Yellow card stats don’t tell the full story | OneFootball

A stat doing the rounds on social media proclaims that Celtic receive the least number of cautions per fouls committed, 9.5 per card to be exact.

Whilst that looks good for those who like to fuel the preposterous narrative that somehow Celtic enjoys the leniency courtesy of the referees (no laughing at the back please) it doesn’t tell the entire story.

St Mirren v Hearts Scottish Premiership 06/04/2024. Referee Alan Muir during the Scottish Premiership match between St Mirren and Hearts at The SMiSA Stadium, Paisley, on 6 April 2024.Photo Malcolm Mackenzie PSI-

What the pushers of these stats conveniently forget or ignore is that not every foul is worthy of a caution, or that our opponents have an annoying tendency to fall to the ground whenever anyone in a green and white shirt breathes in their vicinity.

The biggest percentage of those ‘offences’ are committed further up the field and warrant no more than a free kick to the opposition, so it makes the foul count stack up in games we overwhelmingly enjoy the majority of possession.

Referee Nick Walsh Celtic v Hibernian, Scottish Gas Scottish Cup, Quarter Final, Celtic Park, – 09 March 2025 : Photo Stuart Wallace Shutterstock

There are no ‘dark arts’ at play. We dominate games as we are the best footballing side in a playing and disciplinary sense. If anything the officials are more lenient in the sense that they fail to punish the brutality often dished out to our players. You won’t see that in the stats.

Just an Ordinary Bhoy