Having looked at the fifth tier’s top scorers from 2011-12 to 2014-15 in part one and 2015-16 to the 2018-19 seasons in part two to find out if any of them have emulated the success of Jamie Vardy, we now take a look at those top scorers from the previous five seasons and whether they have or have the potential to reach the heights of the Leicester striker.
2019-20: Scott Quigley (Barrow)
Title Winners: Barrow (PPG)
Play Off Winners: Harrogate Town
Relegated: Chorley, AFC Fylde, Ebbsfleet United – Maidenhead United received a reprieve due to Bury’s expulsion
Scott Quigley won the National League golden boot in the strangest of seasons given its interruption by the COVID pandemic. Despite a number of promising seasons earlier in his career, the striker never found his goalscorers touch in the EFL.
Quigley began his career in the Cymru Premier with The New Saints and turned professional in 2012. He played in UEFA Champions League qualifying games for the Welsh side and was part of the side that won five consecutive Welsh Premier Leagues from 2012-13 to 2016-17.
After eight years at TNS, Quigley signed a two-year contract at Blackpool but never made an impact for the tangerines and had loan spells with Port Vale, FC Halifax Town and Wrexham. It was with the Welsh side where the striker had his most prolific spell scoring 8 goals in 17 appearances.
Barrow then secured the services of the striker ahead of their promotion season from the National League. Quigley was the league’s top scorer with 20 goals from 35 appearances and gained a place in the National League team of the year.
Despite the step up to League Two, Quigley still had a fairly productive season with the Bluebirds. Barrow survived going straight back down and were helped by the striker’s 15 goals from his 38 appearances.
Quigley then signed for National League big spenders Stockport County, citing family reasons for the move, but never got going with the Hatters only scoring 6 goals during his two years at the club.
The 31 year old has not kicked on since the 2019-20 season and is back in the National League with Eastleigh now, scoring 11 goals last season.
2020-21: Michael Cheek (Bromley)
Title Winners: Sutton United
Play Off Winners: Hartlepool United
Relegated: N/A due to National League North and South results becoming null and void
Michael Cheek has been a prolific goalscorer throughout his career at the lower levels. The National League’s record top scorer now has his chance in the EFL after promotion with Bromley last season.
Cheek has played non-league football for the entirety of his career and started in Essex with Stanway Rovers, Heybridge Swift and Chelmsford City. His goal scoring exploits in regional football earned him a move to the National League with Braintree Town in 2015.
His two seasons with the Iron saw him score 17 and 25 goals despite the latter coming in a relegation season for the club.
Cheek did not return to regional football and secured a move to Dagenham and Redbridge for a season before playing for Ebbsfleet United.
Having consistently scored for both sides Bromley swooped for the forward ahead of the 2019-20 season and it was with the Ravens that Cheek has stayed the longest in his career. In the five years that the striker has spent with Bromley, he has scored 106 goals in 235 appearances.
Included in that figure is his National League Golden Boot winning campaign in 2020-21 with 21 goals which helped the club reach the playoffs.
Despite consistently proving an ability to score within the National League, Cheek has never played in the EFL until this coming season.
The striker scored 23 goals in 2023-24 to fire Bromley to promotion from the play offs. At the age of 32, Cheek will be able to test himself in the football league and given his prolific nature in the fifth tier, it would be unwise to bet against him finding the net consistently in League Two.
2021-22: Paul Mullin (Wrexham)
Title Winners: Stockport County
Play Off Winners: Grimsby Town
Relegated: Dover Athletic, King’s Lynn Town, Weymouth
Paul Mullin bucked the trend in many ways given the career he had prior to becoming the National League top scorer in 2021-22.
Mullin has not reached the heights that Vardy has on the pitch, but the 29 year old is certainly as much, if not more, of a well known celebrity than the Leicester frontman.
The striker toured around the academies of Everton, Liverpool and Huddersfield Town before signing a one year contract with the Yorkshire side. Mullin never made an appearance for the terriers and moved on to Morecambe.
A number of seasons in the EFL followed with Swindon Town and Tranmere Rovers before a move to Cambridge United in 2019.
His first season with the U’s was a quiet one with two goals from six appearances but he broke the Cambridge record for most league goals by a player in a single season in 2020-21 with 32 goals.
His goals won the League Two golden boot, player of the season and helped the club secure promotion to the third tier.
Despite his success, Mullin chose to move into the National League for the first time in his career, signing a three year contract with Wrexham.
In his first season, the striker finished as the top scorer in the league with 26 goals. His goals weren’t enough to seal promotion for the Red Dragons but his 38 goals in 2022-23 helped the club to promotion and the title.
Mullin has proved himself as a goalscorer in the past four seasons and although hasn’t scored goals above the fourth tier, there is a chance that the 29 year old can continue his upward trajectory with Wrexham and end up playing in the Championship at some point before the end of his career.
2022-23: Macaulay Langstaff (Notts County)
Title Winners: Wrexham
Play Off Winners: Notts County
Relegated: Torquay United, Yeovil Town, Scunthorpe United, Maidstone United
One of the most recent National League top scorers who has the potential to get close to Vardy’s success is Macaulay Langstaff. The striker is at the centre of much transfer talk after the success of the past few seasons.
Langstaff started his career within the North East with Stockton Town and Billingham Synthonia scoring 31 goals in 65 appearances. His form saw him move up the pyramid to a first spell at Gateshead without making an impact.
The striker moved to York City for two years in 2018 and after loan spells at Bradford Park Avenue and Blyth Spartans, neither of them being prolific, Langstaff moved back to Gateshead in 2020 in the National League North.
It was his second spell at the Heed where the striker found his goalscoring boots. His first season saw him score 4 goals in 16 appearances but in 2021-22, the striker’s 28 goals in 39 appearances helped Gateshead to the title and promotion to the fifth tier.
Langstaff’s goals secured a move to Notts County ahead of the 2022-23 season. The striker broke Ricky Miller’s record for the number of goals in a single season with 42 goals in 45 appearances, all of which were non-penalty goals.
His goals earned him a place in the team of the season, player of the season and the title of National League top scorer. Promotion to the EFL meant that Langstaff was able to test himself in the football league for the first time.
The striker went on to win the League Two golden boot with 28 goals in 46 appearances.
At the age of 27, Langstaff still has a few more seasons to go in order to achieve similar success to Jamie Vardy.
With much speculation above a move to a number of Championship clubs ahead of the 2024-25 season, there is every chance the striker will be testing himself in the second and potentially top tier of English football before the end of his career.
2023-24: Paul McCallum (Eastleigh)
Title Winners: Chesterfield
Play Off Winners: Bromley
Relegated: Oxford City, Dorking Wanderers, Kidderminster Harriers, Boreham Wood
Last season’s National League top scorer is well known for his successful goal scoring ability within the fifth tier.
Paul McCallum started his youth career at Dulwich Hamlet and was prolific at youth level, scoring 15 goals in 7 games during the FA Youth Cup campaign in 2010-11.
The striker caught the attention of a number of Premier League clubs before opting to sign for West Ham United.
McCallum never made an appearance for the Hammers and was sent out on loan to a number of EFL sides without making much of an impact.
After a permanent move to Leyton Orient in 2015 and 11 goals in 39 appearances for the East London club, he moved into the fifth tier with Eastleigh.
From here, McCallum had a number of successful seasons in the National League including his 27 goal 2018-19 season with Eastleigh and a three year spell at Dagenham & Redbridge which saw the striker score 39 goals in 95 appearances.
Despite being a consistent goalscorer in the National League, McCallum never got a move to an EFL club and returned to Hampshire with Eastleigh ahead of the 2023-24 season.
Despite Easteligh’s mid table finish, McCallum finished the season as the league’s top scorer with 31 goals in 38 appearances.
There is no doubt that McCallum is a prolific goalscorer within the fifth tier, but at the age of 30 it is very unlikely that we will see the striker reach any higher than League Two before he retires.
Did anyone emulate Vardy? – Conclusion
Despite a number of individuals reaching greater scoring totals in the National League than the Leicester City frontman, there hasn’t been another success story like his. The closest to reaching the levels of Vardy is undoubtedly Andre Gray given his rise to the Premier League and international recognition for Jamaica.
Whether we see any player reach the same level in the future is unlikely given the unexpected success that Leicester had overall.
Despite this, I would not write off a number of National League top scorers of recent seasons and those to come, reaching the second or top tier of the English game in the near future given the platform it provides for talented goalscorers.