Goal Celebrations
Scoring a goal is the most joyous occasion for players participating in the game of football. There were days when the ball hitting the net meant generous hand shakes and pats on the back all round. In the modern era however the celebrating of a goal has become an increasingly entertaining addition to the game. Ranging from the calm and sensible to the outrageous and well planned, the celebration has become a necessity for any player who wants their goal to be memorized by millions.
This week Manchester City striker Bernado Corradi showed off a new, potentially famous celebration against Fulham after scoring his first goals for his new club, this seemed like a good reason to take a look at several of the more memorable celebrations which have featured in the last twelve seasons of the Premier League.
This week Manchester City striker Bernado Corradi showed off a new, potentially famous celebration against Fulham after scoring his first goals for his new club, this seemed like a good reason to take a look at several of the more memorable celebrations which have featured in the last twelve seasons of the Premier League.
Bernado Corradi – Any foreign player coming to an English club wants to impress his new fans on the biggest stage. Corradi like several imports since the beginning of the Premiership appeared to be struggling to adjust his style of play to the English game and even his own fans had begun to question the ability of the Italian signed from Valencia. Failing to score in his first eleven Premiership games, Corradi was able to break his own duck with a tremendous finish against Fulham in front of his home crowd at the City of Manchester stadium. Running off towards the fans after their team mate, the Manchester City players found the forward waving the corner flag around like the Queen before handing out an imaginary knighthood with the pole to Joey Barton and Claudio Reyna.
Alan Shearer – The master of Premiership goal scoring art Alan Shearer was one player who did not need to score goals to win the hearts of his new clubs supporters. Signing for hometown Newcastle in a £15 Million pound move in the summer of 1996, the forward followed his heart in a bid to build on his successful goal scoring escapades at Euro ’96. Despite interest from Manchester United, Shearer chose to sign for a team with an exciting future who under Kevin Keegan had sealed two successive promotions and a top three finish in the Premiership.
Despite their failure to overhaul Manchester United in his first season, Shearer was still seen as the forward who could do anything and in 1998 despite a serious knee injury returned better than ever to become the England captain and make a name for himself by scoring thirty goals in his International career to put him amongst England’s top all time scorers.
Never a player of flamboyancy Shearer decided to keep it simple with his celebration. Hitting the net 200 plus times from all angles in all fashions during his ten seasons at ‘The Toon’. The Geordie number nines celebration was famed for its simplicity rather than extravagance as goal upon goal flew in, Shearer kept it nice and easy by choosing to raise his right hand in acknowledgement of his feat every time he hit the back of the net in Newcastle colours.
Jurgen Klinsmann – German hit-man Jurgen Klinsmann’s antics on the football pitch were well known before he joined Tottenham Hotspur in 1995. Accused of hitting the deck far too easily when involved in a physical encounter the legendary forward chose to show who was a diver by throwing himself to the floor after scoring his first goal against Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough during his first game as a Spurs player.
The celebration is probably one of the most repeated actions by goal scorers across the World as many a game has seen excitable players sliding themselves along the turf after finishing off a scoring opportunity.
Roberto Di Matteo (and the Chelsea Team) – Following a series of foreign imports into the Chelsea team under manager Dennis Wise, Ruud Gullit and Gianluca Vialli, people began to question the togetherness of the ‘United Nations’ which graced the pitch in the blue of Chelsea.
Despite their well renowned technical ability, there was a long time debate as to whether the actions of Chelsea Football Club were damaging or beneficial to English football. The Stamford Bridge side long denied claims that any such language gap between the players affected their football and chose a moment at their home ground to show their unity.
After finishing off an excellent twenty pass move midfielder Di Matteo rallied the troops around before posing together for a ‘family photo-esque’ celebration which was long remembered for featuring all eleven members of the playing squad.
Robbie Savage – Loveable Welshman Robbie Savage has never been inclined to particularly endear himself to any other supporters than the ones he wears the shirt of. The man we all love to hate however, despite setbacks as a youngster at Manchester United managed to forge himself a promising midfield career at Leicester City under a developing coach by the name of Martin O’Neil.
Never known for his goal scoring ability, the box to box midfielder saved his goals up for the important occasions including several for the midlands club on the way to the League Cup final and one which secured their qualification for Europe via the Premiership. The wavy haired Savage is perhaps best known for his annoyance of other central midfielders but scoring a goal in a local derby against…Derby (!) he showed us all that he knew how to celebrate a goal as well as prevent the other team’s midfielders from scoring them.
Steering the ball in at the back post after an excellent cross from Emile Heskey, Robbie could not hide his delight and promptly launched himself five rows back into the Filbert Street crowd only to be caught by his adoring fans and tossed back onto the pitch by fluorescently jacketed security men.
Robbie Keane – Despite still being relatively young in footballing terms, Robbie Keane has been around the game at the top level for a long time. After breaking through the ranks at Coventry, the Irishman joined Spurs in 2002 via spells at Inter Milan and Leeds United.
Sprightly and dangerous on the counter in the attack, Keane is an intelligent player who is able to play on the shoulder of the defence and is able to link up attacks a particular strength of his game which he has used effectively for club and country.
Robbie has always been known for his excellent finishing ability and great technical skills but it is also his acrobatic celebration which has made him famous and alerted people to his ability. After scoring his first goal for Wolves in the Championship the striker sprinted to perform the now trademark celebration of forward roll and gun slinging action in front of the crowd.
Upon becoming a Tottenham Hotspur hero Keane who helped Tottenham to 5th place in 2005/6 made a subtle addition to his goal celebration by firing an invisible bow and arrow towards the crowd.
Tim Cahill – Since signing from Millwall in 2002, the tough tackling Aussie has been at the heart of everything good for Everton. His superb aerial ability and excellent timing when arriving in the box from the midfield make him one of the most dangerous counter attacking weapons in the Premiership and whether it be for his club of for his country, Cahill is always on the spot and loves celebrating a goal almost as much as he loves scoring one.
It is almost forgotten that the Blues midfielder learnt to change his goal celebration the hard way. After a topsy-turvy debut in which he scored but was sent of seconds later for removing his shirt, the Australian gave us a preview of his new celebration at last summer’s FIFA World Cup after scoring the first goal his country had ever netted in the competition. Back to the Premiership after his side were eliminated by eventual winners Italy, Cahill’s confidence and goal scoring ability were back on show as he netted in a 3-0 win against Liverpool before bringing out the now famous celebration of holding an imaginary boxing match with the corner flag.
Lomano Tresor Lua-Lua – Representing Newcastle, Portsmouth and his country DR Congo with pride, forward Lua-Lua has always been a tricky customer for defenders and commentators alike. With the ball skills typical of an African player, the pacey forward boasts incredible strength despite his small frame.
Loaned out to his present club Portsmouth from the Magpie’s of Newcastle Lua-Lua highlighted the danger to all clubs of allowing your past to come back to haunt you. In the first season of the new Premier League loan system, Newcastle chose to let their employee play against them in one of the final games of the 2003/04 season. With Champions League qualification on the line the Geordies needed to win but were downed by a single goal from a certain Portsmouth forward.
Prior to the game the forward had spoken of his determination to prove a point to the hierarchy at the club and the crucial goal which he netted not only highlighted his ability all but eliminated Newcastle from a Champions League position in the Premiership and left their fans disappointed after making the semi finals just two seasons earlier. Upon netting the goal, Lua-Lua was at first reserved but after realising exactly what he had done he sprinted over to the adoring fans before performing some amateur gymnastic ability flicking himself through the air via a cartwheel-handstand-Arab spring, before showing respect via prayer to his family back in his native land.
Emile Heskey – Signing for Liverpool in a £15 million pound move in the Summer of 2000, Emile Heskey became the Merseysider’s record fee paid and came with the expectations of bringing the title back to it’s eighteen times home. Despite initial disappointment Heskey started his run of goal scoring ten games into his spell as a red against Derby County in the League Cup.
Success slowly began followed as Heskey helped Liverpool to win five trophies in a season and also aided England in their 5-1 victory in Munich against Germany, but despite that Heskey still had his doubters. Following England’s amazing victory in the capital of Germany, Emile went on his usual holiday to Mallorca with footballing pals and came back with the challenge of including his hobby whilst abroad, golf in his next celebration. Heskey did not have to wait too long for his first opportunity to score as the opening game of the season came at Anfield against West Ham.
In the second half, club and International colleagues Owen and Heskey linked up for the forward to score the decisive goal in a two one victory. Running towards a delighted Kop, Heskey first imitated a DJ spinning the decks before stopping to line up a golf put towards the corner flag before pretending to knock the ball down the hole.
Robbie Fowler – Premiership predator and life long Scouser Robbie Fowler has long been recognised as an excellent finisher since bursting onto the scene at the age of 19 with his home town club. After scoring the fastest hat trick the Premiership had ever seen against Arsenal in 1996 Fowler became an England International adding yet more legacy to his status as the top finisher in the country.
Reserving his celebrations for the special celebrations Fowler topped of his goal scoring exploits against local rivals Everton in a derby game during 1998. Latching onto a wonderful pass from Patrick Berger before smashing the ball past Thomas Myhre, the cheeky forward who had taken ribbing all week about taking drugs from the supporters from the blue half of Merseyside, got down on his knees and mimicked sniffing the white lines surrounding the pitch.
Despite the hilarity from Liverpool’s side and Fowler’s manager Gerard Houllier stating that Fowler was mealy pretending to ‘eat grass’ the England International was fined £5,000 for his troubles.
Alan Shearer – The master of Premiership goal scoring art Alan Shearer was one player who did not need to score goals to win the hearts of his new clubs supporters. Signing for hometown Newcastle in a £15 Million pound move in the summer of 1996, the forward followed his heart in a bid to build on his successful goal scoring escapades at Euro ’96. Despite interest from Manchester United, Shearer chose to sign for a team with an exciting future who under Kevin Keegan had sealed two successive promotions and a top three finish in the Premiership.
Despite their failure to overhaul Manchester United in his first season, Shearer was still seen as the forward who could do anything and in 1998 despite a serious knee injury returned better than ever to become the England captain and make a name for himself by scoring thirty goals in his International career to put him amongst England’s top all time scorers.
Never a player of flamboyancy Shearer decided to keep it simple with his celebration. Hitting the net 200 plus times from all angles in all fashions during his ten seasons at ‘The Toon’. The Geordie number nines celebration was famed for its simplicity rather than extravagance as goal upon goal flew in, Shearer kept it nice and easy by choosing to raise his right hand in acknowledgement of his feat every time he hit the back of the net in Newcastle colours.
Jurgen Klinsmann – German hit-man Jurgen Klinsmann’s antics on the football pitch were well known before he joined Tottenham Hotspur in 1995. Accused of hitting the deck far too easily when involved in a physical encounter the legendary forward chose to show who was a diver by throwing himself to the floor after scoring his first goal against Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough during his first game as a Spurs player.
The celebration is probably one of the most repeated actions by goal scorers across the World as many a game has seen excitable players sliding themselves along the turf after finishing off a scoring opportunity.
Roberto Di Matteo (and the Chelsea Team) – Following a series of foreign imports into the Chelsea team under manager Dennis Wise, Ruud Gullit and Gianluca Vialli, people began to question the togetherness of the ‘United Nations’ which graced the pitch in the blue of Chelsea.
Despite their well renowned technical ability, there was a long time debate as to whether the actions of Chelsea Football Club were damaging or beneficial to English football. The Stamford Bridge side long denied claims that any such language gap between the players affected their football and chose a moment at their home ground to show their unity.
After finishing off an excellent twenty pass move midfielder Di Matteo rallied the troops around before posing together for a ‘family photo-esque’ celebration which was long remembered for featuring all eleven members of the playing squad.
Robbie Savage – Loveable Welshman Robbie Savage has never been inclined to particularly endear himself to any other supporters than the ones he wears the shirt of. The man we all love to hate however, despite setbacks as a youngster at Manchester United managed to forge himself a promising midfield career at Leicester City under a developing coach by the name of Martin O’Neil.
Never known for his goal scoring ability, the box to box midfielder saved his goals up for the important occasions including several for the midlands club on the way to the League Cup final and one which secured their qualification for Europe via the Premiership. The wavy haired Savage is perhaps best known for his annoyance of other central midfielders but scoring a goal in a local derby against…Derby (!) he showed us all that he knew how to celebrate a goal as well as prevent the other team’s midfielders from scoring them.
Steering the ball in at the back post after an excellent cross from Emile Heskey, Robbie could not hide his delight and promptly launched himself five rows back into the Filbert Street crowd only to be caught by his adoring fans and tossed back onto the pitch by fluorescently jacketed security men.
Robbie Keane – Despite still being relatively young in footballing terms, Robbie Keane has been around the game at the top level for a long time. After breaking through the ranks at Coventry, the Irishman joined Spurs in 2002 via spells at Inter Milan and Leeds United.
Sprightly and dangerous on the counter in the attack, Keane is an intelligent player who is able to play on the shoulder of the defence and is able to link up attacks a particular strength of his game which he has used effectively for club and country.
Robbie has always been known for his excellent finishing ability and great technical skills but it is also his acrobatic celebration which has made him famous and alerted people to his ability. After scoring his first goal for Wolves in the Championship the striker sprinted to perform the now trademark celebration of forward roll and gun slinging action in front of the crowd.
Upon becoming a Tottenham Hotspur hero Keane who helped Tottenham to 5th place in 2005/6 made a subtle addition to his goal celebration by firing an invisible bow and arrow towards the crowd.
Tim Cahill – Since signing from Millwall in 2002, the tough tackling Aussie has been at the heart of everything good for Everton. His superb aerial ability and excellent timing when arriving in the box from the midfield make him one of the most dangerous counter attacking weapons in the Premiership and whether it be for his club of for his country, Cahill is always on the spot and loves celebrating a goal almost as much as he loves scoring one.
It is almost forgotten that the Blues midfielder learnt to change his goal celebration the hard way. After a topsy-turvy debut in which he scored but was sent of seconds later for removing his shirt, the Australian gave us a preview of his new celebration at last summer’s FIFA World Cup after scoring the first goal his country had ever netted in the competition. Back to the Premiership after his side were eliminated by eventual winners Italy, Cahill’s confidence and goal scoring ability were back on show as he netted in a 3-0 win against Liverpool before bringing out the now famous celebration of holding an imaginary boxing match with the corner flag.
Lomano Tresor Lua-Lua – Representing Newcastle, Portsmouth and his country DR Congo with pride, forward Lua-Lua has always been a tricky customer for defenders and commentators alike. With the ball skills typical of an African player, the pacey forward boasts incredible strength despite his small frame.
Loaned out to his present club Portsmouth from the Magpie’s of Newcastle Lua-Lua highlighted the danger to all clubs of allowing your past to come back to haunt you. In the first season of the new Premier League loan system, Newcastle chose to let their employee play against them in one of the final games of the 2003/04 season. With Champions League qualification on the line the Geordies needed to win but were downed by a single goal from a certain Portsmouth forward.
Prior to the game the forward had spoken of his determination to prove a point to the hierarchy at the club and the crucial goal which he netted not only highlighted his ability all but eliminated Newcastle from a Champions League position in the Premiership and left their fans disappointed after making the semi finals just two seasons earlier. Upon netting the goal, Lua-Lua was at first reserved but after realising exactly what he had done he sprinted over to the adoring fans before performing some amateur gymnastic ability flicking himself through the air via a cartwheel-handstand-Arab spring, before showing respect via prayer to his family back in his native land.
Emile Heskey – Signing for Liverpool in a £15 million pound move in the Summer of 2000, Emile Heskey became the Merseysider’s record fee paid and came with the expectations of bringing the title back to it’s eighteen times home. Despite initial disappointment Heskey started his run of goal scoring ten games into his spell as a red against Derby County in the League Cup.
Success slowly began followed as Heskey helped Liverpool to win five trophies in a season and also aided England in their 5-1 victory in Munich against Germany, but despite that Heskey still had his doubters. Following England’s amazing victory in the capital of Germany, Emile went on his usual holiday to Mallorca with footballing pals and came back with the challenge of including his hobby whilst abroad, golf in his next celebration. Heskey did not have to wait too long for his first opportunity to score as the opening game of the season came at Anfield against West Ham.
In the second half, club and International colleagues Owen and Heskey linked up for the forward to score the decisive goal in a two one victory. Running towards a delighted Kop, Heskey first imitated a DJ spinning the decks before stopping to line up a golf put towards the corner flag before pretending to knock the ball down the hole.
Robbie Fowler – Premiership predator and life long Scouser Robbie Fowler has long been recognised as an excellent finisher since bursting onto the scene at the age of 19 with his home town club. After scoring the fastest hat trick the Premiership had ever seen against Arsenal in 1996 Fowler became an England International adding yet more legacy to his status as the top finisher in the country.
Reserving his celebrations for the special celebrations Fowler topped of his goal scoring exploits against local rivals Everton in a derby game during 1998. Latching onto a wonderful pass from Patrick Berger before smashing the ball past Thomas Myhre, the cheeky forward who had taken ribbing all week about taking drugs from the supporters from the blue half of Merseyside, got down on his knees and mimicked sniffing the white lines surrounding the pitch.
Despite the hilarity from Liverpool’s side and Fowler’s manager Gerard Houllier stating that Fowler was mealy pretending to ‘eat grass’ the England International was fined £5,000 for his troubles.