We have a winner with Sidwell. That’s utterly ridiculous.
Steve Sidwell: ‘Mourinho told me I’d wear No 9 – I wasn’t sure if he was joking’.
Odd choice for a midfielder. 1 goal in about a couple dozen appearances, and joined Aston Villa after just a year at Stamford Bridge.
Another #5 (Luís Figo had 10, Raúl González had 7 and Santiago Solari had 21)!
Worst Shirt Numbers
- Thread starter xonyo
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Henry was a little weird with 14 but he made the number significant. I'm sure that's why Lingard took 14 at United too.
Have this man killed.
And this one....
Actually, it's Edgar Davids, he's kind of a badass, he can do what he wants.
Actually, it's Edgar Davids, he's kind of a badass, he can do what he wants.
That’s mental, never seen that before.And this one....
Actually, it's Edgar Davids, he's kind of a badass, he can do what he wants.
Not weird at all. Keane with 16, and Scholes with 18 must freak you out.
16 and 18 are midfielder numbers, like 6 and 8 only more varied role, a striker would have ‘10’ added on and be more 19 or 20 like Yorke or Ole.
14 is not a striker number.
*I only just thought and made all that up but it actually makes sense
Anything between 12 and 24 (or whatever arbitrary cut off), is fair game for any player. 12 and 14 were the traditional outfield subs, and 13 the reserve keeper.
Hernandez wore no 14.
When we compare this to Sidwell having no 9, or Davids having no 1, it’s very normal!
Cruyff?
Years ago, before all this new fangled squad numbers thing became all the rage, I'm sure there was an Argentina goalkeeper who used to have something proposterous like number 5 as his shirt number. Must be one of the earliest examples of this nonsense
EDIT - maybe it was 8. Which is even worse
EDIT - maybe it was 8. Which is even worse
Cruyff and Xabi Alonso also wore 14
I can't post images but Adolfo Bautista wore 100 for my team Chivas Guadalajara. He even wore #1 during Copa Libertadores matches as they didn't allow 3 digit numbers and our keeper at the time wore an odd number himself
Any first team player with a number above 20
Argentina gave out squad numbers alphabetically at the '82 World Cup, which gave midfielder Osvaldo Ardiles the number 1 shirt and keeper Ubaldo Fillol the number 7 shirt of all things. The only exception was El Diego, who was naturally given the number 10 shirt because anything else would have been heresy.
You just listed my Football Manager game number picking convention. Thought I was the only one who came up with that.
Initially 1-11 as normal, then second choice outfield players are 12-21 with the second digit of the number corresponding to their playing position, just with a 1 or 2 at the front. Second choice right back = 12, second choice #9 is 19 etc. The only one that makes me feel uneasy is the second choice left back getting 13 which when used is mostly a goalie number in the real world. I just give 22 to the second choice 'keeper instead and make an exception there.
Youth players I have to assign numbers to then go by the same format. A 9 will always have a number ending in a 9 even it's 39 or 49. I sometimes run into problems with further goalies and left wingers ending in a 1 and have had a 51 or 61, maybe the odd 71 at times. Players keep their numbers for the entirety of their career at the club as I don't want to disappoint the 'fans' in case they bought a shirt with a name/number on only for me to change it.
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Unpopular opinion but I liked Buffon’s 88 at Parma.
I wasn't aware of that, is there a story behind it or just random?
There was a bit of trend with players having their year of birth as their shirt number at one point, but he was born in 78 so it's not that.
"I wanted four balls on my chest" is an interesting explanation!
Buffon's 77 was even cooler.