Since its inception in 1992, the Premier League has seen more than 1,000 own goals scored. The first player to send the ball into his own net was Nottingham Forest goalkeeper Mark Crosley in 1992. Since then, many players have become anti-heroes for their teams with their accurate performances, but in the wrong goal. Starting with the kids in kindergarten and reaching the stars watched by millions, one of the most humiliating and shameful things, if not the most humiliating and shameful thing in football, is to score an own goal. Whether due to bad luck or poor play of the ball, such a moment invariably puts a black dot on the player, although sometimes we have seen players who, after scoring an own goal, tightened up and managed to score in the right goal.
Here are the leaders in the English Premier League in such performances.
This most undesirable record is held by Richard Dunn. The former Everton, Man City, Aston Villa and DAC player has managed to hit his own goal 10 times. In addition, he is in first place (along with Patrick Vieira and Duncan Ferguson) for the most red cards in the English Championship (8).
He managed to "sign up" for 3 of his 4 teams, and in no match in which Dunn scored the ball in his net, his team did not win. Only in Eretnon does the Irishman fail to seduce his goalkeeper.
The first own goal of the day came on December 28, 2004, when with the Man City team, he helped West Braomich take a point from the "citizens". The defender's last own goal came 10 years later - on October 19, when Queens Park Rangers lost to Liverpool 2-3.
As for the teams that have benefited from Dunn's incorrect sight, they are: West Bromwich, Manchester United, Wigan, Chelsea, Newcastle, Bolton, Blackburn, Sunderland, Queens Park Rangers and Liverpool. However, the defender also has 13 goals, which makes his balance in the Premier League positive, as ridiculous as it sounds.
The second place is shared by three players who played in Liverpool. The first is the legendary Merseyside captain Jamie Carragher. In 508 games for the team, he scored 7 own goals, his first own goal coming when he was only 20 years old (in '98).
His first own goal came against the Spurs at the fragile age of 20 years and 311 days, making him the youngest goal scorer on this list, but not in the history of the Premier League as a whole. Martin Crane has this honor, recording in his DEBUT for Southampton against Chelsea in January 2004, at the age of 17 years and 218 days - the only "child" who scored an own goal in the race.
The teams in which Carragher has scored his own goal are: Tottenham, Manchester United, Hull City, Blackburn. The most emblematic was the match between Liverpool and the Red Devils on September 11, 1999. Then in front of the full stands of "Anfield", the future legend and captain of the team scored 2 own goals and so the guests won 3: 2.
Then Carragher became the first player to score 2 own goals in 1 match in the Premier League.
His teammate from the Reds years ago, Martin Skertel, also has bad memories of own goals. The Slovak holds the "record" for the most goals in his own goal in one season. he did so in the 2013/2014 campaign, when he certainly made many of the hair on Brendan Rodgers' head turn white.
However, these cracks of Skrtel, who was also known as a big "planer", did not seriously affect Liverpool, because the team won 3 of these 4 games in which he scored an own goal. The player himself has sharpened more teams than Carragher: Tottenham, Fulham, Hull City, West Ham, Swansea and Newcastle.
The last with 7 goals is Everton legend Phil Jagelka. In April 2021, already a Sheffield United player, he scored an own goal against Leeds and became the second oldest player in England to throw the ball into his own net, ahead of only Stuart Pierce.
In the division of the Englishman's own goals between Sheffield and Everton, the "caramels" have suffered more than once from the inaccurate sight of the central defender (4 against 3), who scored own goals against Arsenal, Portsmouth, Wigan, Stoke City, Aston Villa and Leeds.
The third place in this not so pleasant ranking is shared by four players.
These are Ryan Shawcross, Wes Brown, Frank Sinclair and Johnny Evans.
Stable Stoke defender Ryan Shawcross is one of the Potters' favorites, despite his own goals, as he has played 401 games for the club and scored a total of 25 goals, being one of the pillars of the Britain team.
As for Wes Brown, the most unpleasant of these 6 own goals is the one that comes on November 5, 2011. Then with the Sunderland team, the defender faces his former team Man United, where he won many trophies. Nostalgia seems to have taken its toll then, as Brown scored an own goal at Old Trafford, sealing the Red Devils' minimal victory.
Frank Sinclair was the first on this list of players to stand out as a footballer prone to own goals and was ridiculed a lot for it. He has scored in his own goal against Manchester City, Aston Villa, Middlesbrough, Arsenal, Chelsea and Leicester, having carried the teams of the last two teams. Against this background, however, these 6 Sinclair own goals do not seem so much.
Former Man United defender Johnny Evans still has a chance to reach Dunn's "record". He is currently in Leicester, having sent the ball into his own goal so far, helping Chelsea, Tottenham, Newcastle, Bournemouth and Liverpool.
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