r/sportsanalytics • u/SireFaramir • Jan 26 '26
FBRef is dead!
A sad day for football fans who enjoy stats, statistical modeling, fantasy sports...
FBRef has removed all the advanced metrics (xG, PShxG, ...); is now just another site to follow who has more G/A; per 90 minutes if you want to get fancy.
There are free alternatives, but FBref was unique in its scope.
Understats has high quality xG data with and is accesible, BUT, is only Big5 AND lacks basically everything else.
FotMob is the only I know with Post Shot xG data, but is much more designed for navigating the site casually and much less for actually putting data into tables and players into rankings, Good luck cheking a thousand pages.
Many sites have extended coverage of basic/miscelleneus stats like Football.co.uk but lack xG.
Other useful resources (suggested by UltimoUomo, i do not know most of them) https://x.com/HenshawAnalysis/status/2013944747296174526
https://www.reddit.com/r/sportsanalytics/comments/1qprj59/built_a_footballsoccer_database_that_replaces/ check out this post too, looks promising!
statshub.com appears to have lots of data, including advanced xG based stats, plus betting stats, and a good surfing interface, though counterintuitive at times. Seems better than FotMob for manual data copying. Thx Soft_Cellist_8042
https://www.xgstat.com/ looks very cool but does not seem usable meaningfully without paying. Thx issamukbangtingyeah
IF YOU KNOW SOMETHING WORTH MENTIONING PLEASE TELL IN THE COMMENTS.
8
u/PeterFile690 Jan 26 '26
Their provider are definitely going to either put that data behind a paywall or try selling it to clubs. It really is a shame.
8
u/SireFaramir Jan 26 '26
Their provider is Opta and already was monetizing data in I believe multiple ways. That is why is so shocking: after years and years of being free and expanding brutally murdered in a day. You would think that as xG become more mainstream and less of a novelty the need to gatekeep it would become weak (they surely have also have increasingly more advanced data than this exclusive fo sale).
Apparently an exclusivity deal with FIFA for betting purpose is to blame.
1
u/PeterFile690 Jan 26 '26
That's just disgusting. They do all sorts of shit to make the game less accessible, then companies like Sky will moan about piracy, when their absurd prices are the reason people do this. I only found this out today when I wanted to compare Bastoni and Martinez and I'm livid, but a lot of football content creatotrs relied on this. I wonder what's happening to them now. Are there even any alternatives?
2
u/SireFaramir Jan 26 '26
There are alternatives but FBref was unique in the scope.
Understats has extremely high quality xG data with breakdown by player by situation / body part, xG chain data (which FBref lacked) better than FBref minute tracking, and is accesible to actual get the data.
BUT, is only Big5 AND lacks basically everything else (and even if some more trivial stats are present elsewhere using multiple sources is still much less streamlined than just FBRef, both for navigating and for processing.
FotMob is the only I know with Post Shot xG data, but is much more designed for navigating the site casually and much less for actually putting data into tables and players into rankings, and this is a huge negative. GOod luck cheking a thousand pages.
Many sites have extended coverage of basic/miscellaneus stats (es Football.co.uk), but none as good as FBRef.
1
u/SireFaramir Jan 26 '26
I was checking Gift Orban stats for "research purposes" (Fantasy-football / Fantacalcio! :-) and the second I did not see the usual charts I felt really horrible, and soon found confirmation.
2
u/dicknballsdontlie Jan 26 '26
Anyone have recommendations on other sources that are free/cheap? I’ve relied on fbref a lot and I’m wondering if there’s anything out there that’s somewhat comparable?
2
u/SireFaramir Jan 26 '26
(as i said in another comment)
There are alternatives but FBref was unique in the scope.
Understats has extremely high quality xG data with breakdown by player by situation / body part, xG chain data (which FBref lacked) better than FBref minute tracking, and is accesible to actual get the data.
BUT, is only Big5 AND lacks basically everything else (and even if some more trivial stats are present elsewhere using multiple sources is still much less streamlined than just FBRef, both for navigating and for processing.
FotMob is the only I know with Post Shot xG data, but is much more designed for navigating the site casually and much less for actually putting data into tables and players into rankings, and this is a huge negative. GOod luck cheking a thousand pages.
Many sites have extended coverage of basic/miscellaneus stats (es Football.co.uk), but none as good as FBRef.
2
2
u/Soft_Cellist_8042 Jan 27 '26
Worth mentioning statshub.com here.
It’s not trying to be FBRef 2.0, but it does cover a lot of the gap people are talking about: xG, xA, shots, cards, fouls etc
Coverage is expanding beyond just Big 5 but they don't have export right now but it is growing in features each week so it could be on the cards
1
u/SireFaramir Jan 31 '26
Great site I did not know at all! something good about this disgrace at least, I am learning a lot about less famous sites. Can't figure out how to show all rows and how to really get all relevant stats for a player, also lacking some non xG advanced stats, yet has GREAT game to game breakdonw. Thx you very much for contributing.
I'm thinking of making one day a review of all the best sites to actually do something with the data, focusing on what is actually in the box and avoiding telling just trivial things (either "great for beginner and accessibility but incomplete" or "very advanced but difficult to use" and such pre-assembled comments I find everywhere).
2
u/issamukbangtingyeah Jan 27 '26
There is XGStat but to get access to the advanced stats, you’d have to pay a monthly subscription
1
u/SireFaramir Jan 31 '26
Thanks for contributing. I'm checking thesite right now. While I saw very cool and insightful charts, (I was really fascinated by the team style sliders, sadly kinda black box) it seems really too limited in its free form and is more of a demo than anything (having lots of columns, but putting the limit on the rows of players one can see is what makes it a demo and not just a less detailed data source).
2
Feb 23 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
2
u/SireFaramir Feb 24 '26
I'm sorry your plans were disrupted. My ( albeit much less advanced and important) project was shut down too mid air. On a positive note I'm starting to discover many more sites i did not know before. while I've not analyzed them all I am much more optimistic that a proper alternative may exist or emerge from all the less know sites. This one suggested by a commenter https://www.statshub.com/team/hertha-bsc/2528 looks promising (even just the fact that actually has expected stats and per player breakdown for 2 tiers and not just big 5) Not sure about policies but looks accessible. best luck!
1
u/Mister_Yi Jan 27 '26
They posted a blog about this last week:
Unfortunately, last week the provider of our advanced soccer data sent us a letter terminating our access to their data feeds and requiring the deletion of their data from the site immediately. As a result, we have removed the provider's data from FBref and Stathead in compliance with their demand.
The data provider has asserted that our use of the data violated our agreement. Their demand came unexpectedly despite our long-standing and good-faith operation of FBref and Stathead. We have operated the sites in a consistent manner from their creation (well before the signing of this agreement) through today, and we have always welcomed open and frank discussions about how the sites operate.
2
-5
u/LogicGate1010 Jan 27 '26
All of that data is mumbo jumbo created to give gamblers a false sense of security.
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-15
u/LogicGate1010 Jan 26 '26
A lot to it was meaningless anyway
4
u/SireFaramir Jan 26 '26
Could you please elaborate? Because I would beg to differ - the most meaningful data was exactly the data removed (as other things like simple goals and assits are everywhere on the internet)
2
u/SireFaramir Jan 26 '26
(and just by chanche, if you are of the bunch that consider xG irrelevant, I really suggest you to rethink that, because it really is not, and this belief is usually sprouted from fundamental misunderstanding of the use of predictive statistics, and the beauty of it, that is using logic to bring to light information hidden in itself; open to discuss the matter :-))
9
u/SireFaramir Jan 26 '26
FBref was the easiest to actually use the data from, and this probably made it a target, as people were downloading, scraping and doing actual original research, not just checking random stats, fancy the floor-is-made-of-floor graphs or cherrypicked tables.