From the NY Times... Trying to assess causality is complex, though penalties can be fairly rigorously tested. Football is an open sport with constantly moving parts and 22 players, but penalties are as closed a skill as you will find: the ball and players are always in the same places, the distance is unchanged, the ball is static and the taker has one touch to score.
Since 2019-20 — our reference point because of law changes — left-footers have scored 84.7 per cent of Premier League penalties, over five per cent higher than right-footers (79.4 per cent). The left-footers could just be better penalty-takers, regardless of footedness, but this seems unlikely as they and right-footers miss at almost identical rates: 6.1 per cent for right-footers; 6.5 per cent for left-footers. The difference is in save rates: goalkeepers save 14.4 per cent of right-footed penalties but only 8.7 per cent of left-footed ones.
Would that possibly be because goalies practice so much more against right footed players and therefore read them better?
Regarding other suggestions above ... Bob Curtis was very definitely a right-back and was right-footed. And Tommy Caton was a central defender and I don't recall him taking penalties or being left-footed.
I'll also guess that, if Phil Warman took a penalty, it would probably end up in our net. He wasn't called 'Warman (OG)' for nothing.
Morts did fill in at left back and scored 6/7. How many of those he took when playing in that position I do not know. Caton was left footed but, again, left back wasn't his main position. He scored 3/3 including our winner away to Middlesbrough
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