Some readers love stats, some really can't see the point in them. If you're one of the latter type, best skip this page and go and do something more useful instead ..... your homework for instance.

This section of the book contains lots of tables and boxes, but it's really tricky to transfer them onto the website and I couldn't be bothered with all the hassle, so you'll have to make do with some facts. Don't like it? Don't care! It's my website and I'll do what I want. Yes, maybe that is childish, but what can you do?

Here are just a few samples of what you can find in our treasure chest of information:

K It's interesting that despite Rafa’s complaints, Liverpool got more pens than Man U. Chelsea only got two pens - anything to do with refs being a bit suspicious of big strikers going down a little too easily? None of the ‘big four’ missed a pen, Bolton didn’t get a single penalty at the Reebok all season, Newcastle’s dodgy defence was the most likely to give away a pen and Stoke, blasted by so many people for their rugged tough-tackling approach, got twice as many as they conceded. Likewise Blackburn, top of the list for yellow cards, were also top of the list for penalties awarded. Odd, eh?
Even odder is a comparison with the top divisions in other countries:                      England        Spain         Italy        Germany
                                                                                                                     Pens:         83                29              23               32

Isn’t it weird that almost as many penalties were awarded in the EPL than in the three other big leagues put together? And yet we tend to consider our game as being more physical, with refs who are reluctant to give pens when players hit the deck too easily. I haven’t got the stats to prove this, but I’m willing to bet my house on the suggestion that pens for dodgy handballs are much more common in this country than over on the continent.

K To emphasise the difference in approach between referees, Mike Dean at the top dished out 7 or more cards in a game on five occasions, whereas Mark Halsey down at the bottom never gave more than 4 in a game, and only in five matches did he book more than one player from a team! He awarded a card for every 13.5 fouls, compared with 5.8 fouls for every card waved by Rob Styles. I’m not saying that any of them is a bad ref, but with their stats so far apart it’s no wonder that players and managers complain about inconsistency.

K The 3 youngest goalscorers of the season were all Man U players: Macheda (17 years 226 days), Welbeck (17/355) and Rafael (18/122).

K Two 16-year-olds took the field during the season: Everton’s Jose Baxter (16/191) and Arsenal’s Jack Wilshere (16/256).

K Hull, though I’m not suggesting for a minute that they’re a dirty side, committed more fouls than any other club, 566 - that’s 15 a game, or one every 6 minutes. Of course they might vary their tactics and go half an hour or more without fouling anyone, then have a mad five minutes where they kick everything in sight.

K The smallest crowd of the season was 14,169 on a Wednesday night at Wigan (March 4th). They lost 1-0 to West Ham - because of a lack of support? The highest crowd was 75,569 at Old Trafford for Man U’s match against Liverpool* on March 14th. They lost 4-1 - too much support?

K Rory ‘The Rocket’ Delap made a grand total of 267 long throws, that’s a cool 189 more than anybody else. Interesting fact: from June to August he takes his arms off and puts them in a temperature-controlled cupboard to recover.

*  As of July 1st 2009, 276,000 Liverpool fans claim to have been in the crowd at Old Trafford that day. This total is still rising, and is estimated to reach the half-million mark at 10:37 on Jan 12th 2010.