10 Greatest Aston Villa Strikers Ever
3. Harry Hampton
Harry “Happy” Hampton played as a centre-forward for Aston Villa from 1904 to 1920. He scored 242 goals for the club in just 376 matches.
Hampton made an immediate impact at Villa and scored 22 goals during an impressive first season at the club. He then went on to score both goals in Villa’s 1905 FA Cup Final triumph over Newcastle United and later helped them to the 1909/10 First Division title.
Despite this impressive goal-scoring record, Hampton was only ever capped four times by England but did manage to score two goals in games against both Wales and Scotland.
2. Billy Walker
Walker spent 19 years with the club. With 244 goals to his name, the striker still remains Villa’s all-time leading goalscorer despite almost half a decade passing since his death in 1964.
He captained Villa and England during the 1920s, scoring 12 League and FA Cup hat-tricks. He became the first player to convert three penalties in a game. If that wasn’t impressive enough he also deputized in goal for club and country.
1. Tom ‘Pongo’ Waring
Pongo Waring was just over six-feet tall, and had everything a top striker needs. Height, speed, amazing strength – he was almost impossible to knock off the ball – and intelligence.
With a strike rate of three goals every four games, Pongo will live long in Villa’s history. He was rated one of the most dangerous centre forwards between the wars. Pongo was loved by the Villa Park crowd and he was certainly a colourful character.
In his 226 appearances for Villa, he scored 167 goals, including 10 hat-tricks. He holds a club record of 49 league goals in the 1930–31 season, 50 goals in all competitions.