15 March 2021

Jamie Vardy joins elite list with 100 PL goal involvements after turning 30

15 March 2021

Two assists against Sheffield United on Sunday made Jamie Vardy only the sixth player with 100 goal involvements in the Premier League after turning 30.

Former Tottenham and Manchester United forward Teddy Sheringham leads the way for goals and assists combined after that age with 127, with Frank Lampard, Ian Wright, Alan Shearer and Gianfranco Zola also in three figures.

Here, the PA news agency looks at how Vardy compares to the other players in the group of six.

Teddy Sheringham, 127

Teddy Sheringham celebrates his Boxing Day goal for West Ham against Portsmouth in 2006 (PA Archive)

Prolific in both goals and assists, Sheringham set up three in one game against Leeds a month after turning 30 to kick-start the Indian summer of his career.

He played on for another decade and became the competition’s oldest goalscorer, after his strike for West Ham against Portsmouth on Boxing Day 2006 aged 40 years and 268 days.

Frank Lampard, 118

Frank Lampard, right, celebrates becoming Chelsea's record scorer in 2013 (PA Archive)

A remarkable 2009-10 campaign, when a 31-year-old Lampard scored 22 goals from midfield and set up another 14, was the highlight of a seven-year spell in his thirties in which he scored 82 and set up 36.

That helped make him Chelsea’s all-time leading scorer in all competitions and he sits fifth among all players for Premier League goals behind strikers Shearer, Wayne Rooney, Andy Cole and current Manchester City star Sergio Aguero.

Ian Wright, 110

Ian Wright celebrates after matching Cliff Bastin's all-time Arsenal goalscoring record in 1997 (PA Archive)

The leading goalscorer after turning 30 with 93, Wright celebrated his 30th birthday early in the 1993-94 season and scored 18 the rest of the way, matching that total the following season and adding 15 in 1995-96.

His 23-goal season for Arsenal in 1996-97 has not been exceeded by any player over 30, with Shearer and Vardy since matching that tally, and the following season saw Wright become Arsenal’s all-time record scorer – he finished with 185 goals in all competitions, a mark since passed by Thierry Henry.

Alan Shearer, 102

Alan Shearer celebrates his final Premier League goal, for Newcastle against Sunderland in 2006 (PA Archive)

The Premier League’s all-time leading scorer with 260 goals, Shearer scored 84 of those after his 30th birthday and added 18 assists in that time.

Twenty-plus goals in both 2001-02 and 2003-04 helped Newcastle’s ex-Blackburn marksman on his way and he signed off with double figures in 2005-06, while he had four assists in four out of six seasons after turning 30.

Gianfranco Zola, 101

Gianfranco Zola celebrates scoring against Sunderland in his first season at Chelsea (PA Archive)

The Italian only made his Premier League debut a month after turning 30 but proceeded to write himself into Chelsea folklore with some memorable goals and moments of skill.

With 59 goals and 42 assists, his figures are the most balanced on this list with even midfielder Lampard recording more than twice as many goals as assists in his 30s.

Jamie Vardy, 100

Vardy, another late arrival in the Premier League aged 27, has 81 goals since turning 30 but it was assists for the first two goals of Kelechi Iheanacho’s hat-trick against the Blades that brought up his combined century.

He is now 34 – Shearer and Zola played in the Premier League until the age of 36, Lampard and Wright were 37 and Sheringham is one of only four outfield players to play on past 40.

Fitness permitting, the Leicester star has time yet to become the first player with 100 Premier League goals after the age of 30 – passing Wright’s record of 93 and perhaps even Sheringham’s combined total.

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