Arsenal has won the PL fair play league last season. But PL not happy with it?

By Walter Broeckx

Between reviewing games, writing articles, looking for data I had the idea of writing about the  Premier league fair play league table.

I did feel a bit proud when I first saw it.  Because Arsenal was the fairest team of the league in the last season. As I am a ref myself and I think good behaviour is important on a football field I felt proud about Arsenal being the best team in that regards.

So now I would love to enter a link to it and then you could see it with your own eyes.  But there is a small problem with that. Because this is the link http://www.premierleague.com/en-gb/matchday/fair-play.html and if you click on to it you will see a lot of zero’s.  Arsenal is still standing first but that is only because we are also alphabetical the first team in the PL. But I can assure you that at the end of the season we were in first place.

Now I don’t know why the PL removed this table already. One could say that the season is over and that they empty the tables to get the new season under way. But then again the new season only starts in some 2 months time. So they could have waited till then to make it a blank league table.  And it still has the header season 2012-2013 above the table. And if they really are serious about preparing the new season then why we still are looking at the regular league table of the last season on each page? Cleaning up is fine I would say but then clean up all the tables and stats and put the old ones in the archive section.

But you can believe me on my word: Arsenal was top of the fair play league table after 38 games. And we took that title away from our dear rivals from down the road. Yes, it was the tiny totts that ended in 2nd place.  And if you do want to see it with your own eyes I can link you to the arsenal.com site http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/arsenal-finish-top-of-fair-play-league as they were smart and copied the table in to their article.

Now I have seen a few snide remarks about this in the different social media made by Arsenal fans. They said that fair play league tables mean nothing. I beg to disagree as a ref.  Like I said it fills me with joy that our team is the team that is the best when it comes to fair play.

And another remark I could see by the ones craving for trophies was : when did a team win the fair play league table and the league at the same time? And then someone who is working on statistics went looking and he found the answer. The last time a team won the fair play league table and the league was…. Arsenal. And it happened in the unforgettable invincible season of 2003-2004.

And didn’t I get an invincible feeling all over me in that run in at the end of the season? Yes I did. In a way this team has a few of those things we have seen 10 years ago. A desire and will to not lose a game. Believe me not all the games in the invincible season were great performances. Some were poor. But we always managed to not lose the game. And still did it in a rather fair way.  So are those days coming back to us? Sure would be nice.

But it proves that you don’t have to be “unfair” to win the league. And it maybe also can be a good answer when some people come up with the “bad disciplinary record” Arsenal was having in the early Wenger years and when Vieira played for us.

Now this league table is put together by putting different aspects of the game together and give points for it. They take in account (and I copy a bit from the PL website) :

1. Red and yellow cards

This speaks for itself I think

2. Positive play

This is designed to encourage attractive play that will increase the enjoyment of spectators and the following areas are taken into consideration:



POSITIVE

– Using attacking tactics, not defensive
– Speeding up the game
– Efforts to gain time (e.g. bringing the ball back into play quickly even if the team is in a winning position)
– Continuing to push for goals when in a winning position

NEGATIVE


– Slowing down the game
– Time wasting
– Tactics based on foul play
– Play-acting (simulation)

3. Respect towards opponents

Players should respect the Laws of the Game and abide by the spirit of Fair Play. The Fair Play delegate’s assessment will not double count items already covered in the ‘Red and Yellow cards’ category, but the seriousness of the offences punished by cards may be considered. This category will also include offences overlooked by the referee.

Any single major incident between players may have a significant bearing on the final score.

4. Respect towards the referee


Players are expected to respect the officials – including assistants – at all times.

The Fair Play delegate’s assessment will not double count items already covered in the ‘Red and Yellow cards’ but the seriousness of the offences punished by cards may be considered

Any single major incident may have a significant bearing on the score.

5. Behaviour of the team officials


Team officials, including coaches, are expected to develop the sporting, technical and tactical level of their team – and instruct players to behave in accordance with the Fair Play principles.

Positive and negative aspects of the team officials’ conduct will be assessed – such as whether they calm down or provoke angry players or fans and how they accept the decisions of the referee. Co-operation with the media will also be taken into account.

Any single major incident may have a significant bearing on the final mark, as will breaches of the regulations governing the dugout and technical area.

6. Behaviour of the public


All teams begin with a score of 5 points. A maximum of a further 5 points can be added for:


– Verbal support in acceptable form
– Covert recognition of outstanding play by the opponents

A maximum of 5 points can be deducted for:


– Persistent foul and abusive language
– Persistent abuse of the officials’ decisions
– Aggressive and threatening conduct towards opposing fans

 

So in a way this is also a little trophy (£30.000 price money to give towards community or youth projects) of us fans. A trophy of the players, the supporters and managers together.  So I feel proud about it. Now to find out why did the PL remove this table from their website that quickly?

 

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