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Yes, it has been boosted by penalties, but there have still been no less than 41 of those goals scored that were not from the penalty spot.
He couldn't have found a bigger stage or a bigger game for Burnley than the one he chose to reach the century. It was the best game seen at the Turf for years and you just about expected him to hit the net once referee Mike Dean had pointed to the spot.
Looking back at Grezza's goals you will see another future Claret listed in the goalscorers when he netted his first and when he scored his first league penalty.
The first goal came at his home ground of Glanford Park, playing for Scunthorpe against Doncaster Rovers on 24th August 1991. It was the second Scunthorpe goal in a 3-2 win. The first of their goals that day was scored by Ian Helliwell who was to sign for Burnley in 1996.
He scored a total of 18 league goals for Scunthorpe with not one of them from the penalty spot. In 1995 he made the move to Luton and goals were difficult to come by for him until the 1997/98 season when he scored eight times, and that included two against Burnley in our 3-2 win down at Kenilworth Road. I'm sure Marlon Beresford will still have no recollection of his second as he placed it past a startled, far from ready, goalkeeper.
The last of those goals that season was in a home game against York on 4th April 1998, and that was his first league goal from the penalty spot. Luton won the game 3-0 with Alexander getting the first ten minutes before half time.
Helliwell had been a scorer when he got his first goal, in the game when he got his first penalty they doubled their lead right on half time through Phil Gray who was one of Stan Ternent's summer signings after promotion in 2000.
It was at Preston where the penalty taking really took off. We sometimes think Preston get penalties far too easily and these figures seem to confirm that. In the seven seasons, from 1999/2000 to 2006/07, Grezza scored an amazing 52 league goals for North End and no less than 44 of those had come from the penalty spot.
Five of those Preston goals were against Burnley, with four of them coming from the penalty spot and two of them from shocking decisions by Roy Pearson in 2001 and Graham Laws in 2005.
So, in August 2007, he arrived at Burnley with a total of 85 league goals and it took him until the end of his first season to register his first Burnley goal in a 3-3 home draw against Cardiff.
His next was a free kick last season against Forest and he netted his first penalty for us in the same game. All but one goal he's scored since, the second against Hull recently, has been from the spot, and Wednesday's finally took him to 100.
He's also the oldest player to score a Premier League goal this season and stands fifth in the all time list behind Teddy Sheringham, Stuart Pearce, Mark Hughes and Tugay. Another goal from the Manchester United away game onwards would lift him into fourth place.
It's a remarkable achievement, and hopefully there will be a lot more goals to come whilst he's playing in the claret and blue of Burnley.
Season | Club | Goals | Pens |
1991/92 | Scunthorpe | 5 | 0 |
1992/93 | Scunthorpe | 5 | 0 |
1993/94 | Scunthorpe | 4 | 0 |
1994/95 | Scunthorpe | 4 | 0 |
1995/96 | Luton | 1 | 0 |
1996/97 | Luton | 2 | 0 |
1997/98 | Luton | 8 | 1 |
1998/99 | Luton | 4 | 2 |
1999/2000 | Preston | 6 | 5 |
2000/01 | Preston | 5 | 3 |
2001/02 | Preston | 6 | 5 |
2002/03 | Preston | 10 | 8 |
2003/04 | Preston | 9 | 8 |
2004/05 | Preston | 7 | 6 |
2005/06 | Preston | 3 | 3 |
2006/07 | Preston | 6 | 6 |
2007/08 | Burnley | 1 | 0 |
2008/09 | Burnley | 9 | 8 |
2009/10 | Burnley | 5 | 4 |