The Premier League Standings if Only Goals by English Players Counted

By JOHN ZONGMIN CHOW and KEVIN QUEALY MAY 11, 2014

Final standings

TEAM		PTS.
1	Man City	86
2	Liverpool	84
3	Chelsea	82
4	Arsenal	79
5	Everton	72
6	Tottenham	69
7	Man Utd	64
8	Southampton	56
9	Stoke City	50
10	Newcastle	49
11	Crystal Pal.	45
12	Swansea	42
13	West Ham	40
14	Sunderland	38
15	Aston Villa	38
16	Hull City	37
17	West Brom.	36
18	Norwich	33
19	Fulham	32
20	Cardiff	30

English goals only

TEAM		PTS.
1	Liverpool	82
2	Southampton	73
3	Man Utd	66
4	Everton	62
5	West Ham	54
6	Crystal Pal.	53
7	Sunderland	50
8	Cardiff	49
9	Chelsea	46
10	Hull City	46
11	Arsenal	45
12	Stoke City	42
13	Norwich	41
14	Swansea	41
15	Tottenham	40
16	Fulham	37
17	Aston Villa	34
18	Man City	32
19	Newcastle	30
20	West Brom.	28

 Champions’ league 

 Champions’ league qualifying 

 Europa league 

 Relegation

The 2013-14 Premier League season has ended, and Manchester City has won its second league title since 1992. Notably, City did it with a global roster: only one of its starting 11 players Sunday was English – Joe Hart, the goalkeeper. (Rounding out the starting lineup were players from Argentina, Spain, Belgium, Serbia, France, Ivory Coast and Bosnia and Herzegovina.)

Having a majority of international stars is not new to the Premier League, long a symbol of the modern globalized game. But Manchester City still stands out. Aside from Hart, only one other English player started more than 10 matches for City this season: James Milner, a midfielder who has scored just once.

The table above is the result of a little thought experiment: What would the standings look like in a hypothetical league in which a goal does not count unless it is scored by an English player? Sunday’s 2-0 win, for example, would have been a 0-0 draw, as City’s goals came from French and Belgian players. (When we say “English”, we mean players born in England or those who have played for England’s national team or its national youth squads.)

No league would ever work this way, of course, but it does show which clubs rely most on outside talent. Instead of holding the trophy, Manchester City would find itself relegated to the second-division League Championship, contemplating next year's matches against teams like Brentford, Watford and Nottingham Forest. Cardiff City, which had more than 70 percent of its goals from English players, would jump 11 slots to 8th place – ahead of clubs like Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham.

And Liverpool, which cametantalizingly close to the title this year with some of England's brightest stars, would get to raise that trophy after all.