When Odion Ighalo scored his tenth goal of the season yesterday to secure Watford’s third successive Premier League win by beating Sunderland, he also netted for the 30th time in the league for the Hornets. Those goals have come in just 51 appearances. It is a record without equal in the past 52 years at the Vicarage Road side.
Watford Mailing List’s Jon Sinclair has provided the list below of the number of appearances it took each stated player to score his 30th league goal for Watford and it shows only five have reached it quicker than Ighalo. Furthermore, only two – Dennis Uphill and Dai Ward – have achieved it in fewer appearances than the Nigerian international since the end of World War Two.
Frank McPherson heads the list with his 30th goal coming in just 24 appearances in the 1928/29 season. Second and third places are also occupied by players from the 1920s and 30s, George James and Fred Pagnam.
The player fastest to 30 league goals in appearance terms in the post-war era is Dennis Uphill, who reached the milestone in 42 matches in the 1959/60 season when he and Cliff Holton scored 72 of the 92 goals Watford netted in winning promotion from the old Division Four.
Apart from Uphill, the other player to score 30 league goals in fewer appearances than Ighalo in the post-war era is Dai Ward. He achieved it in 48 appearances at the start of the 1963/64 campaign.
The 26-year-old is one of four players to hit the 30-mark in 51 league appearances for Watford along with Holton, Len Dunderdale and Roy Brown but, perhaps of greater significance, no player has reached the milestone quicker in the club’s history in the top two divisions.
Ighalo’s 30 league goals have come in 37 starts and 14 substitute appearances. However, the 26 he has scored in 2015 have been netted from just 28 starts and six outings off the bench.
Appearances to get to 30 league goals for Watford including play-off games
24 – Frank McPherson
29 – George James
38 – Fred Pagnam
42 – Dennis Uphill
48 – Dai Ward
51 – Roy Brown, Len Dunderdale, Cliff Holton, Odion Ighalo
52 – William Lane
53 – George Edmonds
55 – Cyril Thompson
57 – William Sheppard
60 – Paul Furlong
67 – Jimmy Bowie, Marlon King
68 – Matej Vydra
69 – Paul Wilkinson
73 – Terry Garbett
74 – Danny Graham
75 – Dave Thomas
77 – Tommy Barnett
78 – Henry Lowe
79 – Keith Mercer
81 – Bill Devan
82 – Billy Jennings
83 – Maurice Cook
84 – Ralph Evans
85 – Luther Blissett
86 – George Harris
89 – Taffy Davies
99 – John Barnes
102 – Charles White
108 – Darius Henderson
111 – Heidar Helguson, Alan Mayes
113 – Freddie Bunce
117 – Troy Deeney, Ross Jenkins
131 – Tommy Smith
136 – Johnny Meadows
139 – Gifton Noel-Williams
151 – Peter Walker
166 – Nigel Callaghan
186 – Tommy Mooney
211 – Dennis Bond
218 – Stewart Scullion
222 – Gary Porter
238 – Frank Smith
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel