Liverpool’s record breaking start to the season has seen Jurgen Klopp’s league leaders move within touching distance of an elusive Premier League title, though the Reds’ defeat at Watford last month ended their hopes of setting a pair of divisional landmarks.
The club’s loss at Vicarage Road saw them fall one short of setting a new record of 19 consecutive Premier League wins, whilst Arsenal also blew a sigh of relief as Watford ensured their 49-game unbeaten top flight run remains the longest in history – Liverpool’s defeat their first in 44 games.
Those records are just two of a host of Premier League feats unlikely to ever be matched, and we’ve decided to look at some of the most incredible landmarks in the competition’s history.
Here are five Premier League records that will simply never be broken:
Longest spell as manager
Arsene Wenger – Arsenal (21 years, 224 days)
The longest dynasty in the history of the Premier League belonged to Arsene Wenger and his reign in north London, spending more than two decades in charge of the Gunners before his departure in 2018.
The Frenchman arrived as a relative unknown from Japanese football in the mid-nineties, transforming the club’s fortunes and winning two domestic doubles, in addition to completing a famed unbeaten season during the 2003/04 campaign.
Those triumphs proved the highlight of his time in English football as financial restrictions limited his ability to compete following the club’s move to the Emirates Stadium, but a hat-trick of FA Cup successes in his latter years ensured more silverware arrived.
Wenger’s long reign finally came to an end in 2018 as a new era was ushered in at Arsenal, his departure the end of an era and seeing the curtain close on the Premier League’s longest managerial spell – his 21 years and 224 days eclipsing Manchester United great Sir Alex Ferguson.
The ever increasing finances and pressure to succeed in the top flight means managerial patience is at a premium in the modern era, the demand for instant success meaning Wenger’s legacy is likely to stand the test of time.
Fewest points in a season
Derby County – 11 points (2007/08)
Derby County were simply hopeless during a dismal 2007/08 campaign, a season of struggle unlikely to ever be repeated.
To put the club’s record-breaking season into context, their haul of just 11 points is roughly half the tally currently owned by bottom club Norwich City – whilst the Canaries still have another nine games to move away from danger.
A November change of manager did little to change the Rams’ fortunes as they were horribly exposed at the top level following promotion, winning just once all season with top scorer Kenny Miller finishing on just four league goals.
No team in the history of the Football League has ever registered less points in the era of three points for a win, Derby the holders of an unwanted record unlikely to ever be broken.
Fastest hat-trick
Sadio Mane – 2 minutes, 56 seconds (Southampton v Aston Villa – 2015)
Mane wrote his name into the record books towards the end of his debut season in English football at Southampton, netting the division’s fastest ever treble as the Saints thrashed Aston Villa at St Mary’s.
The Senegalese star took less than three minutes to claim the match ball, scoring three times in the space of 2 minutes and 56 seconds to leave the Villa defence shellshocked on the South Coast.
Mane’s quick-fire treble saw him eclipse Robbie Fowler’s previous record of 4 minutes and 33 seconds, the former Liverpool forward’s landmark having stood for more than 20 years.
No player is yet to score a Premier League hat-trick faster than the now Liverpool star, and we’re doubtful if anyone ever will.
Oldest player
John Burridge – 43 years and 162 days
Manchester City may have set a host of new records in recent seasons under Pep Guardiola, but one record the club held before their modern success is for the oldest player in Premier League history.
English football’s top flight has seen several players play past their 40th birthdays, however, the league’s greatest golden oldie is former City goalkeeper John Burridge.
The veteran’s appearance against QPR during the 1994/95 season set a new record for the Premier League’s oldest ever player, Burridge aged 43 years and 162 days when keeping goal for the Manchester side.
Football’s unashamedly youth-obsessed approach means ageing stalwarts are often cast aside, Burridge’s defiance of Father Time a rarity in a sport often described as a young man’s game.
Lowest attendance
3,039 – Wimbledon v Everton (1993)
While there is a possibility that games could be played in empty stadia due to the Covid-19 crisis, the Premier League’s status as a sporting behemoth makes this record perhaps the most unlikely to ever be broken – if fans are allowed to attend games – Wimbledon’s clash with Everton in January 1993 watched by just 3,039 supporters at Selhurst Park.
Wimbledon’s meteoric rise to the top tier of English football and the need for all-seater stadia provided an unusual situation, the club without a suitable home ground and forced to play fixtures at Crystal Palace’s Selhurst Park – a situation which lasted a decade.
Modern-day stadium requirements and the demand for top-flight tickets means Wimbledon’s record-low is unlikely to be ‘bettered’, the figure of 3,039 less than the average home-gate at 17 of the 24 teams currently in League Two.
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