logo
logo
Arsenal's Gabriel Magalhaes (6) reacts after being shown a red card for a second bookable offence during the Premier League match at the Emirates Stadium, London, January 2022.

The 20 teams with the most red cards in PL history: Arsenal 1st…

Planet Football •

Mikel Arteta has come under criticism for Arsenal’s disciplinary record under his management – and the Gunners have now collected the most red cards of any team in Premier League history.

Since Arteta’s first match as Arsenal boss on Boxing Day 2019, the club has received 14 red cards in all competitions which is six more than anybody else.

One consequence of this is that Arsenal have shot past Everton to become the Premier League side with the most red cards over the past 30 years.

While Arsenal have the disadvantage of being Premier League ever-presents, they’ve frequently fielded dirty b*stards such Patrick Vieira, Martin Keown and modern-day angel Granit Xhaka.

There are some interesting observations elsewhere too. While Liverpool have collected a positively saintly 60 red cards (an average of exactly two every season), Blackburn Rovers are riding high in fifth place despite not playing top-flight football since 2012.

West Ham, Southampton and Sunderland are also higher than you’d expect, while Manchester United are a surprising 10th – which will only fuel rumours of favourable referring decisions at Old Trafford.

We’ve crunched the numbers and have presented the 20 most ill-disciplined sides in Premier League history, ranked by the number of red cards they’ve collected in the competition.

1. Arsenal – 100 red cards
2. Everton – 99
3. Newcastle United – 90
4. Chelsea – 82
5. West Ham – 79

6. Blackburn Rovers – 77
7. Manchester City – 74
8. Tottenham – 70
9. Manchester United – 69
10. Southampton – 64

11. Aston Villa – 63
12. Sunderland – 62
13. Liverpool – 60
14. Leicester City – 51
15. Middlesbrough – 45
16. Bolton Wanderers – 44
17. Fulham – 41
18. West Brom – 35
19. Stoke City – 31
20. Leeds United – 30


More from Planet Football

The Joy Of… 21-man brawls: Feat. Arsenal, Man Utd, Chelsea and more

Can you name every player to score 10+ Premier League goals in 01-02?

Remembering the five times Granit Xhaka has been sent-off for Arsenal