The incredible Dixie Dean record that even Man City machine Erling Haaland might never catch

It’s never been done in the Premier League era before, Erling Haaland’s 35 goals in a single campaign, but as many football fans know – football started long before 1992.
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What happened last night felt inevitable. Despite a handful of doubters it always felt like Haaland was going to come to the Premier League, score goals, and break records. But it’s safe to say that not everybody expected it to happen quite so quickly.

The machine-like forward hasn’t even been in England a year yet, but after grabbing his 35th goal in 31 games he’s now set a new record for the top-flight as we know it, beating the great Alan Shearer and Andy Cole after they got 34 each in the 1990s.

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But as good as City’s Terminator is, even he’s not likely to beat the phenomenal record that was set by Everton’s Dixie Dean – the Toffees forward scored 60 league goals in 1927/28, doing so in just 39 games. For those that don’t want to do the maths, that’s an average of 1.54 goals per game for an entire season.

With the way that the game has changed in the last century it’s unlikely that anybody will beat Dean’s record… It’s stood for all 100 years now and is still down in the Guinness Book of Records as the most successful goalscoring campaign of all time. Anywhere.

What makes it even sweeter is the fact that the forward, who was only 21 at the time, bagged a hattrick on the final day against Arsenal to hit the 60-goal mark as Everton claimed the league title. Of the 60, just one was a penalty.

Now City’s number nine could break Dean’s English record for goals in all competitions – he scored 63 in the 1927/28 season – if he can score 13 more goals to add to the whopping 51 that he’s already scored this season.

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In normal circumstances 13 goals in potentially nine matches would seem too great a target, but for a Norwegian powerhouse with 17 in his last 10 it’s my no means off the table.

It’d be a remarkable achievement for the 22-year-old, but no matter how many records he continues to break it feels like Dean – immortalised with a statue outside Goodison Park – will retain his crown for many years to come. Possibly forever.

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