Adam Rooney became the twentieth Aberdeen player to score twenty goals by January with his wonderful dipping volley against St. Johnstone.
The last player to achieve this feat was Billy Dodds back in 1997 when his twentieth goal came against Hibernian in a 2-2 draw on the 23rd January – the exact same date of Rooney’s strike. That season Dodds only added another three goals to his total and the two of them find themselves down in joint sixteenth place in the race for the quickest twenty.
Two places above them is Johnny Miller. Not a name familiar to many fans, but he was the first man to break the twenty barrier for the club when he netted against Dumbarton on the 14th January 1922. He would eventually score 27 in that campaign – a Dons record tally for a season that he would hold until 1929. Other well-known names making the 11th to 20th positions are Mark McGhee, Harry Yorston and Billy Strauss while bubbling just missing out on that top twenty were Billy Little who netted his 20th of 25 goals on the 3rd of February 1962 and Gentleman George Hamilton who scored a hat-trick in an 8-0 romp against Ayr United on the 8th February 1947 to record his 20th of 33 goals scored that season.
By far the most successful man to hit twenty in record time was unsurprisingly, King Joey.
Harper makes an incredible five appearances in the top twenty – holding three of the top five spots. The top nine all hit their twenty before New Year and Harper himself managed this on four occasions including 1970 when a hat-trick in early December against Cowdenbeath saw him break the 20 barrier. Unfortunately he scored his 27th and final goal of the season on 30th January and Aberdeen’s season stuttered as fire raged through Pittodrie and their promising title challenge faltered.
Benny Yorston holds the record for goals scored in a season when he found the net 46 times in season 1929-30. It took him until 30th November to reach the twenty mark with a Pittodrie hat-trick against Hamilton and that achievement was enough to take him into sixth spot. One place above him is Duncan Shearer who fired home his 20th goal of the 92/93 two days earlier during a 6-2 dismantling of Hearts on 28th November. Shearer added a further eight goals in that campaign.
The man preventing Joe Harper from holding the top three spots is another relatively unknown player for the modern day fan. Paddy Moore arrived at Pittodrie at the start of season 1932-33 and made an immediate impact scoring six times in his first six starts. His seventh match was a home match against Falkirk and Moore surpassed himself with six goals in an 8-2 win. He reached 20 on the 19th November as he helped himself to a brace in an 8-1 Pittodrie win over Clyde and went on to bag 28 for the season.
And so to King Joey.
Top scorer for the club at 199 goals and he certainly didn’t hang around in scoring them. 1971/72 yielded his biggest haul in a season with 42 – Second highest total behind Benny Yorston. He reached 20 on the 27th November with a goal against Hearts. That was 20 goals in 23 matches and by the end of the campaign he had improved that ratio to 42 goals in 46 matches. A well-earned fourth spot in our table. Seven years later Joey was back at Pittodrie and still banging in the goals. Guy Fawkes night was still a day away when he reached his 20 that season as he scored the only goal of the match to beat Dundee United and move Aberdeen into second spot in the league. Another 12 goals would leave Harper top scorer that season on 32.
His best effort however came in season 1972/73 when he reached twenty goals as early as the 7th October. This was only the 16th match of the campaign and Harper had scored in ten of them including four against Motherwell and a hat-trick against Queens Park. He added a further seven to his tally and looked capable of breaking Benny Yorstons’ record when Aberdeen sold him to Everton in December, stunning the home support. Harper would eventually return, but it was a sickening blow at the time as Harper had netted 105 goals and left a huge gap.
So what is Adam Rooney’s target for the season now?
In the history of the club only five players have reached 30 goals. Matt Armstrong did it three times with 39 being his best total in 1934/35. Harper and Benny Yorston did it twice with both breaking the 40 barrier on one occasion and the other two players to break 30 were Billy Strauss in 1937/38 and George Hamilton in 1946/47.
the quickest twenty | players who have reached 20 goals in the quickest time |
the quickest twenty | players who have reached 20 goals in the quickest time | Season Date of 20th Name Against Score Season Total 1972/73 07/10/1972 Joe Harper Hearts 1-2 27 1978/79 04/11/1978 Joe Harper Dundee United 1-0 32 1932/33 19/11/1932 Paddy Moore Clyde 8-1 28 1971/72 27/11/1971 Joe Harper Hearts 2-3 42 1992/93 28/11/1992 Duncan Shearer Hearts 6-2 28 1929/30 30/11/2029 Benny Yorston Hamilton 4-2 46 1970/71 05/12/1970 Joe Harper Cowdenbeath 7-0 27 1934/35 29/12/1934 Matt Armstrong Falkirk 2-3 39 1933/34 30/12/1933 Willie Mills Airdrie 4-0 28 1950/51 01/01/1951 George Hamilton Dundee 1-0 29 1957/58 02/01/1958 Norman Davidson East Fife 6-2 27 1976/77 03/01/1977 Joe Harper Hearts 4-1 28 1936/37 09/01/1937 Billy Strauss Partick Thistle 4-2 30 1921/22 14/01/2022 Johnny Miller Dumbarton 3-0 27 1951/52 19/01/1952 Harry Yorston Third Lanark 2-3 25 2014/15 23/01/2014 Adam Rooney St.Johnstone 1-1 ? 1996/97 23/01/1997 Billy Dodds Hibernian 2-2 23 1950/51 27/01/1951 Harry Yorston Inverness Caley 6-1 26 1982/83 29/01/1983 Mark McGhee Hibernian 4-1 27 1936/37 30/01/1937 Matt Armstrong Inverness Thistle 6-0 30
