With this year marking the 25th anniversary of the Premier League, there are countless memories to reflect on since England’s top flight underwent its restructure in 1992. We have seen six different sides lift the prestigious title (Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, Blackburn Rovers and Leicester City), with a remarkable 41 other sides having competed in the division since its inception.
Along with the incredible Di Canio-esque goals, Sergio Aguero moments of madness and the catalogue of golden talent that the division has witnessed, it’s also seen its fair share of flops and pantomime villains. Sandwiched between captivating visuals of sublime strikes and other-wordly football, there have been many moments of hilarity and embarrassment for a host of clubs and players.
Here, we take a look at ten of the most unwanted, most embarrassing records in the 25-year history of the Premier League...
#1 Most Own Goals: Richard Dunne (10)
Where best to start on a list of the most embarrassing Premier League records than with what is arguably the most unfortunate action an individual can commit on the football pitch. Scoring an own goal feels like a hanging offence when you’re on the wrong end of it and Richard Dunne should know, having done so on ten different occasions during his 19-year tenure in the English top flight.
Of the ten own goals scored by the Irishman, six were bundled into the back of his own net during his time with the club he spent nine years at, Manchester City. The now 37-year-old would go onto to score another three own goals with Aston Villa before netting his tenth at QPR in a 3-2 home defeat to Liverpool.
Perhaps the most infamous of all the own goals scored by the Irishman was his first; playing against West Brom in 2004, a long ball down field cannoned of Dunne’s shin and past the calamitous David James and into the City net. Oh dear!
#2 Most Consecutive Appearances without a win for a player: Rudy Gestede (32)
Now for a fairly recent record, broken in January earlier this year. Middlesbrough have been sucked into the relegation dogfight this season mainly due to their remarkable tally of draws which currently sits at a joint league high of ten. During their draw against Watford, a new Premier League record was made by Rudy Gestede.
After coming on as a substitute for Christian Stuani just past the hour mark, the Frenchman officially broke the record for the longest run of games without a win for a player. The majority of games making up such a record game during the forward’s dire spell with Villa last term in a season which saw Gestede bag a measly five goals and the club relegated for the first time in their history.
#3 Shortest Premier League career: Joe Sheerin (60 seconds)
To go a whole Premier League season having played fewer than ten games would be miserable and embarrassing for most top flight talents, putting into perspective the absurdity of this statistic.
Born in Hammersmith, London, it was with Chelsea that forward Joe Sheerin would start his professional playing career and, coincidentally, set the record of the shortest Premier League career. Sheerin turned professional with the Blues in 1996 and it was in April 1997 that Chelsea would lock horns with AFC Wimbledon, a club Sheerin would play for later in his career.
With just minutes to go in the game against the Dons, Italian Gianfranco Zola was brought off, with Sheerin the substitute to go on and make his debut – a debut which would last just sixty seconds. Despite remaining with the Blues until 2000, that would be Sheerin’s last appearance for the club, rendering his Premier League tenure the shortest of all time.
#4 Biggest Defeat: Ipswich Town (9-0 vs Manchester United)
This sensational match was played out 22-years-ago in March and remains the most prolific thrashing in the division’s history. Manchester United went into the game knowing an impressive victory would voice their intentions to lift the title at the end of the campaign, whilst Ipswich Town were in the midst of a relegation scrap, one they’d eventually lose, as they finished bottom (22nd) that season, twenty-one points from safety.
Andy Cole would dominate the tie, scoring five goals, and the future fortunes of both clubs following the tie would be very different, with United going on to become the most decorated side in England and Ipswich struggling to navigate a way out of England’s second tier following their second Premier League relegation in 2002.
#5 Most relegations suffered by a player: Hermann Hreidarsson & Nathan Blake (5)
Relegation is undoubtedly the most heart-breaking phenomenon a footballer can experience; it is a sign of failure, hard work being undone and holds drastic implications for the future careers of players. Some individuals have been more prone to the drop than others and the Icelandic-Welsh pairing of Hreidarsson and Blake remains the god of relegation.
Hreidarrsson faced demotion with London clubs Crystal Palace, Wimbledon and Charlton, as well as with Ipswich Town and, most recently, Portsmouth, making him the only player in the division’s history to have faced the drop with five different sides.
Blake meanwhile suffered relegation with Sheffield United in their debut season in the Premier League before moving to Bolton where he’d experience it on two occasions, then with Blackburn Rovers once. After that he suffered the agony of relegation at Wolves, whom he guided to promotion in 2003 but guided them back down the following term.
#6 Only manager to take charge of 10 + EPL games without a win: Terry Connor
The 2011/12 Premier League season will forever remain in everyone’s memory for the remarkable unfolding of events on the final day, in which Sergio Aguero and Man City snatched the title from bitter rivals United to win their first EPL crown. But let’s not forget the unfortunate ones that year – few suffered more desolate ends to the campaign than Wolves and Terry Connor.
In February of that season, Mick McCarthy would be sacked with Connor taking charge of Wolves until the end of the campaign, despite the club previously announcing that an experienced manager would supersede the former Irish international.
Connor would oversee thirteen matches during his time at the helm, picking up just four points from a possible 39, suffering seven consecutive defeats at one point and finishing with the club’s all-time lowest tally of 25 points.
#7 Highest possession percentage in a game that was lost: Liverpool (80.6% vs. Burnley)
On the flip-side, this can also be interpreted as the lowest winning possession percentage (19.4%) of any Premier League side since the statistic first began being noted in 2003. It’s another record to have been broken this season and is a testament to the fact that there really is no right way to play the game.
Sean Dyche frustrated and flustered Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool who fielded a side heavy in attack and also mustered up 26 shots at goal, only five of which were on target. The Clarets’ persistence at the back would be repaid by goals from Sam Vokes and Andre Gray which handed them eventual victory, despite Liverpool’s monumental efforts and domination of possession.
Dyche would only rub salt into the wounds with his post-match comments, claiming “It was a myth that came out about five years ago that possession wins you games.”
#8 Most days spent in the bottom three in total: Sunderland (1227 days and counting)
David Moyes has done little to appease the curse of the Black Cats, with Sunderland yet again finding themselves in a relegation battle for the fifth season running, rooted to the bottom of the table with 19 points, heading into the clash with Manchester City.
It’s quickly becoming an integral part of the club’s DNA to linger in the relegation zone and they’ve now been in the bottom three for the equivalent of just over three years. A large part of it is down to the inconsistency involving managers, their scattergun transfer policy.
#9 Most bookings: Gareth Barry (109)
At 36-years-old, Gareth Barry is still keeping his head above water in the top tier of English football with Everton and has had a career which will be remembered for clinical consistency and a reputation for being one of the hardest working midfielders the game has ever seen. Barry has also developed a habit during his career of racking up many a caution – 109 to be exact – whilst at Aston Villa, Manchester City and Everton.
Perhaps it’s inevitable for a holding midfielder who’s played the second highest number of Premier League games in its history (617) to have seen yellow on so many occasions.
#10 Most consecutive games without a win: Derby County (32)
Derby County’s infamous 2007/08 campaign was so dismal, that they could probably single-handedly fill a list of most embarrassing Premier League records with stats from that term alone. The club won just a single match all season, with their top scorer Kenny Miller scoring just four goals throughout the campaign and their final points tally sitting at a laughable 11 points, unsurprisingly the lowest in Premier League history.
Following that only win, which came against Newcastle at the end of September 2007, the club wouldn’t pick up another three points that season, making it 32 games without a win. Given that Derby haven’t been promoted back to the top flight since that term, they could still extend upon the record if they were to gain promotion.
