Ain’t Nothing But a Number

Up until 1928, soccer players didn’t even wear numbers on their jerseys. (The quaint phrase “taking a player’s name” that signifies a referee showing a yellow card to a player probably arose from this time of players without numbers.) Numbers were first used on the backs of jerseys in two games played on August 25, one between Arsenal and The Wednesday (since renamed Sheffield Wednesday), the other between Chelsea and Swansea Town.

Since that day, the numbering of players has gone through several stages. The longest stage was that in which numbers were given to the 11 starters on any given day. During this period, numbers were allocated based on position. Depending on the formation the team played, the numbers were passed out, with smaller numbers going to defenders and the largest numbers going to attackers, with midfielders in the middle (naturally enough).

According to Wikipedia’s article on squad numbers:

The typical numbering given above comes from the days when the 2-3-5 formation was used. With the convention of numbering from the back forwards and from right to left across each line the numbering is:

1. Goalkeeeper 2. Right full back (right back) 3. Left full back (left back) 4. Right half back (right half) 5. Centre half back (centre half) 6. Left half back (left half) 7. Outside right (right winger) 8. Inside right 9. Centre Forward 10. Inside left 11. Outside left (left winger)

Early evolutions of formations involved moving specific positions, e.g. moving the centre half back to become a defender rather than a half back. Their numbers went with them, hence central defenders wearing number 5. You can still see the effects of this system in operation. For example, in friendly and championship qualifying matches England, when playing the 4-4-2 formation, general number their players (using the standard right to left system of listing football teams) 4 defenders - 2,5,6,3; 4 midfielders - 7,4,8,11; 2 forwards - 9,10.

Ajax, with their traditional3-4-3 formation, use another unique numbering system:

• 1: goalkeeper
• 2: right back
• 3: sweeper
• 4: center back / defensive midfielder
• 5: left back
• 6: center midfielder
• 7: right winger
• 8: center midfielder
• 9: center forward
• 10: “shadow striker” / attacking center midfielder
• 11: left winger

The most recent stage of numbering has been that of “squad numbers.” Although the practice of giving numbers to each individual player on a team regardless of whether he was playing on any given day was first instituted in the 1954 World Cup, it did not take hold until much more recently. Indeed, the Premier League did not mandate squad numbers until the 1993-94 season.

Despite the fact that any player can, in theory, take any number players have generally stuck to tradition in selecting numbers that have historically corresponded to their positions. Thus, goalkeepers are most often #1, burly center backs numbers 5 or 6, creative midfielders #10, and traditional center forward types #9.

Thus, some recent examples of anomalous numbers have stood out. Khalid Bhoularouz (aka “The Cannibal”) moved to Chelsea over the summer and took #9, which looks a bit odd when he lines up in the back. Similarly, former Chelsea sulker, now Arsenal defender William Gallas looks a bit strange playing defense with #10.

But Gallas and Bhoularouz are simply using variations on traditional numbers. Some players have refused to be boxed in by traditional soccer numbers.

• Bixente Lizarazu has, in the past, worn #69, which he swears is because he was born in 1969 and 1.69 meters tall. Right…
• World Cup champion and current Serie B player Gianlugi Buffon once tried to wear #88. A number with apparently fascist significance, he denied he was trying to make a statement and got a number (1, in fact; how boring).
• Vitor Baia wears #99 for Porto.
• Several American goalkeepers have worn #0 in MLS.
• Chivas’ (of Mexico) Adolfo Bautista wears #100 in league matches, but can’t do so in international competition (FIFA only allows 2-digit numbers).
• The Mexican league also has several players who wear or have worn #58. Why? Simple: money speaks and Mexican players such as Jared Borgetti, Juan Pablo Rodriguez, and Benjamin Galindo are just the most high-profile example of players paid by a Mexican radio station to wear this odd (by soccer terms) number.

For further reading on the subject of numbers in soccer, I recommend The Guardian’s The Knowledge page, which has been running a series on it.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 5th, 2006 at 1:14 am and is filed under General, History. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.