The 50 greatest North strikers

Jun 26 2011 by Mark Douglas, Sunday Sun

HOW to lose friends and influence people? Well, trying to compile the definitive top 50 post-War North strikers is a good place to start.

You can’t really win. Put Alan Shearer top of the list and you get accused of bias, but this is an impartial take on the players who have made the biggest impact on our biggest teams, which means it is not just about who is more prolific.

Players who have dragged their teams out of a rut – such as Kevin Keegan in the 1980s – have been given greater significance, while there is also a sad realisation that I can’t fit everyone in.

Glaring omissions already thrown at me include Paul Goddard and Billy Hughes, but I had to end the list somewhere.

Shearer tops it as he really was a Goliath at home and abroad but, if anything, this whole exercise just proves what a fantastic tradition of striking talent we have in this region . . .

:: Cast your eye over our list then place your vote here

50: REG DAVIES (Newcastle 1951-58, 49-157; Carlisle 62-63, 13-65)

IN an era when power was king, Davies was renowned for his fleet feet and even sharper football brain.

Didn’t make it into any of the three FA Cup-winning teams due to form and fitness, but brilliant nonetheless.