FBref

FBref
Name	FBref
Type	Sports statistics
Owner	Sports Reference LLC
Launch	2019
Language	English
Current status	Active

FBref is an online database providing detailed statistics and player profiles for association football. It aggregates match data, player metrics, team records, and competition histories to support fans, analysts, journalists, and researchers. The site is operated by Sports Reference LLC and integrates datasets and methodologies from multiple providers and academic approaches.

Overview

FBref offers squad pages, competition pages, and player pages covering international and club competitions such as the FIFA World Cup, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, English Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, MLS Cup, CONCACAF Gold Cup, Copa América, AFC Asian Cup, CAF African Cup of Nations, UEFA European Championship, Coppa Italia, Taça de Portugal, Copa Libertadores, CONMEBOL Copa Sudamericana, J1 League, Russian Premier League, Eredivisie, Primeira Liga, Scottish Premiership, Turkish Süper Lig, Belgian Pro League, Swiss Super League, A-League Men, K League 1, Argentine Primera División, Uruguayan Primera División, Mexican Primera División, Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, Indian Super League, Saudi Pro League, UEFA Nations League, FIFA Club World Cup, UEFA Europa Conference League, Intercontinental Cup, Coppa Libertadores Femenina, Women’s World Cup, FA Cup, EFL Cup, Community Shield, DFB-Pokal, Copa del Rey, Supercopa de España and domestic supercups. The project is linked operationally to Sports Reference brands like Baseball-Reference, Basketball-Reference, Hockey-Reference and Pro-Football-Reference.

Data and Statistics

FBref compiles traditional statistics and advanced metrics including appearances, goals, assists, minutes, shots, passes, tackles, interceptions, clearances, dribbles, crosses, fouls, yellow cards, red cards and goalkeeper statistics. It also includes advanced data such as expected goals from providers used by Opta Sports, Stats Perform, Wyscout, InStat, STATS LLC and academic datasets from researchers affiliated with institutions like Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, Stanford University, University of Liverpool, University of Salford, Loughborough University, University of Manchester and University of Copenhagen. FBref presents stat tables for competitions contested by clubs like Manchester United F.C., Real Madrid CF, FC Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus F.C., Paris Saint-Germain F.C., Liverpool F.C., Chelsea F.C., AC Milan, Inter Milan, Borussia Dortmund, Atlético Madrid, FC Porto, SL Benfica, Ajax Amsterdam, Sporting CP and national teams such as Brazil national football team, Argentina national football team, Spain national football team, Germany national football team, France national football team, England national football team, Italy national football team.

Coverage and Teams

Coverage extends across men's and women's competitions and youth levels from academies tied to clubs like Arsenal F.C., Manchester City F.C., Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Everton F.C., West Ham United F.C., Newcastle United F.C., Leicester City F.C., Southampton F.C., Bayer 04 Leverkusen, RB Leipzig, Sevilla FC, Real Sociedad, Villarreal CF, Olympique Lyonnais, Olympique de Marseille, AS Roma, SSC Napoli, Fiorentina, Celtic F.C., Rangers F.C., Club América, Cruz Azul, Boca Juniors, River Plate, Flamengo, Palmeiras, Santos FC, Gremio and national associations such as The Football Association, Royal Spanish Football Federation, Italian Football Federation, German Football Association, French Football Federation, Brazilian Football Confederation, Argentine Football Association, Mexican Football Federation, Japan Football Association, Confederation of African Football, CONMEBOL, CONCACAF, UEFA, AFC.

Methodology and Metrics

FBref documents calculation methods for rate statistics, per 90 metrics, and percentile ranks, adapting techniques used in peer-reviewed analyses from journals and conferences such as Journal of Sports Sciences, PLOS ONE, SAGE Journals, MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference and datasets used by analytics teams at Liverpool F.C. and Manchester City F.C.. It displays metrics like xG, xA, xGChain, xGBuildup, progressive passes, progressive carries, pressures, passes into final third, passes into penalty area and possession-adjusted measures. These approaches reference statistical techniques developed in collaboration with companies like Opta Sports, StatsBomb, Tracab, Catapult Sports and academic centers including Carnegie Mellon University, University of Cambridge Centre for Sports and Exercise Sciences, University of Bath.

History and Development

FBref launched as an expansion of Sports Reference’s family led by founders and developers who previously produced historical projects such as Pro-Football-Reference and Basketball-Reference. Its development incorporated data licensing deals and technical partnerships with event data companies like Opta Sports and StatsBomb, and it evolved alongside competitions such as the 2018 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2020, 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup and the growth of analytics in clubs like Brentford F.C. and FC Midtjylland. The platform’s growth paralleled trends seen in sports analytics movements documented at conferences like the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference and in media outlets such as The Athletic, BBC Sport, Sky Sports, The Guardian (London), The New York Times, ESPN, FourFourTwo, Bleacher Report, Goal (website), The Independent (UK), La Gazzetta dello Sport.

Reception and Use in Media and Research

FBref is cited by journalists and analysts in coverage of matches and transfers involving players such as Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kevin De Bruyne, Erling Haaland, Mohamed Salah, Robert Lewandowski, Harry Kane, Neymar Jr., Sergio Ramos, Virgil van Dijk, N'Golo Kanté, Bruno Fernandes, Heung-min Son and clubs involved in high-profile competitions. Academics use FBref tables for reproducible research alongside datasets from GitHub, Kaggle, arXiv preprints, and university repositories. The resource is referenced in scouting discussions at agencies like CIES Football Observatory, Scout7, WyScout and in analysis by broadcasters such as Sky Sports and BT Sport.

Technical Infrastructure and Accessibility

FBref is built on web technologies integrating relational data tables, CSV exports, and interlinked pages similar to Sports Reference sites. It supports data downloads and user navigation optimized for desktop and mobile browsers; the technical ecosystem interoperates with analytics tools including R (programming language), Python (programming language), Pandas (software), Jupyter Notebook, SQL, Tableau (software), Power BI and developer platforms such as GitHub. Accessibility and dataset licensing reflect agreements with data providers and compliance with web best practices promoted by organizations like World Wide Web Consortium, Internet Engineering Task Force and standards discussed at conferences like Web Summit.

Category:Association football websites