Billy Balmer, Jamie Carragher and football's own-goal merchants who finished in the red

Footballers who ended their careers with more own goals than goals

"How many professional players have ended their senior careers with more own goals than goals for their own team?" wonders Peter Clark. The Knowledge has previously examined the players with the most own goals, but never those who finished their professional careers in debit.

Francis Benali and Riccardo Ferri

Southampton cult hero Francis Benali scored only one "positive" goal in his career and was legendary for banging in goal-of-the-month contenders at his own end. "Most notably a bullet header against Oldham in the 1993-94 season," writes Daz Pearce. The Guardian could only find a couple of own goals for Benali, the other coming against Manchester United in 1999-2000 — though the absence of a comprehensive Southampton database means some may have slipped through the net.

Another unsentimental defender, Riccardo Ferri — the formidable stopper in Internazionale's title-winning side of 1988-89 — scored six goals and eight own goals in Serie A. He may yet be in credit overall, having scored three more goals in cup competitions, but own-goal data is only held for Serie A.

Jamie Carragher

"Jamie Carragher finished his career with four goals and seven own goals," writes Dean Whearty. "He even managed to score two in one match against Manchester United in 1999!" Carragher added another in the FA Cup final of 2006, though that had a happier ending for Liverpool. Some sources credit Carragher with five goals at the right end, including an equaliser against Middlesbrough in August 2008, but the official Premier League site puts that down as an Emmanuel Pogatetz own goal.

Sven van Beek, Luigi Zannier and Billy Balmer

"Sven van Beek is the all-time leading own-goal scorer for the Eredivisie, with eight in a career at Feyenoord, Willem II and Heerenveen, over the course of 12 seasons and 193 matches," writes Rob de Hair. "He only managed to score five goals for his own team in those matches." Van Beek, still playing in Qatar, appears to have netted five goals at the right end for Al-Shahania.

Another player on minus three is Luigi Zannier, a defender who played for several Italian clubs including Milan in the 1950s and 1960s. In Serie A matches he scored three and put in six at the wrong end.

But Zannier and company have nothing on Everton's Billy Balmer. "At the turn of the 20th century he netted eight goals during open play; all, unfortunately, at the wrong end of the pitch," writes Gavin Buckland. "In more than 300 appearances for the Toffees his only goal at the right end was a single penalty in 1899."