Credit for the main photo belongs to Alamy*
