This weekend kicks off the English Premier League for the 26th time.
Since it’s inauguration from the old First Division in 1992 there have been 47 different clubs compete in over 9,500 games scoring 25,769 goals so it’s no surprise that over the years the Premier League has been bursting with Guinness World Records titles.
Here below, our Sport Records Manager Adam Brown examines the season ahead and breaks down which Guinness World Records titles are likely to be conquered over the next nine months.
The first record on our radar is one held by Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs, having scored in the first 21 Premier League seasons, a record in its own right, it’s no surprise he holds the Guinness World Records title for the Most appearances in the English football (soccer) Premier League with 632.
However, he is closely followed by Everton’s Gareth Barry with 628 appearances, who now looks likely to succeed this record and add to his other Guinness World Records titles for Most starts for a Premier League football (soccer) player, and the less desirable Most English Football Premier League yellow cards.
Early stages of a season can shape the remainder of a campaign, this was seen in Chelsea’s 2005-06 campaign which saw the Blues claim the Guinness World Records title for the Most wins at the start of the football (soccer) Premier League season.
With seven consecutive victories kicking off their season it paved the way for the west London club to win the league for the fifth time. With many of the top teams set to face one another in their opening six fixtures can anyone tackle Chelsea’s record?
Following first winning the league in the 2005-06 season, Chelsea have become no strangers to achieving the amazing and still hold the Guinness World Records title for the Most goals scored in a Premier League season (team) with 103 goals during the 2009-10 campaign.
However, after holding the title for seven seasons could this be the year that their impressive feat is beaten?
With many teams adding to their goal scoring firepower during the transfer window, could new striker signings for Manchester United (Romelu Lukaku), Arsenal (Alexandre Lacazette) or even Everton (Wayne Rooney) see Chelsea’s long-standing achievement finally bettered?
During the summer break managerial movements have also been monitored closely here at the GWR headquarters and with the news of Arsène Wenger extending his contract with Arsenal he looks likely to tie Sir Alex Ferguson’s Guinness World Records title for the Longest-serving English Football Premier League manager which currently stands at 21 seasons.
Keen Gunner’s fans will note that Wenger missed the beginning of the 1996/97 season, having been appointed on 22 September 1996.
This means the Frenchman’s incomplete debut season does not count towards his final total and that by finishing the 2017/18 campaign, he will have therefore completed 21 full Premier League seasons.
The 2017/18 English Premier League season looks to be one of the most competitive yet with the gap between teams from top to bottom shrinking and more teams than ever before having a realistic chance of winning one of football’s most coveted titles, here’s hoping we see some new world records set along the way.
