Crystal Palace - The Facts and Stats for 2012/13

With just over 24 hours until Crystal Palace face Brighton in the 1st leg of the Championship play-off semi-final, I thought I would put together a list of statistics for the 2012/13 league season, ranging from the number of penalties awarded and scored to the the number of clean sheets kept, from the average number of goals scored and points won at home to the disciplinary records of the players.

2012/13 Championship season - Crystal Palace   

Final League Position: 5th

Total points: 72 (Champions: Cardiff 87pts, Runners-up: Hull City 79pts)

Overall analysis: Played 46 Won 19 Drew 15 Lost 12 Goals scored 73 Goals conceded 62

Home form analysis: Played 23 Won 13 Drew 8 Lost 2 Goals scored 52 Goals conceded 31
(65.3% of Palace's total league points were won at home).

Away form analysis: Played 23 Won 6 Drew 7 Lost 10 Goals scored 21 Goals conceded 31
(34.7% of Palace's total league points were won away from home).

Most league appearances: Julian Speroni (46), Wilf Zaha (43), Glenn Murray (42), Damien Delaney (41 + 1 as sub), Mile Jedinak (41), Peter Ramage (40 + 1 as sub)

A total of 30 different players were used by Crystal Palace during the 2012/13 league season.

Top Palace goalscorer: Glenn Murray (30). Murray was the top goalscorer in the Championship.
Of Murray's 30 goals, 24 were scored at home and 6 away. 8 of his 30 goals were scored from the penalty spot.

12 other Palace players also scored at least one goal for the club this season.

Total club goals scored this season: 73

Club goals scored at home: 52 (71.2% of Palace's league total for the season)
52 goals was the highest number of goals scored at home by any team in the league.

Club goals scored away: 21 (28.8% of Palace's league total for the season).

Total club goals conceded: 62

Club goals conceded at home: 31 (50% of Palace's league total conceded for the season).

Club goals conceded away: 31 (50% of Palace's league total conceded for the season).

Of the 73 goals Palace scored in the 2012/13 league season 37% were scored in the 1st half of matches and 63% in the 2nd half.

Of the 62 goals Palace conceded in the 2012/13 league season 41.9% were scored in the 1st half of matches and 58.1% in the 2nd half.

Goal times in 15 min segments:

Palace jointly scored most goals (16 goals) in the 15 min period between the 46th and 60th min and also (16) in the 15 min period between 61st and 75th min.

Palace conceded most goals (18 goals) in the 15 min period between the 76th and 90th min (inc. added time).

Palace opened the scoring in 24 of their 46 games this season (52.2%).
Palace conceded the opening goal in 18 of their 46 games this season (39.1%).

Hit-man Murray scores again!

In the other 4 games no goals were scored by either side.

Average number of goals: 

Average number of goals scored at home: 2.26 per game.

Average number of goals conceded at home: 1.35 per game.

Average number of goals scored away from home: 0.91 per game.

Average number of goals conceded away from home: 1.35 per game.

More than 2.5 goals per game:

In Palace's 46 league games, on 30 occasions (65.2%) they were involved in matches that produced 3 goals or more.
The league average was 52%.

                                                                                                     

Failed to score: 

In Palace's 46 league games they failed to score in 11 (23.9%), with five of those blanks coming in a run of consecutive matches between 17th March and 16th April 2013.

Palace scored at least one goal in every one of their opening 18 games, from 18th August to 24th November 2012, before they were held to a goalless draw at Hull on 27th November 2012.

Penalties:   

Number of penalties Palace were awarded/scored: 15/12

Of those 15 penalties 13 were awarded to Palace at Selhurst Park. The penalties that were awarded to Palace away from home were at Middlesbrough and at Bolton, (both were scored). Murray missed 3 pens this season versus Blackburn, Ipswich and Hull. The other penalty scorers this season were Garvan (2) against Watford and Brighton, Easter at Middlesboro' and Phillips versus Hull.

Number of penalties Palace conceded/scored: 4/2

Palace conceded penalties away at Bristol City, at home to Millwall (both were scored), and at home to Huddersfield and away at Derby (both were missed).

Clean Sheets:

In Palace's 46 league games they kept 11 (23.9%) clean sheets.

Margin of victory/defeat:

Biggest league win of the season: 5-0 versus Ipswich at Selhurst Park on 6th November 2012.

Biggest league defeat of the season: 4-0 versus Birmingham at Selhurst Park on 29th March 2013.

Most goals in a league game this season: (7) Palace 4-3 Burnley on 6th October 2012.

Attendances:

Biggest home crowd of the season: 22,154 versus Peterborough on 4th May 2013.

Lowest home crowd of the season: 13,153 versus Nottingham Forest on 18th September 2012.

The total number of fans to visit Selhurst Park during the 2012/13 season was 397,450.

The average attendance at Selhurst Park for the 2012/13 season was 17,280. (That is 65.6% of the grounds official capacity)
This was the 13th highest of the 24 clubs in the division.

Cup competitions 2012/13:

FA Cup: Lost 4-1 versus Stoke in a 3rd round replay at The Britannia Stadium on 15th January 2013.

League Cup: Lost 4-1 versus Preston North End in the 2nd round at Deepdale on the 28th August 2012.

Naughty Boys:    

Damien Delaney - 9 yellow cards and 1 red card, Dean Moxey - 6 yellow cards and 1 red card, Mile Jedinak - 10 yellow cards, Glenn Murray - 9 yellow cards, Wilfried Zaha - 8 yellow cards, Kagisho Dikgacoi 8 yellow cards.

(Jedinak also received 2 yellow cards in cup games and Zaha 1 yellow card in a cup game).

Player of the Year: Mile Jedinak.

Young Player of the Year: Jonathan Williams.

Academy Player of the Year: Hiram Boateng.

Palace Goal of the Year: Glenn Murray v Middlesbrough on 16th February 2013.


Upcoming fixtures:

Friday 10th May 2013: Championship play-off semi-final 1st leg: Crystal Palace v Brighton at Selhurst Park (7:45pm ko).
Monday 13th May 2013: Championship play-off semi-final 2nd leg: Brighton v Crystal Palace at The AMEX (7:45pm ko).

Unlikely Superhero – Crystal Palace’s very own Rambo!

When Peter Iain Ramage signed for Crystal Palace on a one-year contract in August 2012, even as a Crystal Palace fan I have to say I was left feeling somewhat uninspired!


I had witnessed the Whitley Bay born defender in action for ‘The Eagles’ during his five month loan spell with us during the 2011/12 season. To be fair to Ramage  during that time (which included 17 league appearances) he tended to be used by the then manager Dougie Freedman as a ‘utility’ player, and he flitted between the full-back and centre-half positions.

Ramage - In the form of his life!

As a result the 29 year-old had little opportunity to put a marker down, and establish himself in an ever changing back-four. In the first-half of the 2011/12 season Palace were in a defensive mess as they juggled numerous players in an attempt to find a settled back-four. By the time Ramage’s loan period had come to an end on the 15th January 2012, he had played with 11 different defensive partners in McCarthy, Davies, Tunchev, McGivern, Gardner, Clyne, Keinan, Eagan, Parsons, Moxey and Parr.

However Freedman had no hesitation in re-signing the Geordie lad for the start of the 2012/13 campaign. The signing of Ramage may have been initially as cover following the loss of Club captain Paddy McCarthy. McCarthy sustained a groin injury in the summer, and as I write is still sidelined and has yet to feature in a first-team game this season.
However it has proved to be an inspired signing as the player affectionately known as ‘Rambo’ has played a pivitol role in a wonderful season so far for the boys from SE25.

Rambo has established a solid, no nonsense central defensive partnership with Irishman Damien Delaney (right) this season, and his passion and desire is written all over his face during the heat of battle! Ramage has started 31 of 33 league games this season, come on as a substitute in another and since our opening day defeat to Watford at Selhurst Park, Crystal Palace are unbeaten at home this season, a run of 16 games at ‘Fortress Selhurst.’

It must be said that several of the reasons for the success on the pitch this season can be attributed to confidence, attitude, belief and fitness. But unlike last season stability in defence in terms of personnel has been crucial.

Before Palace signed Delaney from Ipswich on the 31st August, Ramage was paired at the heart of the defence with Aaron Martin a loanee from Southampton, but Palace lost their opening three league games of the season conceding nine goals in the process. Upon his arrival Delaney was immediately paired with Ramage and the two have been inseparable ever since, other than a three game suspension handed to the Irishman for seeing red at Huddersfield just before Christmas.

Despite the upheaval with the departure of the rather flaccid Dougie (the grass is not always greener on the other side) Freedman and the backroom staff to Bolton in late October, and the subsequent arrival of the flamboyant Ian Holloway as his replacement in the managerial hot seat, Rambo has rolled with it all, without flinching or suffering any long term heartbreak! In fact Holloway’s arrival has probably seen Ramage develop as a player due to the Bristolian’s style of play, which allows players to express themselves a lot more by playing a fluid passing game with the emphasis on getting forward more often, rather than strangling the life out of a 1-0 lead!

    Ramage (wearing 28) shows what it means to him after scoring against Watford this month!

Ramage has even contributed with some rare but vital goals this season. He has in fact scored twice as many goals for Crystal Palace this season than he has over his entire professional career, having made his first-team debut for Newcastle United as a substitute in a UEFA Cup tie on the 16th March 2005.

His first goal in the red and blue of Palace came at The Walkers Stadium in October, as the Londoner's turned over the then league leaders Leicester City 2-1. Ramage then bagged a consolation goal in a 2-1 defeat at Leeds in November, before netting a vital goal at Watford this month, followed by a second goal in consecutive games as Palace thrashed Middlesbrough at Selhurst Park last week. His smart turn and shot against Boro’ was a goal that any striker would have been proud of, and it was also his first goal for the club at Selhurst Park.

On the pitch Rambo is the consummate professional, whilst off the pitch he comes across as a great lad, a family man who will always takes time out to chat to the fans and someone who loves a bit of banter with his team-mates. I imagine he is an inspirational, yet calming figure in the dressing room and someone that all the lads, particularly the youngster’s look up to!

He is also becoming somewhat of an unlikely favourite among the fans. You cannot as a football fan fail to revere a man who gives everything, a player who wears his heart on his sleeve and plays for the badge on his chest.......and who always goes to, and applauds the fans at the end of every match!


Rambo you are a credit to yourself and Crystal Palace Football Club and you won’t be far off winning this season’s Palace ‘Player of the Year’ award as voted for by us, the fans!

You can follow Peter Ramage on twitter or find him after training at most good coffee outlets, with Damien Delaney and Andre Moritz!


Pictures courtesy of: FiveYearPlanFanzine.co.uk and RednBlueArmy.co.uk