![]() ![]() He wore it again as a professional with Spurs. The sequel did not live up to the original.ĭempsey, meanwhile, made the tragic move of giving himself his own nickname: Deuce, in tribute to the shirt number he wore during his college career in the US. To mark his second coming, following a return from Man City, Wilfried decided to go full blown Matt Hardy Version 2 and take the number despite the 9 shirt being available. ![]() Kone, for some inexplicable reason, decided to jump between the 2 and 9 shirt at different points in his career, wearing the number more associated with right backs for Wigan in the 2012-13 season.Īt least Bony had a reason, albeit not a great one. Three number twos to look at here: Arouna Kone, Wilfried Bony and Clint Dempsey. He swiftly returned to 10 the following season, making his 08-09 (80-90?) shirt something of a collector’s item. 10 shirt was taken and decided to take the next best thing. On his return to Hibernian in 2008 following a disappointing sting at Celtic, Riordan saw that his No. Ossie Ardiles had famously worn 1 at the 1982 World Cup due to the Argentinian squad numbers being handed out in alphabetical order, but he was a midfielder so let’s park him and look at Derek Riordan. The number was outlawed a year later by the Scottish and English Premier Leagues, making the Moroccan unique in more ways than one. “Zero” joined Aberdeen and soon turned into a fans’ favourite, becoming the first player in British league history to wear the number 0 in the process. Moroccan striker Hicham Zerouali did and you might then reasonably wonder why? Well, it’s in his name. Now you’re probably thinking, who outside of the NBA (shout outs to Russell Westbrook and Damian Lillard) would choose to wear this number. ![]() Now that we’ve made it through the more recognisable striker shirt numbers, let’s go back to the start and look at the rest, starting from, well, the only possible place to start. ![]() 8 is a bit stickier, being the midfield maestro’s number, but we’ll make an exception for Ian Wright (x3), Dennis Bergkamp while in the orange of the Netherlands and Wayne Rooney in his early United days, although he switched to 10 the minute it became available. This meant that strikers wore 9 and 10 – think of all the greats that donned these and passed them down the generations to the point where nearly all first-choice forwards select these iconic numbers.Īs squad numbers were introduced in the early 90s, allowances were made for first choice forwards wearing the classic winger numbers 7 and 11 – think of Cantona, Ronaldo (literally renamed CR7), Romario, Salah and Drogba. When shirt numbers became part of football in 1939, it was very simple – you wore the number for your position, something Burnley and Sean Dyche recreated in a game earlier this season in a beautiful show of symmetry. Like many of the weird and wonderful numbers chosen by strikers, there’s usually a method to their madness. Not quite, Falcao explained that he took the shirt in honour of his father, who had worn it throughout his own career, and who sadly passed away in 2019. The Colombian marksman had worn the 9 shirt for the duration of his career in Europe, so did he simply take a number more associated with defenders as his usual number was already taken. What was also surprising was the number Falcao chose to wear on his return to Spain: 3. Radamal Falcao’s return to La Liga and slightly surprisingly brilliant start to life with newly promoted Rayo Vallecano has delighted many, with “El Tigre” being fondly remembered for his exploits with Atletico Madrid when he became one of the world’s most feared strikers. ![]()
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