An independent statistician using data to understand our world and to predict the future
Arsenal won their 1st league title for 22 years, Man City won their second ever cup double and Crystal Palace followed up their maiden trophy last year with the Conference League this season. My club Newcastle Utd ran out of steam in the 2025/26 season but they will be adding their name again next season in my roll of honour!
[Read more…] about Trophy Winners #1 – England Men’s Club Football 1889 to 2026
After 9 league titles in a row, Chelsea were finally knocked off their perch in 2025/26 by Man City who won their 2nd ever WSL title. Man City then went on to complete their first ever League & FA Cup double in English women’s football. Chelsea could console themselves by retaining the League Cup.
If you are new to the women’s game in England (especially following the Lionesses winning the European Championship in 2022), why not download my spreadsheet listing all trophy winners since 1992 to find out which teams are the GOATs of English women’s football?
[Read more…] about Trophy Winners #2 – England Women’s Club Football 1992 to 2026
Mark Selby has become only the 4th player in Snooker history to win 10 Triple Crowns after prevailing over Judd Trump in the 2025 UK Championship. Only Ronnie O’Sullivan (23), Stephen Hendry (18) & Steve Davis (15) have won more Triple Crown tournaments. Mark’s GOAThood is already confirmed as I wrote about last year but is he as dominant as the other GOATs (Greatest Of All Time)?
[Read more…] about Trophy Winners #4 – The GOATs in World Snooker (Mens) – 1969 to 2025
South Africa have won back to back Rugby Championships for the first time ever. That marks the last trophy to be won in the 2025 calendar year for men’s rugby worldwide and coincides with the start of the 2025/26 season in Europe. This makes it a propitious time to update my list of all trophy winners in men’s rugby worldwide since 1984,
[Read more…] about Trophy Winners #3 – Rugby Union (Men) 1984 to 2025
Judd Trump has won the 2024 UK Championship which is the 5th Triple Crown title of his career. Does that make him a GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) in men’s Snooker? Using the criteria I recommend in this article, Trump will become a GOAT if he wins another World Championship.
[Read more…] about Trophy Winners #4 – The GOATs of World Snooker (Mens) – 1969 to 2024
Sir Donald Bradman is the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) of sporting GOATs. All cricket lovers accept the great Australian is the greatest batsman of all time but how many are aware he was 9 standard deviations better than the next best 166 batsmen of all time? I can’t think any other sports person who comes close to this standard which is why I say this 9 Sigma GOAT is the greatest sports person of all time.
[Read more…] about Cricket #1 – Sir Donald Bradman, the 9 Sigma GOAT
Manchester City have won the Champions League at long last after beating Inter Milan 1-0 in Istanbul. They become the 6th English club to reach the summit of the European club landscape and it their 17th trophy in 13 years. Does that mean we can now call Man City a Dynasty comparable to the two undisputed dynasties of Liverpool in the 70s & 80s and Manchester United in the 90s & 00s? I am sure Man City fans will say yes but I say not yet.
[Read more…] about Sporting GOATs #2 – Are Man City now a Dynasty?
My team Newcastle United are also known as the Magpies but how much of a GOAT are they? In recent years, this acronym has become popular as a shorthand for Greatest Of All Time. Given that the Magpies have not won a trophy in the 40+ years that I have supported them, I know they are not the number 1 GOAT in English football but where would they sit in a GOAT table?
Ranking tables are extremely common in sport and sport analytics as they are easily understood by fans. If I want to compile a ranking of all English football clubs, there are two decisions I have to make:
In this post I will use 3 eras and 3 metrics to creating 9 GOAT tables in all. Read on to find out which club is #1 GOAT! [Read more…] about Sporting GOATs #1 – English football clubs
