By Jon Vine
Whether you like your footballing traditions, are a superstitious type, or simply just have a lucky digit, most football fans will have their favoured squad number – a number they will imagine having on their back whilst daydreaming about playing for their boyhood club.
Many professional players are exactly the same as us and will ask for a specific number before the squad lists are announced at the start of the season. Here are a few examples of famous squad numbers and the players that chose to carry them.
1
The goalkeeper is always the first name on the team sheet. Every goalkeeper in the world will hope to wear the number one shirt, as it signifies being first choice, the best ‘keeper on the team. There may be some infrequent exceptions, where keepers have stuck with their first ever squad number, but the likes of Schmeichel, Buffon, Casillas, Kahn, Cech, Yashin, Banks and Zoff all wore the number one shirt.
10
The number ten shirt is usually reserved for the playmaker, the player who conducts a team’s attacking movement. As this position calls for a special kind of player, the number ten has become synonymous with some of the world’s most talented footballers. Pele, Maradona, Eusebio, Puscas, the list goes on, but all these outstanding footballers wore the number ten shirt for club and country. In the modern game, Lionel Messi is the most prominent number ten in the business, as he carries on a long list of sporting superstars who sported the famous number.
7
Like the aforementioned number ten shirt, the number seven squad number is also reserved for one of the best players on the team. Top players like George Best and Kenny Dalglish helped establish the mystique surrounding the hallowed number seven shirt, a reputation which has only grown over the last few decades. Cantona, Beckham, Figo, Raul, Pires, Cristiano Ronaldo. There have been so many brilliant footballers who have worn the number seven shirt for respective teams – and I’m sure there will be plenty more to come.
13
Although traditionally reserved for the teams back-up goalkeeper, the number 13 shirt has managed to escape the confines of the substitutes bench and find its way onto the back of some of the world’s best footballers. The number 13 has long been associated with bad luck, but that hasn’t stopped the likes of Michael Ballack, Alessandro Nesta and Thomas Muller enjoying long, successful careers carrying this historically unlucky number.
14
There are many personal and traditional reasons why a player might want to be assigned a certain squad number, but the late, great Johan Cruyff chose the number 14 simply by chance. Teammate Gerrie Muhren couldn’t find his usual number nine shirt, so Cruyff handed over his own number seven jersey and pulled a spare out of the kit basket – which just happened to be the number 14 and he stuck with it from then on. Cruyff’s influence on the game has meant the number 14 shirt has become highly coveted, with players like Thierry Henry and Xabi Alonso choosing to wear the 14 shirt for both club and country. In homage to Cruyff’s career, Ajax retired his number 14 shirt – and since the great man passed away earlier this year, it seems fitting to end on the squad number his excellence made famous.
