WSL all-time top goalscorers - ranked
- The Women's Super League was founded as England's top flight in 2011
- Chelsea are the reigning and record champions
- The likes of Vivianne Miedema, Beth Mead and Ellen White figure highly
By Ali Rampling
The Women's Super League has been home to an array of goalscoring greats since its formation in 2011.
But who has scored the most goals in WSL history? From cultured forwards to pile-driving midfielders, here are the league's all-time top goal-getters.
20. Chloe Kelly - 37
England's hero in the 2022 European Championship final has not been shy in front of goals at domestic level either.
Chloe Kelly was schooled in the cages of west London against her five brothers, learning how to scrap and slalom as the youngest of seven children. A career-best 2020/21 campaign ended with a nasty ACL injury but the spritely winger has steadily worked her way back to those heady heights.
19. Danielle Carter - 37
Danielle Carter became a firm fan favourite in over a decade at Arsenal, hitting a memorable winner in the 2016 FA Cup final and winning two WSL titles.
The striker endured rotten luck with injuries, twice rupturing her ACL, before moving to Reading and then Brighton.
18. Ji So-yun - 37
Ji So-yun has emerged as one of the WSL's most iconic figures since arriving at Chelsea in 2014.
She won the PFA Player of the Year during her debut season, and the classy midfielder has been a consistent source of goals and assists for Emma Hayes' side ever since, scooping four WSL winners medals along the way.
17. Toni Duggan - 38
Toni Duggan began her WSL career with Everton, before moving to Man City in 2013. She hit a particularly memorable volley to deny Chelsea the WSL title on the final day of the 2014 season, and won the league herself with City in 2016.
The forward moved to Spain in 2017, before returning to Everton in 2021.
16. Caroline Weir - 38
Caroline Weir netted her 38 WSL goals across spells with Arsenal, Bristol City, Liverpool and Manchester City.
The midfielder became renowned for her eye for the spectacular, netting three particularly stunning goals in three separate Manchester derbies during her time at City. She departed the WSL for Real Madrid in 2022.
15. Georgia Stanway - 39
Georgia Stanway broke into the Manchester City team as a 16-year-old, and was ever present in the side for the next seven years, becoming the club's all-time top scorer in the process. The midfielder enjoyed a breakthrough 2017/18 season, netting five goals in 14 appearances and scooping the PFA Young Player of the Year award.
Stanway won the WSL title with City in 2016, and moved to Bayern Munich in 2022.
14. Natasha Dowie - 40
Natasha Dowie was ever present in the first five-and-a-half seasons of the WSL, first with Everton before crossing the Merseyside divide to join Liverpool. She was the league's top scorer during her debut season with the Reds, firing them to their first league title, and collecting her second WSL winners medal the following year.
A brief move to Doncaster followed in 2016, before Dowie departed the WSL for ventures abroad in the USA, Sweden, Australia, Norway and Italy. She returned to the WSL in 2021 with Reading, with her scoring form very much still intact.
13. Khadija Shaw - 42
Khadija Shaw has such an aura of perfection in front of goal it's easy to linger over her rare misses. Yet, Shaw - who has been described by Manchester City manager Gareth Taylor as "so supremely, mentally strong" - never dwells on this sporadic squandered chances.
It's this mental fortitude that underpinned Shaw's rapid adaptation to the WSL. After serving as Ellen White's understudy during her debut campaign, Shaw became just the fourth player in the division's history to crack 20 WSL goals in a single season.
12. Fara Williams -43
Fara Williams is an absolute stalwart of the game, netting 42 WSL goals across spells with Everton, Liverpool, Arsenal and Reading prior to her retirement in 2021.
The midfielder always had an eye for the spectacular, with one of her most memorable goals a stunning halfway line effort straight from kickoff for Liverpool against Birmingham in 2014. The goal was instrumental in Liverpool's WSL title win that season - one of two WSL winners medals Williams would collect in her career.
11. Lauren Hemp - 44
Lauren Hemp joined Manchester City from Bristol City in 2018 and has established herself as one of the most exciting wingers in the WSL.
She has been named PFA Young Player of the Year on an unprecedented four occasions and was an integral part of England's Euro 2022 winning squad.
10. Rachel Williams - 49
Rachel Williams has been ever present in every WSL season, starring for four different sides in the English top flight.
The forward won the WSL's inaugural Golden Boot, netting 14 goals in 14 games for Birmingham during the 2011 season. Williams has enjoyed two spells with the Midlands outfit, in addition to a season with Chelsea, two years at Notts County and two seasons at Tottenham. She is currently plying her trade with Manchester United.
9. Kim Little - 54
Arsenal icon Kim Little played in the first three WSL seasons, winning back-to-back titles with the Gunners, before heading off the the United States for three years.
The Scotland midfielder returned to the WSL in 2017, adding another league title to her collection during the 2018/19 season. Little's goal against Reading the following campaign is one of her most famous, her skilful chest and volley applying the finishing touches to a sublime Arsenal move.
8. Jordan Nobbs - 57
Jordan Nobbs has featured in every WSL season for Arsenal, claiming three league titles with the Gunners.
The dynamic midfielder has always had a long-range spectacular up her sleeve, with her outrageous free kick from distance against Manchester City in the 2017 Spring Series one of the many memorable goals that Nobbs has popped up with.
7. Sam Kerr - 58
Sam Kerr became one of the biggest signings in WSL history when she joined Chelsea from Chicago Red Stars in January 2020.
Having spent her career breaking goalscoring records in Australia and the United States, the forward went about doing the same in England, finishing as the WSL's top scorer during her first full season in the league with 21 goals in 22 appearances as Chelsea claimed the 2020/21 title.
6. Beth Mead - 59
Beth Mead has been plying her trade in the WSL since 2015, and won the Golden Boot during her debut season in the division, hitting 12 goals for newly promoted Sunderland.
A move to Arsenal soon followed and saw Mead gradually transition from a number nine into a winger. Blessed with an eye for goal from her central striker days, she has added assists to her game from wide areas, and has surpassed Karen Carney as the WSL's top assist maker.
5. Ellen White - 61
One of the most dependable goal scorers for club and country for over a decade, White has fired herself to the upper echelons of the WSL all-time top-scoring charts across spells at Arsenal, Notts County, Birmingham and Manchester City.
The two-time WSL champion won the 2017/18 Golden Boot after hitting 15 goals in 14 games for Birmingham, while arguably her most famous goal came during her time at Notts County, bending home a fiendishly worked free kick with the help of some superb acting from Laura Bassett.
4. Fran Kirby - 62
Fran Kirby made her WSL debut in 2015 after moving from Reading to Chelsea, and has been one of the league's biggest stars ever since.
She is a five-time WSL champion with the Blues, recovering from a potentially career-ending illness to produce a stunning array of performances and goals to help Chelsea to the title during the 2020/21 season. Kirby's displays were recognised as she was named the 2020/21 WSL Player of the Year.
3. Nikita Parris - 62
Nikita Parris departed the WSL in 2019 as the league's all-time top scorer, having hit 49 goals for Everton and Manchester City between 2011 and 2019 and winning the WSL title with the latter in 2016.
The winger left City to join the might of Lyon, but returned to the WSL with Arsenal in 2021 with her eye once again on the league's all-time top-scoring accolade, before joining Manchester United the following summer.
2. Beth England - 69
Beth England has represented four WSL clubs - Doncaster, Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham.
The striker was Chelsea's top scorer in both the 2018/19 and 2019/20 campaign, with her goals in the latter instrumental in firing the Blues to the WSL title. England popped up with finishes that were equal in both importance and quality, netting long range stunners to beat Spurs at Stamford Bridge and claim a point against title rivals Manchester City.
1. Vivianne Miedema - 79
Vivianne Miedema has spent her career ticking off records like they're items on a shopping list. The Dutch striker joined Arsenal in 2017 and had become the league's top scorer just over three years later.
Miedema has won the Golden Boot twice during her time in north London, with one of her most famous performances in an Arsenal shirt coming during her side's devastating 11-1 win over Bristol City in 2019. The forward was in ruthless form, scoring six and assisting four.
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