GOAL king John Aldridge is British football's greatest goalscorer - and that is now official!

Tranmere's player-manager achieved football immortality, on Friday night, when a superb volley in the emphatic 3-0 win over bottom club Southend United took the former Liverpool striker past the legendary Jimmy Greaves' first class goals record of 467.

The all-important strike signalled the 468th goal of Aldo's career - and he couldn't have wished for a better goal to achieve his milestone. He received a standing ovation from the adoring Prenton Park faithful, and afterwards was presented with a bottle of champagne from club chairman Frank Corfe, to mark the occasion.

Said a delighted Aldo: "That goal has been a long time coming - I thought I was never going to get there. To be fair, Jimmy scored all of his goals in the old First Division, which is a great achievement, but having said that I've plugged away with League Cup goals in Spain and international goals and I've got there eventually."

For the record, Greaves' 467 first class goals comprise: 357 League goals for Chelsea, Tottenham and West Ham, all in the then top flight Division One; 35 FA Cup; 7 League Cup, 44 for England; 9 for AC Milan; 10 in the European Cup Winners Cup; 3 in the Inter Cities Fairs Cup; and 2 in the FA Charity Shield.

Aldridge's total (in all competitions) reads: 88 for Newport; 90 for Oxford; 63 for Liverpool; 40 for Real Sociedad; 19 for the Republic of Ireland; and 168 for Tranmere.

While Aldo cannot match Greaves on the basis that all Greaves' goals were scored in the top flight and he scored more league goals, he can match him on the total amount of first class goals in his football career.

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