Murray closing in on Brighton's 100-goal club

Glenn Murray has moved ever closer to becoming just the second player to score 100 goals for Brighton.
Albion fans celebrate after Glenn Murray's first goal against Fulham on Saturday. Picture by PW Sporting PhotographyAlbion fans celebrate after Glenn Murray's first goal against Fulham on Saturday. Picture by PW Sporting Photography
Albion fans celebrate after Glenn Murray's first goal against Fulham on Saturday. Picture by PW Sporting Photography

The 34-year-old striker appeared to move on to 96 goals for the club with a double in Saturday's 2-2 Premier League draw with Fulham.

However, reports then surfaced that Murray had not been credited with a goal in a 2-1 victory at Walsall in March, 2008, as it had instead gone down as an Anthony Gerrard own goal.

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Albion tweeted yesterday morning that Murray in fact has 97 goals for the club and the award of the extra goal also saw the 34-year-old move into third place in the Seagulls' all-time top-scorer list.

Tommy Cook, who played for the club in the 1920s, is in first place with 123 goals, followed by Kit Napier, who netted 99 times from 1966 to 1972.

Murray is next on 97, ahead of Bert Stephens (96), Peter Ward (95), Albert Mundy (90), Bobby Zamora (90), Bert Longstaff (86), Bobby Farrell (84), Dan Kirkwood (82) and Charlie Webb (79).

Murray joined Albion from Rochdale in January, 2008, and his first goals for the club came with a brace in a 3-0 win over Crewe, on his first start.

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He scored 57 goals in 136 appearances in his first spell at the club, helping the Seagulls win the League One title in 2010/11. He also bagged hat-tricks against Cheltenham and Leyton Orient and bagged a four-goal haul against Wycombe.

Glenn Murray celebrates scoring at West Ham last season. Picture by PW Sporting PhotographyGlenn Murray celebrates scoring at West Ham last season. Picture by PW Sporting Photography
Glenn Murray celebrates scoring at West Ham last season. Picture by PW Sporting Photography

He joined Crystal Palace in the summer of 2011 and went on to score 47 times for the Eagles, before joining Bournemouth in September, 2015.

He returned to Brighton in July, 2016, originally on loan before making the move permanent in January, 2017.

Murray scored 23 times in the Championship promotion-winning campaign, including a hat-trick in the 5-0 win against Norwich, and has struck 40 goals in 89 matches since returning to the club.

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He top-scored with 14 goals last season, including 12 in the Premier League, and already has three in four top-flight games this campaign.

Glenn Murray celebrates scoring against QPR in Albion's promotion-winning season. Picture by PW Sporting PhotographyGlenn Murray celebrates scoring against QPR in Albion's promotion-winning season. Picture by PW Sporting Photography
Glenn Murray celebrates scoring against QPR in Albion's promotion-winning season. Picture by PW Sporting Photography

Only seven players have scored more Premier League goals than Murray since the start of last season and he could be on course to reach another milestone this campaign.

He is just nine away from 200 career goals, having netted six for Carlisle, three for Stockport, 26 for Rochdale, 97 in total for the Seagulls, 47 for Palace, eight for Reading and four for Bournemouth.