A Rapid Return to Football
The Euro 2024 final was just over three weeks ago, but we are already heading towards the opening day of the Premier League in less than two weeks’ time. How time flies! With the world’s favourite footballing league edging closer to a restart, BonusCodeBets have dived into years of historic data to see who is the Premier League’s dirtiest side. This was calculated through the number of red and yellow cards amassed since the Premier League was formed in 1992.
Chelsea: The Premier League’s Dirtiest Team
Through the data collected by OPTA, we have been able to uncover that Chelsea are officially the Premier League’s dirtiest, having amassed a total of 89 red cards and 1982 yellow cards in 1228 games. In total, Chelsea have received 2071 yellow and red card ratio of 1.69 cards per game. Former Chelsea captain and club legend John Terry holds the current record for the most red cards for the club with six. This is closely followed by Frank Leboeuf with five, Dennis Wise and Frank Sinclair both with four, and current club captain Reece James on three alongside Fernando Torres.
Everton and Arsenal: Close Contenders
Chelsea are closely followed by Everton, who were one of the founding clubs of the Premier League in 1992. The Premier League was established as the new top division of English football, replacing the old First Division. Everton currently have a total of 2044 red and yellow cards with a split of 107 red cards and 1937 yellow cards. Duncan Ferguson holds the crown for the most red-carded Toffee star with a mammoth eight red cards. He’s followed by a fellow Scotsman in David Weir with four red cards. Slaven Bilic, Tim Cahill, Phil Neville, David Unsworth, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, Gary Naysmith, Richard Dunne, and Steven Pienaar all have three red cards for the Merseyside club.
London rivals Arsenal and Spurs follow Chelsea as the Premier League’s dirtiest ever sides, with Arsenal sitting on 1957 red and yellow cards and Tottenham with 1946. Former Arsenal captain and World Cup winner Patrick Vieira ties Duncan Ferguson with eight red cards. He is trailed by Martin Keown (six), Laurent Koscielny (five), and Granit Xhaka and Tony Adams (four). Meanwhile, over at the other side of London, former Spurs centre half Younes Kaboul is their most red-carded Premier League footballer with four reds. The French international is trailed by former England defender Michael Dawson, Colin Calderwood, and Mauricio Taricco with three red cards apiece.
Premier League’s Top Foulers
Whilst Duncan Ferguson and Patrick Vieira lead the pack in terms of the most red cards, they are very closely trailed by Manchester United and Republic of Ireland’s very own Roy Keane, a player well known for his ability as well as his physical presence on the pitch. In total, Keane picked up seven red cards, which may be surprising to many considering his expressive and sometimes overzealous approach in games. Keane is closely followed by former United captain and Serbian defender Nemanja Vidic with six red cards, whilst both Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt have four apiece.
Whilst the likes of Ferguson, Vieira, Keane, Terry, and Vidic are ranked as the players with the highest number of red cards in the Premier League, none appear in the top five players that have earned the most fouls in the Premier League era. That chart is topped by none other than Premier League trivia king Kevin Davies with 926 fouls. He is followed by Gareth Barry with 831 fouls, Marouane Fellaini with 588 fouls, Tim Cahill on 575 fouls, and Peter Crouch with 563 fouls.
Meanwhile, former Norwich City striker Grant Holt holds the crown for the most fouls per 90 minutes at 3.16. He is closely followed by fellow striker Kevin Davies with 3.15, Newcastle academy graduate Shola Ameobi at 3.13, Paul Dickov at 3.1, and former Aston Villa striker John Carew at 3.09.
Balancing Passion and Discipline
Discipline and aggression have been central to the Premier League's thrilling action. As the new season approaches, teams and players will strive to balance passion with sportsmanship.
