Broadcasters and data sites show percentages like possession, pass accuracy and shot accuracy, but if you track a match yourself, you only have raw counts. The GlobeHour Football Match Statistics Calculator turns those counts into the same kind of stat sheet you see on TV.

Enter what you have for each team, from goals and shots to passes, crosses, tackles, aerial duels, saves, corners, fouls and cards. The calculator works out every percentage, shows which team leads each stat and adds up the match totals. It’s ideal for coaches, analysts, writers and parents tracking grassroots games.

In this example, City Rovers lead 10 stats and United Town lead 2, but United Town were more accurate and more clinical with the few shots they had.

There are two main ways to measure possession:

• Pass-based: used by Opta. A team’s possession is its share of all completed passes in the match. It’s easy to calculate from match data, which is why this calculator uses it.
• Time-based: a person or tracking system records how long each team has the ball, like a chess clock, and ignores time when the ball is out of play.

Because the pass-based method counts passes rather than seconds, teams that play lots of short passes can show more possession than a stopwatch would give them. If you have a time-based figure, enter it to compare the two side by side. If completed passes aren’t available, the calculator uses passes attempted instead.

You don’t need expensive software to collect useful numbers. A simple tally sheet works well:

• Shots: mark every attempt at goal, and circle the ones that are on target.
• Passes: count attempts and completions for one half at a time, or ask a helper for each team.
• Defending: note tackles won and lost, aerial duels won and goalkeeper saves.
• Set pieces and discipline: count corners, offsides, fouls and cards.