Assist (football)

In association football, an assist is a contribution by a player which helps to score a goal. Statistics for assists made by players may be kept officially by the organisers of a competition, or unofficially by, for example, journalists or organisers of fantasy football competitions. Recording assists is not part of the official Laws of the Game and the criteria for an assist to be awarded may vary.

Most commonly, an assist is credited to a player for passing or crossing the ball to the scorer. It may also be awarded to a player whose shot rebounds (off a defender, goalkeeper or goalpost) to a teammate who scores; or to a player who wins a penalty kick for another player to convert. An attacking player may be awarded an assist for contributing to an own goal.[1] Players cannot be awarded an assist for a goal they themselves score. Usually one but a maximum of two players can be awarded assists is per goal.

Statistical recording of assists

Record of assists was virtually not kept at all until the end of the 20th century. The North American Soccer League kept assist statistics from its foundation in 1968, as its forebears the United Soccer Association and National Professional Soccer League had done the previous year.[2] Analogous statistics were already being kept in basketball and in ice hockey, both established North American sports.

In the FIFA Technical Study Group's report on the 1986 World Cup, the authors calculated for the first time unofficial statistics for assists, developing the following criteria:[3]

  1. An assist was awarded to the player who had given the last pass to the goalscorer.
  2. In addition, also the last but two holder of the ball could get an assist provided that his action had decisive importance for the goal .
  3. After goals from rebounds those players were awarded an assist who had shot on target.
  4. After goals scored on penalty or by a directly converted free-kick the fouled player received a point.
  5. In case that the goalscorer had laid on the goal for himself (dribble, solo run), no assists were awarded.
  6. No assists were awarded, either, if the goalscorer took advantage of a missed pass by an opponent.

The 1990 World Cup technical report adopted similar criteria, but changed the free-kick/penalty criterion:[4]

Planet World Cup has calculated some retrospective data on assists back to the 1966 World Cup,[5] though the 1986 data differs from that of FIFA.[3][6]

FIFA started officially keeping track of assists in World Cup tournaments at the 1994 edition.[7] This was popularly ascribed to the popularity of detailed sports statistics among American fans.[7] 1994 was also the first World Cup in which assists were used as a tie-breaker in determining the Golden Shoe award for top scorer.[7][8] In the event, both Hristo Stoichkov and Oleg Salenko finished with 19 points, from 6 goals and 1 assist.[8] FIFA's Technical Study Group is responsible for awarding assist points.[9]

It is official practice for certain leagues to keep record of assists. The United States' Major League Soccer, for instance, formerly awarded the MLS Golden Boot based on 2 points per goal scored and one per assist. The all-time leader in assists in Major League Soccer is midfielder Steve Ralston, with 135 assists as of August 2011.[10] The French league, Ligue 1, awards the Trophée de Meilleur Passeur ("best passer trophy") to the leader in assists following every season, the 2007–08 recipient being Jérôme Leroy.[11]

The NCAA makes regulations for statistics, including assists, in college soccer in the U.S.[12] Two players may be credited with assists if the second did not have to beat a defender before passing to the scorer.[13] No assist is awarded for winning a penalty.[14] If a goal is scored after a save, block, or rebound from the goal frame, the first shooter gets an assist.[15]

In Britain, all game statistics, including assists, for the Premier League, the Scottish Premier League and the Football League are provided by PA Sport under the Actim brand.[16] Since the 2006–07 season, assists have been factored into the Actim Index of Premier League player performance.[17]

References

  1. ^ "Haverford College vs Alvernia College". Haverford College. 2007-09-18. http://www.haverford.edu/athletics/soccerm/07Stats/070918hm.htm. Retrieved 2008-07-29. 
  2. ^ "NASL Top Scorer Award". midfielddynamo. http://www.midfielddynamo.com/players/awards/usa_nasl_ts.htm. Retrieved 2008-07-29. 
  3. ^ a b FIFA Technical Study Group (1986). "1986 World Cup Technical Report, part 4". FIFA. p. 198. http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/afdeveloping/techdevp/fwc%5fmexico%5f1986%5fen%5fpart4%5f279.pdf. Retrieved 2008-07-29. 
  4. ^ FIFA Technical Study Group (1990). "1990 World Cup Technical Report, part 6". FIFA. p. 281. http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/afdeveloping/techdevp/fwc%5fitaly%5f1990%5fa%5fpart6%5f273.pdf. Retrieved 2008-07-29. 
  5. ^ "World Cup 1966 statistics". Planet World Cup. http://www.planetworldcup.com/CUPS/1966/wc66statistics.html. Retrieved 2008-07-29. 
  6. ^ "World Cup 1986 statistics". Planet World Cup. http://www.planetworldcup.com/CUPS/1986/wc86statistics.html. Retrieved 2008-07-29. 
  7. ^ a b c Bryan, Rebecca (11 July 1994). "Football by the numbers". Los Angeles: Agence France Presse. "the assist has gained enough ground to earn a place in the calculations for the Golden Boot award, which in every previous World Cup has been awarded solely on the basis of goals scored. Under the formula, players get three points for a goal, and one point for an assist. "We made a two point difference because we do not want someone who did not score winning the award," a FIFA official said." 
  8. ^ a b "Romario is voted the top player of World Cup '94 and winner of the FIFA/adidas Golden Ball award; Salenko and Stoichkov tie as leading scorers for World Cup USA '94". Business Wire. 17 July 1994. "[FIFA] has announced Oleg Salenko (Russia) and Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria) as [...] winners of the prestigious adidas Golden Shoe award [...] who made six goals and one assist each. Kennet Andersson (Sweden) with 5 goals and 3 assists, will receive a Bronze replica of the Predator [...] Throughout World Cup '94, three points were awarded for each goal scored and one point for each assist leading to a goal, with a maximum of two assists per goal. Assists are only taken into account if two or more players scored the same number of goals." 
  9. ^ "adidas Golden Shoe Award". FIFA. http://www.fifa.com/mm/document/fifafacts/mcwc/ip-301_03a_fwc-awards_new_2466.pdf. Retrieved 2008-07-29. 
  10. ^ "All Time Leaders: Assists". Major League Soccer. http://www.mlssoccer.com/stats/alltime?group=ASSISTS&op=Search&form_build_id=form-14a1cde9fa22f6d2ec85a2a7409fbf00&form_id=mls_stats_alltime_form. Retrieved 2011-08-12. 
  11. ^ "Classement Passeur". Lfp.fr. http://www.lfp.fr/ligue1/classementPasseur.asp. Retrieved 2009-10-31. 
  12. ^ "Section 5: Assists". Official Soccer Statistics Rules; Approved Rulings and Interpretations. NCAA. 2009. p. 2. http://web1.ncaa.org/web_files/stats/Stats_Manuals/Soccer/2009ez.pdf#page=2. Retrieved 25 June 2010. 
  13. ^ NCAA Official Soccer Statistics Rules, §5.Art 1.(1)
  14. ^ NCAA Official Soccer Statistics Rules, §5.Art 1.(3)
  15. ^ NCAA Official Soccer Statistics Rules, §5.Art 1.(8),(9)
  16. ^ "Actim Stats Frequently Asked Questions". PA Sport. http://www.pa-sport.com/en/actim/actim-stats-faqs.html. Retrieved 2008-07-29. 
  17. ^ "Actim Index Explained". PA Sport. http://www.pa-sport.com/en/actim/actim-index-explained.html. Retrieved 2008-07-29.