Stat Pack: Baines' Penalty Prowess

When it comes to penalty prowess, no man in Everton’s history can boast of being more prolific than Leighton Baines.

Prior to the recent visit of Watford, the defender had netted 23 spot-kicks in his decade at Goodison Park - the same career total amassed by Trevor Steven and the man who coincidently found himself in the Blues' dugout, David Unsworth.
 
That Baines would earn Unsworth his first win since taking temporary charge with a thunderous left-footed penalty seemed somewhat apt. It also saw the Kirkby-born 32-year-old snatch the record outright to become Everton's undisputed penalty king.

On Saturday, Baines added to his record haul when he coolly beat Crystal Palace stopper Julian Speroni in a 2-2 draw at Selhurst Park, taking his penalty conversation rate for the Toffees to an impressive 89.3 per cent in the process. 

“I’m delighted for him that he’s broke the record,” gushed Unsworth after the dramatic 3-2 triumph over the Hornets. “When he steps up, you just know he’s going to use that quality in his left foot to stick it in the back of the net.”
 
Indeed. Since firing past one-time teammate Mike Pollitt to earn Everton all three points against his former employers Wigan Athletic on 30 August 2009, our record-breaker has crashed home penalties against 18 different clubs, in three different competitions, beating 22 different goalkeepers (Ali Al-Habsi, David de Gea and Speroni have all twice had the misfortune of fishing a Baines spot-kick from their net!).
 
Bravo, Bainesy!
 
SPOT-KICK SUCCESS RATES

It’s not just the number of penalties Baines has scored for Everton that's impressive but also his success rate. In total, he has missed only three for the Blues - and that places him high up among those players to have taken more than 10 spot-kicks for the Club. 

1 Roy Vernon - 94.7% (18/19)
2 Leighton Baines - 89.3% (25/28)
3 David Unsworth - 88.5% (23/26)
4 Harry Makepeace - 83.3% (10/12) 
5 Graeme Sharp - 81.8% (18/22) 
6 Mikel Arteta - 81.2% (13/16) 
7 Bobby Collins - 80.0% (8/10)
= Duncan Ferguson - 80.0% (8/10)
9 Trevor Steven - 79.3% (23/29)
10 Joe Royle - 73.7% (14/19)

Bainespen750

FACT: Of those players to have taken three or more penalties for Everton, six have 100 per cent records; Tommy Lawton (8/8), Peter Beardsley (6/6), Robert Young (5/5), Jimmy Gabriel (4/4), John Divers (3/3) and Bob Latchford (3/3). 

EVERTON’S RECORD WHEN BAINES HAS NETTED A PENALTY
 
W15
D9 
L1
 
LEIGHTON’S PENALTY PORTFOLIO
 
1 v Wigan Athletic, 30 August 2009, 2-1, goalkeeper: Mike Pollitt
2 v Carlisle United, 2 January 2010, 3-1, goalkeeper: Adam Collin
3 v Aston Villa, 2 April 2011, 2-2, goalkeeper: Brad Friedel
4 v Blackburn Rovers, 16 April 2011, 2-0, goalkeeper: Paul Robinson
5 v Wigan Athletic, 30 April 2011, 1-1, goalkeeper: Ali Al-Habsi
6 v Aston Villa, 10 September 2011, 2-2, goalkeeper: Shay Given
7 v Wolverhampton Wanderers, 19 November 2011, 2-1, goalkeeper: Wayne Hennessey
8 v Sunderland, 26 December 2011, 1-1, goalkeeper: Keiren Westwood
9 v Tamworth, 7 January 2012, 2-0, goalkeeper: Joe Collister
10 v Wigan Athletic, 6 October 2012, 2-2, goalkeeper: Ali Al-Habsi
11 v Cheltenham Town, 7 January 2013, 5-1, goalkeeper: Scott Brown
12 v West Bromwich Albion, 30 January 2013, 2-1, goalkeeper: Ben Foster
13 v Oldham Athletic, 26 February 2013, 3-1, goalkeeper: Dean Bouzanis
14 v Stoke City, 1 January 2014, 1-1, goalkeeper: Jack Butland
15 v Swansea City, 16 February 2014, 3-1, goalkeeper: Gerhard Tremmel
16 v Swansea City, 22 March 2014, 3-2, goalkeeper: Michel Vorm
17 v Manchester United, 20 April 2014, 2-0, goalkeeper: David de Gea
18 v Wolfsburg, 18 September 2014, 4-1, goalkeeper: Diego Benaglio
19 v Crystal Palace, 21 September 2014, 2-3, goalkeeper: Julian Speroni
20 v Sunderland, 9 November 2014, 1-1, goalkeeper: Costel Pantilimon
21 v Norwich City, 15 May 2016, 3-0, goalkeeper: John Ruddy
22 v Manchester United, 4 December 2016, 1-1, goalkeeper: David de Gea
23 v Southampton, 2 January 2017, 3-0, goalkeeper: Fraser Forster
24 v Watford, 5 November 2017, 3-2, goalkeeper: Orestis Karnezis
25 v Crystal Palace, 18 November 2017, 2-2, goalkeeper: Julian Speroni


FACT: The team to suffer most from Baines’ penalty-taking talents is his former club Wigan Athletic. The left-back has netted three spot-kicks against the Latics - two earned Everton late draws and the other was a 93rd-minute winner!
 
HOW HE’S SCORED THEM
 
Premier League: 19
FA Cup: 5
Europa League: 1
 
EVERTON’S TOP 10 PENALTY TAKERS
 
1 Leighton Baines (25)
2 David Unsworth (23)
3 Trevor Steven (23)
4 Roy Vernon (18)
= Graeme Sharp (18)
6 Joe Royle (14)
7 Mikel Arteta (13)
= Jones (13)
= Alan Ball (13)
10 Kevin Sheedy (11)
= Jack Sharp (11)
= Dixie Dean (11)
 
FACT: Baines’ 19 Premier League penalties have directly contributed a total of 20 points, with four being winners and eight earning the Toffees draws.

A version of this feature first appeared in November's Everton magazine. To find out more about what's in this month's issue, click here. To buy or subscribe, click here.