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Tottenham Hotspur's 10 highest goalscorers of all time

Sports Mole counts down Tottenham Hotspur's 10 highest goalscorers of all time following Harry Kane's record-breaking strike against Manchester City.

Many a Tottenham Hotspur striker has amassed over a century of goals for the club, and a select few have even breached 200, but there is one name at the summit whose record will surely not be surpassed for decades to come.

By capitalising on a defensive error from Manchester City in February 2023 and slotting home the game's only goal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Harry Kane checked off another unticked box on his CV, becoming Spurs' all-time leading goalscorer.

Overtaking the late, great Jimmy Greaves in the process, Kane's former loyalty to Spurs amid the memorable summer transfer saga of 2021 allowed the England captain to cement his spot as the club's best goalscorer of all time, and he ended up declaring at 280 for the North London giants before swapping the white of Tottenham for the red of Bayern Munich.

Here, Sports Mole counts down Tottenham's 10 highest goalscorers of all time to mark Kane's historic achievement.


10. Alan Gilzean - 133

Tottenham Hotspur striker Alan Gilzean pictured in 1970© Reuters

A consistently clinical Scotsman, Alan Gilzean was a stalwart of the Tottenham teams of the late 1960s and early 1970s, spending 10 years at the club after a £72,500 transfer from Everton in 1964.

Gilzean would go on to net 133 times for the Lilywhites in all competitions, during which time his partnership with Jimmy Greaves led to the two forwards being affectionately known as the "G-Men".

Prior to his retirement, Gilzean - also dubbed the King of White Hart Lane - would win one UEFA Cup, one FA Cup and two EFL Cups with Tottenham, who paid an emotional tribute to the ex-Scotland international following his death in 2018.


9. Len Duquemin - 134

The Guernsey-born forward who will forever have a place in Tottenham folklore, Len Duquemin made quite the name for himself at Tottenham after World War Two, having also played a solitary game for Colchester United.

While on the books in North London, Duquemin ended up notching 134 goals - 114 of which came in league action - as Tottenham won the 1949-50 Second Division title before immediately clinching First Division glory one year later.

Spurs' first-ever top-flight title triumph would not have been possible without Duquemin, whose winner against Sheffield Wednesday in April 1951 proved to be the goal that would confirm Tottenham's status as champions.


8. George Hunt - 138

The first of several prolific Englishmen to feature on this list, George Hunt cost Tottenham £1,500 to sign from Chesterfield in 1930, and the rest - as they say - is history.

During seven productive years with the North London outfit, Hunt amassed a staggering total of 138 goals in just 198 games - including a whopping 32 strikes in the 1932-33 season alone to propel Spurs into the First Division.

Hunt burned some bridges by crossing the North London divide to Arsenal in 1937, with whom he would win the 1937-38 top-flight title, before helping Bolton Wanderers to FA Cup glory in 1958 as one of their coaching team.


7. Jermain Defoe - 143

Jermain Defoe pictured in February 2022© Reuters

While establishing a reputation as a super sub, Jermain Defoe was not half bad from the opening whistle either, with the recently-retired Englishman ending his Tottenham career with 143 goals and 33 assists across his two spells.

Prior to hanging up his boots in March of 2022, Defoe was one of a few active players who could proudly boast to have won a trophy for Spurs - playing his part in their 2007-08 EFL Cup triumph - although he had already left for Portsmouth by the time the final came around.

However, Defoe spent just one year with the South Coast club before making his return to White Hart Lane, where he would register a best-ever Premier League goal tally of 18 in the 2009-10 season, and his talents are now being put to good use as a youth coach at Hotspur Way.


6. Cliff Jones - 159

Cliff Jones pictured in 2001© Reuters

When one is tasked with naming a Welsh wizard on the wing for Tottenham, Gareth Bale will be the first name to pop into most people's heads, but the generation who were lucky enough to witness Cliff Jones in action would think otherwise.

Having emerged as a local talent at hometown club Swansea City, Jones cost a then-record £35,000 for Tottenham to sign in 1958, and he would end a 10-year spell in North London with 159 goals after a slow start, which saw him break his leg during his first few months at the club.

Capable of racking up impressive goal tallies from the left or right wing, Jones was a key player in Tottenham's double-winning team of 1961, and he won two further FA Cups and one European Cup Winners' Cup at White Hart Lane, while also competing for Wales at the 1958 World Cup.


5. Son Heung-min - 169

Son Heung-min celebrates scoring Tottenham Hotspur's third on October 12, 2022© Reuters

The only player not from the British Isles or Channel Islands on Tottenham's top 10, Son Heung-min has been and continues to be nothing short of a revelation since making the move to North London from Bayer Leverkusen in 2015.

The South Korea captain only scored four Premier League goals in his debut season, but he soon exploded into life and now has 169 to his name in Tottenham colours, including a joint-high 23 in the Premier League during the 2021-22 season.

An Asian football icon, Son was twice named Spurs' Player of the Year in 2019 and 2020, and he has taken on captaincy duties in the manner expected of him since Ange Postecoglou bestowed him with the armband.


4. Martin Chivers - 174

Martin Chivers in action for Tottenham Hotspur in 1972© Reuters

Joining Tottenham during the Greaves-Gilzean era meant that Martin Chivers's first couple of years at White Hart Lane were nothing to write home about, but 'Big Chiv' soon found his shooting boots to register 174 goals in Spurs colours.

Having already clinched EFL Cup glory in 1971, a stellar 1971-72 campaign saw Chivers rack up no fewer than 44 goals in 64 outings for Tottenham, which included a brace in their UEFA Cup final win over Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Another EFL Cup crown would come the way of 'Big Chiv' before his departure after eight prolific years in North London, and he earned his rightful place in Tottenham's Hall of Fame in 2007.


3. Bobby Smith - 208

Bobby Smith was never able to cement himself as a regular starter for Chelsea during the 1950s, but it was a different story for the Englishman at Tottenham, as he spearheaded the Lilywhites' spate of success during the early 1960s.

Collecting no fewer than six pieces of silverware in North London, Smith led the way with 33 goals in Tottenham's double-winning season of 1960-61 and ended his Tottenham career with 208 goals from 317 matches - averaging 0.66 goals per game.

Smith's remarkable goal tally also included a total of 12 hat-tricks, and the late striker - who died in 2010 - will forever be remembered as one of Bill Nicholson's leading legends.


2. Jimmy Greaves - 266

Jimmy Greaves pictured in May 2013© Reuters

There is much debate whether Kane did indeed break Greaves's record on Sunday, with the latter notching up an unofficial total of 268 for the club including two Charity Shield matches, but Tottenham have chosen not to take those other two strikes into account as they continue to shout about record-breaker Kane.

Greaves died in 2021, but his loved ones posted a congratulatory message to Kane after his strike against Man City at the weekend, and the belated World Cup winner would have no doubt loved to witness the current England captain surpass his long-standing record.

Chalking up 266 goals in 379 appearances across all tournaments for Spurs, Greaves ended as the top scorer in the First Division four times, won five pieces of silverware with Tottenham and held his position as the Lilywhites' greatest goalscorer for over half a century before a certain someone came along.


1. Harry Kane - 280

Harry Kane celebrates scoring for Tottenham Hotspur on February 5, 2023© Reuters

As speculation surrounding his contract situation and long-term future threatened to derail his goalscoring greatness, Tottenham talisman Harry Kane simply did what he knew how to do best in the Premier League - put the ball in the back of the net.

By slotting home past Ederson with 15 minutes on the clock against Man City in February 2023, Kane not only became the highest goalscorer in the history of Tottenham, but he also became just the third man to rack up 200 Premier League goals after Alan Shearer (260) and Wayne Rooney (208) - doing so in a record 304 games too.

Furthermore, no player has scored more than Kane's 45 European goals for Tottenham, but the Lilywhites' efforts to prolong his North London stay were futile, as Bayern Munich came calling in the summer of 2023.

Breaking Greaves's record and continuing his rise up the Premier League charts would have undoubtedly been a motivation for Kane to stay, but in spite of Tottenham's unbreakable will not to sell to a Premier League rival, the lure of a new challenge in Germany was too tempting for the England captain, who is also racking up goals for fun in the Bundesliga.


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Harry Kane celebrates scoring for Tottenham Hotspur on February 5, 2023
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Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool15113131131836
2Chelsea16104237191834
3Arsenal1796234161833
4Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest179442319431
5Aston Villa178452626028
6Manchester CityMan City178362925427
7Newcastle UnitedNewcastle177552721626
8Bournemouth167452421325
9Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton176742726125
10Fulham166642422224
11Tottenham HotspurSpurs1672736191723
12Brentford177283232023
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd166462119222
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham175572230-820
15Crystal Palace173771826-816
16Everton153661421-715
17Leicester CityLeicester163582134-1314
18Ipswich TownIpswich172691632-1612
19Wolverhampton WanderersWolves1623112440-169
20Southampton1612131136-255


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