Former Bournemouth, Southampton and Doncaster Rovers players feature among the fastest hat-tricks ever, as do current Liverpool and Swansea stars.
Sadio Mane holds the record for the quickest hat-trick in the Premier League
The phrase ‘hat-trick’ first arose in 1858, when English cricketer H. H. Stephenson took three wickets with three consecutive deliveries. In appreciation of his achievement, fans held a collection for Stephenson, and with the money, raised they bought him a hat. And thus, the ‘hat-trick’ was born.
More than a century and a half on and the hat-trick phrase is used to describe a trio of positive achievements in sports such as ice hockey, darts, poker, and – of course – football. The Guinness Book of World Records officially recognises Alex Torr’s 70 second hat-trick as the quickest in the history of the game, but given that it was scored at Sunday league level, we take a look at a handful of the quickest hat-tricks scored in the professional game.
Quickest Football League Hat-Trick
James Hayter scored 3 goals in 2 minutes and 30 seconds
The title of the quickest hat-trick in Football League (or EFL) history goes to James Hayter. The 38-year-old striker who is still play, albeit in the seventh tier of English football, spent 19 years playing in the Football League with Bournemouth, Doncaster Rovers and Yeovil Town. His speedy hat-trick came with his first club Bournemouth.
Hayter was introduced as a substitute with just six minutes left on the clock, bagging a hat-trick in just 2 minutes and 20 seconds as the Cherries romped to a 6-0 home win against Wrexham. The three strikes saw Hayter beat Jimmy Scarth’s record which had stood for more than 50 years, although some still claim Scarth’s trio of goals were scored in less than the 2 minutes and 30 seconds officially recorded.
Quickest International Hat-Trick
Geoff Hurst is the only man to score a hat-trick in a mens World Cup final, but he certainly didn’t score the quickest. Abdul-Hamid Bassiouny takes that mantle, netting three times in just 1 minute and 57 seconds. Somewhat ironically, the former Zamalek striker won 13 caps for Egypt, but didn’t score in a single other game.
Quickest Champions League Hat-Trick
Faster than Messi: Bafetimbi Gomis scored the fastest hat-trick in the Champions League
It perhaps tells you something about the level of competition in the Champions League, or maybe it’s just the fact there have been fewer games, that the quickest Champions League hat-trick is considerably slower than the records for nearly all other competitions. Swansea City forward Bafetimbi Gomis holds the record in Europe’s most prestigious club competition, having hit a hat-trick in just 7 minutes (either side of half-time) for Lyon against Zagreb.
Quickest Premier League Hat-Trick
The fastest hat-trick in Premier League history should be fresh in your minds, having come only a couple of years ago, courtesy of Sadio Mane, now of Liverpool but then of Southampton. The Senegalese wide man absolutely smashed the previous record which had been held by Robbie Fowler, scoring a sensational 2 minute and 56 second hat-trick against a poor Aston Villa side.
Quickest Hat-Trick in British Football
At professional level, the quickest hat-trick in the long history of the British game was scored by the late Tommy Ross. The prolific inside-forward who turned out for Ross County, Peterborough United, York City, Wigan Athletic and more bagged his speedy trio of goals in his best spell, at Ross County. The three goals came in the space of just 1 minute and 30 seconds against Nairn County.
Quickest Professional Hat-Trick
Swedish goal-getter Magnus Arvidsson
The quickest hat-trick in the history of the professional game though, beating Tommy Ross by a whole one second, was scored by Magnus Arvidsson. The retired Swedish forward played for a handful of the countries top flight sides, even winning a couple of caps for the national team. His finest achievement though came with IFK Hässleholm in 1995, when he scored a hat-trick in 1 minute and 29 seconds against BolS.
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