“Shooooooot!” It’s the shout we all hear when any player has the ball on the edge of the box. It also creates a great debate. You have fans who ‘wished they’d hit it more’, and fans who want the ball ‘passed into the goal’.
Differing styles in football create different opinions. It is what makes football great, but which teams do adhere to that instruction bellowed by those in the stand, and how often does it work? Below is what the League One Table would look like if only outside-of-the-box goals were considered, with positions decided on goal difference, and then goals scored (All stats provided from Wyscout.)
The Promotion Race
At one point early on this season, Oxford United did look like they could be in a title fight. Although they may have dropped out of that now, their fans can take solace in the fact that they are runaway leaders of the ‘long-shot league’, with 13 scored and only three conceded. Behind them, there is a close battle for the second automatic promotion spot, with Barnsley just beating Bristol Rovers on goals scored.
The Playoffs
The four playoff spot places are separated by only two goal difference. Firstly, with Barnsley just having the edge on them, the Gas sit in third in the league, followed by Blackpool, the only side in the table with a goal difference of four. Behind them, it’s a dead heat between one of the real surprise packages this season, Stevenage, as well as the biggest improvers under these new metrics, Carlisle United. Both have the same record, something which Carlisle fans would be wishing was true this year. Their fans have not had too much to celebrate this season, but outside of the box goals have been a strength of theirs, scoring nine.
Lincoln City and Port Vale just miss out and have to settle on the title of ‘best of the rest’.
Mid-Table
There are some surprises in the mid-table pack, as Peterborough and Portsmouth, two sides who at one point thought they would be in a title fight against each other, sit in 12th and 15th respectively. Derby County also find themselves back in the pack, whilst Reading may be happy to be as high as 10th, considering their issues on and off the pitch this season.
Relegation
It seems best to start this section with the side who sit bottom. With not a single outside-of-the-area goal recorded, the only team in the division for which that applies is Cambridge United. Above them, the three sides who have just fallen short of staying in the third tier are Burton Albion, Charlton Athletic and Fleetwood Town. The latter have conceded the most long-shot goals this season, 11, whilst Burton have conceded ten themselves. Charlton’s inability to score many outside the opposition box is their downfall. Bolton Wanderers just stay above the drop zone, but are one of the biggest movers down the table compared to the real standings.
Of course, a season is not defined by where the goals come from, but that they are coming from. That being said, outside-of-the-box goals can create some great entertainment, so there is an argument to be made that this table could represent the most entertained fans in League One, although I doubt Carlisle supporters will agree.
