A stat that stands the test of time
Ten. That’s the number of players who have scored a hat-trick on the opening weekend of a Premier League season since 1992. Opta dug the figure out again a few days ago, just as the English top flight was getting back up and running.
The first was Mick Quinn. In 1993-94, the Coventry striker scored three at Highbury and handed Arsenal a 3-0 opening-day beating. More than 30 years on, he is still the last player to net a hat-trick away to the Gunners. Quinn, though, only managed five more goals in his next 31 matches that season.
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Ravanelli, Dublin and the odd one out
The 1996-97 season is the only one to feature two opening-day hat-tricks. Fabrizio Ravanelli did it for Middlesbrough against Liverpool (3-3), Kevin Campbell for Nottingham Forest at Coventry (0-3). Both clubs involved were relegated at the end of the campaign.
Ravanelli still has a quirk nobody has matched: he remains the only player to score a Premier League hat-trick on his debut. He was also the first Italian to score in the competition. Campbell, meanwhile, became the first player in 1999 to score hat-tricks for three different clubs.
Dion Dublin has his own place in the record books. His opening-day treble in 1997-98, against Chelsea, is the only one that led to a Golden Boot by season’s end. Those three goals made up 17% of his yearly haul, a prize he shared with Chris Sutton and Michael Owen.
An opening-day hat-trick does not win you the title
Matt Le Tissier scored the first Premier League hat-trick built entirely from set pieces in 1995-96: two penalties and a direct free-kick. Southampton still lost 4-3 to Nottingham Forest. It was his ninth and final three-goal haul for the club.
Gabriel Agbonlahor holds the age record on this list, at 21 years and 308 days. His 2008-09 hat-trick against Manchester City was perfect in the strictest sense, right foot, left foot and header, wrapped up in seven minutes and 10 seconds.
One pattern runs through the whole lot. No player to score a hat-trick on the opening weekend has gone on to win the title that season. Didier Drogba in 2010-11, Raheem Sterling in 2019-20 and Mohamed Salah in 2020-21 all scored three for the defending champions. None ended up lifting the trophy in May. Bruno Fernandes, the 10th and latest man on the list with his hat-trick against Leeds in 2021-22, did nothing to break the curse.
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