What F and A means in the Premier League table

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Matches aside, the league table is arguably the thing football fans view the most throughout a season.

Whether a club is fighting for the title, battling relegation or competing for a spot in Europe, supporters will regularly be keeping a close eye on the table – especially those who follow the Premier League given its worldwide appeal.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	LiverpoolLiverpool	25	18	6	1	60	24	36	60
2	ArsenalArsenal	25	15	8	2	51	22	29	53
3	Nottm ForestNottingham Forest	25	14	5	6	41	29	12	47
4	Man CityManchester City	25	13	5	7	52	35	17	44
5	B’mouthBournemouth	25	12	7	6	44	29	15	43
6	ChelseaChelsea	25	12	7	6	47	34	13	43
7	NewcastleNewcastle	25	12	5	8	42	33	9	41
8	FulhamFulham	25	10	9	6	38	33	5	39
9	Aston VillaAston Villa	25	10	8	7	35	38	-3	38
10	BrightonBrighton	25	9	10	6	38	38	0	37
11	BrentfordBrentford	25	10	4	11	43	42	1	34
12	TottenhamTottenham	25	9	3	13	49	37	12	30
13	Crystal PalaceCrystal Palace	25	7	9	9	29	32	-3	30
14	EvertonEverton	25	7	9	9	27	31	-4	30
15	Man UtdManchester United	25	8	5	12	28	35	-7	29
16	West HamWest Ham	25	7	6	12	29	47	-18	27
17	WolvesWolves	25	5	4	16	35	54	-19	19
18	IpswichIpswich	25	3	8	14	23	50	-27	17
19	LeicesterLeicester	25	4	5	16	25	55	-30	17
20	SouthamptonSouthampton	25	2	3	20	19	57	-38	9

Some aspects of the table are simpler to decipher than others, such as the amount of points each club has, although the two columns typically marked with an F and an A tend to confuse a few based on what we can see on Google Trends.

On that note, let’s take a look at the meaning of these two letters.

What F stands for in a league table

The F in a league table – which also often appears as GF – means how many goals each club has scored.

F is an abbreviation to shorten the word for.

What A stands for in a league table

In regards to A in a table – which, again, can also be written as GA – simply means goals against each club, the amount of goals a side has conceded.

You may notice the letters GD commonly placed next to F and A in the table, which means goal difference – the amount of goals a side has conceded deducted from their overall tally of goals scored.

Goal difference is used to separate sides who finish on the same amount of points.

What happens if two sides have the same amount of points and the same goal difference?

It is possible that two teams can finish a season on the same amount of points and the same goal difference.

In that scenario, the side who has scored the most goals comes out on top.

If that number remains the same, it goes down to who has the best head-to-head record between the two teams involved. Should there still be no way to split them, it comes down to away goals scored in these head-to-head clashes.

On the incredibly rare occasion that two teams still cannot be separated with all of the above taken into account, a play-off game at a neutral venue is arranged, should the clubs involved need to be separated to decide who wins a title, qualifies for Europe or goes down, for example.

A one-time play-off match of this nature has never happened before in Premier League history.