Yellow or red. The colours no footballer wants to see a referee
brandishing in their direction. Although most players have earned
cards in their professional careers, there are some who are more
prone to punishment than others.
All cards count towards the records, whether it be a small issue
such as time-wasting and shirtless celebrations, or a violent
off the ball headbutt in the biggest game on the planet.
We have looked at some of the most carded clubs and players in
Premier League history to determine which truly are the dirtiest.
Patrick Vieira is among the top decorated Arsenal midfielders of all time. He also received the most red cards in football, a total of eight, the highest for an Arsenal player. But his record feels mild compared to Duncan Ferguson, who once spent three months in jail for assaulting an opponent on the pitch. So, who has a worse record than Richard Dunne?
The former Manchester City captain holds the unwanted record for the most own goals and red cards for the Sky Blues. Interestingly, all three players — Vieira, Ferguson, and Dunne — share the same number of red cards: eight. A perfect trio of football’s most disciplined offenders. The table below presents the top ten players with the most red cards in the Premier League this season.
Portugal
2 Red Cards
England
2 Red Cards
England
2 Red Cards
|
Rank |
Name |
Nationality |
Number of red cards |
|---|
It appears that some of the most skilful players in football history also have a reputation for being the faultiest. You may have thought that the most yellow cards in football were shown to midfielders and defenders. However, forwards have dominated the stats for all-time yellow card holders throughout the Premier League history. Gareth Barry tops the all-time list, with a record 123 yellow cards over his Premier League career. Other notable names like Lee Cattermole and Wayne Rooney also picked up over 100 yellow cards each during their time in the league. Surprisingly, even attacking players like Rooney feature among the top offenders; a list typically dominated by midfielders and defenders. This makes sense, as those positions are more involved in breaking up play, intercepting passes, and making risky tackles.
Below, we’ve presented a table of the players with the most yellow cards in Premier League history:
English
10 Yellow Cards
Serbia
10 Yellow Cards
Brazil
9 Yellow Cards
|
Rank |
Name |
Nationality |
Number of yellow cards |
|---|
It is almost impossible to have a full 90-minute match without the referee calling for a foul at some point in the game. Players from all positions and skill levels have committed fouls throughout the history of the game. In the Premier League, the record for the most fouls committed by a player in a single season is held by Kevin Davies. The midfielder/forward committed 120 fouls during the 2009–10 season, while playing for Bolton Wanderers. He surpassed this in the 2010–11 season with 121 fouls, setting a record. It becomes more evident as the game evolves, that football’s most numerous fouls are committed by midfielders and forwards. This season in the Premier League season, Liam Delap, Antoine Semenyo, and Moisés Caicedo top the table of the faultiest players. We have ranked them in the table below:
English
60 Fouls
Ghana
59 Fouls
Ecuador
57 Fouls
|
Rank |
Name |
Nationality |
Number of fouls |
|---|
While all players are different, football is ultimately a team
game. Consequently, it is important to establish which teams
have the most collective red cards in the history of the league.
Arsenal are the team at the joint top of the list, despite having years of criticism for a lack of grit and fight under Arsene Wenger they have amassed 109 sendings off. But with the likes of Patrick Vieira, Martin Keown and Tony Adams having long spells at the north London club it is perhaps unsurprising that they rank so highly.
The other team with 109 red cards is Everton. Top 3 is fulfilled with Newcastle United who has 94 red cards, but strangely the team doesn’t have a player in the ranking of Top 10 Players with the Most Red Cards.
109 Red Cards
109 Red Cards
94 Red Cards
|
Rank |
Club |
Number of red cards |
|---|
When it comes to yellow cards it is clear that longevity plays a major role in the placement on this list, as the top five are all clubs that have never been relegated since the formation of the Premier League in 1992, moreover, every team with over 1,000 bookings has spent at least 15 seasons in the league.
Chelsea comes in at the top of the rankings as they have amassed 2,061 yellows, the highest-ranked individual for bookings who played for Chelsea is Moises Caicedo, who is on the 4th place.
Everton come in second with 1,996 bookings and unlike Chelsea, they do have ex-players high up the individual rankings, as ex-Toffees Gareth Barry and Wayne Rooney sit first and second.
Just behind them on 1,921 yellows come Tottenham Hotspur, and two more long-established clubs Arsenal and Manchester United finish off the top five.
2061 Yellow Cards
1996 Yellow Cards
1921 Yellow Cards
|
Rank |
Club |
Number of yellow cards |
|---|
The information on the number of red cards, yellow cards and fouls for the clubs and players was all sourced directly from the official Premier League website which encompasses data from the inception of the league in 1992/93 up until the end of March 2025:
Individual red cards – https://www.premierleague.com/stats/top/players/red_card
Individual yellow cards – https://www.premierleague.com/stats/top/players/yellow_card
Individual fouls – https://www.premierleague.com/stats/top/players/fouls
Team red cards – https://www.premierleague.com/stats/top/clubs/total_red_card?se=-1
Team yellow cards – https://www.premierleague.com/stats/top/clubs/total_yel_card?se=-1
