9 Dirtiest Teams in Premier League History (Ranked)

Football is a sport centered on the idea of beauty and intricacy, with the best on offer often incorporating both aspects in what tend to be breathtaking performances. This, of course, is not all that football is made up of. On the other side of things, gamesmanship plays a huge part in the sport, with discipline being a major factor for every team within the game.

There have been teams in days past that have come to be known for being “dirty” over much else, like Don Revie’s infamous Leeds United team of the 1960s and early 1970s. More often than not, there is at least one player in every footballing side that takes the brunt of doing the dirty work for the benefit of their teammates.

We have already looked at the dirtiest teams to have played football throughout history, but with a particular focus on the English top flight, which Premier League teams have had the poorest fair play records?

Ranking Factors

Teams on this list have been ranked by first looking at which team in each Premier League season has had the worst disciplinary record, before narrowing down that 30-plus number to the nine teams with the highest number of cautions in a campaign.

9 Blackburn Rovers

2006/07 season

Under the guidance of Welsh manager Mark Hughes, Blackburn enjoyed a period of success in the mid-2000s. Hughes helped guide Rovers to a sixth-placed finish in 2006. The following season, 2006/07, was less impressive in terms of where Blackburn were in the table, placing 10th, though the club reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup and qualified for the Intertoto Cup.

Amidst this, though, came a relatively poor record of discipline. Midfielder Tugay Kerimoglu and centre-back pairing Andy Todd and Stephane Henchoz were all shown one red card across the campaign.

Not only that, but Benni McCarthy, Robbie Savage, Lucas Neill, Aaron Mokoena and Zurab Khizanishvilli all contributed to Blackburn’s poor fair play record for that season, their individual cautions ranging from six to eight each. David Bentley, Morten Gamst Pedersen and Brett Emerton also chipped in with 15 yellow cards split evenly between the trio.

8 Sunderland

2014/15 season

Until the 2020s, Sunderland’s eye-watering tally of 95 yellow cards in a single season was a Premier League record, and it was that which heavily contributed towards their poor discipline, for only two players were shown the colour red. Defensive midfielder Liam Bridcutt was booked twice and dismissed, while experienced defender Wes Brown was the only Black Cat to be given direct marching orders.

For such a tally of cautions, however, Sunderland could not be ignored. Lee Cattermole and Seb Larsson got 14 and 11 yellows respectively, while Connor Wickham, Jordi Gomez, Billy Jones, Santiago Vergini, Bridcutt and Jack Rodwell were all shown five or more across the campaign that saw Sunderland avoid relegation by the skin of their teeth, placing 16th.

7 Derby County

1999/2000 season

Derby County entered the new millennium in poor form, a stark contrast to their two prior seasons that had seen the club secure top 10 finishes and become a genuine contender for European football. Derby were right to stick with manager Jim Smith, who had orchestrated those impressive league positions, as he successfully kept County in the Premier League, though only by five points.

Throughout the campaign, the Rams accumulated 87 yellow cards, with both Horacio Carbonari and Seth Johnson racking up 10 or more cautions each. German centre-back Stefan Schnoor was dismissed for two bookable offences in two separate games and elsewhere within the team, attacker Esteban Fuertes and Rory Delap, who would become infamous for his incredible throw-ins, were the only players to be shown a straight red card.

6 Chelsea

2023/24 season

Although Leeds United were the first team to receive 100 yellow cards in a single Premier League season, their record would not stand for long. Just two years later, across the 2023/24 campaign, Chelsea beat that number by one, their 101 yellow cards now being the most given to a team in a term.

It was an interesting season for the Blues. Mauricio Pochettino’s sole year in charge saw the Argentine struggle to find his strongest 11 for many months, given how many players now bolster Chelsea’s ranks.

Despite so many cautions, there was a relatively low number of out and out dismissals for Chelsea. Conor Gallagher and Reece James were both sent off for accumulating two yellow cards in a game, but only James and fellow right-back Malo Gusto were shown straight red cards across the season.

Regardless, for Chelsea to have garnered so many yellow cards, a record number no less, meant their place on this list was hardly something that could be argued against.

5 Arsenal

2019/20 season

The 2019/20 season, known worldwide for being the campaign that was suspended by a global pandemic, was also one of significance for Arsenal fans in particular, as it was their first year with Mikel Arteta as manager. The Spaniard won an FA Cup in his debut term as a boss, but successes were far more mixed in the league.

Still in something of a limbo post-Arsene Wenger, Arsenal finished 8th in the Premier League, missing out on European football and finishing just two points ahead of newly-promoted side Sheffield United.

Not only was their league position a disappointment, at least when held in comparison to Arsenal’s own standards, but their discipline was scarcely an aspect of the team to be praised. With 85 yellow cards being shown to the team, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, now of Lyon, was the only player to be dismissed for two yellows in a game.

Elsewhere, however, Arsenal received four straight red cards, with one for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Eddie Nketiah each, as veteran defender David Luiz, best known for his time with London rivals Chelsea, picked up two dismissals in the same season.

4 Blackburn Rovers

1998/99 season

The 90s were a decade of many emotions for Blackburn Rovers fans. Earning promotion to the Premier League in 1992 under the ownership of Jack Walker and the management of Sir Kenny Dalglish, Blackburn went on to win the league just three years after their promotion. Four years after such a feat, Rovers would finish the 1998/99 season in 19th place, six points from safety, being demoted to the Championship so soon after a monumental league title win.

On their way to relegation, Blackburn made a name for themselves with their discipline, or rather, lack thereof. The Lancashire side accumulated 75 cautions across the campaign with eight separate dismissals.

Jason Wilcox, Martin Dahlin and Marlon Broomes were each shown a straight red card at one point in the season, while experienced central midfielder Tim Sherwood received two separate red cards, despite only making 19 appearances in the league. Chris Sutton, Keith Gillespie and Sebastien Perez would also see themselves sent off once each, with all three being shown their marching orders for picking up two yellow cards in a game.

3 Wolverhampton Wanderers

2022/23 season

Ahead of the 2022/23 season, Wolves were plunged into uncertainty after Julen Lopetegui resigned from his post after disputes with the club board. Gary O’Neil was appointed as his successor, with his Wolves team going on to perform much better than many felt they would, ultimately finishing the season in 13th place.

In doing so, however, the Molineux side encountered numerous disciplinary issues throughout the campaign, picking up 82 yellow cards. Leeds United received the same number of yellows as Wolves, but the Midlands team had six different players dismissed across the term.

Five of those instances, the sending offs of Nelson Semedo, Nathan Collins, Matheus Nunes, Johnny Otto and Diego Costa, were straight red cards, while Mario Lemina, on one occasion, was dismissed for accumulating two yellows in a game.

2 Sunderland

2009/10 season

Sunderland had earned promotion back to the top flight in the 2007/08 campaign, securing their status as a Premier League side in the term prior to that of 2009/10, which was Steve Bruce’s first campaign as manager of the club, the manager being bolstered by then-club record signing Darren Bent, who had joined from Tottenham Hotspur.

The Black Cats went on to finish the season in 13th, but were 14 points clear of the relegation zone, though this was not without disciplinary problems. Alongside 74 yellow cards, Sunderland players were shown a red on nine separate occasions, five of those instances being straight sending offs.

Striker Kenwyne Jones, midfielders David Meyler and Lorik Cana and defensive duo Alan Hutton and Michael Turner were all each shown straight red cards throughout the term, contributing to one of the Premier League’s poorest-ever sides with regards to fair play.

1 Leeds United

2021/22 season

In a campaign that saw the sacking of club icon Marcelo Bielsa and a battle with relegation that ran until the final day of the season, Leeds United also became the first Premier League team in history to receive 100 yellow cards in a single season.

Leeds are no longer the only team to have garnered such a stat, with Chelsea’s yellow card tally in the 2023/24 season being one higher. To put Leeds’ number into context, however, Newcastle United had 79 yellows throughout the term, the second-highest figure for any team within the Premier League.

On top of so many cautions, Leeds were not immune from having a red card brandished at one of their players. In fact, it happened on three separate occasions, with Dan James, Pascal Struijk and Luke Ayling all receiving their marching orders once each across what was ultimately Leeds’ final season before relegation.

(All stats are taken from Transfermarkt and are correct as of 23/10/2024)