Which Premier League Team are the Celebration Specialists?

Last updated: February 7th, 2024 Published on: August 22, 2022

Whether it’s for a milestone birthday, wedding anniversary or a new job, us Brits know how to celebrate in style. That said, football fans will tell you there’s very little that compares to the scenes that transpire when your team scores an important goal. 

With the Premier League entering its 30th year we wanted to find out which current team spends the longest amount of time celebrating a goal. Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City might be the defending league champions but are their goal celebrations worthy of winners? 

 

The goal celebration specialists 

While here at Funky Pigeon we pride ourselves on being the experts at supplying cards and gifts, it’s actually Leeds United who can lay claim to being the celebration specialists. That’s right, having analysed the aftermath of more than 250 goals scored in the Premier League last season, it was the Yorkshire club who were found to be the team who spent the longest time celebrating. 

On average, Leeds’ players spend 69.87 seconds celebrating a goal. Having scored a total of 42 goals last season that equates to almost 49 minutes of celebrations which is longer than a half of football! 

Running Leeds close with their passion was Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa. Villa’s players celebrate their goals for an average of 69.40 seconds. In third was Newcastle United who clearly cherish every moment they spend celebrating in front of the Toon Army. 

Perhaps surprisingly, at the other end of the table was 2021/22 champions Manchester City. Players in the blue half of Manchester spend more than 10 seconds less celebrating each of their goals than table toppers Leeds United. With an average celebration time of 56.27 seconds, Pep Guardiola’s men sit bottom of the goal celebration league table. 

The goal celebration league table

Rank Team Avg time spent celebrating (in seconds)
1 Leeds United 69.87
2 Aston Villa 69.40
3 Newcastle United 69.00
4 Arsenal 68.87
5 Manchester United 65.20
6 Wolverhampton Wanderers 64.27
7 West Ham United 63.53
8≈ Crystal Palace 62.73
8≈ Brentford 62.73
10≈ Leicester City 61.33
10≈ Tottenham Hotspur 61.33
12 Brighton & Hove Albion 61.00
13 Chelsea 59.40
14 Southampton 59.33
15 Liverpool 57.80
16 Everton 57.33
17 Manchester City 56.27

Also featuring in the bottom three is FA Cup & Carabao Cup holders Liverpool!

Taking into account the goals scored by every team, the average time for celebrating a goal in the Premier League is 62.91 seconds. With referees under strict orders to increase the amount of time the ball is in play for this season, the length of goal celebrations may be one of the first things they crack down on.

 

A focus on the top goalscorers 

From Cristiano Ronaldo’s ‘Siu’ jump to Mohamed Salah’s prayer, there are plenty of iconic celebrations in the Premier League. While Leeds may be the team who spends the longest amount of time celebrating a goal we also wanted to discover which individual player ranks top as well. 

Having taken a deep dive into more than 80 goals scored across each teams’ top goalscorer last season, we can reveal Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka enjoys celebrating his goals more than any other player. The Englishman spends a whopping 78.60 seconds whipping up the Emirates faithful. Having spent more than 14 minutes celebrating his goals last season, Saka will no doubt be hoping to top his tally of 11 goals this campaign. 

Rather predictably it’s Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo who ranks in second place. The Portuguese star who is renowned for his ‘siu’ celebration where he runs, jumps and then turns with his arms outstretched, before shouting the word ‘siuuuu’ celebrates his goals for 72.60 seconds. 

Rank Player Team Avg time spent celebrating (in seconds)
1 Bukayo Saka Arsenal 78.60
2 Cristiano Ronaldo Manchester United 72.60
3 Ivan Toney Brentford 68.60
4 Callum Wilson Newcastle United 67.00
5 Wilfried Zaha Crystal Palace 66.80
6 Mason Mount Chelsea 65.60
7 Kevin De Bruyne Manchester City 63.20
8≈ Son Heung-min Tottenham Hotspur 63.00
8≈ Jarrod Bowen West Ham United 63.00
10 Jamie Vardy Leicester City 62.20
11 Leandro Trossard Brighton Hove & Albion 61.25
12 Raúl Jiménez Wolverhampton Wanderers 59.80
13≈ Raphinha Leeds United 58.60
13≈ Mohamed Salah Liverpool 58.60
15 Ollie Watkins Aston Villa 57.40
16 James Ward-Prowse Southampton 50.60
17 Richarlison Everton  50.20

Taking bottom spot for his celebrations is former Everton, now Spurs forward Richarlison. The Brazilian spends just over 50 seconds celebrating his goals, which is a staggering 20 seconds less than celebration specialists Bukayo Saka and Cristiano Ronaldo. 

Despite sharing last season’s golden boot with Mo Salah, Son Heung-Min wasn’t to be outdone by the Egyptian when it comes to celebrating. The Tottenham ace spends more than 4 seconds extra celebrating each of his goals than his Liverpool counterpart. 

Will anyone be able to top the extravagant celebrations of Bukayo Saka this season or will the referees turn into the ultimate party poopers by penalising teams for their passionate celebrations? 

 

Methodology 

To work out the team who spends the longest amount of time celebrating a goal we collected data for 15 goals scored by each team in the Premier League. 

Data was collected on matchday 34 of last season and we worked back through previous match days until we had collected data for 15 goals from each team. For each goal we timed how long it took for the game to restart after a goal had been scored. Goals where restarts were delayed due to a VAR check or a substitution were discounted. 

The three teams who were relegated from the Premier League last season were excluded from the study. 

To work out the player who spends the longest amount of time celebrating a goal we collected data for 5 goals scored by each Premier League team’s top goalscorer last season. The same method as above was then applied.