The Fastest Goal in Premier League History

Shane Long holds the record for the fastest goal in Premier League history, scoring after just 7.69 seconds for Southampton against Watford on April 23, 2019. It is the only goal in league history scored inside eight seconds, and it broke a record that had stood for nearly two decades.

A fast goal changes a match before it has really begun, and the very quickest ones happen almost from the kickoff itself. Scoring inside 10 seconds requires a perfect storm of high pressing, a defensive mistake and a striker alert enough to pounce. Here is the full leaderboard of the fastest goals in Premier League history, the story behind Long’s record, and the strikes that came closest. All figures are through the 2025 season.

The record holder: Shane Long’s 7.69 seconds

At Vicarage Road on April 23, 2019, Southampton kicked off and pressed immediately. When Watford tried to clear, Long charged down goalkeeper Ben Foster’s attempted pass, collected the ricochet and lofted it over the stranded keeper into an empty net. Referees and timing data confirmed the goal at 7.69 seconds, the quickest ever recorded in the competition.

The moment was pure opportunism rather than a set play, which is what made it so hard to plan for and so unlikely to be beaten. It shaved more than two full seconds off the previous record, an enormous margin in a race measured in fractions.

The full leaderboard of fastest Premier League goals

The table below ranks the fastest goals in Premier League history, each timed from kickoff.

Rank	Time	Player	Match	Date
1	7.69s	Shane Long	Southampton v Watford	Apr 23, 2019
2	9.11s	Philip Billing	Bournemouth v Arsenal	Aug 20, 2022
3	9.82s	Ledley King	Tottenham v Bradford City	Dec 9, 2000
4	10.52s	Alan Shearer	Newcastle v Manchester City	Jan 18, 2003
5	10.54s	Christian Eriksen	Tottenham v Manchester United	Jan 31, 2018

Every goal on the list came inside 11 seconds, and Long’s 7.69 stands well clear at the top. The names range from a Tottenham defender to two of the league’s finest strikers.

Ledley King and the record Long broke

Before Long, the mark belonged to Ledley King, who scored after 9.82 seconds for Tottenham against Bradford City in December 2000. King, a centre-back better known for his defending, held the record for almost 19 years, one of the longest-standing marks in the league. His strike survived countless fast starts before Long finally beat it in 2019.

The chasers: Billing, Shearer and Eriksen

Bournemouth’s Philip Billing came closest to Long in 2022, scoring against Arsenal after 9.11 seconds, the only other goal inside 10 seconds since the record fell. Behind him sit two celebrated attackers: Alan Shearer, the league’s all-time top scorer, at 10.52 seconds in 2003, and Christian Eriksen at 10.54 seconds in 2018. For the strikers who filled nets over full careers rather than opening seconds, see our leaderboard of the most Premier League goals all time.

Why the record matters

The fastest-goal record is one of football’s most vivid, because it captures a single instant of alertness that decides a scoreline before fans have found their seats. Long’s 7.69 seconds is likely to endure precisely because it depended on an opponent’s error at the perfect moment, something no team can rehearse. For how this compares beyond England, see our looks at the fastest goal in soccer history and the fastest goal in World Cup history.

The short version: Shane Long scored the fastest goal in Premier League history after 7.69 seconds for Southampton in 2019, breaking Ledley King’s 9.82-second record from 2000. Philip Billing’s 9.11 seconds is now second, with every goal on the list scored inside 11 seconds, all through the 2025 season.