Jamie Vardy capped a stellar individual season for Leicester by securing the Premier League’s Golden Boot for the first time during the 2019/20 campaign, the evergreen Foxes forward remaining amongst the division’s finest finishers despite entering the twilight years of his remarkable career.
Vardy recently became the 29th member to join the Premier League’s fabled 100 club after netting a century of top-flight goals for Leicester, with his Golden Boot accolade another landmark moment for a player who continues to age like a fine wine.
Following his achievement we’ve decided to look back at the oldest players to finish as the Premier League’s leading scorer, here are the five oldest winners of the Golden Boot:
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – 29 (2018/19)
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang finished just one goal short of Vardy in his quest to win a second successive Golden Boot this season, the Arsenal talisman having shared the accolade alongside Liverpool duo Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane during the 2018/19 campaign.
The Gabon international has scored prolifically since moving to the Emirates from Borussia Dortmund and his first full season in north London delivered 22 goals to finish as the joint-leading scorer in the Premier League, the then 29-year-old the fifth oldest player to have won the prestigious accolade.
Despite turning 31-years-old this summer the forward has shown no signs of slowing down, Aubameyang central to Arsenal’s hopes of progress under Mikel Arteta and the Gunners will be hoping to soon end the uncertainty surrounding his long term future at the club.
Nicolas Anelka – 30 (2008/09)
Nicolas Anelka became the first player to win the Premier League’s Golden Boot after their 30th birthday during the 2008/09 season, the French forward finishing as the division’s leading scorer during his first full season at Chelsea.
Anelka enjoyed a nomadic career that took in spells at six different Premier League sides, but it was arguably at Stamford Bridge that the forward enjoyed the most settled and successful spell of his career, including his best goalscoring campaign in English football.
The star finished ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and Steven Gerrard to win the award after netting 19 league goals, his performances helping the west London side to a third-placed finish and later FA Cup success.
Anelka’s haul remains, however, the lowest ever tally to claim the Premier League’s Golden Boot outright.
Dimitar Berbatov – 30 (2010/11)
Berbatov’s brilliance was often demonstrated during a memorable four-year spell at Manchester United, but perhaps never more so than his Golden Boot-winning campaign of 2010/11.
The maverick forward scored 20 league goals to fire Sir Alex Ferguson’s side to Premier League glory, including becoming the first Red Devils player since 1946 to score a treble against arch-rivals Liverpool, the Bulgarian the protagonist of a thrilling 3-2 victory at Old Trafford.
Berbatov finished the season with three hat-tricks to share the Golden Boot alongside Manchester City’s Carlos Tevez, his highlights also including becoming one of just five players – alongside Andy Cole, Alan Shearer, Jermain Defoe and Sergio Aguero – to score five times in a single Premier League fixture during a 7-2 thrashing of Blackburn.
Didier Drogba – 32 (2009/10)
One of football’s greatest late bloomers, Didier Drogba did not make his professional debut until after his 21st birthday before developing into one of the most iconic imports in Premier League history.
The Ivorian arrived at Chelsea from Marseille in 2004 and swiftly became synonymous with a trophy-laden era in the club’s history, often playing a starring role in the west London side’s greatest triumphs.
Amongst those included a first ever domestic double under the guidance of Carlo Ancelotti in 2009/10, Drogba finishing as the Premier League’s leading scorer following a prolific campaign in a free-scoring Chelsea side.
The 32-year-old Drogba scored 29 goals in just 32 appearances as the Blues became the first side in Premier League history to reach a century of goals in a single campaign, the forward adding a second Golden Boot to his collection after previously capturing the prize with a 20-goal haul in 2006/07.
Jamie Vardy – 33 (2019/20)
Vardy’s stunning season has seen the Leicester legend become the oldest player in history to win the Premier League’s Golden Boot, his 23-goal campaign seeing the 33-year-old finish ahead of Aubameyang and Southampton’s Danny Ings to win the honour.
It is yet another chapter in a fairytale rise for the former non-league star, Vardy having only made his Football League debut at 25-years-old before making his first top-flight appearance two years later.
Since then the goals have flowed with increasing regularity for the Foxes forward who recently celebrated his 100th in the Premier League, whilst his fine 2019/20 season is the third season he has reached 20+ goals in a campaign.
Leicester will hope their talismanic number nine can continue to fire despite entering the latter stages of his career, Vardy remaining amongst the most feared forwards in the Premier League at present.
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