We’re almost there. The wait is very nearly over. That’s right, the 2024/25 Championship campaign begins this week.
There’s still time to do a little digging, and that’s exactly what we’re doing here. In this article, we’re looking at previous Championship top scorers to see whether or not Championship experience is important when weighing up potential top-scorer bets.
Is Championship experience important for potential top scorers?
What exactly are we looking at here? I wanted to know if Championship top scorers typically top score having amassed plenty of previous experience in the league. In other words, I’m looking to see if you typically need to be a proven Championship goal-getter to come out on top in the race for the top-scorer award.
To find out, I looked at each of the top scorers since the 2010/11 campaign, looking to see what sort of Championship experience they had under their belts prior to the season where they outscored their peers.
In recent times, plenty of players have scored the most goals in a Championship season having performed very well at the level before. For example, when Aleksandar Mitrovic scored an unprecedented 43 goals during the 2021/22 season, he went into the campaign with an already healthy Championship record of 42 goals in 86 games.
However, while we’ve certainly seen proven scorers do the business, we've also seen a few surprises too.
Last season’s top scorer Sammie Szmodics had plenty of previous Championship experience before the campaign began, but a record of 11 goals in 83 appearances didn’t exactly prepare us for the 27 that he notched.
More surprising still, Chuba Akpom scored 28 goals to land the top individual prize in 2023 having started the campaign with a career tally of just eight goals in 93 previous appearances.
We’ll look at the last 14 seasons in more detail below, but let’s first look at the top-scorer odds ahead of the soon-to-start Championship campaign.
Championship 2024/25 top scorer odds
The table below shows the current betting market (as of 05/08/2024) for the 2024/25 Championship top scorer.
Player | Odds | Goals last season league) |
|---|---|---|
Joseph Mateo | 9/1 | 1 goal (22 appearances) |
Carlton Morris | 12/1 | 11 goals (38 appearances) |
Joel Piroe | 12/1 | 14 goals (45 appearances) |
Sammie Szmodics | 14/1 | 27 goals (44 appearances) |
Emmanuel Latte Lath | 14/1 | 16 goals (30 appearances) |
Elijah Adebayo | 16/1 | 10 goals (27 appearances) |
Ellis Simms | 16/1 | 13 goals (46 appearances) |
Josh Sargent | 16/1 | 16 goals (28 appearances) |
Patrick Bamford | 16/1 | 8 goals (33 appearances) |
Haji Wright | 16/1 | 16 goals (44 appearances) |
Georginio Rutter | 20/1 | 7 goals (48 appearances) |
Kieffer Moore | 20/1 | 7 goals (18 appearances) |
Zeki Amdouni | 20/1 | 5 goals (34 appearances) |
Jack Clarke | 25/1 | 15 goals (40 appearances) |
Wilfried Gnonto | 25/1 | 8 goals (39 appearances) |
Previous Championship top scorers
Let’s look at those who have previously scooped the accolade of Championship top marksman. The table below shows the last 14 winners of the Championship Golden Boot, detailing the number of goals scored, goals per 90 and their previous experience at the level.
Season | Top scorer | Goals scored | Goals per 90 | Previous Championship experience |
|---|---|---|---|---|
2023/24 | Sammie Szmodics | 27 | 0.62 | 11 goals in 83 Championship appearances |
2022/23 | Chuba Akpom | 28 | 0.81 | 8 goals in 92 Championship appearances |
2021/22 | Aleksandar Mitrovic | 43 | 1.01 | 42 goals in 86 Championship appearances |
2020/21 | Ivan Toney | 31 | 0.72 | No previous Championship experience |
2019/20 | Aleksandar Mitrovic | 26 | 0.65 | 16 goals in 45 Championship appearances |
2018/19 | Teemu Pukki | 29 | 0.69 | No previous Championship appearances |
2017/18 | Matej Vydra, Lewis Grabban | 20 | 0.70, 0.72 | 46 goals in 150 Championship appearances, 38 goals in 109 appearances |
2016/17 | Chris Wood | 27 | 0.67 | 50 goals in 178 Championship appearances |
2015/16 | Andre Gray | 25 | 0.61 | 19 goals in 49 Championship appearances |
2014/15 | Daryl Murphy | 27 | 0.63 | 40 goals in 177 Championship appearances |
2013/14 | Ross McCormack | 28 | 0.61 | 50 goals in 174 Championship appearances |
2012/13 | Glenn Murray | 30 | 0.73 | 6 goals in 38 Championship appearances |
2011/12 | Rickie Lambert | 27 | 0.67 | 0 goals in 0 Championship appearances |
2010/11 | Danny Graham | 24 | 0.53 | 14 goals in 63 Championship appearances |
What we can see from the table above is that there really is no one-size-fits-all approach here. There’s no specific formula that can lead us to top-scorer betting success.
Sure, many of those to top score in the Championship have done so after dropping plenty of hints in the form of previous goal-scoring form, such as Aleksandar Mitrovic back in 2021/22.
In 2017/18, joint winners Matej Vydra and Lewis Grabban both had solid scoring records in the Championship before the off that time around, while the same can be said for the likes of Daryl Murphy, who top scored in 2014/15, and Chris Wood, who top scored in 2016/17.
We can also see from the table above that you don’t necessarily need to be a proven out-and-out second-tier scorer, far from it. Ivan Toney scored more goals than any other player during the 2020/21 campaign without ever previously playing in the division.
Toney wasn’t the first player to outscore all other players in a single season having never previously competed in the Championship. Two years before the then Brentford player performed that trick, Teemu Pukki top scored with 29 goals in his first ever second-tier campaign.
The same can be said for Rickie Lambert, who thrived in the Championship at the first time of asking during the 2011/12 campaign, top scoring with 27 goals. Something else that Lambert, Pukki and Toney had in common was that they all played for promotion-winning teams.
What else does the table tell us? Well, it tells us that to top score in the Championship, a player is going to need a red-hot season in front of goal, that’s for sure. Each of the last five Championship top scorers has scored more than 25 goals, which takes some doing.
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The betting angle
I’ve already put up two top scorer bets, including Emmanuel Latte Lath, the reasons for which can be found here, but I’m going to bolster my attack on this market by adding another player.
There really is no clear winning formula here, the table above shows that, but several players in recent times have thrived having previously performed very well in the Championship from a goal-scoring point of view.
One player that very much fits the bill in that sense is Kieffer Moore. The target man is a proven goal-scorer at a variety of levels, but he’s absolutely got the Championship pedigree to thrive for Sheffield United this season.
The Welsh forward is one of the most experienced in the division having made 173 Championship appearances, while he’s certainly no stranger to finding the net having notched 54 goals.
In a short-lived loan spell for runners-up Ipswich last time around, Moore, who was brought in to boost the Tractor Boys’ promotion hopes in January, scored an eye-catching 0.55 goals per 90 minutes.
In his last full season at this level, the 31-year-old scored 20 goals for Cardiff City. In a Sheffield United team that will be keen to return to the Premier League sooner rather than later, the big man could easily improve on that tally.
At odds of 20/1, given his pedigree, Moore looks a decent bet to go close in the race for the most individual goals.
Recommended top scorer bets
Kieffer Moore Championship Top Scorer @ 20/1 with bet365
Emmanuel Latte Lath Championship Top Scorer (already added) @ 14/1 with Betfred
Brandon Thomas Asante Championship Top Scorer (already added) @ 40/1 with bet365
More pre-season content:
Championship predictions: winner, playoffs and full league prediction
Championship betting: promotion betting tips for 2024/25 season
Championship odds 2024/25: do relegated teams usually bounce back?
When using a mobile device to bet on Championship football, please ensure that you use well rated, legal and reliable betting apps. Check out our handy guide to top football betting apps.
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