ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE
1) Kevin Phillips
Date of Birth: 25 July, 1973
Club: Sunderland
Nationality: England
Notes: Kevin Phillips started in non-league football but at the age of 21 joined Watford from Baldock Town for a mere £100,000 in December 1994. He then joined Sunderland from Watford for £500,000, in July 1997. After joined Sunderland, Phillips went on to become Division One top scorer with 35 goals. He helped Sunderland to win promotion in 1998/99. In his first year in the Premiership in 1999/00, Phillips scored 30 goals which won him the Golden Boot award for top goalscorer in Europe, an award based on points gained from amount of goals and difficulty of league. His goals made it easy for Sunderland to avoid relegation and also helped him make England's Euro 2000 squad.
2) Thierry Henry
Date of Birth: 17 August, 1977
Club: Arsenal
Nationality: France
Notes: Henry began his career at Monaco, making his league debut against Nice in August 1994. He helped France win both the World Cup in 1998 and the European Championships in 2000 scoring three goals in each event. He moved to Juventus in the 1998/99 season but was not successful there and so moved onto Arsenal at the start of the 1999/00 season for £11m, where he was a replacement for Nicolas Anelka. After a slow start, Henry went on a goalscoring spree in the second half scoring 26 goals after becoming the main striker with injuries removing Bergkamp and Kanu.
3) Emile Heskey
Date of Birth: 11 January, 1978
Club: Liverpool
Nationality: England
Notes: Heskey made his Leicester debut in 1995 and it wasn't too long before he established himself as one of the brightest young talents in English football. The following year he scored seven goals in 30 appearances, helping the Foxes earn promotion to the Premiership via the Play-Offs. He also helped them claim two Worthington Cup triumphs and this led to competing in the UEFA Cup.Heskey became Liverpool's record signing in March 2000 costing The Reds £11m. He was a member of England's Euro 2000 squad and should continue to be an international for many years.
4) Robbie Keane
Date of Birth : 8 July, 1980
Club : Leeds United
Nationality : Republic of Ireland
Notes : Made debut for Wolves at 17 scoring two goals. Became Britain's most expensive teenager when moved to Coventry for a club record £6m in August 1999. Made a sensational two goal debut against Derby in the premiership and has constantly impressed since then, scoring 12 goals in total in the league, justifying his high price tag. European U/18 Championship winner with Republic of Ireland. Also regular in full international squad making his debut against the Czech Republic in March 1998. Was rated "not worth £500,000" by Alex Ferguson just prior to his transfer to Coventry but a year later after impressing in the Premier League, he moved to Inter Milan for £13m, more than double his price less than a year ago. Moved back to England and to Leeds on loan due to lack of playing time.
5) Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
Date of Birth: 27 March, 1972
Nationality: Holland
Club: Chelsea
Notes: Dutch international who was plucked from obscurity at Boavista (Portugal) in mid 1997 by George Graham, the then-Leeds manager. He played at two seasons at Leeds becoming one of the top goalscorers in the league scoring 34 goals over this period. His performances over this period helped him to a place in the Dutch World Cup squad in 1998 which finished third. He then made a big money move to Atletico Madrid in mid 1999 for 12m. After scoring 24 goals and being the star player as Atletico were relegated, he made a move back to England and to Chelsea for 15m. He has continued his goalscoring run at the start of the season, and he helped Chelsea win the Charity Shield.
6) Mark Viduka
Date of Birth: 9 October, 1975
Club: Leeds United
Nationality: Australia
Notes: He started off his career in Australia with Melbourne Knights becoming the best player in the league by 20, before joining Croatia Zagreb. He then moved to Celtic in November 1998 after impressing in a European tie between the two clubs. After initial problems at the club he improved in the 1999/00 season to finish as the Scottish league's top goalscorer and Scottish PFA Player of the Year. He then joined Leeds for £6m in mid 2000 and has impressed for them since then. He also represented Australia at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
7) Marcus Stewart
Date of Birth: 7 November, 1972
Club: Ipswich Town
Nationality: England
Notes: Has been a prolific scorer in the lower divisions for many years and is finally translating this to the top division. Played for Bristol Rovers and Huddersfield before making a £2.5m move to Ipswich in February 2000. He was important in their play-off victories scoring two goals in the semi-final first leg and another in the final. His current form has even led to calls for a national team call-up, as his goals help Ipswich to a surprising place at the top of the table rather than the predicted relegation battle.
8) Michael Owen
Date of Birth: 14 December, 1979
Club: Liverpool
Nationality: England
Notes: He was named man of the match on his full international debut against Chile when he became the youngest England cap this century. He then became the youngest player ever to score for England with a goal against Morocco in a World Cup warm up game in May 1998. Was involved in England's France 98 squad and scored one of the best goals in the tournament. Was also involved in Euro 2000. Owen has hit many goals with 18 in the Premier League in both 1997/98 and 1998/99 and 11 in 1999/00 despite having hamstring problems. Owen has been awarded the PFA Young Player of the Year for season 1997-98, and in 1998 was also voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year.
9) James Beattie
Date of Birth: 27 February, 1978
Club: Southampton
Nationality: England
Notes: Moved to Southampton in the middle of 1998 as part of the package that saw Kevin Davies move in the opposite direction to Blackburn Rovers. He scored five goals in the league in 1998/99 to help Southampton avoid relegation and was named the Southampton Player of the Year. His 1999/00 season was full of injuries and he did not manage many games. However, the previous English U/21 international, has re-emerged as a goalscoring force in the 2000/01 season, having scored ten goals already.
10) Frederic Kanoute
Date of Birth: 2 September, 1977
Club: West Ham
Nationality: France
Notes: Made his debut for Lyon in 1997/98 and helped them to eighth position in the league and also played in French U/21 team. He was injured during the following season and with the big name acquisitions of Tony Vairelles and Sonny Anderson for the next he received reduced playing time. Decided to go on loan for the last three months of the 1999/00 season to West Ham. After impressing beside Di Canio his move was made permanent for £4m with Marc-Vivien Foe moving the opposite way for £6m. Has continued to play well in the 2000/01 season as shown by him being linked to Chelsea for £8m.
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