When teams play each other how can we find out which team has the longer periods of fair play. Counting up the number of fouls alone is not satisfactory because it takes no account of each team’s possession time.

A team’s FPT for a game is defined as its opponent’s possession in minutes divided by the teams’s number of fouls.

In effect the definition assumes that a team commits fouls only when it is defending. And in fact, a team does commit the vast majority, if not all, of its fouls when out of possession. This should surprise no one. (We should, however, be surprised and perhaps a little outraged when an attacking team persistently fouls the defending team. And in any case, we should ask ourselves, why on earth should the team in possession be committing fouls at all?)

FPT therefore gives a useful standard comparison of fair play by the teams; and, should be used instead of the number of fouls committed by the teams, which does not.

When a team commits all its fouls when out of possession its FPT is a literal description of how often, on average, it fouled its opponent when its opponent had possession.

FPT 4.1 min/f. "When you had the ball, mate, we fouled you, on average, every 4.1 minutes!"

Sheffield Utd vs Man City
Season 2023-24

Sheffield United had possession for 18 minutes and committed 11 fouls.
Man City had possession for 72 minutes and committed 2 fouls.

Firstly congratulations to Man City. Two fouls only. Wow. You can probably guess straightaway that Man City had the better FPT but by how much?

FPT Sheffield United - 6.5 min/f
FPT Man City             - 9.0 min/f

Man City vs Crystal Palace
Season 2022-23

Man City had possession for 66.6 minutes and committed 14 fouls.
Crystal Palace had possession for 23.4 minutes and committed 8 fouls.

FPT Man City           - 1.7 min/f
FPT Crystal Palace - 8.3 min/f

1.7 min/f is a staggeringly low FPT. Unbelievably, in the return game at Selhurst Park, Man City once again had an FPT of 1.7 min/f. And the next encounter, at home, Dec 16 2023, Man City had an FPT of 2.0 min/f. This is an appalling consecutive sequence of low FPTs against the same team. What Crystal Palace has done to deserve such an outrageous assault remains a mystery.

In the interest of fairness, the last example shows that In terms of FPT, Man City can go from the ridiculous to the sublime.

Man City vs Man Utd
Season 2022-23

Man City - had possession for 48.6 minutes and committed 3 fouls.
Man Utd - had possession for 41.4 minutes and committed 9 fouls.

FPT Man City - 13.8 min/f
FPT Man Utd  - 5.4 min/f

It is quite amazing that Man City had their hightest FPT score of the season, (and it is an exceptionally high score), in the derby game with United. Fair play to them!

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Every game has an in play time of 90 minutes. Added time, remember, is for stoppages, for example injuries and substitutions. A team’s possession time in minutes can therefore be calculated if its percentage possession time is known and this is easily accessible.

The FPT for a whole game is found by dividing 90 by the total number of fouls. It is not found by adding together the FPTs for teams A and B and then dividing by two. If you add together the FPTs for teams A and B and then divide by two you don’t get the FPT for a whole game unless: either both teams have the same number of fouls or both teams have the same FPT.

A team's season average is calculated by adding up the oppositions' total possession time for the season and then dividing by the team's total number of fouls for the season.

The whole game season average is calculated by multiplying 90 by the number of games and then dividing by the total number of fouls for the season.

Season averages cannot be calculated by adding up the FPT of individual games and then dividing by the number of games. This works only when every game has the same FPT or if every game has the same number of fouls.

When two teams have played home and away their respective average FPTs over the two games can be calculated. A team's average home and away FPT is found by dividing the total possession time in minutes of its opposition by the total number of fouls it committed over the two games.

It cannot be found by adding together its FPTs for the two games and then dividing by two. If you add together the FPTs for home and away and then divide by two you don’t get the average FPT unless: either home and away have the same number of fouls or home and away have the same FPT.

Aston Villa 2022/23 - Excel
Aston Villa 2023/24 - Excel
Aston Villa 2024/25 - Excel
Man City 2022/23 - Excel
Man City 2023/24 - Excel
Man City 2024/25 - Excel
FPT template (Premier League) - Excel

Aston Villa 2022/23 - Numbers
Aston Villa 2023/24 - Numbers
Aston Villa 2024/25 - Numbers
Man City 2022/23 - Numbers
Man City 2023/24 - Numbers
Man City 2024/25 - Numbers
FPT template (Premier League) - Numbers