Squad number (association football)

However, there is no fixed rule; numbers may be assigned to indicate position, alphabetically by name, according to a player's whim, randomly, or in any other way.

[1] "9" is usually worn by strikers, also known as centre-forwards, who hold the most advanced offensive position on the pitch, and are often the highest scorers in the team.

[4] The next recorded use was on 23 March 1914 when the English Wanderers, a team of amateur players from Football League clubs, played Corinthians at Stamford Bridge, London.

[2] On 30 March 1924, saw the first football match in the United States with squad numbers, when the Fall River F.C.

played St. Louis Vesper Buick during the 1923–24 National Challenge Cup, although only the local team wore numbered shirts.

[6][7] The next recorded use in association football in Europe was on 25 August 1928 when The Wednesday played Arsenal[8] and Chelsea hosted Swansea Town at Stamford Bridge.

The Daily Express (p. 13, 27 August 1928) reported, "The 35,000 spectators were able to give credit for each bit of good work to the correct individual, because the team were numbered, and the large figures in black on white squares enabled each man to be identified without trouble."

The Daily Mirror ("Numbered Jerseys A Success", p. 29, 27 August 1928) also covered the match: "I fancy the scheme has come to stay.

For example, in friendly and championship qualifying matches England, when playing the 4–4–2 formation, generally number their players (using the standard right to left system of listing football teams) four defenders – 2, 5, 6, 3; four midfielders – 7, 4, 8, 11; two forwards – 10, 9.

In 1993, The Football Association (The FA) switched to persistent squad numbers, abandoning the mandatory use of 1–11 for the starting line-up.

This was because until the 1960s, Argentine football developed more or less isolated from the evolution brought by English, Italian and Hungarian coaches, owing to technological limitations at the time in communications and travelling with Europe, lack of information as to keeping up with news, lack of awareness and/or interest in the latest innovations, and strong nationalism promoted by the Asociación del Fútbol Argentino (for example, back then Argentines playing in Europe were banned from playing in the Argentine national team).

It was not until the mid 1960s in the national team, with Argentina winning the Taça das Nações (1964) using 3–2–5, and the late '60s, for clubs, with Estudiantes winning the treble of the Copa Libertadores (1968, 1969, 1970) using 4–4–2, that Argentine football adopted European formations on major scale, and mirrored its counterparts on the other side of the Atlantic.

While the original 2–3–5 formation used the same numbering system dictated by the English clubs in 1928, subsequent changes were developed independently.

For example, at Liverpool, the number 7 was typically associated with the team's attacking midfielder or second striker (Kevin Keegan, Kenny Dalglish, Peter Beardsley).

Nico Yennaris wore 64 for Arsenal in the competition on 26 September 2012 in a match against Coventry City[23] and on 24 September 2014, again in the League Cup, Manchester City forward José Ángel Pozo wore the number 78 shirt in a match against Sheffield Wednesday.

[25] In The Football League, the number 55 has been worn by Ade Akinbiyi for Crystal Palace,[26] and Dominik Werling for Barnsley.

[27] When Sunderland signed Cameroonian striker Patrick Mboma on loan in 2002, he wanted the number 70 to symbolize his birth year of 1970.

[29] On 4 July 2011, MLS club Real Salt Lake retired the former playing number of coach Jason Kreis, number 9,[30] although Kreis requested that the decision be reversed eight years later because of its traditional positional usage and prestige.

[31] On 30 July 2016, National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) club Chicago Red Stars retired Lori Chalupny's number 17.

Later on, when association football laws changed and it was permitted to assign seven substitute players, second-choice goalkeepers often wore the number 18.

In A-League Men, second-choice goalkeepers mostly wear number 20, based on that competition having a 20-man regulated "first team" squad size.

Prior to the 2002 FIFA World Cup, only 22 players were permitted in international squads; therefore, the third goalkeeper was often awarded the number 22 jersey in previous tournaments.

This meant that a team could start a match not necessarily fielding players wearing numbers one to eleven.

In the 1958 World Cup, the Brazilian Football Confederation forgot to send the player numbers list to the event organization.

England used a similar alphabetical scheme for the 1982 World Cup, but retained the traditional numbers for the goalkeepers (1, 13 and 22) and the team captain (7), Kevin Keegan.

FIFA rejected Argentina's plan, with the governing body's president Sepp Blatter suggesting the number 10 shirt be instead given to the team's third-choice goalkeeper, Roberto Bonano.

At least 4 goalkeepers had been recorded wearing number 0 on field during the early years of professional league of China: Zhao Lei from Sichuan Quanxing, Wang Zhenjie from August 1, Li Jiming from Tianjin Lifei and Li Yun from Shanghai Yuyuan.