Chelsea have broken the record for the most cards in a Premier League season with their final game still to play. We look at the stats surrounding an unwanted record for the Blues.
There aren’t many records that Chelsea have broken in 2023-24 under Mauricio Pochettino, but Wednesday night’s game at Brighton saw them break an all-time Premier League record.
Yellow cards for Moisés Caicedo and Raheem Sterling were followed by a Reece James red, taking Chelsea to 107 cards in total this season – 103 yellows, four reds. This set a new Premier League record for the most cards given to a team in a single Premier League campaign, previously set by Leeds United in 2021-22 (104).
They’d already equalled Leeds’ record from 2021-22 when Nicolas Jackson completed a turnaround against Nottingham Forest at the City Ground on Saturday evening.
By jumping into the crowd to embrace the Chelsea fans after his header put Chelsea 3-2 in front, having been behind just eight minutes earlier, Jackson was given a yellow card for excessive celebration by referee Chris Kavanagh.
Most Cards by Teams in a Premier League Season
Chelsea in 2023-24 – 107 cards: 103 yellows, 4 reds
Leeds United in 2021-22 – 104 cards: 101 yellows, 3 reds
Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2023-24 – 102 cards: 99 yellows, 3 reds
Sheffield United in 2023-24 – 98 cards: 99 yellows, 5 reds
Derby County in 1999-00 – 97 cards: 93 yellows, 4 reds
Sunderland in 2014-15 – 96 cards: 94 yellows, 2 reds
Everton in 1998-99 – 96 cards: 91 yellows, 5 reds
Wolves are the only other club to have broken the 100-card barrier, and they also did so in 2023-24, picking up 99 yellows and three reds to total 102 cards. Wolves face Liverpool at Anfield on the final day, with the potential to overtake Leeds’ tally from 2021-22 as well.
Sheffield United have already conceded a record 101 goals this season in the Premier League and could replicate their goals conceded tally with cards, with their current total of 98. Their five red cards are only fewer than Burnley (7) this season, with Vincent Kompany’s side two more dismissals away on the final day against Nottingham Forest from equalling the record for the most by a team in a Premier League season, set by Sunderland in 2009-10 and QPR in 2011-12.
Chelsea forward Jackson has been given 10 of Chelsea’s cards himself, all of which have been cautions. Rather comically, just one of those cards has been for a foul. Six have been for dissent or arguing with match officials, one was for entering the pitch without prior approval from the match referee and one was for failing to retreat from an opposition free-kick, before Saturday’s yellow for jumping into the crowd to celebrate his goal.
Jackson isn’t the only Chelsea player to have reached double figures for Premier League cards this season, though. Moisés Caicedo has also been given 11 yellows in the competition for the Blues in his first season at the club after signing from Brighton in the summer, and, unlike Jackson, the majority of his have been for fouls (six).
Neither of these players will join the list of players to have been given at least 14 cards (yellow and red combined) in a Premier League season, however.
Most Cards by Players in a Premier League Season
Étienne Capoue for Watford in 2018-19: 15 cards – 14 yellows, 1 red
Mark Hughes for Southampton in 1998-99: 14 cards – 14 yellow, 0 red
Olivier Dacourt for Everton in 1998-99: 14 cards – 13 yellow, 1 red
Robbie Savage for Leicester in 2001-02: 14 cards – 14 yellow, 0 red
Cheick Tioté for Newcastle in 2010-11: 14 cards – 14 yellow, 0 red
Lee Cattermole for Sunderland in 2014-15: 14 cards – 14 yellow, 0 red
José Holebas for Watford in 2016-17: 14 cards – 14 yellow, 0 red
João Palhinha for Fulham in 2022-23: 14 cards – 14 yellow, 0 red
One player with a chance of making a second appearance on this list is Fulham’s João Palhinha. The Portuguese midfielder is currently on 13 cards (13 yellows, 0 reds) for the season, needing a card in their final game at Luton Town on Sunday to replicate last season’s effort.
Since the start of last season, the Fulham man has been given 27 yellow cards in 67 games – five more than any other player (Nélson Semedo’s 22 cautions, but he’s also had a red card in that time).
Based on minutes played, including all added time, across those two seasons, Palhinha has been cautioned every 233 minutes on average – around two cards every five games.
With the increase in added time across the Premier League this season, coupled with tougher crackdowns on dissent, it’s hardly surprising to see card records broken this season.
This season has seen a record tally of 1558 yellow cards at the time of writing – 152 more than any other Premier League season and 184 more than last season. Red cards haven’t followed suit, with the tally of 57 so far in 2023-24 still 16 fewer than the Premier League record of 73 in 2002-03, but nearly double last season’s tally of 30.
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