Paul Scholes, Patrick Vieira & Co – The players with the most yellow cards in Premier League history

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Two players with 100+ yellows 

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898. That’s the number of yellow cards handed out in the Premier League this season to date. Just over the half-way mark through the campaign and the cards have been flying. Chelsea and Southampton alone have received 58 yellows apiece, while the player with the most this term is Leicester’s Boubakary Soumaré with eight. Getting yellow cards has always been part of the game – sometimes a necessity for a ‘tactical foul’, and often part and parcel with the contact sport that is football, but which players have been most accustom to going into the referee’s book across the years? Here at Transfermarkt, we have compiled a list of the true ‘hatchet-men’ of the Premier League, calculating the players to have received the most yellow cards since the division’s inception back in the 1992/93 season.

Leading the way is the man also top of the charts for the most Premier League appearances with 653 games – former Everton, Aston Villa and Manchester City midfielder Gareth Barry received as many as 123 yellow cards in those fixtures, and is therefore way out in front as the most booked player. In second place with 101 Premier League yellow cards received is Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney. Taking third spot is former midfielder Lee Bowyer, who got 99 bookings across his Premier League career. Former Bolton striker Kevin Davies takes fourth place, with 97 yellow cards.

In fifth is legendary Man United midfielder Paul Scholes, who was fairly infamous for his mistimed tackles, with 96 yellow cards in his 499 Premier League games. Scott Parker is sixth with 92 bookings in 368 matches. In seventh place is Lee Cattermole with an incredible record of 91 yellow cards in just 272 games – equating to around a booking every three games. In eighth is the first player on the list still actively playing in the Premier League – Ashley Young has 91 bookings in 469 games, and could climb that list by the end of the season. In ninth is Robbie Savage with 88 yellows in 346 matches, with George Boateng completing the top 10 with 88 bookings in 382 games.