The 10 youngest goalscorers in Premier League history

Cameron Smith

• 16 Mar 2026 04:30 CDT
• 4 min read

Analysis

Max Dowman is now the youngest goalscorer in Premier League history after he scored for Arsenal against Everton in March 2026 at the age of just 16 years and 73 days old.

The England youth international was promoted into Arsenal's first-team set-up ahead of the 2025-26 season and after several cameo appearances, he netted his first Premier League goal during a 2-0 win over Everton.

Dowman picked up the ball on the edge of the Arsenal penalty area and after bypassing Vitalii Mykolenko and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, he eventually rolled the ball into an empty net, with Jordan Pickford out of his goal after going forward for a corner kick.

In the process, Dowman overtook James Vaughan, who is now the second-youngest goalscorer in Premier League history after scoring for Everton at 16 years and 270 days old back in April 2005.

The Englishman, who enjoyed a journeyman career before retiring in 2021, scored the fourth goal in a 4-0 victory over Crystal Palace on his Premier League debut and his record stood for over 20 years.

Before Vaughan, the record was previously held by Premier League legend James Milner. The Englishman netted for Leeds United during a 2-1 win against Sunderland on Boxing Day in 2002 at the age of 16 years and 356 days.

Milner narrowly beat Wayne Rooney’s record in the process. Rooney scored a famous injury-time winner against Arsenal in October 2002 to end the Gunners’ 30-match unbeaten run and he is now the fourth-youngest goalscorer in Premier League history at 16 years and 360 days old.

Before Dowman, the most recent player to enter this list was Rio Ngumoha, who scored a 100th minute winner for Liverpool against Newcastle United on his Premier League debut in August 2025. The former Chelsea academy starlet replaced Cody Gakpo in the dying embers of the match and he secured a crucial win for the Reds at 16 years and 361 days old.

The sixth-youngest goalscorer in Premier League history is Cesc Fabregas. The Spain legend scored his first goal in the competition for Arsenal in a 3-0 win over Blackburn Rovers back in August 2004. He was 17 years and 113 days old at the time, and Fabregas eventually ended his Premier League career with 50 goals and 111 assists in 350 games.

In seventh place is Michael Owen, who scored on his Premier League debut for Liverpool during a 2-1 defeat to Wimbledon in May 1997. The future Ballon d’Or winner was just 17 years and 143 days old when he netted a 74th minute strike for Roy Evans’ side.

Tottenham Hotspur’s Andy Turner was 17 years and 166 days old when he scored his first Premier League goal, versus Everton in 1992, and he became the competition’s youngest ever goalscorer at the time. He is now the eighth-youngest.

The ninth-youngest Premier League goalscorer of all time is Federico Macheda. The Italian striker was just 17 years, 226 days old when he scored a memorable 93rd minute winner on debut for Manchester United against Aston Villa in 2009.

Lewis Miley is the final player on the list after scoring his first English top flight goal for Newcastle United against Fulham in December 2023 aged 17 years and 229 days.

The 10 youngest goalscorers in Premier League history

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