Wales’ best ever goals?

by Russell Todd · Published 13/05/2015 · Updated 05/05/2017

To mark the 30th anniversary of Mark Hughes’s volley against Spain at The Racecourse, Leon Barton recently blogged about his memories of that match, his first ever Wales game. There were social media exchanges about where Sparky’s goal ranks in the pantheon of great Wales goals. It got us thinking: which do we think are the best ever Wales goals?

@ffwtbol Agree the that's no. 2 but I put Hughes vs Spain at 1 and Bale at 3.

— Leon Barton (@leoncbarton) April 30, 2015

@ffwtbol Savage v Turkey and Norway surely up there

— Dyfrig Gwent (@DyfGwent) April 30, 2015

Is ‘Best’ the same as ‘Favourite’? Are ‘Important’ goals not some of the ‘Best’? Will the impression made by a goal witnessed in one’s formative years be remembered more fondly than a recent goal? Or will memory distort preferences in favour of those goals scored more recently?

Subjectivity is inevitable in such debates; so Hywel, Russell, Leon and Gareth have embraced it. Each has compiled their list of 15 best goals and the results have been aggregated to collate the Podcast Pêl-droed Best Wales Goals list. Each has defined ‘Best’ in his own way. Each has his own memory and that ever-reliable aid to procrastination, YouTube, to draw on.

The scoring system is simple: the best goal is awarded 15 points, the second is awarded 14 points and so on, with the fifteenth goal scoring one point. The scores have been aggregated and the top 15 goals with the most points accrued are listed below. The maximum points a goal can accrue is 60 points. Where aggregate scores are tied, the goal that received the highest individual ranking takes preference.

Mark Hughes vs Spain, 1985, 56 points, ranked first by Leon and Russell
Gareth Bale vs Scotland, 2012, 46 points
Ivor Allchurch vs Hungary, 1958, 42 points, ranked first by Gareth
Craig Bellamy vs Italy, 2002, 39 points
Brian Flynn vs Scotland, 1975, 29 points
Ian Rush vs Germany, 1991, 29 points, ranked first by Hywel
Simon Davies vs Croatia, 2002, 26 points
Robbie Savage vs Turkey, 1997, 21 points
Gareth Bale vs Andorra (free kick), 2014, 20 points
Simon Davies vs Italy, 2002, 17 points
Gareth Bale vs Iceland, 2014, 16 points
Ian Rush vs Scotland, 1985, 13 points
Nathan Blake vs Norway, 2000, 13 points
Robert Earnshaw vs Germany, 2002, 10 points
Ryan Giggs vs Belgium, 1993, 10 points

Agree? Disagree? There are presumably lesser-known goals from the 1960s and 1970s that deserve to make the list. If so, please drop links to them in the comments section below. The lack of readily available links to Blake’s goal is shame. Fortunately after years absent from the internet, Davies’s solo effort from his own half versus Croatia is no longer one of the Wales’ best kept secrets.

Here are our individual lists.

[toggles class=”yourcustomclass”]
[toggle title=”Hywel’s Top 15 Wales Goals” class=”in”]1. Ian Rush vs Germany, 1991

2. Craig Bellamy vs Italy, 2002

3. Gareth Bale vs Andorra (free kick), 2014

4. Mark Hughes vs Spain, 1985

5. Gareth Bale vs Scotland, 2012

6. Simon Davies vs Italy, 2002

7. Robert Earnshaw vs Germany, 2002

8. Mark Hughes vs Belgium, 1990

9. Ian Rush vs Belgium, 1990

10. Ryan Giggs v Northern Ireland, 2005 (free kick)

11. Robert Earnshaw v Scotland, 2011