Top ten: Memorable goal celebrations 

Published: 11:54AM Tuesday December 01, 2009

By tvnz.co.nz's Sarah Williams

Source: ONE Sport

Top ten: Memorable goal celebrations (Source: Getty Images)

Source: Getty ImagesRobbie Fowler of Liverpool is pulled away by team mate Steve McManaman after mimicking cocaine snorting to celebrate his first goal against Everton in the FA Carling Premiership match at Anfield in April 1999

10. Jimmy Bullard

Easily the front runner to become my new favourite person, Hull City's Jimmy Bullard took goal celebrations to a whole new level on Sunday after he took the mickey out of Tigers boss Phil Brown for his humiliating pitch "telling off" of Hull players when they lost to Man City on Boxing Day in 2008.

After converting a second half penalty, Hull's resident funny man Bullard celebrated his goal by sitting the players down at the same end of the same ground and giving them the wiggle finger in a Phil Brown style. Sure to go down as one of the best goal celebrations in a long while.



9. Tim Cahill

Everton star Tim Cahill was forced to apologise after celebrating a goal against Portsmouth by pretending his wrists were chained.

The weird celebration was in response to his brother being jailed due to a "vicious" attack that left a man partially blind.

"It was a spontaneous and emotional reaction but was only intended to signify to my brother that I was thinking of him and missing him," Aussie Cahill said after the match.

8. Jurgen Klinsmann

When infamous German ace Jurgen Klinsmann arrived at Tottenham in 1994, Spurs fans were none too impressed by his reputation for being a bit of a diver.

But not one to shy away from the spotlight on his debut, away to Sheffield Wednesday, Klinsmann showed that some Germans can be funny by sliding across the pitch on his stomach - a celebration that would become this Spurs legend's trademark.

7. Eric Cantona

Eric Cantona might have been one of football's cockiest players, but there is no doubt he was also one of the best - a fact that led to his blank-faced goal celebration against Sunderland in the 1996-97 season, when he beat three men before taking a return pass to fire the ball into the net.



6. Temuri Ketsbaia

After getting angry by being left on the bench for much of his Newcastle career, Temuri Ketsbaia (and Uncle Fester lookalike) left Tynesiders worried for his mental state after he ripped off his shirt and proceeding to kick the crap out of the advertising boards in hilarious fashion after scoring against Bolton.



5. Gordon Strachan

New Boro boss and Jimmy Cranky-lookalike Gordon Strachan made a career out of being a bit of a hardman, but neither was he adverse to poking a bit of fun at himself, as the world found out, when he netted one for Scotland against West Germany at the 1986 World Cup.

Emulating the '80s goalscoring fashion of leaping over the advertising hoardings in celebration, Strachan ran up to the nearest one and unsuccessfully tried to mount it - what happened next was even less amusing though as the Germans went on to score twice and Scotland were on their way home.

4. Craig Bellamy

Having been accused of trying to hit Liverpool team-mate John Arne-Riise with a golf club after a boozy karaoke session in 2007, barmy Craig Bellamy took his swing to the pitch after scoring against Barcelona in the Champions League.

But it wasn't all fun and games for British bookies William Hill who lost upwards of 50,000 pounds after offering odds of 100-1 that the Wales striker would make light of the back page incident.

3. Peter Crouch

It may have started with a few awkward moves on the dance floor at David Beckham's Full Length and Fabulous pre-World Cup party in 2006.

But it really took off when England's lanky striker Peter Crouch celebrated his spectacular goal against Hungary in a pre-season friendly with a dance known as The Robot.

In 2007 Crouch insisted he would never do The Robot again unless he scored in a Champions League final, but it did make somewhat of a comeback after scoring against Ukraine in 2009, after James Corden (from Gavin and Stacey) asked him to "pull the rope" during a Comic Relief sketch.



2. Robbie Fowler

What's the best way for a Liverpool hero to respond to allegations of cocaine abuse from bitter Evertonians? Snort a white line on the pitch after scoring, obviously!

And although Liverpool icon Robbie Fowler was never busted for cocaine abuse during his Premier League career, the infamous incident showed Fowler pretending to snort a line of coke using the white penalty line - but perhaps more funny was the fact that Liverpool boss at the time, Gerard Houllier, backed Fowler up by saying he was indulging in a "grass eating celebration".



1. Paul Gasgoine

Not one to do things by half, Gascoigne took goal celebrations to a whole new level during the tense England v Scotland game during Euro 1996.

The match, and England's campaign at the tournament, was hanging by a thread after David Seaman saved a Gary McAllister penalty.

Gascoigne, who was showing off a "crazy" new luminous hairstyle, collected the ball some way outside the Scotland penalty area before smashing it into the net.

But the celebration became just as notorious as the goal, as Gascoigne lay on the ground while his team-mates squirted water into his mouth, in a re-enactment of the "dentist's chair" drinking game that had got the England boys in a sport of bother during a pre-tournament trip to Hong Kong.


Missed this weekends Premier League football matches? Watch full highlights of all the games at TVNZ Ondemand !

What is your most memorable goal celebration? Have your say below......


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