Ever since I was a kid I have always been fascinated and very interested in sporting records and statistics. As a young lad, at Christmas and birthdays, family members would often buy me Football History books, Guinness Book of World Records and Rugby League record books as presents as they knew I had interest in sports history and records. I carried this interest into my teenage years where I actually started producing my own record books for different sports.
I enjoyed looking at which teams or individuals dominated sports over certain periods and I also enjoyed looking up attendances too. This may all sound like a sad hobby, it probably was but I am happy that I followed this interest through to my adulthood in a different way as I now have my own Football and Athletics statistics of my own personal performances, something I can look back on in later life.
Below is a picture of the very exercise books I have used to record all my Football statistics since I began recording them 12 years ago.....
For about 10 or 11 of the years I recorded my statistics, I even used to record down every goal and assist I made for each team I played for, whether it was eleven a side, five a side or indoor Futsal, it is all there and I used to use these statistics to see which teams I was on form for and which teams I needed to improve.
See the picture below of one of the season's I had recorded for each team.....
I didn't score that many goals between the ages of 17 and 21 and to be honest, I did have a year or two out of any competitive football all together when I was 18 and 19, due to me discovering alcohol and living the party lifestyle. It wasn't until I had just turned 20, I think and I played in a charity 5 a side match with work in 2005 and I realised how unfit I had become and more importantly how much I missed playing the sport of football.
I gradually started playing a bit more and then joined a 5 a side team and the rest is history, I decided to join a gym to get fit again and I quickly got back into playing all forms of competitive football ranging from eleven a side to 5 a side. It was then that I started developing my game and I practised and practised my shooting to the point where it became second nature to hit the target and that is when I started scoring more goals and learned new ways of shooting and my confidence in front of goal grew, I'd say the age of 22 is when I really started to get an eye for scoring goals.
MY COMPETITIVE FOOTBALL STATISTICS:
All forms of football including:
11 a side, 5 a side, Futsal, indoor, 7 a side, 6 a side & other small sided forms
APPEARANCES = 814
GOALS = 1,004
ASSISTS = 791
PENALTIES SCORED (all 5 a side) = 20 (of 24 attempts)
FREE KICKS SCORED = 3
MAN OF THE MATCH AWARDS = 57
HAT-TRICKS = 136
CONSECUTIVE HAT-TRICKS = 5
MILESTONES (5 goals in a game) = 21
MOST GOALS IN A MATCH = 7
YELLOW CARDS = 0
RED CARDS = 0
BLUE CARDS (5 a side sin bin) = 1
TEAM HONOURS = 27
INDIVIDUAL HONOURS = 11
TEAMS CAPTAINED = 3
MINOR SHORT TERM INJURIES = 15
SERIOUS LONG TERM INJURIES = 0
DATE UPDATED: 3 August 2014
GOALS TO GAMES RATIO:
AFTER 500 GOALS (in 454 games)
aged 25 in June 2010
= 1.1 goals per game
BETWEEN 500 & 1,000 GOALS (in 360 games)
ages 25 to 29 from June 2010 - August 2014
= 1.3 goals per game
AFTER 1,000 GOALS (in 814 games)
aged 29 in August 2014
= 1.2 goals per game
MY PRIME / PEAK - AGES / YEARS IN ALL FOOTBALL
In periods when on top form and fully fit.
25 (2010), 27 (2012), 28 (2013), 29 (2014)
So what am I aiming for next? Originally I thought reaching 500 or a bit over would be the pinnacle and it seemed to take an eternity to reach 500 but once I reached that milestone at quite a youngish age (25), I set out to try and reach 1,000 and here I am now. To be honest a year or so after I reached 500 I wasn't convinced I would ever get there as I suffered a foot injury not long after I reach 500 and I was regularly getting injured with it and I was out for probably 6 or 7 months on and off and I had lost confidence in dribbling at players, which is what my main strength was, beating players and shooting at goal, I actually questioned whether I had peaked.
I had no choice but to try and adapt and change my game into a more passing style of play as I was worried about my foot getting kicked all the time as it was so weak. I kind of accepted my best was behind me and I decided to take my athletics and running to the next level and joined Kirkstall Harriers running club in November 2011.
I began noticing a huge difference quickly with my foot, the running seemed to strengthen my foot. I started to get my confidence back and due to the intense training I had started doing with my running, my speed exploded onto a new level, I had all my attributes back but this time as I developed into my physical prime as an athlete I had never been so fast at dribbling with the ball, never been so explosive off the mark, I was 27 and I had never felt so fit.
I then joined the gym after several years away and I started weight training again and then with the speed and explosiveness came the power and upper body strength, on top of that, the experience of adapting my style to a more passing style while I was injured with my right foot and having to use my left foot, I had so much more in my locker and I feel I was the most complete as a player I could be at 28. I had two quite bad injuries during this time, due to over training with my marathon season but both times I overcame the injuries and came back stronger.
Now at 29, I feel I am still in my footballing prime, although my top performances are less frequent and my ankle joints and the slight lack of flexibility due to me approaching 30 means that I feel I am just coming to the end of my peak now. I have now pretty much stopped weight training and mainly work on core strength and do a bit of boxing too and it has helped me get some of my athleticism back and I am trying to keep my speed.
NEXT TARGET REACH 1,000 GAMES (on 814 now)
If I achieve this, which as long as I don't get injured I think I will do it in maybe early to mid 2016? Then I will try to reach 1,000 assists, then who knows? I guess it depends when I stop playing competitively.
Check out some footage of a couple of the goals I have scored below and some other pictures.
See the picture below.
RiChYcArDo JoYcInHo No7 !! -
Richard Kennedy-Joyce (formerly Richard Joyce)
RJ SPORTS
Instagram: @joycinho
Twitter: @joycinho @rjsports1