West Ham would have won the Premier League last season…if only goals scored by Englishmen counted.
While England Under-21’s forward line failed to sparkle at the European Championships in Israel, there was no such frustration for the Hammers’ home-grown talent last season.
Sam Allardyce’s men finished their first season back in the top-flight comfortably in 10th place – but they would have been celebrating their first ever league title success and looking forward to Champions League football.
Scroll down to see the table...
Champions of England: Sam Allardyce's West Ham would have won the title... if only English scorers counted! West Ham legends Bobby Moore and Geoff Hurst helped England win the World Cup in 1966 (L) and the club's last major trophy came in 1980 when Sir Trevor Brooking's goal won the FA Cup against Arsenal, with captain Billy Bonds celebrating (R). The Hammers best-ever league place was in 1986, when they finished third (below)The study, conducted by OPTA, takes into account the points accumulated from each match if only goals scored by Englishmen counted.
From the 45 league goals scored by the Hammers last term, 32 were scored by Englishmen.Skipper Kevin Nolan is top of the list with 10, closely followed by Andy Carroll who hit seven. Matt Jarvis, Mark Noble, Joe Cole and Carlton Cole also contributed to the Hammers’ Englishmen goal tally.
Liverpool had the most goals scored by Englishmen, dispelling the myth they were over-reliant on Luis Suarez. However, they would have finished second because they conceded more goals against their rivals by English players.
Mersey beat: Gerrard and Sturridge contributed 19 of the 35 goals scored by English players at LiverpoolSouthampton and Chelsea would have completed the top-four thanks to Lambert (L) and Lampard, respectively
Daniel Sturridge and Steven Gerrard contributed 19 of the 35 goals scored by English players last season.
Southampton and Chelsea would have taken the final two Champions League slots.
Meanwhile, Newcastle would have finished bottom of the table, with James Perch’s goal in the 4-3 Boxing Day defeat at Manchester United their only goal scored by an Englishman.
Going down: Wigan, who were relegated, would have still suffered the drop while if a similar rule was applied in Spain Real Madrid would have been La Liga's biggest casualty with Barcelona still finishing as winners (below)Wigan and West Bromwich Albion, who had four and two goals scored by Englishmen, respectively, would have followed the Magpies down into the Championship.
If a similar rule was applied in Spain then Real Madrid would have been relegated, with only 13 goals scored by Spaniards in La Liga last season.
Barcelona would still have finished top, with 55 of their goals scored by home-grown players.
It could have been different: Manchester United, of course, won the title. But the table below, compiled by Opta, shows that if goals only scored by Englishmen counted, West Ham would have lifted the Premier League Enlarge More... Man City become highest paid sports team on the planet... but where do rivals United and Chelsea place on the list? Mourinho includes Liverpool, Spurs and Arsenal among title threats... but can they really join Chelsea in challenging the Manchester clubs? MATT LE TISSIER: It was a strange decision for Saints to sack Adkins... mind you, Cortese is a strange man but I don't think the fans will have too many complaints now Football's Golden Years: Jock Stein playing snooker, Diego Maradona boxing, Bob Paisley batting... football's finest have always been an all-round sporting lot
