“James Tavernier scored twice in Rangers’ 3-0 win over St Johnstone on 18 February, bringing his tally for the club to 120. In terms of goals scored for one club, not across an entire career, is this a record for a full-back? Or even a defender?”

Something weird happened at the weekend. Rangers beat Hearts 5-0 and James Tavernier wasn’t on the scoresheet. He’s been their most reliable source of goals in recent years, scoring at least 18 in each of the last four seasons, and has a whopping 120 since joining Rangers from Wigan Athletic in 2015.

After plenty of research, and with thanks to Pete Tomlin in particular for his input, we couldn’t find a full-back with more goals for their club than Tavernier. Some of the figures vary slightly from source to source, so we’ve taken the number we think is most reliable. You’ll get the general drift.

THE MOST PROLIFIC FULL-BACKS AT ONE CLUB

120 James Tavernier (Rangers, 2015-)
105 Nelinho (Cruzeiro, 1973-82)
101 Manny Kaltz (Hamburg, 1971-89)
88 Stuart Pearce (Nottingham Forest, 1985-97)
69 Roberto Carlos (Real Madrid, 1996-2007

If you include all defenders, Tavernier is pipped in men’s football by Real Madrid legend Fernando Hierro. We suspect Hierro scored a number of his 127 goals while playing in midfield. But although we’re quite lonely these days, even we baulk at watching 120-odd Madrid matches in their entirety to determine which position he played when he scored each goal. We can, however, say with a fair bit of confidence that France legend Wendie Renard was playing at centre-back when she scored the majority, if not all, of her goals for Lyon, who credit her with 124 for club and another 36 for country.

THE MOST PROLIFIC DEFENDERS AT ONE CLUB

129 Fernando Hierro (Real Madrid, 1989-2003)
124 Wendie Renard (Lyon, 2006-)
120 James Tavernier (Rangers, 2015-)
105 Nelinho (Cruzeiro, 1973-82)
102 Edgardo Bauza (Rosario Central, 1977-82, 1986-89)
101 Manny Kaltz (Hamburg, 1971-89), Daniel Passarella (River Plate, 1974-81), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid, 2005-21)

We’ve excluded Paul Breitner (109 goals for Bayern Munich across two spells) on the grounds that he played the majority of his games in midfield. Don’t make us watch them all.

There is a question that nobody asked, but which we really should answer while we’re here: is Tavernier the highest-scoring full-back in football history? Put simply, no, but he’s in the top few.

Tavernier should soon overtake the current Bradford City manager Graham Alexander, whose penalty expertise helped him score 131 career goals. But Tavernier will need a few more seasons to reach the man at the top of the list: Brazilian right-back Nelinho, who used the outside of his right foot to orgiastic effect in the 1970s and 1980s. If you’re not familiar with his work, this is a decent place to start.

The International Federation of Football Statistics & History credits Nelinho with 141 goals – but they only include top-flight matches, which is where things get murky. Brazilian football in the 20th century is a statto’s nightmare. One source says 180 goals, another 165. A number of outlets concur that he scored 105 times for Cruzeiro; based on that, we’ve estimated his career total at around 170.