In its 26th year challenging Taiwan's foremost amateur football competition, the Mighty Shane managed a fourth place finish in the Taiwan International Football League (TIFL).
Underscored by breathtaking highs and heartbreaking lows, it was was a season to remember.
Here’s a rundown of some of the stats we’ve managed in the league along the way.
Defensive Dominance
Mighty Shane has always been well known for its defensive fortitude, and it’s been another solid year at the back for Shane.
Protected by the safe hands of our ever-reliable goalkeeper Adam Lupinski, we managed to collect a staggering 5 clean sheets in 11 games.
That's a clean sheet in 45% of our league games!
These inspired goalkeeping performances and the consistent doggedness of the Shane defense have resulted in the team conceding only 1.09 goals per game.
Which meant the Mighty Shane conceded the second fewest goals in the league – only one more than league champions, B52 Carnegies.
Fair Play Flourishes
Mighty Shane’s brave defensive displays (and recent history) may have you believing there must have been a number of professional and cynical fouls in the mix – but we were only shown 9 cards all season.
That's a card every 0.72 games.
And it amounts to one yellow card every 65 minutes across the season! Our captain, Jamie Smith, managed to receive more than that himself a few years ago.
So it's no surprise the bulk of the cards this season were shown to Jamie, with 2, and his midfield partner Jayke Langley, with 3.
62% of the Mighty Shane's cards this season came from the duo.
Surprisingly, Shane defenders only managed to collect 2 cards across the league season, with Jack Snart and Luke Venn earning one apiece.
Shockingly, vice-captain, Danny Miller, and resident hothead, Dan Engel, managed an entire season kicking, clearing, and clattering attackers with their invisibility cloaks on and weren't shown a single card. Take a bow!
Scoring Struggles
The Mighty Shane started the season slowly and managed to go the first 3 games without a goal.
Despite the struggle, a change in shape improved our fortunes, and the goals started to flow. Across the season, we averaged 1.72 goals per game, which is a goal every 52 minutes.
The bulk of these goals came from the prolific Lukas Tschojer, who won the golden boot with 6 goals.
Second in the race was Mighty Shane legend, Zach Paruch, with 3, followed by Big Sam Gooding and Dan Swift, with 2 apiece.
Various other players popped up with vital goals throughout the season. These goals were spread out across the team, with the attacking players grabbing 42%, midfielders with 52%, and the defenders grabbing 6% of the total goals.
Creative Contributions
While goal scoring was a problem for the Mighty Shane this season, it was not for a lack of chances.
One player that created a lot of those chances was also this year's Mighty Shane assist king, Dan Swift, who had 3 assists – all from well-executed crosses.
In second place, we have 4 players each on 2 assists: Blake Pattenden, Jayke Langley, Zach Paruch, and Sam Gooding.
The majority of Shane’s assists have come from midfield this year, with a whopping 86% coming from the middle of the park, and the other 14% coming from attackers.
Goal-Type Tapestry
This brings us to the types of goals the Mighty Shane have scored this season.
The plurality of our goals have come from transitional play high up the pitch, with 26% of goals resulting from the high-intensity pressing we like to impose on teams to create quick opportunities.
Our second most prolific types of play were passing (21%) and crossing (21%) phases of play, which were both achieved by fluid football from back to front.
Additional goal types the Mighty Shane scored were set pieces (16%), which varied from indirect free kicks and corners.
Finally, we have penalties, from which 16% of our goals were scored.
Looking Forward
Overall, it’s been a mediocre season for the Mighty Shane, with 4 wins, 4 draws, and 4 losses – which is great to look at for those with OCD.
But across the season, there've been several games with wasted opportunities and huge xG in which we’ve managed to squander chances.
While last season ultimately ended in disappointment as well, we still managed 1.64 points per game in 22/23.
This season, only 1.33 points per game.
We have to be looking to maintain our defensive solidity and disciplinary record and improve our goalscoring form in the 2024/2025 season.
Dry your eyes and up the SHANE!
* Special thanks to Jayke Langley for compiling the data and creating the visualizations
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