Staggering events!

Bundles of bookings, slow starts, and those still going strong

Last updated: 25th September 2008

Staggering events!

Ferdinand: one of seven

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Martin Tyler's stats and facts column is back for the new season and will be here offering you statistical gems for the remainder of the campaign.

Sky Sports' voice of football and his back-up team of experts are here to answer your questions and queries on all things statistical and historical from the beautiful game.

It could be on a side in the Premier League or Football League, international scene or European competitions - or it could be about an individual player or manager.

If you have spotted something from a game or have been stumped by a pub quiz question, simply Email here and Martin will do his best to answer.

Or use the feedback form at the bottom of the page....

Tyler's Starting Stat - Drawing conclusions

I was at Stamford Bridge for the big one on Sunday afternoon, where some records stayed intact, others came to an end and overall, honours were even. For a start, Salomon Kalou's leveller stretched Chelsea's remarkable unbeaten home record in the Premier League to 85 games and 72 in all competitions. The last league team to win there were Arsenal in February 2004, while the last side to win at the Bridge in any competition was Barcelona in February 2006 when they won a Champions League game 2-1. The point also means Chelsea continue to be the most successful team against United in the Premier League, where they have played them 33 times, taken 44 points and scored 43 goals - more than any other side. Kalou's goal was his first in six appearances against the reigning champions, while Sunday was the first time United had NOT won a Premier League game in which Park Ji-Sung had started. They had won the previous 16 and were of course winning when he was taken off on Sunday!

YELLOW FEVER
Love the column. I watched Manchester United pick up seven bookings and to be honest thought the ref had a good game on Sunday! But Martin, what is the most amount of cards dished out in a single Premiership match - to one side or both? Derek Frobershire, Harrogate
MARTIN SAYS: Well the papers may have called it Battle of the Bridge II and those seven bookings might well have earned Manchester United a fine from the Premier League but it is by no means the worst we have seen. We have been on to the boffins at Opta, who have only been recording 'referee data' since 1998-99, but they tell us that seven yellow cards is a record for that time. Funnily enough the last time a team picked up seven bookings, it was also United, also away in London. It happened in at White Hart Lane last February when Wes Brown, Nani, Cristiani Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Carlos Tevez, Ewdin Van der Sar and Nemanja Vidic were all cautioned in the 1-1 draw.

Other notable records from Opta to take into account are:

The Premier League game with the most cards overall was between West Ham and Leeds in 1998-99 when eight yellows and three reds (all for West Ham) were dished out by Rob Harris.

The Premier League game with the most yellow cards was between Leeds and Chelsea in 1998-99 when with 11 yellows (five for Leeds and six for Chelsea) and a red card (Frank Lebouef) were shown by Mike Reed.

The World Cup game with the most cards was the 2006 quarter-final between Holland and Portugal in Nuremberg when 12 yellow cards and four red cards (two to each side) were handed out by Valentin Ivanov.

But Derek, I have dug way back through the history books to find an astonishing stat when it comes to bookings that has to be mentioned for two reasons. One because it involves Mansfield Town, who rarely get a mention on these pages and two, because it was way back in 1962 when players hardly got booked at all!

Yet, on November 24, 1962 in an FA Cup Second Round game with Crystal Palace, no less than 10 Mansfield players (presumably all outfield, although I cannot confirm this) were yellow carded for "applauding" the referee off the field at the end. The reason being, Kevin Howley had awarded Palace a penalty in the dying seconds with which they forced a 2-2 draw. And the bit I like about the whole episode was that by all accounts, not all 10 players realised they had been booked until they read about it in the Sunday newspapers. The replay, for which Howley was in charge, took place on the Monday night and thankfully there were no such controversies as the Stags ran out 7-2 winners thanks to a hat-trick from Ken Wagstaff. Howley was a leading official of his time and was a linesman throughout the 1966 World Cup finals and actually finished his career by taking charge of the Tottenham-Arsenal league game at White Hart Lane in May 1971, which the Gunners won 1-0 thanks to Ray Kennedy to secure the league title and first leg of the famous Double.

CITY'S JOY OF SIX
Happy days at Eastlands Martin! Sunday's win had six different scorers and that got me thinking - when was the last time a Premier League side had six different goalscorers in one game? I can't remember it happening, certainly not at City! In fact, while I'm on, when was the last time we scored six in a game? JT Moore
MARTIN SAYS: I am covering Manchester City on Super Sunday this weekend JT, so let's hope we are in for more goals! I can confirm it is City's first 6-0 win in the Premier League and indeed their first top-flight win by that margin in 40 years. You have to go all the way back to the halcyon days of 1968 and December 7, when Joe Mercer's side thumped Burnley 7-0 in the First Division. Colin Bell (2), Neil Young (2), Mike Doyle, Francis Lee and Tony Coleman were on target. City did beat Sheffield United 6-0 in the Championship in 1999 although thanks to two penalties from Kevin Horlock, there were five separate scorers. You don't have to go that far back in time to find a Premier League game with six different scorers JT, because it happened at the tail-end of last season. On April 12, Aston Villa went to doomed Derby and won 6-0, with Ashley Young, John Carew, Stilian Petrov, Gareth Barry, Gabriel Agbonlahor and Marlon Harewood all on the scoresheet.

UNITED THEY STALL
Hi Martin, played four, won one, only scored four... it's not good for my team, Manchester United, at the moment. I was wondering is the worst start to a Premier League season we have experienced? I hope not... Jane Eves
MARTIN SAYS: The point on Sunday, meant that United avoided their joint worst start to a 38-game Premier League season - which was actually last season, Jane! But the five points from four games is not as bad as the very first Premier League season back in 1992-93 when United picked up just four points from their first four games. United lost 2-1 at Sheffield United on the opening day when Brian Deane (2) scored the new-look league's first goal, went on to lose 3-0 at home to Everton in midweek, drew 1-1 at home to Ipswich on the second weekend and then finally picked up a win at Southampton in their fourth game to give them a record of P4 W1 D1 L2 F3 A6. But, as you probably don't need reminding Jane, there was some good news after that poor start, because United went on to win the title!

BENITEZ DRAWING BLANKS
Saturday was awful at Anfield. OK, we weren't helped by the referee who robbed Stevie G of his 100th Liverpool goal, but that's now two 0-0 draws that might well cost us come May. I was wondering how many goalless draws we had last season and under Rafa the Gaffer. Jonny Leacock
MARTIN SAYS: Well Jonny, before you moan too much about the wiped-off goal, think yourself lucky you are not a Watford fan! The goalless draw did take Liverpool's tally, in the Premier League, this season to two. That is already more than in Benitez's first season in charge in 2004-05 when they only had one (against Blackburn). Last season Liverpool were involved in five 0-0 draws, in 2006-07 five and in 2005-06 four. That means in his four seasons, Benitez has overseen 15 0-0 draws at an average of 3.75 a season - which is more than the average for the previous four seasons (2.5). But before anyone starts thinking those goalless shows have cost Liverpool and Benitez dearly, I can confirm that even had they won them, they would still not have won the Premier League title. In 2005-06 they finished nine points behind champions Chelsea, but dropped eight points in goalless games and last season when they ended up 11 points short of Manchester United, they only dropped 10 points from 0-0 draws.STILL GOING STRONG
Hi Martin, my friends and I were discussing last night which current Premier League player has scored the most Premier League goals. It seems a lot of the biggest ever Premier League scorers have just retired or are playing further down the leagues (e.g. Andy Cole). We weren't too sure on whether to include Robbie Fowler or not, seeing as he's not yet played for Blackburn this season. Other players we think are in contention are Owen, Giggs and Scholes. Thanks in advance, Chris White
MARTIN SAYS: We often do the all-time scorers Chris, but rarely list the top 10 marksmen who are still plying their trade in the Premier League. We do though, have to include Robbie Fowler because he is still officially a Premier League player with Blackburn as is Dwight Yorke, who is with Sunderland, even if he hasn't played this season for Sunderland. That means Robbie is top of the list with 163 goals, with Michael Owen second on 138 and Yorke (123) and Robbie Keane (105) the only other current players to have passed the 100-goal mark. I will be at the JJB Stadium on Sunday to see if Emile Heskey, who is on 99, can join that club. Here though, are the top 10 current Premier League scorers:

PLAYERGOALS
Robbie Fowler163
Michael Owen138
Dwight Yorke123
Robbie Keane105
Emile Heskey99
Frank Lampard96
Ryan Giggs96
Paul Scholes96
Mark Viduka92
Nicolas Anelka88

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