Matt Connolly's third own goal of the season prompted me to while away an hour or two looking up our own goal stats.
As far as individual players are concerned, Connolly is indeed now amongst the top ten 'own goalers' in our league history. Unsurprisingly, Danny Malloy is a clear leader with 8. Colin Baker, Dave Carver and Don Murray each managed 5 with Alec Milne and Jason Perry getting 4. Connolly joins Stan Montgomery, Alf Sherwood and Phil Dwyer with 3. A few other names mentioned in the thread as prolific own-goalers didn't actually score that many in reality. Darren Purse only got 2 while Paul Went didn't score any while with us. Connolly does share with Danny Malloy the record of 3 own-goals in one season.
As a team, we only need to concede one more own-goal this season for it to be the second-worse own-goal season in our history. 1957-58 was our worst with 7. We managed 4 in 6 previous seasons - the last time in 2000/2001 - and we've matched that with 13 games still to go. We have managed a few own-goalless seasons - most recently our Premier League campaign of 2013/14. Our league average is about 1.5 own goals a season.
There do seem to be spells when own goals occur much more frequently than others. In the 19 seasons before the last war we only conceded a total of 10 own goals whereas we conceded 12 in a two-year period between September 1956 and September 1958. This may of course reflect differing interpretations of what is or isn't an own-goal. The deflected shot that finds the net always throws up some dispute as to who's goal it is. I've a feeling that in the 1920's credit was where possible, given to the attacker. I've always thought that our cup -winning goal of 1927 would these days be given as an own-goal by Lewis the Arsenal 'keeper.
Anyway a few last random facts about our own goals:
Danny Malloy is the only player to score 2 in one game v Liverpool in 1959
Dave Greene and Danny Gabbidon became the first pair of players to both score an own goal in the same match v Hull in 2000 - a feat repeated by Darren Purse and Kevin McNaughton against Plymouth in 2006.
George Wardle is the only player to score an own goal on his debut v QPR in 1947
Wardle (in the same match) is one of 8 players to score an own goal as well as a goal for us in the same game although Anthony Pilkington is the only player ever to score an own goal plus two for us in the game against Rotherham last month.