No player has excelled in the Premier League in their thirties quite like Jamie Vardy.
The Leicester City forward, who didn’t become a professional footballer until he was in his mid-20s, proved yet again that age is just a number with his latest goal.
With no-pre-season under his belt, Vardy swigged a can of Red Bull in the tunnel, scored a vital equaliser, quarrelled with Cristian Romero and taunted the travelling Spurs fans over their club’s lack of a Premier League trophy on Monday night.
Same as it ever was.
At 37, he’s not the same striker who routinely hit double digits in the top flight, but he’s still got that dog in him, and he’ll be damned if he goes gently into that good night.
Vardy isn’t the first Premier League footballer to play his best stuff in the third decade of his life, but he’s the most captivating of the lot.
The Premier League players with the most goals after turning 30:
5. Teddy Sheringham – 77
It’s fair to say Teddy Sheringham peaked, like many strikers, in his mid to late twenties. After joining Spurs in 1992, he scored 75 goals in 166 Premier League appearances during a five-year spell, earning him a move to Manchester United.
The centre-forward’s first few years at Old Trafford weren’t the most prolific, but he did find the net 15 times in the league in his final season at the club, picking up the PFA Players’ Player of the Year Award in 2001.
37-year-old Teddy Sheringham joined @officialpompey #OnThisDay in 2003
Cue the goals… pic.twitter.com/H3QGocPfB4
— Premier League (@premierleague) June 30, 2017
A second spell at Spurs was followed by moves to Portsmouth and West Ham United as he continued to notch top-flight goals until he was in his forties.
90s Hitmen: Teddy Sheringham, a forward of enduring excellence
4. Frank Lampard – 82
Some of Frank Lampard’s best seasons came after his 30th birthday, in particular the 2009/10 campaign when he scored 22 goals on the way to lifting the Premier League trophy with Chelsea.
The midfielder hit double digits in each of the next three years, followed by just six in 2013/14. He matched that tally after leaving Stamford Bridge to join Manchester City the next season, before heading off to the States to play in MLS.
3. Alan Shearer – 84
The king of kings, Alan Shearer enjoyed remarkable longevity in the Premier League despite suffering two bad ligament injuries during his career.
After turning 30 in the year 2000, the Newcastle United legend broke the 20-goal mark twice and reached double digits a further two times. A trophy with his boyhood club remained elusive, but he did manage to set the Premier League goals record at a seemingly insurmountable 260.
260 – In April 2006, Alan Shearer scored his 260th and final Premier League goal, in Newcastle’s 4-1 victory against Sunderland; he remains the highest goalscorer in the competition. Icon. #OptaPLSeasons pic.twitter.com/3F3dJHDS8f
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 9, 2020
Golazo Merchants: The Boss of Bosses, Alan Shearer
2. Ian Wright – 93
A late bloomer like Vardy, Ian Wright didn’t play top-flight football until he was 25, with Crystal Palace in the late eighties.
The striker joined Arsenal in 1991 when he was 28 years of age. Despite making the move relatively late in his career, he played a key role in the club’s success throughout that decade, winning multiple trophies including a league title.
Wright set the record for most Premier League goals (104) by an Arsenal player, which was later broken by Thierry Henry (175), with all but 11 of them coming after he turned 30-years-old.
1. Jamie Vardy – 103
The path from non-league football to Premier League champion was laid by Wright and followed by Vardy in the most unlikely of fashions.
After being released by Sheffield Wednesday at the age of 16, the forward dropped down the tiers to Stocksbridge Park Steels before gradually rising through the divisions. He joined Fleetwood Town via Halifax, blitzing the Conference North and catching the eye of clubs further up the food chain.
Your 🐐 is BACK. pic.twitter.com/BYW8uqLzmP
— Leicester City (@LCFC) August 19, 2024
Leicester City parted with £1 million to buy the Yorkshireman, a record transfer fee for a non-league player, which might be the best money the Foxes have ever spent.
Vardy has since gone on to score 191 goals in all competitions over the past 12 years divisions, 137 of which have come in the Premier League. Only 34 of them came before his 30th birthday.
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