England's greatest strikers of the 1990s

The 1990s was a fruitful decade for English strikers. With the birth of the Premier League, the nation was rife with 20-goal-a-season assassins, some going on to earn dozens of caps for their country, others quietly going about the business. Today, put half of those strikers in the Premier League and they'd be scoring for fun, whether that be Dion Dublin, Les Ferdinand or Chris Sutton. And they're three players who didn't make our top five! So, here it is. Our top five English strikers to ply their trade in the 1990s....

Alan Shearer

Not only could you put Alan Shearer as one of, if not the, best strikers of the 1990s but he'd also fit in neatly to the best strikers of the 2000s too. It was in the 90s where he really dominated though, lifting the Premier League title with Blackburn in 1994/95 as well as finishing a runner up in the FA Cup on two separate occasions. He was rarely a second finisher when it came to goals though and won the league's Golden Boot three times during the decade as well as scoring over 20 goals in all but two seasons of the 10 seasons during the 90s. Of course, his England career was a joy during that period too, top scoring at Euro 96, when the Three Lions got oh-so-close to reaching the Final.

Ian Wright

Ian Wright never quite got the credit, or appearances, he deserved at international level. But in the domestic competitions he was truly loved. He entered the professional game quite late, joining Crystal Palace after playing at non-league level in 1985. He made his mark instantly, but it was the 1990 FA Cup Final where his talents really reached a wider audience. Arsenal snapped him up in 1991 for a mere Â£2.5million and he'd go on to become their all-time leading scorer (since surpassed by Thierry Henry), picking up a Premier League title, two FA Cups, a European Cup Winners' Cup and a League Cup across a career that saw him net 324 goals in 626 games.

Teddy Sheringham

Teddy Sheringham enjoyed a long career at the top level and while he wasn't the greatest of goalscorers, he was the perfect strike partner for a number of players he lined up alongside. He was part of Manchester United's treble winning side, scoring late in the Champions League Final on that unforgettable night in Barcelona. He played on into his 40s but since then has taken his competitive edge into the world of casino, jumping on the bandwagon of the online casino boom and trying his hand at the many table games on offer. It turned out to be poker where his talent lay, though and he's picked up winnings in some pretty big tournaments since then.

Robbie Fowler

Robbie Fowler burst onto the scene as a young player at Liverpool, scoring on his debut for the club and going on to become one of the most prolific strikers in Premier League history. His eye for goal was like few others and between 1993 and 2001 he netted over 170 goals for the Reds, picking up five major honours in the process. He moved to Leeds in the 2001/2002 season, before Manchester City and a return to Liverpool followed, although due to injuries games and goals were much harder to come by.

Andy Cole

Andy Cole has scored goals wherever he's been and it proved quite the shock when Kevin Keegan let his leading man move from Newcastle to Manchester United in a deal worth Â£7million. Cole thrived under Ferguson and was part of a lethal strike force alongside Sheringham, Dwight Yorke and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Across his career he netted almost 300 goals and is one of the Premier League's all-time scorers, third behind only Wayne Rooney and Alan Shearer.