Definition of a Clean Sheet in Soccer
In every TV broadcast about soccer you can hear the term “clean sheet” thrown around. The pundits talk about it as if everyone know what it means. This is not the case though. I often talk to people who don’t know. So i decided to write a post where i answer the question “what is a clean sheet in soccer?”. Not only that. I will also explain why it is called a clean sheet and why it matters.
Lets start with the definition:
A clean sheet is when a team does not concede any goals for one whole match.
You might think that I am joking. How can a simple thing in soccer be called something so stupid? Well, I am not joking. There is actually a good reason for it being called a clean sheet, and it has nothing to do with bed sheets.
It can also be useful to know that shutouts is the same thing as clean sheets in soccer.
Examples of Clean Sheets
Before we get into the name, I want to make it perfectly clear what a clean sheet is.
As said earlier, whenever a team concedes zero goals during a full game, they are said to keep a clean sheet. Lets look at three examples to make it crystal clear:
Example 1: The game ends 3-0.
Here the home team conceded 0 goals, so they kept a clean sheet. The away team, however, did not. The conceded 3 goals.
Example 2: The game ends 0-2.
The home team did not get a clean sheet here as they conceded 2 goals. The away team did get a clean sheet as the conceded 0 goals.
Example 3: The game ends 0-0.
In this situation both team gets a clean sheet as no goals are scored.
Now, lets move on to where the name comes from.
Why is it Called a Clean Sheet?
In the good old days, sports reporters would use paper sheets to write down the scores of every game they reported on. You can imagine that for every game they were keeping an eye on, they had one piece of paper with two columns. The first column was for writing down the goals of the home team. The second column for the away team. If one of the teams didn’t score any goals in the match, the other teams column would be clean. They would have a clean sheet.
It is hard to say when the expression became part of the soccer lingo, but sometimes during the 1930s is mentioned around the web. Nowadays it is one of the most used expressions in soccer.
Another interesting expression in soccer is a brace. I have written a post about this term as well that i have called “What is a brace in Soccer?“
Is it Important to Get Clean Sheets in Soccer?
The answer to this is both yes and no. It depends on the context of the question.
In itself it is not very important. If you concede one goal in a match, your team can always win by scoring two. You normally don’t get any awards for keeping clean sheets or any extra points. So in that context, it is not important.
That said, it is way easier to win games if you only have to score one goal to win. Also, keeping clean sheets will boots the morale and confidence in your team that might also help you win.
In soccer you normally get 3 point for a win, 1 for a draw and 0 for a loss. If you never concede goals, you are guaranteed to get at least one point in every match you play. In the English Premier League, where every team plays 38 games during a season, your team would be guaranteed at least 38 points just by keeping a clean sheet in every match. That is normally enough to avoid relegation!
There is a saying in soccer that a good defense wins championships. And it is true. More often than not, the team that wins the championship is also the team that keeps the most clean sheets.
Do Clean Sheets Occur Often in Soccer?
Since keeping clean sheets is hard, one might think that it does not happen very often. This is not the case though. In the 18/19, 19/20 and 20/21 seasons of the Premier League, 207, 207 and 224 clean sheets was kept. With 380 matches being played each season, approximately 55% of the games involved a clean sheet.
Who Has the Records for Keeping Clean Sheets?
Often goalkeepers gets all the credit for the team keeping a clean sheet. Yes, they play a big role in stopping balls from going in the net, but it is even more a team effort. That said, most of the records on clean sheets is for goalkeepers.
The top level goalkeeper who has kept most clean sheets in the 21st century is Iker Casillas who conceded zero goals in 439 matches according to transfermarkt. The Spanish goalkeeper played most of his career at Real Madrid with a short spell at Porto at the end.
In the English Premier League the record belongs to the former Chelsea and Arsenal GK Peter Cech with 202 games without conceding. Former Manchester United GK Edwin van der Sar has the record for consecutive clean sheets with 14 in the 2008/09 season.
The Premier League Golden Glove Award
For every season of the Premier League, one goalkeeper is awarded the Golden Glove award for keeping the most clean sheets. The award was introduced in the 2004/05 season. Since the introduction, 9 GK has received the award:
Petr Cech (04/05, 09/10, 13/14 and 15/16)
Pepe Reina (05/06, 06/07 and 07/08)
Edwin van der Sar (08/09)
Joe Hart (10/11, 11/12, 12/13 and 14/15)
Wojciech Szczesny (13/14)
Thibaut Courtois (16/17)
David de Gea (17/18)
Alisson (18/19)
Ederson (19/20 and 20/21)
Since the 2020/21 season the award has been named the Coca-Cola Zero Sugar Golden Glove.
How do Teams Get Better at Keeping Clean Sheets?
If you take a look at the goalkeepers winning the Golden Glove award in the Premier League it is clear that all of them played for top teams. What do this tell us? It tells us that keeping clean sheets not only depends on having a good goalkeeper, but a really good team.
Of course, the top teams can buy the best goalkeepers in the world. This is a huge part of keeping more clean sheets, but its not nearly the whole picture.
If a manager wants his team to concede less goals, he needs to make sure that every part of the teams defense is strong. Every top level team spends a lot of time practicing defensive skills and structure.
One particular part of the game that is relevant is what we call pressing. If you want to read more about pressing, I have a thorough article that you should definitely read!
Even the strikers is involved in a teams effort to concede less goals. Just think about it, if a striker wins the ball close to the opponents goal, the opponent cant score directly. Also, some teams use the time when they are in possession as a defensive strategy. When our team has the ball, the opponents cant score.
Conclusion
If you made it all the way to the end of this post, you should now have the answer to “what is a clean sheet in soccer?”. It is a really simple concept, but its not immediately obvious what it is and why it is called a clean sheet.
If you want to read more about defensive structure in soccer, you can check out my articles on 7v7 soccer formations, 5v5 soccer formations and the four moments in soccer.
