WHY shirt numbers are a big thing

Why does Cristiano always pick the 7, what about Messi's 10 and why did he go with the weird 30 now at PSG? Footballers will do a lot to get their favourite number on their back. Kick off's Max Merrill explains WHY they attach so much value to those digits right below their name and how they choose them! Stay tuned till the end to find out the dumbest, highest, and craziest shirt numbers in football history!

Report: Max Merrill
Camera & Edit: Manuel Vering

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[cyav.e]

Correction on messi's number : Neymar actually offers him the number 10, but refuses to take it and instead use the first number he uses when he first debuted as a Barcelona player which is number 30

[jond]

I always fought for the 17 shirt. I wanted 13 in my 1st youth team jersey but it was already taken. 17 was the next number available so I reluctantly took it but then got attached to it over time. I always fought for it after that and now my son has adopted the 17 after he found out it had always been my number.

[kadirplays]

In Turkey, it is very common for players to wear a number that corresponds to the license plate number of the province they are from. There are 81 provinces in Turkey so you quite often can see players from Trabzon wearing 61, from Izmir wearing 35, or from Kocaeli wearing 41 etc. I can also remember one goalkeeper having the really odd number 10 on his shirt, turns out he was from Balıkesir, the province with the license plate number 10.

[magicsteve]

7:16 This is the same thing Wayne Gretzky did in ice hockey, he wanted Gordie Howe’s iconic number 9 but it was taken so he settled for 99. As Gretzky has never been matched as a player, no NHL player can wear 99 as it is retired league-wide.

[heichan]

"The highest number ever worn is 121"
Vikkstar: I don't think so

[charlesray]

In Italy (using 4-4-2), at least at AC Milan, defenders wore 2, 5, 6, 3 with 13 on the bench. midfielders had 7, 4, 8 and 11 with forwards wearing 9, 10 with 16 on the bench. Back when Serie A only allowed 3 non-Italians, the numbers 8, 9 and 10 always seemed to be worn by their Dutch trio: Frank Rijkaard, Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten. respectively.

[pabloskik]

In Chile, goalkeeper Sergio "Superman" Vargas wore number 188 for official league matches.

[Tom_de_Oliveira]

My favourite is rogerio Ceni who after scoring his 100th goal as a keeper wore the number 001 👌

[dabereogbuishi]

Or, it simply means Cruyff was twice as good.

[hajduk]

Tacoma has high numbers because they’re associated with Seattle Sounders as their feeder team. They can play for both teams during the same season therefore they already have a squad number ready.

[jotamodesto]

An important mention is Rogério Ceni, he played for Sao Paulo FC for his entire career and at some point he used 01 in his shirt as reference to the number 10, this is because as goalkeeper he's also scored goals and this became iconic for SPFC supporters.

[elremanenteunafeinteligente]

In Mexico there was a trend in the 90's about players in the league using the number 58. It was because they were endorsed by a big radio station in the country. One of the most iconic players with the 58 was Jared Borgetti, who is famous for that superb header against Italy in World Cup 2002.

Also from Mexico, Memo Ochoa, the national team starting Goalkeeper uses number 13 and not 1, even though in his teams he always uses number 1. I suspect he does this because at world cup 2010 he was supposed to be the starting keeper but Javier Aguirre brought in Conejo Perez and made him number 1, so Ochoa, not wanting to be saddled with the dreaded number 12 (Substitute Keeper), chose to wear number 13 and made it his own. Anyways, thats what I think about that.

[Baileyf]

I'm fond of 21. Pirlo is one of my favorite players. I love how he handles and passes the ball so i took it upon myself to be like that too, so i rock 21.

[theleesidesnowman]

I always go for number 8 if I can because it’s the number my dad wore as a professional rugby player, so it means to me what he means to me.

[MFachrizalR]

My favorite number which I wear in so many occasions is 18, because of simply it's my birth date, and 18 is a flexible number that won't feel awkward to be played in any position both as a starter or as a substitute player. Also it doesn't have huge pressure like the single digit number and don't associate with any superstition.

[joelwagg]

There are also numbers that mean more at certain clubs. 7 is an important number anywhere, but it’s massive at man u as you mentioned. 14 is big at Arsenal because of Henry. Players like to honour their hero’s number if they can.

[JB]

When Trent Alexander-Arnold became a regular starter people kept complaining about his number 66, even pundit were mentioning it all the time, now I think he has started a trend, particularly in the Premier League of youth players keeping hold of their higher shirt number when they reach the first team, even Phil Foden can be mentioned, but I suspect he'll take on the number 7 when Raheem Sterling leaves City in a few seasons. I suspect it's probably part of possible branding in the future for younger players too because they're no longer just players, they are an entire brand, which as I say will entwine with a marketing platform. We'll be seeing a vast array of higher shirt number in the coming seasons in the Premier League where 7, 9, 10, 11, will no longer be sought-after like they once were, and a larger number will have a connection to a brand a particular player has been building since the age of 10.
They do this in other sports, most predominantly American sports (NFL, NBA, Baseball) and with the influence of Americanization bleeding into other sports it was just a matter of time.

[alistairmcintosh]

"And yes underwear"
"That was BRIEFLY messed up ... "
I see what you did there :)

[icemanstormer]

There's also the iconic 13 shirt of Alessandro Nesta. It was his first shirt in Lazio's Youth teams, and he never changed it.
But, by being a legend for all defenders, especially in Italy, some other defenders took that number. Defenders like Bastoni (for the Euro 2020), or Davide Astori, former Fiorentina's captain, who tragically died some years ago.

There also many numbers that have been retired, like in AC Milan, in which there is also a Number 9 shirt curse, since Filippo Inzaghi retired.

[hydrolifetech]

I chose number 8 when I was playing youth football. It's the number which took a lot of struggle for me to learn to write when I joined kindergarten. I have always chosen it as my lucky number since and I like to think it as a sign of dedication to achieve something