The Actim Index was renamed the EA Sports Player Performance Index in 2010 and is the industry official player ranking measurement for The Premier League, The Championship, and Scottish Premier League.
The Player performance EA Index ranks players each week by their position in a list, and the points build as the season progresses, moving players up and down the list. Whilst the algorithm behind how the ratings are calculated are not public, most of the measurements have been disclosed over time.
In 2006/07 season, 2 more measurements were added to the PPI. These were to award points for ‘player assists’, and also for ‘clean sheets’ to help equal out the opportunity for defenders and goalkeepers to be awarded points, since it has historically been strikers that have scored the highest such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Roque Santa Cruz, Fernando Torres, Emmanuel Adebayor and Carlos Tevez.
To formally quantify previous announcements such as a teams ‘best midfielder’, ‘player of the season’, most resilient defender’ ‘most influential on the pitch’ etc the Barclays Premier League developed an official player rating index call the Player Performance Index or PPI which is run by EA Sports.
The data is collected at all Premiership and Championship league matches by an official representative from the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA). They are usually ex-players that know the game in thorough detail to identify when points should be awarded. The official representative is assisted with video footage to help verify information and playback questionable actions. The index is then finalized and published to the public.
As part of the PPI, EA Sports also produce a list of the ‘Top 100 players’ and ‘Top 5 players by position’. This is kept up to date and changes as the season unfold on a Tuesday for all Barclays Premiership league fixtures, and a Thursday for all Coca-Cola Championship fixtures.
Example of top players in the Player Performance Index
How the Player Performance Index is ranked
The Player Performance Index uses 6 key measurements to determine and measure the players ‘contribution’ to the success of his or her team. By recording player statistics instead of opinion based observations, you can form a view which is non-biased as it’s made from proven statistics which build a picture of performance throughout the season. And as the season progresses, the statistics recorded can create a more and more accurate picture including identifying patterns of performance under different playing conditions. By having the EA SPORTS Player Performance Index (EA SPORTS PPI) disputes are easily settled when comparing or discussing player performance since the statistics measured create an objective and factually based ranking of the best players.6 Player Performance Index measurements
Each of the 6 key indices that make up the Player Performance Index have points associated to it to help rank the players. The 6 key indices are:- 1. Winning Performance
- 2. Player’s Performance per match
- 3. Player Appearances
- 4. Goals Scored
- 5. Player Assists
- 6. Clean Sheets
- Shots on target
- Tackles
- Saves
- Clearances
- Passes
- Dribbles
- Crosses
- Blocks
- Interceptions
- Shots off target
- Receiving a yellow or red card
- Charisma on pitch
- Signs of leadership
- Creative flair
- A top quality goal
Player Performance Index Rank Codes
The below are the shorthand references for the 6 indexes in the Player Performance Index:- R Rank
- LR – Last MATCH week’s rank
- APP – APPEARANCES THIS SEASON
- MINS – Minutes played this season
- AV.SC – Average Index score
- H.AV – Average Home Index score
- A.AV – Average Away Index score
- INDEX – Player performance index score