Top 10 best EFL Championship strikers of all time | OneFootball

Football League World counts down the greatest number nines in second-tier history

Numerous elite strikers have graced the Championship over the last 22 years, but who is the definitive 'best of the best'?

From frontmen who made a massive impact in the space of a couple of years, to those whose time in the second tier spanned over a decade, seeing them net over 100 goals, there have been plenty of number nines who have enjoyed some of their best years in the division.

It's often a hot topic of debate, picking out the 10 greatest frontmen in the Championship's history, but we at Football League World have taken on the task of cultivating our own list.

Here are the 10 greatest Championship strikers of all time.

10 ? ? Chris Martin

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We kick off the list with one of the seven members of the 100 club when it comes to Championship goalscoring, as of writing.

Chris Martin is amongst the top appearance makers in the division's history, so, understandably, he ranks near the top of the all-time scoring charts, too, netting 114 in a career that saw him play for eight different clubs in the second tier.

The majority of those sides saw him lead the line in promotion pushes, coming second with Norwich City in 2009/10 and finishing in the play-off multiple times with Derby County and Fulham.

His peak years saw him net 20, 18 and 15 times in consecutive seasons at Pride Park between 2013 and 2016, but he still contributed another three double-digit scoring campaigns between then and his final year in the division in 2022/23, which earns him a place at the foot of the top 10.

9 ? ? Troy Deeney

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There arguably isn't a more iconic Championship goal than Troy Deeney's last-minute winner in the play-off semi-finals for Watford against Leicester City in 2013.

That was the culmination of the first of three campaigns in the second tier, where the frontman dominated the division, scoring 24 the year after and 21 the year after that to finally take the Hornets back to the Premier League after an eight-year exile.

The majority of Deeney's career thereafter was spent in the top flight, but he still managed seven goals in 19 appearances in Watford's sole campaign back in the division in 2020/21. He wasn't able to replicate that level of scoring at Birmingham City in his twilight years, but that didn't dim the shine on a brilliant second-tier career.

95 goals are enough to keep him in the top 10 all-time goal scorers for now in the Championship, and it's more than enough for a place on this list.

8 ? ? David Nugent

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From the moment a 19-year-old David Nugent joined Preston North End from Bury in January 2005, Championship fans knew that they were watching someone who had Premier League and international potential.

After 33 goals in two and a half seasons, he earned that top-flight move to Portsmouth, and his sole England cap came shortly after. It wouldn't be until he returned to the second tier with Pompey in 2010 that he began to truly cultivate himself as one of the division's best strikers.

That 2010/11 campaign was the first of four successive double-digit scoring seasons, which culminated in a 20-goal term for Leicester en route to the title in 2014. He'd then earn promotion once again with Middlesbrough two seasons later.

Only two people have scored more than Nugent has in the second tier. The rate they, and others, scored their goals does bump the 41-year-old down the order, but it's still a strong top-10 position for the 121-goal frontman.

7 ? ? Teemu Pukki

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Teemu Pukki's time in the Championship was short-lived, only three seasons to be exact, but the impact he made while at Norwich was immense.

The Finnish frontman averaged over a goal every other game during his time in the second tier, and that's taking into account that he only netted 10 in 41 in his final season before moving stateside to Minnesota United.

Indeed, the 29 goals he netted in his debut campaign at Carrow Road in 2018/19 earned him the Golden Boot and the Championship title, ending Norwich's three-year absence from the Premier League, and he followed that up with 26 goals two years later.

Two titles and two 25+ goal campaigns are nothing to sniff at, and if his career in the division spanned as long as some of the others on this list, he'd be a lot higher on the goalscoring charts, that's for sure.

6 ? ? Sylvan Ebanks-Blake

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The first man to win two Championship Golden Boots and, as of writing, the only person to win it in back-to-back seasons, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake has to be recognised on this list.

The former Wolves frontman spent five full seasons in the second tier in his career and racked up double-digit goals in all but one — a nine-appearance campaign with Ipswich Town in 2013/14.

Whether it was at Molineux or at Plymouth Argyle, where his goalscoring reputation was carved out, you knew exactly what you were getting with Ebanks-Blake.

A second-tier winner's medal, Player of the Season and Goal of the Year in the 2008/09 campaign were the icing on the cake for him.

5 ? ? Ross McCormack

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Ross McCormack was such a deadly frontman in the second tier that he was signed twice for seven-figure deals by former Premier League clubs angling to get back into the top flight.

Fulham spent £11 million on the Scotsman in 2014, and Aston Villa dropped £12 million on him two years later, although the less said about the latter, the better.

That dud spell at Villa Park towards the end of his career can easily be looked past, though, when it came off the back of three separate 20-goal campaigns in the second tier with three different clubs: Cardiff City, Leeds United and Fulham.

The 28 he netted at Elland Road during the 2013/14 campaign won him the Golden Boot, and all the other goals on top of that have him fourth in the division's all-time scoring charts with 120.

An incredible second-tier frontman — it's a testament to the strength of the list overall that he only just squeezes into the top five.

4 ? ? Jordan Rhodes

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Jorda Rhodes sits at number two in the all-time Championship scoring charts. He places number four in this top-10 list, though.

The 36-year-old arguably had the strongest peak out of anybody in the division in front of goal while at Blackburn Rovers, netting 26, 25 and 21 times in consecutive seasons.

He wasn't able to replicate close to that magic in the top-flight, unfortunately. He earned his move to Middlesbrough amidst their promotion push in 2016, but when Boro were promoted, he wasn't able to break into the fold in the Premier League.

Back in the second tier with the likes of Sheffield Wednesday, Norwich and back at Huddersfield Town, where he broke through in League One, he still popped up with plenty of important goals to take his overall tally to an incredibly impressive 123.

3 ? ? Lewis Grabban

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Lewis Grabban almost epitomised the 'incredible in the Championship, perhaps not ready to make the Premier League step-up' type of player that so many top second-tier stars get branded with.

Grabban only made 24 top-flight appearances in his career, which was a bit of a shame, as he proved every time in the Championship for numerous different clubs that he had Premier League qualities.

His 22-goal campaign for Bournemouth back in 2013/14 is the standout term, but he netted 12 for Norwich to help them to promotion the following year.

Back under contract at Bournemouth, he was loaned out to Reading, where he helped them to the play-off final, Sunderland, where he scored 12 in 19 for a struggling side, and then Aston Villa, where he netted eight in 18 to help them win promotion, too.

And that's all before his numerous double-digit campaigns at Nottingham Forest, which, again, ended in promotion in 2022.

The 38-year-old was as sure a thing as you could get in front of goal. He's played the fewest number of games out of the 100-club strikers by at least 98, and therefore is more than deserving of a podium finish.

2 ? ? Aleksandar Mitrovic

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Aleksandar Mitrovic was terrifying in front of goal in the Championship with Fulham, winning two Golden Boots in as many promotion-winning campaigns, including 43 in 44 outings during the 2021/22 term - a record that may never be beaten.

He has the best minutes-to-goal ratio in the division's history, scoring 85 times in just 126 games, a tally that's enough to see him still in the top-15 in the all-time scoring charts, as of writing.

He may have spent the fewest number of games in the Championship out of anyone on this list, but pound-for-pound, there's no denying that he's one of the best to ever do it in the division.

Arguably, the man atop the list is quite happy that Mitrovic only spent three-and-a-half years in the division, as his scoring record would definitely have been broken by the Serbian if his time in the Championship had gone on a couple more years.

1 ? ? Billy Sharp

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Billy Sharp is regarded amongst many circles as the EFL's greatest ever player, and while his Championship goals only make up around half of his total tally across all four divisions, the 130 he's netted stands as the record which he broke over four years ago.

The still-active 40-year-old's crazy goalscoring bursts came more regularly in League One, with the 23 he netted in 2018/19 standing as his only 20+ scoring campaign in the division, but that goes to show how consistent he was in other seasons.

Sharp has scored 13+ in single Championship campaigns six times, helping Sheffield United to two promotions in 2019 and 2023 and Southampton to one in 2012.