Football's anti-heroes?
Goalscorers are the most celebrated figures in football; their records catalogued for eternity, the memories of their feats cherished forever by fans. This lot couldn’t be more different to the deadly finishers who have written their names into the history books.
Loyal servants to a man, the following 20 players were more concerned with keeping their own sheets clean than troubling the other end of the pitch.
The full list extends beyond this lot, with Djimi Traore, Andrew Taylor and Simon Francis narrowly missing the cut, but who will be crowned the least dangerous player in Premier League history? Let’s find out…
20. Richard Hughes
Portsmouth; 114 apps
Glasgow-born Hughes was developed in the famed Atalanta youth academy before spending several years in the youth ranks at Arsenal.
A defensive midfielder, he managed to find the net 14 times for Bournemouth in four years there, but the goals dried up once he reached nearby Portsmouth.
In nine years of service for Pompey, the Scotland international never once got the chance to celebrate a net-bulger in the top flight. At least he got an FA Cup winners’ medal for his efforts.
19. Simon Grayson
Leicester, Aston Villa; 117 apps
With just 12 goals in his entire 28-year career, half of which came at his final club Blackpool, Grayson was never a renowned danger man.
The right-back could also be deployed in midfield, and did actually make his mark at Leicester by scoring the winner in the 1997 League Cup semi-final against Wimbledon. He failed to repeat the feat in the Premier League for the Foxes and, subsequently, Aston Villa, for whom his two goals came in the FA Cup.
18. Martin Kelly
Liverpool, Crystal Palace; 122 apps
Aged 28 and still performing semi-regularly in Premier League, there's still hope that Kelly’s barren run can come to an end before he calls time on his playing career.
The former Liverpool stopper won’t be first pick for too many people’s fantasy football teams this season, though, as he enters his 10th senior season without ever scoring a top-flight goal.
In February 2016 he netted in the FA Cup for Palace, ending a four-year wait to score in any competition. Not exactly prolific.
17. Andy Wilkinson
Stoke; 123 apps
Stoke stalwart Wilkinson never left the club permanently, but he did go through a series of loan moves during his career, which ended in 2006.
A goal for Partick Thistle against Clyde in a Scottish Division One clash back in 2004 proved to be the only strike that the right-back would ever record, despite featuring for the Potters well over 100 times in English football’s top division.
16. Aaron Mokoena
Blackburn, Portsmouth; 124 apps
A regular on Premier League team sheets for seven years and South Africa’s most-capped player ever, Mokoena had serious top-level pedigree – even if that never helped him find the net.
Four barren years at Ewood Park were followed by three years on the south coast in which his drought continued.
The defender netted twice for Rovers in the FA Cup and scored his first league goal in English football after moving to Pompey – but it arrived once they were down in the Championship.
15. Dean Austin
Tottenham; 124 apps
Austin spent six years at White Hart Lane between 1992 and 1998, which was partly blighted by a broken leg he suffered in his second season.
Under Gerry Francis the right-back found top form and helped the club to the FA Cup semi-finals, but injury soon struck again as he went under the knife three times for a knee problem.
By the time he departed for Palace, the defender had made over 150 appearances for Spurs in all competitions without scoring.
14. Karl Henry
Wolves, QPR; 127 apps
The 35-year-old England youth international has scored 11 goals in his career, but unfortunately for him he makes our countdown as none of them arrived during his time at the summit.
Henry spent more than a decade of his career at Wolves and QPR, and experienced four seasons of regular top-flight football between the two clubs, but never got on the scoresheet.
13. Neil Taylor
Swansea; 131 apps
The Swans were widely praised for their swashbuckling, fearless style of football upon reaching the Premier League for the first time in 2011.
However, that didn’t help Taylor in his quest to find the back of the net: the left-back went through six top-flight campaigns without scoring. The 29-year-old, now at Aston Villa, didn’t score in any competition for the Welsh side in seven years there; a strike for Wales against Russia and three goals for first club Wrexham remain his only goalscoring contributions to date.
12. Paulo Ferreira
Chelsea; 140 apps
It’s very hard to be critical of Ferreira’s time at Chelsea. After all, the Portuguese right-back won three Premier League titles, four FA Cups, two League Cups, the Champions League and the Europa League while at Stamford Bridge.
Like we said, not bad. But one thing the decorated defender never managed to add to his decorated CV was a top-flight goal. One-hundred-and-forty games came and went in the Premier League without Ferreira troubling opposition goalkeepers, and he showed similar form for his country, never scoring for Portugal in 62 caps.
Nine years with the Blues yielded just one FA Cup goal and one League Cup strike.
11. Dean Blackwell
Wimbledon; 157 apps
A Wimbledon veteran, Blackwell spent 14 years with the Dons before moving to Brighton for the twilight seasons of his career in 2002.
He helped the London club to an eighth-place Premier League finish, plus runs to the semi-finals of the FA Cup and League Cup during his time at Selhurst Park, but being the man to break the deadlock was never in the defender’s repertoire.
10. Justin Edinburgh
Tottenham; 174 apps
Edinburgh played more than 200 games for Spurs over a decade at White Hart Lane, winning the FA Cup and League Cup in the process.
The left-back could only muster a single goal in all competitions in that time, though – none on league duty – and is perhaps best remembered as the man to receive the last ever red card at OId Wembley (in the 2000 League Cup Final win over Leicester).
9. Alan Kimble
Wimbledon; 181 apps
Like Blackwell, Kimble was part of a no-nonsense Wimbledon defence tasked with keeping things tight at the back and not worrying too much about providing a danger at the other end of the pitch.
Funnily enough, the defender arrived at the Dons in 1993 having scored a commendable 24 goals for Cambridge.
Nevertheless, a League Cup strike against Huddersfield was his only goal for the London club.
8. Lucas Radebe
Leeds; 197 apps
After more than a decade of service and almost a double-century of league appearances to his name, Radebe left Leeds in 2005 without ever making the net ripple.
The defender originally started his career as a goalkeeper in South Africa – which could explain his aversion to goalscoring – and his defensive performances were key to the Elland Road outfit’s success during his time at the club.
Radebe helped Leeds reach the Champions League semi-final and third place in the Premier League, ensuring that the club’s fans will forgive him for his lack of attacking threat.
7. Steve Potts
West Ham; 202 apps
The first member of our 200 club - players who racked up a double-century or more of games without scoring - is Steve Potts.
A West Ham youth product, the defender spent almost 20 years at Upton Park before returning to the club as a youth team coach in recent years.
Club captain for three years and voted Hammer of the Year twice, Potts made 505 appearances for the club in total, scoring just one goal – against Hull City during a 7-1 Second Division drubbing in 1990.
6. Danny Simpson
Manchester United, Blackburn, Newcastle, QPR, Leicester; 207 apps
It seems almost incredible that Simpson, a Premier League veteran who has represented five different teams in the top flight, is yet to register a goal.
Claudio Ranieri favoured the right-back's defensive diligence and made him his first choice during Leicester’s remarkable title-winning season of 2015/16, and his impressive haul of Premier League games is not to be sniffed at.
Simpson is still just 31, and although he has now fallen out of favour at the King Power, his hopes of hitting the target before hanging up his boots remain alive. If only faintly.
5. Stephane Henchoz
Blackburn, Liverpool, Wigan; 243 apps
The Swiss stopper formed a solid partnership with Sami Hyypia at Anfield and helped the club to a historic cup treble in 2001.
Five-and-half years with Liverpool yielded no goals for the centre-back, and his eye for the target wasn’t any sharper with Wigan or Blackburn either side of his spell on Merseyside.
Somewhat impressively, his goal drought was extended to all competitions and was taken north of the border too, with a loan spell at Celtic failing to increase his chances of hitting the net.
4. Richard Shaw
Crystal Palace, Coventry; 252 apps
Shaw’s club form earned him an England call-up from Terry Venables in 1995, and although he never got the chance to pull on the white shirt, it was testament to his defensive abilities.
As fine as those were, Shaw played a remarkable number of games without worrying opposition defences.
His only goal in more than 350 appearances for Coventry came against Gillingham in May 2004 – and it had taken him over 250 matches to achieve the feat.
3. Des Walker
Sheffield Wednesday; 264 apps
A 59-time England international, Walker was one of the finest English defenders of his era.
Excellent marking, speed and anticipation set him apart from the rest, but the fact that he would hold back for attacking set-pieces rather than get in the mixer meant he scored just one goal in a career spanning more than 800 games.
That came for his first club Nottingham Forest, and Walker failed to repeat the trick in subsequent spells at Sampdoria, Sheffield Wednesday, or on his return to Forest.
2. Tony Hibbert
Everton; 265 apps
One-club man Hibbert became infamous for his goal drought, which finally ‘ended’ in 2012 with a free-kick during his testimonial match against AEK Athens which prompted a pitch invasion from delighted Toffees fans.
The Goodison legend failed to find the net in any of his 322 competitive appearances for the club but remains a hugely popular figure.
1. Kenny Cunningham
Wimbledon, Birmingham; 335 apps
The winner, and by some distance, is Irish stalwart Kenny Cunningham.
Racking up 335 top-flight games without finding the net is no mean feat, but the centre-back – yet another former Wimbledon man – pulled it off in addition to keeping his name off the scoresheet in all 72 caps for his country.
The one goal of his career came for first club Millwall, before he embarked on a drought of more than 500 matches leading up to his retirement in 2007. Hats off.
