The longest goal droughts in Premier League history, and where Joe Gomez ranks

While it’s not exactly his forte, for Joe Gomez the inescapable truth is that he has now played 125 Premier League games for Liverpool and is still waiting to score his first goal for the club. Indeed, some 8,695 minutes of top-flight football have now elapsed without the shot-shy defender managing to open his account despite being deployed in a more advanced left-back role by manager Jurgen Klopp in recent weeks.

Furthermore, across all competitions Gomez’s goalless streak now stands at 200 senior games and 14,039 minutes of action without finding the net for the Reds since joining them in 2015 from boyhood club Charlton Athletic (where he also failed to find the net in 24 first-team appearances.)

Admittedly the 26-year-old is a centre-back and therefore his primary task is trying to keep the ball out of the net but still; 145 hours (and counting) is a significant amount of Premier League football to pass by without at least unwittingly ricocheting one stray shot in off your backside at the far end of the pitch.

As the England international (zero goals in 11 senior caps or 32 appearances at various youth levels) continues his search for his maiden goal, how does his scoreless run compare to those unlucky outfield players who spent the most minutes on a Premier League pitch without scoring a single strike to their name?

Some players have gone through dry spells, some have seen their barren runs extend into seemingly hopeless drought, but a select group of Premier League alumni have truly taken their inability to find the net to the elite level.

Note: Although some of these players have scored in lower leagues, the old First Division before the Premier League was created and various cup competitions, this list is exclusive to the Premier League since its inaugural 1992-93 season.

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10. Justin Edinburgh: 174 games/13,646 minutes without a goal

Sturdy left-back Edinburgh represented Tottenham in the Premier League for eight seasons between 1992-93 and 1999-00, and started all 174 of his total games in that period without managing to trouble the score sheet. He did net his one and only goal for the club in a 2-2 draw against Sheffield United in the league, but that was in 1991, a year before the creation of the Premier League. However, he did at least make an attacking contribution by pitching in with seven assists in that time. Edinburgh had no trouble finding goals as a manager, though; his Leyton Orient team won the fifth-tier National League by scoring 73 of them in 46 games in the 2018-19 season. Sadly, his premature death that summer at the age of 49 meant he never got to see the Os score a goal back in the EFL.

9. Alan Kimble: 181 games/15,097 minutes

A near ever-present for Wimbledon from the early years of the Premier League right up until the turn of the millennium, reliable left-back Kimble never managed to score a single league goal for the Dons but did provide 24 assists. He therefore continues to hold the Premier League record as the player who created the most goals without ever scoring himself.

8. Lucas Radebe: 197 games/15,724 minutes

Cherished as a cult hero by Leeds United fans to this day, Radebe spent a decade playing in the Premier League and became known as a dependable captain and leader. The South African international defender was even deployed as an emergency goalkeeper on several occasions but never once found the net in more than 200 top-flight games for the Whites.

7. Steve Potts: 204 games/16,182 minutes

A hard-working right back, Potts made a total of 399 league appearances for West Ham during his 17-year stint with the club but only ever scored one goal (in a 7-1 trouncing of Hull City in Division Two, in October 1990). He has since undertaken a variety of coaching roles with the Hammers and is now in charge of the club’s under-23 team — though presumably he has hired someone a little more qualified to take charge of the finishing sessions.

6. Danny Simpson: 213 games/17,808 minutes

After beginning his career at Manchester United, Simpson went on to play for Blackburn, Newcastle, QPR and Leicester City in the Premier League and even won the title with the latter in 2015-16 as part of Claudio Ranieri’s triumphant underdogs. Despite being a bona fide champion, the right-back never once managed to score in the top flight in almost 300 hours of trying.

5. Stephane Henchoz: 243 games/20,841 minutes

Henchoz spent 10 seasons in the Premier League, representing Wigan, Liverpool and Blackburn (over two spells) between 1997-98 and 2007-08 while clocking up close to 250 top-flight games. The closest the Switzerland international defender ever came to contributing a goal was the lone assist he managed to drum up in 2006-07 after returning to Blackburn for a second stint.

🙌 | You wait 308 games for a Tony Hibbert goal – and he saves it for his own testimonial! 😄#onthisday in 2012… 🔵 pic.twitter.com/fwNNUp09S0

— Everton (@Everton) August 8, 2020

4. Tony Hibbert: 265 games/21,422 minutes

Hibbert’s lack of attacking aptitude became something of a running joke during his 17-year, one-club career at Everton — to the extent that the immortal chant “If Hibbert scores, we riot!” could regularly be heard ringing around Goodison Park in affectionate jest. The long-serving full-back did actually score one goal in a Toffees shirt but, alas, it came during his testimonial game against AEK Athens and therefore cannot strictly be counted towards his official tally.

3. Richard Shaw: 253 games/22,298 minutes

A stalwart for Crystal Palace and then Coventry City in the 1990s and early 2000s, Shaw forged himself a perfectly sound reputation as a reliable, no-nonsense centre-back. He was certainly not remembered for his goals, of which he managed to muster the grand total of zilch in over 370 hours of Premier League action (although he scored four elsewhere).

2. Des Walker: 264 games/23,308 minutes

One of the most accomplished English centre-backs of the early 1990s, Walker proved his mettle at Nottingham Forest (where he scored one pre-Premier League era goal) before moving first to Sampdoria in Italy and then Sheffield Wednesday, for whom he made all 264 of his Premier League appearances between 1993-94 and 1999-00. While many a striker struggled to beat expert man-marker Walker, the defender himself also failed to beat a single top-flight goalkeeper — though he did chalk up two league assists for the Owls.

1. Kenny Cunningham: 335 games/29,620 minutes

Way out in front with a 6,000-minute buffer between himself and his nearest challenger, Cunningham made over 500 appearances in the English football league during his long career with 335 of those games coming in the Premier League, first with Wimbledon and later with Birmingham City. He never scored a single goal for either club, in any competition.

To further cement his credentials as a world-beating non-scorer, the full-back also won 72 caps for the Republic of Ireland without scoring any international goals. Truly a master when it comes to the noble art of keeping one’s powder dry.