Charlie Austin has joined an exclusive club of players to score 50 goals for Swindon Town after his late penalty against Salford City.

Austin has become the 30th player to score 50 times for Swindon, following in the footsteps of greats like: Harry Morris, Harold Fleming, Don Rogers, and even his former strike partner Billy Paynter.

The 34-year-old scored his first goal for the club three minutes into his first league start when he latched onto Paynter’s cross and fired low into the bottom corner.

Austin would go on to score seven in his first seven starts for Swindon and hit 20 by the end of the 2009/10 season, even netting in Town’s play-off semi-final first leg against Charlton Athletic.

Despite missing a month of the following season and leaving in January with the club threatened by relegation, Austin scored another 17 goals and was Town's top goal scorer for the entire season.

Although his departure to Burnley seemed to have brought the love affair to a close, Austin returned 11 years later, marking his homecoming with a goal on his second debut in a 5-0 win over Grimsby Town and a brace in his second game against Gillingham.

His 85th minute penalty that was struck powerfully beyond Alex Cairns against the Ammies on Saturday brought up the half-century.

He said: “Personally, it is fantastic, of course it is, to get 50 at the club where I started and I am a local boy.

“I think the first time [I was here] I was raw, I was learning on the job and I had a very good strike partner in Billy Paynter.

“I was in the team to score goals and that was it, this time I am still in the team to score goals, but I have a little bit more where I can pick up different parts and pockets.”

His manager Michael Flynn was also very pleased for a player that he said has been a joy to work with this season.

He said: “He is as good as gold with the other players, he’s a good professional, he is working hard, and he fits in what with what we are trying to achieve and get the players to believe in.

“I am very pleased for him that he has got 50 goals for the football club, I think it is a fantastic achievement, especially with everything he has done in the game.”