Adam Boyd joins the select few!

By Albatross
February 24 2005

Adam Boyd reached the mark of 20 goals for the season with his penalty strike against Brentford; and he's joined quite an exclusive club. After all, not many other players have scored 20 in a season for Hartlepool United over the last 30 years....

Boyd's achievement is quite remarkable when you consider that about a year ago he was on the verge of leaving the club, but he has now become the latest member of a fairly exclusive club. His 20 goals so far break down as 15 League, 3 FA Cup and one each in the Carling Cup and LDV Trophy - and with plenty of games still to come he'll fancy his chances of adding a few more to that total.

So who are the other players that have reached the 20 mark over the last few years? The answer is that there aren't very many at all - despite all our success in recent seasons, we've tended to share the goals about a bit. In chronological order, they are....

1) Tommy Miller, 2001/2. He scored 16 in the League and two each in FA Cup and LDV for a total of exactly 20, prior to moving on to Ipswich in the close season. Miller's total was impressive for a midfielder, but helped by the fact that he was our regular penalty taker at the time.

2) Andy Saville, 1992/3. His 20 goals consisted of 13 League, 5 FA Cup and one each in Coca Cola and Autoglass Trophy action. This was the season of our infamously long scoreless run, in between Saville's penalty winner against Crystal Palace and his goal in the 1-1 draw with Blackpool. He played in every game of that run, and soon after bringing up his 20 with a double against West Brom was on the move, trasferred to Birmingham prior to Deadline Day.

3) Joe Allon, 1990/1. 35 goals, 28 League - a hat-trick in the FA Cup and two each in the Rumbelows and Leyland Daf, as Joe Joe Joe fired Pools to only their second promotion and himself into legendary status with Pools fans - and a move to Chelsea! The joint highest league tally ever for the club, and the last player to exceed the 20 mark with league goals alone.

4) Andy Toman, 1987/8. 17 League Goals and 3 FA Cup made up his 20, but it wasn't to last and after another season at the Vic Toman moved onto relegated Darlington. However he wasn't top scorer that season because of.....

5) Paul Baker, 1987/8. His total of 25 was made up of 20 in the League, 3 in the FA Cup and one each in the Littlewoods Cup and Sherpa Van Trophy. Incredibly, despite having two players that had reached the magic 20 mark, Pools were still in the bottom half that season, with a final placing of 16th.

Baker became the first player in well over a decade to reach 20; before that, you have to go back to Ron Young in the early 1970s!

In addition, there are a few near misses. Gordon Watson got 18 in 2001/2, despite arriving part way through the season - his tally amounted to a goal every two games and he would have certainly got over the 20 mark if he'd played more than the 36 times he did. Kevin Henderson went even closer the year before, when Miller did reach 20, finishing with 19 for the season. Paul Baker reached 18 in our first season in the old Division 3 back in 1991/2, with five cup goals part of his tally. Joe Allon and Bakes both managed 17 back in 1989/90 - a remarkable achievement in a struggling side, as we were until Cyril Knowles took over! Alan Shoulder also went close, with 19 goals back in 1985/6.

So Boyd is only the 6th Hartlepool player in over 30 years to reach the benchmark figure of 20 - and should become the first since Joe Allon to exceed that tally. Can he get close to Joe's figure of 28 League Goals - and break the record that he jointly holds with William Robinson, a mark that has stood unbeaten since 1928? It's a pretty tough ask, but even so Boyd is rapidly showing himself to be our most prolific forward in a decade or more, and the 47 goals he's netted for Pools already see him inside the top 20 goalscorers in the club's history. Almost as exciting for Pools fans is that Antony Sweeney and Joel Porter are also well into double figures - what price either of those hitting the 20 goal mark as well?