Own goals are funny accidents that happen in the beautiful game, it’s a situation where a player advertently turns the ball into his own net.
A wrong leg at the wrong time or a miscalculated clearance can be the birth of any defender’s misery. Over the years we’ve seen footballers with their heads in their hands and in utter disbelief at what just happened.
Without a doubt, there is nothing more embarrassing than scoring own goals. When a player unwittingly scores on himself, he would’ve made the match pretty unfortunate for the team and would be left to face the ignominy that follows. Perhaps, he may be wishing that the ground opens and swallow him up,
There have been instances where the most experienced and best of defenders make such errors on numerous occasions.
Here, we will be looking at 10 Premier League players who have scored the most own goals
- Scott Dann – Crystal Palace (5 Own Goals)
The 34-year-old English center back joined the Eagles way back in 2014 and has scored 13 league goals, 2 FA Cup goals, and 1 league cup goal. His own goal tally stands at 5 and could still be increased before he calls time on his career.
Of Dann’s 5 own goals, none has come at Crystal Palace. He scored 3 for Blackburn Rovers, and 2 for Birmingham City.
- Henning Berg – Blackburn Rovers (5 Own Goals)
Formerly a Manchester United defender, Berg played mostly for The Riversiders as a Premier League Player. The Norwegian right back in his days recorded 5 own-goals for the Rovers and has delved into coaching after he retired.
Berg has managed at several club sides namely Blackburn Rovers, Legia Warsaw, Videoton, and Lyn to mention a few. The Premier League winner scored 3 own goals for Blackburn and 2 for Manchester United.
- Frank Sinclair – Chelsea (6 Own Goals)
Sinclair became a popular figure in the Premier League with Chelsea between 1990 and 1998 due to the number of own goals he scored: making him one of the top 10 players with most own-goals in the Premier League.
The former Jamaican international however didn’t play for the Welsh club and Chelsea alone, Sinclair played for a host of other clubs namely Leicester City, West Bromwich Albion, and Huddersfield Town.
Frank Sinclair scored 3 own goals for Leicester and 3 for Chelsea, a noteworthy player who gives both clubs a fair share of his error side.
- Ryan Shawcross – Stoke City (6 Own Goals)
History will remember Shawcross as one of the resolute and tough defenders in the Premier League. Shawcross, 33, started his career with Manchester United but couldn’t break into Alex Fergusson’s first team.
Having spent a couple of months on loan at Royal Antwerp in Belgium, Shawcross landed at Stoke City as a loanee yet again. His impressive performance propelled Stoke City’s promotion to the Premier League, ending a 23 years wait, and subsequently became the club captain.
Despite been a tough defender, the Englishman scored 6 own goals for The Potters.
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- Phil Jagielka – Everton (6 Own Goals)
Jagielka dedicated his time and life playing professional football for two clubs (Sheffield United and Everton) – a thing that is very rare these days.
He’s one of the five players that have scored six Premier league own-goals, doing so in 5 times with The Toffees and once with Sheffield.
The Sheffield and Everton legend holds an incredible record. Jagielka has a few thunderous 30-yard screamers under his belt, as well as amassing an impressive 40 international caps.
- Johnny Evans – Leicester (6 Own Goals)
Evans is another former Manchester United player on our list. The Irish defender was at Old Trafford for fifteen years and played Premier League football for more than two decades.
Now 33, Evans scored in his own net six times, with 3 of them coming at Manchester United, 1 at West Bromwich Albion, and 1 at Leicester City.
- Wes Brown – Blackburn Rovers (6 Own Goals)
Like Evans, Brown played for long years in the Premier League. He had stints with Blackburn Rovers, Manchester United, and Sunderland. He was a defender to be reckoned with especially in the early 2000s.
Wes Brown scored 3 premier league own goals at United and 3 with Sunderland. But his own goal record would easily be mitigated by the fact that he won 5 Premier League titles, 2 FA Cups, and 2 UEFA Champions League titles at Old Trafford.
Basically, he won all that was there to win with The Red Devils before he left for Sunderland in 2011.
- Martin Škrtel – Liverpool (7 Own Goals)
Also with 7 own goals is another Liverpool legend, Martin Škrtel. Matching his former center-back partner, Jamie Carragher.
Carragher averaged an own goal once in every 72.6 games while Škrtel averaged an own goal once in every 34.6 games.
However, Škrtel currently holds the ignominious record for the highest total of own goals scored by a single player in a Premier League season with 4 own goals (in the 2013-14 campaign where Liverpool finished behind champions Manchester City).
After a 9 years campaign with The Reds scoring 16 goals and recording 79 clean sheets, Škrtel now plies his trade with Turkish giants, Istanbul Başakşehir.
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- Jamie Carragher – Liverpool (7 Own Goals)
One club man in every sense, Carragher made more than 500 appearances for The Kop where he won everything but a League title and scored 3 times in the right net and 7 in the wrong one. (netting 2 of his 7 own goals against bitter rivals, Manchester United in 1999)
Despite that, Carra is a trademark of loyalty for The Reds because he currently holds the second spot for the second-highest appearances for Liverpool in all competitions (737).
These days, Jamie Carragher sits on SkySports as a pundit having played in the Premier League for more than 17 years.
- Richard Dunne – Manchester City (10 Own Goals)
When you think of the greatest goalscorers in the Premier League, you think of Thierry Henry, Alan Shearer, Wayne Rooney, Sergio Aguero, Harry Kane, and Didier Drogba. But the real MVP is Richard Dunne, who on his bad days feels the passion to sink the ball into his own net.
The former Irish international is the highest own goal scorer and the only player to hit double figures of own goals in the Premier League. Dunne scored 6 own goals for the Cityzens, 3 for Newcastle, and 1 for Queens Park Rangers.
In his sojourn in the Premier league, Dunne scored 11 goals in over 430 matches and kept 107 clean sheets.
Did you know? Dunne also holds the record of the most sending-offs in the Premier League alongside Arsenal legend, Patrick Vieira and Duncan Ferguson.
Honorable Mentions:
- Michael Duberry – Oxford United: 5
Lewis Dunk- Brighton and Hove Albion: 5
Rio Ferdinand- England: 5
Federico Fernández- Newcastle United: 5
Zat Knight-Reading: 5
Gareth McAuley-Rangers: 5
Phil Neville- Everton: 5
John O’Shea-Reading: 5
Neil Ruddock: 5
Richard Rufus: 5
