Everton Football Club is a historic part of the English football establishment, as the Toffees were one of the original 12 football league members. Over the years, the men from Merseyside have experienced many ups and downs.
However, throughout their history, Everton has had forward players who were highly potent in front of goal. Here are the Toffees’ top ten all-time record goalscorers:
William Ralph ‘Dixie’ Dean (386 goals in 433 appearances)
By far, the Toffees’ record goalscorer is the legendary William Ralph ‘Dixie’ Dean. The forward arrived from local rivals Tranmere Rovers in 1925 at just 18 and set about establishing a legendary reputation in the English game.
Dean was part of the Everton teams that won the First Division titles in 1928 and 1932 and the team that won promotion in 1931 from the Second Division after their relegation in 1930. The forward also helped his team to win the 1933 FA Cup, scoring in the final in a 3-0 victory over Manchester City.
Despite his medals and trophies, Dean is arguably best remembered as the player who scored a record 60 league goals in season 1928/29. The achievement was made the more extraordinary by the fact that Dean was just 21 years of age when he achieved the record.
Dean was so prolific in front of goal that only two players, Jimmy Greaves and Steve Bloomer, have ever scored more goals in the English top flight.
In 2001, a statue was unveiled near Goodison Park celebrating the legendary forward’s achievements.
Graeme Sharp (111 goals in 306 appearances)
The Scottish forward arrived on Merseyside in 1980 from Dumbarton for £120,000. He spent 11 fruitful years at Everton, including during the Toffees’ highly successful mid-eighties period under Howard Kendall.
During his time on Merseyside, Sharp helped his team to win the First Division title on two occasions, in 1985 and 1987. He also picked up winners’ medals in the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1985 and the FA Cup in 1984 when he scored the opening goal in a 2-0 win over Watford at Wembley.
Sharp’s most notable contribution to the Everton cause was in the title-winning season of 1985 when he scored 30 goals in 54 matches. The fact that only the great Dixie Dean scored more goals than Sharp for Everton tells us just how good the forward was in a blue shirt.
Alex ‘Sandy’ Young (110 goals in 275 appearances)
Young was another player from north of the border that made a significant mark on the history of Everton Football Club. The inside right spent a decade with the Toffees after joining from Falkirk in 1901. Young scored the only goal in the 1906 FA Cup final against Newcastle to give the Toffees their first-ever FA Cup victory.
The Scot left Everton in 1911 to join Tottenham and also played for Manchester City before finishing his career with minnows South Liverpool. In 1916, Young’s life took a seriously dark turn, as he was imprisoned in Australia for the manslaughter of his own brother. He was later declared mentally ill and passed away in 1959 in the care of an Edinburgh asylum.
Bob Latchford (106 goals in 235 appearances)
Latchford was regarded as the complete centre-forward. He joined the Toffees in 1974 from his hometown club Birmingham City for a then-English record of £350,000. He was prolific in a royal blue shirt until his exit in 1981.
Latchford was Everton’s top goal scorer for four straight seasons. His goal tally of 30 in season 1977/78 earned him a reward of £10,000 offered by a national newspaper for the first player to reach that goal tally in the league in that season’s First Division.
Unfortunately for Latchford, Everton was in a barren spell trophies-wise during his career. The closest he got to silverware with Everton was finishing as a League Cup runner-up in 1977.
Despite being recognised as one of the best English forwards of his generation, Latchford won just 12 England caps, scoring five goals from 1977-1979.
Joe Royle (102 goals in 229 appearances)
The amiable Royle is an Everton stalwart. Royle played for his boyhood club from 1968 until 1974, producing close to a goal every other game ratio.
During his playing career, the forward helped Harry Catterick’s great team containing the likes of Colin Harvey, Howard Kendall and Alan Ball, to win the 1970 First Division title. Royle scored 23 goals in 42 appearances in the title-winning campaign. That season was the forward’s most prolific of his career. Royle later won a League Cup with Manchester City in 1976.
After retiring from playing, Royle went into management. He did an excellent job with Oldham before returning to his beloved Everton as boss in December 1994. Royle saved the Toffees from relegation that season and his team lifted the FA Cup in a famous 1-0 win over Manchester United at Wembley.
Roy Vernon (1960 goals in 1965 appearances)
The Welsh forward started his career with Blackburn Rovers, where he was prolific. He made the move to Everton in 1960 and continued his goalscoring exploits on Merseyside.
Vernon scored over 20 goals in four of his six seasons at Everton. His 24 goals in the 1962/63 season powered the Toffees to the First Division title. He also captained the team. The season was the second most prolific campaign of his career, as his most prolific season had come the previous season when he scored 26 times in the English top flight.
Edgar Chadwick (97 goals in 270 appearances)
The diminutive inside left, who was just 5ft 6, was one of the most well-known players of his time. Chadwick was ever-present in the first two seasons of Everton’s existence. Chadwick’s nine goals in season 1889/90 helped the Toffees to a second-place finish. The season after, Everton claimed their first-ever First Division title.
The Toffees were the top scorers in the English top-flight that season, with Chadwick or “Hooky’ as he was known, scoring ten times in the league.
Unfortunately for Chadwick, it was his only silverware at Everton, although he did appear in the FA Cup final in 1893 and 1897. He was also a beaten FA Cup finalist in 1903 with Southampton.
Dave Hickson (95 goals in 225 appearances)
Many Evertonians still rever ‘ The Cannonball Kid’ for his robust playing style in an Everton shirt and his undoubted love of the club, despite Hickson having also played for the Toffees’ bitter-rivals Liverpool. The forward enjoyed two stints with the Toffees, first from 1948 until 1955 and then from 1957–1959.
Hickson’s goals helped the men from Merseyside win promotion back to the first division in season 1953/54, as the forward plundered 25 goals in the Second Division.
In the latter years of his life, Hickson worked at Everton as a tour guide and a lounge host, roles he loved until he passed away in July 2013 at 83.
Jimmy Settle (97 goals in 269 appearances)
The forward joined Everton from Bury in 1889 and played for the Toffees until 1908. Settle was part of the Everton team that won that historic first FA Cup in 1906, when his team defeated Newcastle United 1-0 at Crystal Palace, London.
In season 1901/02, Settle finished as the First Division’s top goalscorer with a tally of 18 goals. The season made history, and to date, it is the lowest tally of any player ever to top the scoring charts in the English top flight.
Kevin Sheedy (97 goals in 357 appearances)
The man with the wand of a left foot played a crucial role in arguably Everton’s greatest-ever team in the mid-1980s. Sheedy joined Everton from arch-rivals Liverpool in 1982 for a fee of £100,000 after making three competitive appearances in a red shirt.
He turned out to be a bargain, as Sheedy scored 97 from his left-wing position in 357 appearances. Like Graeme Sharp, he helped Everton to win the First Division title in 1985 and 1987, along with the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1985 and the FA Cup in 1984.
Despite being born in Wales, Sheedy represented the Republic of Ireland internationally due to having an Irish passport from birth because his dad was born in County Clare. Sheedy represented the Republic on 46 occasions, including playing at World Cup 1990 in Italy, where his team suffered a quarter-final 1-0 defeat against the hosts.