The PL refs’ case studies: Foy

by Walter Broeckx

Next up in our series where we look at the refs and the performances with all the teams in the PL we have Chris Foy. A man who must by a cyclists best friend. If you know what I mean. The lot down the road will know what I mean. Or do they?

Anyway before we get starting a few lines of explanation for those who are puzzled about what we have done and are doing….  Below you see a table with the win, draw and lose percentage of each team. And then on the next line we give the same information for the games that the ref was in charge.

We then see if this leads to a team “over achieving”, “average achieving” or “under achieving”. Over achieving is when a team does far better on the ref than they usually do in the PL. Average achieving is when the results in winning don’t have a big difference be it a small negative or positive difference. And under achieving is when the fans of that team in general shake their head and say or think: we are screwed today. That is when they see or hear the name of the ref in charge.

The reason we do this is to give you a simple view on the past of the teams and the ref in question. It’s always very nice to know what you are up to. And when you want to put in a bet against the odds feel free but remember the past is no certainty for the future.

So after this feel free to explore the wonderful world of Chris Foy at the whistle.

Total won draw lost won draw lost Achieving
Arsenal

797

426

212

159

53,45%

26,60%

19,95%

Foy

25

18

4

3

72,00%

16,00%

12,00%

Over
Aston Villa

797

287

249

261

36,01%

31,24%

32,75%

Foy

25

7

8

10

28,00%

32,00%

40,00%

Under
Chelsea

797

414

206

177

51,94%

25,85%

22,21%

Foy

27

20

5

2

74,07%

18,52%

7,41%

Over
Everton

797

282

230

285

35,38%

28,86%

35,76%

Foy No games
Fulham

443

137

128

178

30,93%

28,89%

40,18%

Foy

22

12

3

7

54,55%

13,64%

31,82%

Over
Liverpool

797

389

203

205

48,81%

25,47%

25,72%

Foy No games
Man City

607

226

159

222

37,23%

26,19%

36,57%

Foy

30

16

7

7

53,33%

23,33%

23,33%

Over
MU

797

520

165

112

65,24%

20,70%

14,05%

Foy

31

21

5

5

67,74%

16,13%

16,13%

Average
Newcastle

717

284

192

241

39,61%

26,78%

33,61%

Foy

28

11

4

13

39,29%

14,29%

46,43%

Average
Norwich

227

68

72

87

29,96%

31,72%

38,33%

Foy

10

3

5

2

30,00%

50,00%

20,00%

Average
QPR

227

71

57

99

31,28%

25,11%

43,61%

Foy

7

2

1

4

28,57%

14,29%

57,14%

Average
Reading

101

31

21

49

30,69%

20,79%

48,51%

Foy

11

2

4

5

18,18%

36,36%

45,45%

Under
Southampton

531

155

146

230

29,19%

27,50%

43,31%

Foy

8

2

2

4

25,00%

25,00%

50,00%

Average
Stoke

177

53

54

70

29,94%

30,51%

39,55%

Foy

19

3

9

7

15,79%

47,37%

36,84%

Under
Sunderland

443

119

112

212

26,86%

25,28%

47,86%

Foy

25

4

5

16

16,00%

20,00%

64,00%

Under
Swansea

63

20

21

22

31,75%

33,33%

34,92%

Foy

4

0

1

3

0,00%

25,00%

75,00%

Under
Tottenham

797

307

210

280

38,52%

26,35%

35,13%

Foy

29

14

5

10

48,28%

17,24%

34,48%

Over
WBA

253

62

64

127

24,51%

25,30%

50,20%

Foy

25

9

6

10

36,00%

24,00%

40,00%

Over
West Ham

641

210

164

267

32,76%

25,59%

41,65%

Foy

28

6

6

16

21,43%

21,43%

57,14%

Under
Wigan

291

81

73

137

27,84%

25,09%

47,08%

Foy No games

This is a bit of a strange table to be honest.  We could expect that most refs have an average with most teams. But not this ref. Or could it be that the home/away thing is the main thing to remember about this ref? First thing is that he doesn’t do Everton, Liverpool or Wigan games for supporting one of these clubs. And possibly hating another two.

If we look at teams who do better than their average when Foy is in charge we see that we have the following teams: Arsenal, Chelsea, Fulham, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and West Bromwich Albion.  That is 7 teams who will not mind having him around. But best to have him at home you know.

The teams who perform close to their average standard (how high or low that might be) are Manchester United, Newcastle, Norwich, QPR, and Southampton.  That are 5 teams we can put in this category.  Some have said that Foy is a Manchester United ref.  But he is just the average Manchester United ref according to these numbers. But then again all refs are average Manchester United refs with a few exceptions under whom they over perform. But no under performing numbers with any ref for United as you will know if you have followed the numbers we did for each team.

And then we should have 5 teams who do worse than average when Foy is around and we find Aston Villa, Reading, Stoke, Sunderland, Swansea and West Ham United.

There are a few strange numbers in this. A team like Swansea who are doing rather well in their first seasons in the PL but they seemingly cannot win a game (as far as our data goes) when Foy is around.  If I were to be a betting man I would bet against a Swansea win when Foy is around. Based upon these numbers it looks a safe bet.  But then again that first win will have to come one day. Maybe when they play at home?

The most detailed study of Premier League Refs ever:The referees 2013.

The books…

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