I like kit numbers, there I said it. I’m weirdly invested in what numbers players wear, why? God knows, best not to question it, leave that to the litany of therapists who’ll try and work out why I know about Serie A number assigning in the 1990’s and not why I cry myself to sleep. In 2023 they’re wild, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I believe as a self-styled kit number aficionado we could all do with a refresher.
The origins of kit numbers
Kit numbers were first spotted on the backs of players in the 1910s, and by the early 1930’s they were beginning to catch on, having first featured in European football competitively in 1928, but were still different to what we would see now. There were no set rules on how numbers should be assigned yet, so in the 1933 FA Cup Final Everton wore 1-11 and Manchester City 12-22, but started with the goalkeeper wearing 22 and descending.
If you’re familiar with your pre war football you’ll know that formations and roles were different to what would come to be normal in the sport as the 20th century dragged on. This is why some positions in football have different numbers depending on the country, for example in England the right back would wear two, but in Argentina it is four. As formations evolved the original numbers stayed with the positions that got moved to a new place. Below is my best attempt to show a 1-11 formation which includes all changes I know of:
1 – Goalkeeper – Should be no debate about this, but some individuals that I will get onto later have decided this should be an outfield number, the maniacs.
2 – Right Back, Center Back – A right back in a lot of places, center back in Argentina.
3 – Left Back, Center Back – Same as before, but this time Brazil moved what is normally a Left Back’s number in Europe into the center. Have to admit, do like it on a central defender.
4 – Center Back, Right Back, Midfield – This time it’s England who are doing the moving, being the only country as far as I am aware who adopted four as a midfielder’s number, thankfully a deeper one if it can be helped. As you’ll know from Argentina this is the Right Back number, and the rest of the world tends to use it as a Center Back number.
5 – Center Back, Midfield, Left Back, – Bet you weren’t expecting the humble five to have this much use. The obvious two are Center Back and Defensive Midfield, and if you’re Zinadine Zidane you can get away with it higher up. In the Netherland’s it is the normal number for Left Backs. Also popular in some Scandinavian countries.
6 – Center Back, Midfield, Left Back – German sixes are famous, but due to Roberto Carlos I think most people who don’t consider it a Center Back number think of it on a Brazilian Left Back. Specifically Brazilian, If Dan Burn ever wears six we riot.
7 – Right Wing – There are less changes are we move up, but there are a few unofficial ones i’ll touch on. Both Seven and 11 are sort of interchangeable on either wing, in fact seven can even find itself on midfielders of all types and strikers.
8 – Midfield – I love Ian Wright but I can’t stomach eight on the striker, or anywhere that isn’t central midfield really. Seems weird on the wing too, but can it can get away with being on an attacking midfielder.
9 – Striker – Has been worn on the flanks on occasion, thankfully no Attacking Midfielder’s to my knowledge have tried it, the less said about Marcel Sabitzer wearing it for Austria the better. This is a Striker’s number no question.
10 – Attacking Midfield, Striker – In many ways football’s most iconic number is position-less. So although it is not traditionally a number for wingers or central midfielders, chances are if you’re wearing it you’re good enough for it. William Gallas took it too far though.
11 – Left Wing, Striker – Marcelo Salas is arguably the poster boy of the striker wearing 11. Outside of it’s normal confines it can be found on Mohamed Salah on the right, and even in defense. The late Siniša Milhajlović, who was nominally a Center Back but found himself all over the place, wore the number at Red Star Belgrade, Sampdoria, Lazio, and Inter Milan. Fellow Serbian and Left Back, Aleksandar Kolarov, maybe wore it as a tribute, doing so throughout his career so far. Unlike Milhajlović, he did wear the number at his stint with Roma, as did another Left Back in the form of Amedeo Carboni before him.
Goalkeeper numbers outside of one
Goalkeepers are different from outfielders in a number of ways, when it comes to squad numbers they only have one number to choose as a first-team option. Outside of number one you can see goalkeepers sporting 12,13,16,18,21,22,23,25,30,40. 12 and 13 both have their links to being the first numbers on the bench, 16 and 18 which are popular in French speaking countries and North America respectively, are for the opposite reason.
Numbers 21,22 and 23 appear to have their origins in international squads, being the last numbers on the team sheet. Number 25 was up until a couple of years ago, a requirement for Goalkeepers in Spain, and still remains popular. Another French influence you won’t find elsewhere is 30 and 40, which sadly seems to have ended due to Ligue 1’s new lax attitude on kit numbers. When PSG signed Lionel Messi they needed to get an exception from the league to allow him to wear 30, the number he wore as a younger man at Barcelona. They also needed to do the same when Gianluigi Donnarumma wanted to wear 50, as he wasn’t allowed to wear 99, which he can now do but more on that later.
Rui Patricio wore 11, as fellow goalkeeper at Wolverhampton Wanderers Carl Ikeme had to retire due to Leukemia. The Euro 2016 winner left the number vacant in his honour.
Less heartwarming outfield choices by goalkeepers are to come. Such as Emilio Viviano wearing two for Sampdoria, Spal, and Fatih Karagümrük. He is not alone in this, current Derby goalkeeper Joe Wildsmith wore two for Sheffield Wednesday in 2016. There are more but we’ve more crimes to cover.
I’ll avoid instances of when numbers were assigned due to weird bureaucracy, numbers five,six and eight have all been seen on goalkeepers due to personal choice. As has nine, worn by Jens Lehman and Jorge Campos. Campos did play as a striker famously on occasion, but there is photo evidence he wore it in net at times. For Lehman who knows, but you’re a braver person than me if you would deny the German’s request.
Outfield numbers outside of 2-11 and other interesting numbers
Basically anything goes here, but there is still history here you should know. The term “12th man” refers to the fans, but it is also the first number, outside of international games, that fans would see on a pitch that wasn’t 1-11. Naturally 12 was the number given to the substitute, back when only one was available. It is arguably the most versatile number as it suits every position, and some clubs chose to retire it for the fans. Or if you’re İstanbul Başakşehir, you do it for the president of Turkey.
Moroccan Hicham Zerouali wore 0 for Scottish side Aberdeen due to his nickname “Zero”. But only for one season, as the Scottish FA banned the number and he was forced to change.
Number 1 has been seen on a few players. Edgar Davids being player manager of Barnet was mad enough, made stranger by the fact the Dutch legend wore number one. Scotland was again party to some weirdness, when in 2008 Derek Riordan wore 01, as 10 wasn’t available.
When Liverpool and Everton met in a 2006 Merseyside derby, both players wore 08, as Liverpool had just been declared the 2008 European Capital of Culture. You can if you’re lucky may be able to find an Andres Iniesta ∞ Barcelona kit. He never wore the shirt in his final game for the Catalan club, but his sideways eight turning into an infinity symbol was sold to fans.
14 was made famous by Johan Cruyff, taking what could have been conceived as a defensive number and turning it into the one worn by every midfielder at amateur level who think that they’re him, when all they have in common is a smoking habit. Cruyff didn’t begin as a number maverick, but upon returning from injury in 1970 he found his normal nine shirt occupied.
Legend goes that he picked out 14 from a pile of spares, Ajax won the game, and it became his lucky number. He would wear the number for the Dutch national team, giving it legendary status, but wasn’t allowed to at Barcelona due to LaLiga’s strict number rules. He would also not wear it at his final season with Feyenoord or his last with Ajax the season before. However, by then the number was well and truly his.
Number 24 in Brazil is not one you’ll find often on the backs of players, due to ridiculous homophobic prejudice. A street gambling game was popular in the country for a time, with numbers correlating to animals. Number 24 was for a Deer, which in Portuguese sounds similar to a homophobic slur. From then on 24 was associated with being gay, which made footballers wary of it. When it does have to be assigned to someone due to competition requirements it tends to go to the reserve goalkeeper who isn’t likely to play, though at the most recent world cup is was worn by Bremer, a defender who got minutes. He sees it as just another number, which for Brazil and LGBTQ+ rights is a step in the right direction.
Iván Zamorano wanted to wear 9 at Inter, but instead had to wear 18. He made the best of it by making the number read 1+8 to combat the problem.
AC Milan have seen some large numbers worn, as is common in Italy. Andriy Shevchenko wore 76, and Ronaldinho wore 80. The two of them signing for the club in 2008, taking the numbers due to their birth years. Ronaldo would also spend time at the club, wearing 99. The number although strange anywhere else in my opinion, does work on a striker playing in Italy.
There are simply too many examples of insane numbers to pick, so to end i’ve gone big. When Corinthian’s player Róger Guedes joined the club in 2021 he wore 123. Why? Because he had worn 23 in the past in honor of his son, and 23 was already taken.
The future of kit numbers
As squads grow and player individuality is more important be ready to see higher and higher squad numbers in the future. The Premier League had a ban on new signings taking high numbers, such as when Renato Sanches was denied wearing his preferred 85 by the league at loan at Swansea. This doesn’t appear to be enforced anymore, and players such as Trent Alexander-Arnold wear 66, due to having forged a connection with their designated youth number.
Ultimately the numbers worn on the backs of jerseys don’t matter, and I really shouldn’t be this invested. But it was interesting to know the context right? Please agree with me…
