Premier League record breakers aren’t just written into the history books but also into the memories of fans around the country; however, not everyone wants to be remembered for their moment in history.
While James Milner was celebrated for breaking the all-time Premier League appearance record last season and Bruno Fernandes for breaking the assists record in a single league campaign, not every landmark is celebrated – for every positive record broken, someone has to claim an unwanted one.
One such milestone that has stood since October 2014 belongs to former Aston Villa, Manchester City, Everton and QPR centre-back Richard Dunne, who scored the 10th, and final, own goal of his Premier League career.
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The 80-time Ireland international played in the top flight for 18 years, and unfortunately in that time he put through his own net enough times to have him currently three own goals clear of Jamie Carragher, Martin Skrtel, Phil Jagielka, and Lewis Dunk.
Dunne is also the joint holder of another miserable record, having been sent off eight times in the league, tied with Duncan Ferguson and Patrick Vieira – no other player has been sent off more than any of those three.
Despite being a popular answer to a couple of pub quiz football questions, Dunne said that he was indifferent to the record and didn’t concern himself with the stat.
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Star Sport, via Ignition Australia, Dunne said that he doesn’t think his record will be broken with defenders in the current game not throwing themselves in the way of the ball as often as players from previous generations.
He said: “I think there are very few sort of last-ditch defenders. I think it doesn’t seem to be the same sort of thing.
“There isn’t the same amount of crosses coming into the box; it’s a different style of football and all, so it’s probably something that will stand for a while (own goal record).”
Adding on his record, Dunne said that stats in football aren’t something he thinks about and slammed the game for overly celebrating numbers.
“I’m just a bit indifferent about it,” he said. “I watch games now where I see Ronaldo score a penalty and get man of the match and you’re like, well, nothing matters, it’s all stats, it’s all just show and stuff like that so it doesn’t really impact me.”