What is a clean sheet in football?

In football, wingers and midfielders are judged by their assists and maybe goals; midfielders like Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernadez are famous for their visions and assists. Strikers like Suarez, Aguaro, and Hary Kane are judged by their number of goals per season. As it is for strikers and midfielders, goalkeepers are aslo judged by their number of saves and clean sheets per season.

What Is A Clean Sheet?

A team is said to have kept a clean sheet if, during an entire match, they did not concede any goal. A match can last 90 or 120 minutes, depending on the tournament; a team that did not concede any goal within this time frame has kept a clean sheet. Keeping a clean sheet is a team effort; however, the goalkeeper and defenders did the most job.

Keeping a clean sheet is the goalkeeper’s and the defenders’ responsibility because both departments get the accolade. Right from the start, football fans celebrate goals and direct more praise to the attackers and forwards while forgetting the tremendous works of the defenders and goalkeeper preventing the opponents from scoring.

However, a true football fan understands the importance of a solid defensive line and an experienced goalkeeper; with them, the team concedes lesser or no goals, reducing the probability of losing the match. In the Premier League and major league soccer, the goalkeepers and defenders are as important as the attackers, if not more.

The term clean sheet has existed for a long time in club tournaments and major league soccer, and it is used to describe the committed and incredible performance of the goalkeeper and the defenders. In EPL, the keeper with the highest number of clean sheets in football wins the Premier League Golden Glove.

Why Is It Called A Clean Sheet?

Here is the important question, and it originates during a period when some scorers used to take note of the happenings in an entire match or football game; they will record every necessary event on a sheet of paper. If, in a soccer game, the scorer did not record anything for a particular team or goalkeeper in a relatively low-scoring game, the paper will remain clean. This is how the term clean sheet originated.

You may find the origin of the term amusing and barbaric; however, note that the unavailability of technology for journalists, commentators, and sports analysts to keep good records makes writing on paper the only option. The sheet of paper contained every vital information about the league match, including the goal, scored, fouls committed, corners played, yellow cards, fouls, on and off-target shots, and the number of saves by the goalkeeper.

Besides football, hockey, and basketball also use the “clean sheet” concept.

Importance of clean sheet in football

The clean sheet concept in football is mainly used to judge the performance of a rock-solid defense and an entire team. Best goalkeepers in a FIFA world cup, cup matches, or FIFA World cup finals have always tried as much as possible to keep a clean sheet in every match.

In most cases, keepers get angry and blame other players when they concede a goal. Also, when a team has a rock-solid defence that can prevent the opponents from scoring, it gives the manager more time to work on the attackers. To understand better, when a team keeps a clean sheet, it means they did not lose the match; even if they did not score too, the match would end in a goalless draw, meaning they got at least one point.

It is a common saying among football lovers that. “attackers win you match while a coordinated defense line and a reliable goalkeeper win you the title.” This assertion is true considering the success of ancient and present-day Real Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan, Inter Millan, Ajax, Manchester United, Chelsea, and so on. These teams had reliable defenders and goalkeepers, such as Peter Cech, Julio Cesar, Van Der Ser, Iker Casillas, John Terry, Vidic, Puyol, Carlos, and so on, experts in keeping clean sheets.

In International tournaments and top club leagues such as English Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Major League Soccer, and the like, the goalkeeper’s performance is recognized by special awards such as the Golden Glove, which is the goalkeeper’s equivalent of the Golden Boot awarded to the attacker with the highest goals.

The goalkeeper with the highest number of clean sheets wins the golden glove. The FIFA golden glove is the most prestigious award for goalkeepers and is presented to the most outstanding; this award has been present since 1930 when the first world cup tournament was played.

After every world cup tournament from 1930 to 1990, analysts present the best 11 players in the entire tournament. It would include ten players and a goalkeeper, except in 1990 when two goalkeepers got the award because they both had the same number of clean sheets.

In the 1994 FIFA World Cup tournament, a specific award for the best goalkeepers called the Lev Yashin Award came into existence. The award was named to honor former Russian goalkeeper Yashin. Many football lovers in his era believed he was the best, hence the respect he commanded. In 2010, FIFA renamed the award to the “Golden Glove.”

FIFA Technical Study Group decides who wins the Golden Glove, and clean sheets are one of the essential parameters they consider.  In a case of extraordinary performance, the keeper can also win the Golden ball. For instance, German stopper Oliver Kahn won the Golden Glove and the Golden Boot in 2002.

Below is a complete table of the keepers with the most clean sheets in World Cup history:

Top 10 Goalkeepers With The Most Clean Sheets

Goalkeepers can win matches and start play from the back for a team, they are one of the most underrated members of a team, but in recent years, they are now getting the respect they deserve. Below are the top 10 stoppers with the most clean sheets in football:

Gianluigi Buffon- 501 (44%)

No football enthusiast would talk about the greatest goalkeepers in history without putting the Italian at the top of the list. The Juventus legend is a pacesetter when it comes to keeping clean sheets and making incredible saves. Buffer played for Parma, Juventus, and PSG, keeping more than 500 clean sheets. That is absolutely incredible.

Edwin Van Der Sar – 440 (46%)

The former Netherlands and Manchester United stopper was a nightmare for most strikers. Until the ball meets the net, you cant celebrate yet once Edwin is in his top form. Van Der Sar played for Ajax, Fulham, Juventus, and Manchester United, keeping 440 clean sheets. Definitely one of the best goalkeepers in Premier League History.

Also Read: Most trophies won by a player in football

Iker Casillas – 440 (42%)

The Real Madrid and Spain National team legend is among the greatest goalkeepers because of his incredible saves. Iker played for FC Porto and Real Madrid, keeping 440 clean sheets throughout his career.

Petr Cech – 397 (44%)

So many football loyalists and Premier League lovers, especially Chelsea fans, believe Cech is the greatest goalkeeper because of his exploit at Chelsea, Arsenal, Rennes, Sparta Prague, and his national team. Cech made goalkeeping look easy, keeping 397 clean sheets.

Pepe Reina – 358 (40%)

The Spanish shot-stopper was at the peak of his career at Liverpool; then, he was unbeatable. Reina played for Liverpool, Barcelona, Villareal, Napoli, Bayern Munich, AC Milan, Lazio, and Aston Villa, keeping 358 clean sheets throughout his football career.

Manuel Neuer – 353 (45%)

The German stopper does not make it easy for attackers; his incredible saves and ability to start play and play link-up passes to the midfielders made him unique. Neuer’s reflex is out of this world, he has played for Schalke 04 and Bayern Munich keeping more than 353 clean shits. The number of clean sheets will still increase because he has not yet retired.

Igor Akinfeev – 346 (42%)

Akinfeev has played for just one club, CSKA Moscow. The Russian was available for more than 500 matches and kept 346 clean sheets. That is mind-blowing.

Oliver Kahn – 322 (37%)

Every football fan knows this German short-stopper because of his exploit, incredible saves, and reliability in the front of goal. To some people, Khan is one of the greatest goalkeepers ever to play the sport. Oliver played for Karlsruher and Bayern Munich, having more than 600 appearances and keeping 322 clean sheets.

Mickael Landreau – 309 (39%)

Michael has played for top teams such as PSG, Nantes, and Lille and dropped incredible performances throughout his career. He has won several awards and 309 clean sheets, making him one of the greats.

Jens Lehmann – 309 (36%)

Do you remember Jens of Arsenal and how incredible he was? Actually, this list won’t be complete without this Frenchman on the list; he played for Borussia Dortmund, Schalke 04, Milan, Arsenal, and Vfb Stuttgart and kept 309 clean sheets in soccer during his incredible career.

Conclusion

Keeping a clean sheet is the collective responsibility of the entire team; however, goalkeepers and defenders are more responsible for this. Above are the keepers with the most clean sheets in soccer; as a football fan, how many of them do you know?