Incredible Premier League records that will never be beaten | OneFootball

We've seen some incredible things in the history of the Premier League. England's top-flight, which was established more than 30 years ago, has established itself as the greatest domestic league in the world. We've seen the very best players, the very best managers and some unbelievable moments. Manchester United dominated for the early years, while Arsenal, Chelsea and now Manchester City have all had their eras. We've also seen 5000/1 shots, Leicester City, produce one of the greatest stories in the history of sport by winning the league.

But it's not all about winning the league. History can be made in all shapes and sizes - good and bad. You can enter the record books for almost anything these days and there are plenty of record breakers in Premier League history. But we wanted to identify 19 Premier League records that we're convinced will never be beaten. Let's take a look:

1. Fewest games for a player to score three hat-tricks

(8 - Erling Haaland - 2022/23)

We'll start with the most recent of the records. Erling Haaland arrived in England in the summer of 2022 and just couldn't stop scoring. His first hat-trick came against Crystal Palace on matchday four as he helped Man City come from 2-0 down at half time to win 4-2. He grabbed another treble against Nottingham Forest just a few days later. Solitary goals against Aston Villa and Wolves were followed up with another three goals against Man United. It meant he scored three hat-tricks in just eight matches. The previous fastest player to score three hat-tricks was Michael Owen with the record standing at 48 matches!

2. Most consecutive games undefeated

(49 games – Arsenal – 7 May 2003 to 24 October 2004)

Only Arsenal have gone an entire Premier League season unbeaten. We wouldn't be too surprised if Man City repeated that feat. But a whole 49 games unbeaten is outrageous. Don't remind Arsenal fans how it ended though...

3. Most consecutive games played

(310 – Brad Friedel – 14 August 2004 to 29 September 2012)

With large squads and rotation in the modern game, it's simply impossible for an outfield player to play 310 consecutive matches. To put this record into context, it took Friedel eight full seasons across spells with Blackburn Rovers, Aston Villa and Tottenham Hotspur to rack up 310 consecutive games. Incredible. The most consecutive games played by an outfield player is Frank Lampard with the record standing at 164 appearances.

4. Fewest points in a season

(11 points – Derby County in 2007/08)

Derby must pray every season that a Premier League side gets fewer than 11 points. But will it ever be 'beaten?' Derby won just once all season during the 07/08 campaign. If you're wondering, Sunderland have the second lowest points tally ever with 15 in 2005/06.

5. Most defeats in a row

(20 - Sunderland - 2003 to 2005)

Speaking of which... Derby picked up a few draws during their awful campaign but Sunderland went on a quite terrible run in the Premier League. It spanned over a number of seasons as they lost the last 15 matches in the 2002/03 season. When they returned to the Premier League in 2005, they lost their opening five games en route to picking up just 15 points.

6. Oldest player

(John Burridge – 43 years and 162 days for Manchester City vs QPR, 14 May 1995)

Obviously, Burridge was a goalkeeper and set a record that is unlikely to ever be beaten. Teddy Sheringham holds the record of the oldest outfield player at 40 years and 272 days for West Ham vs Manchester City in December 2006.

7. Smallest title-winning margin

(0 points, 8 goal difference from Manchester City in 2011/12)

"AGUUUERRRROOOOOO." Not only was it the most dramatic goal in Premier League history but it created the smallest title-winning margin ever as Manchester United agonisingly missed out. It's the only time the Premier League has been won on goal difference.

8. Fastest goal

(7.69 seconds – Shane Long for Southampton vs Watford, 23 April 2019)

It seems impossible that a goal could be scored quicker than seven seconds in the Premier League. It's even more remarkable when you consider Southampton didn't even take kick-off. Perhaps the only way it will be beaten is if a player shoots and scores from kick-off.

9. Fewest points in a season while winning the league

(75 points – Man Utd in 1996/97)

With Manchester City and Liverpool getting close to 100 points every season in recent years, the thought of winning the league with 75 points seems ridiculous. During the 2017/18 season in which Man City reached a century of points, 75 points was the tally fourth-placed Liverpool finished with. A season prior, it wouldn't have even been enough to finish in the top four!

10. Longest unbeaten record at home

(86 games – Chelsea – 20 March 2004 to 5 October 2008)

86 games unbeaten at home!? Now that is a fortress. It was until Liverpool went there and won. It felt as though Liverpool themselves were closing in on that record a few seasons ago but they still fell 17 matches short!

11. Lowest (non-Covid) attendance

(3,039 - Wimbledon vs Everton - January 26, 1993)

With Premier League stadiums only expanding and attracting more and more supporters, you feel this record will remain for the rest of time. Of course, we saw reduced capacities during the global pandemic but just over 3,000 at a Premier League game? Wow. To be fair, Selhurst Park wasn't really Wimbledon's home and it was a cold Tuesday night. Everton brought 1,500 supporters by the way.

12. Fastest hat-trick

(2 minutes, 56 seconds – Sadio Mane for Southampton vs Aston Villa, 16 May 2015)

Haaland might be the hat-trick king but he will never beat Mane's record of scoring one in less than three minutes. Nobody will surely come close. Then again, we thought that when Robbie Fowler scored a hat-trick for Liverpool against Arsenal in just four minutes and 32 seconds in 1994 aged just 19.

13. Longest run without conceding a goal

(1,113 minutes - Edwin van der Sar for Manchester United, November 15, 2008 to February 18, 2009)

During the 2008/09 season, Van der Sar kept 14 clean sheets in a row! The man that ended the run? Blackburn’s Roque Santa Cruz, of course.

14. Most consecutive seasons scored in

(21 – Ryan Giggs – 1992/93 to 2012/13)

Just playing in 21 consecutive Premier League seasons is a mad stat. In fact, Giggs actually scored in 23 consecutive top-flight campaigns but the first two came pre-Premier League era.

15. Most goals by a player in one half

(5 – Jermain Defoe for Tottenham Hotspur vs Wigan Athletic, 22 November 2009)

This is another record that now looks a bit more precarious following the arrival of Haaland. Only five players have scored five goals in a single game but Defoe managed that in a single 45 minutes. Spurs won the match 9-1.

16. Longest spell as manager

(21 years, 224 days – Arsene Wenger – Arsenal – 1 October 1996 to 13 May 2018)

Jurgen Klopp is currently the longest-serving manager in the Premier League having been at Liverpool for eight years. That just about sums up the difficulty of reaching 21 years as Wenger did at Arsenal. Wenger beats Sir Alex Ferguson given the fact we're talking about Premier League records.

17. Most consecutive games scoring against the same team

(9 - Sadio Mane for Liverpool vs Crystal Palace)

No, not Luis Saurez vs Norwich but actually Mane vs Crystal Palace. Suarez did score in five consecutive games against Norwich, scoring a ridiculous 12 goals in that time. But Mane actually scored in nine consecutive matches for Liverpool against Crystal Palace. The run started back in the 2017/18 season and continued until his final game against the Eagles last season. He missed the opportunity to make it 10 consecutive games as he was away at the African Cup of Nations.

18. Fewest goals conceded in a season

(15 – Chelsea – 2004/05)

With Petr Cech, John Terry, Ricardo Carvalho, William Gallas and Paulo Ferreira, Jose Mourinho's Chelsea were impregnable. They conceded an average of 0.37 goals per game! Surely that's not happening again with all the attacking talent on show in the Premier League these days.

19. Fastest goal by a substitute

(6 seconds – Nicklas Bendtner for Arsenal vs Tottenham Hotspur, 22 December 2007)

Who better to finish on than Lord Nicklas Bendtner? He was sent on in the north London derby and immediately found the back of the net from a corner. What a hero.