List of retired numbers in association football: Difference between revisions
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| Philo was killed in a car accident and the number 14 shirt retired. It was later revealed he was significantly over the drink-drive limit and his car veered on to the other side of the road, killing a 58-year-old mother of two. |
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| For drinking seven pints then driving on the wrong side of the road and crashing head on to another car, killing himself and a mother of two. He'd only played 17 games for Wycombe but that did not stop them showing great respect to the victim's family by retiring his shirt in his honour. |
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Revision as of 01:00, 27 September 2010
Association football clubs around the world sometimes retire squad numbers to recognise players' loyal service, or death.
Background
This practice, long established in the major North American sports, is a recent development in football since squad numbers for specific players were not widely used until the 1990s. Before then, it was typical for players in the starting lineup to be issued numbers 1 to 11 by formation/position on a match-by-match basis, and substitutes to be numbered from 12 upwards, meaning a player might wear different numbers during the season if they were to play in different positions for tactical reasons, or simply not be a regular in the starting lineup.
Retiring a player's number usually occurs after the player has left the team or retired. It honours a player who has meant so much to his club that they retire the shirt number that the player wore during their time there, meaning no other player is permitted to use that number in the future. In some cases, such as Jason Mayélé, Vittorio Mero, Marc-Vivien Foé, Miklós Fehér, Ray Jones, François Sterchele, David di Tommaso, Antonio Puerta and Besian Idrizaj, numbers have been retired to posthumously honour a player who died in tragic circumstances while still active. Also, Norwegian club Fredrikstad have retired Dagfinn Enerly's number following an on-pitch accident that left Enerly paralysed. In Britain, only Bobby Moore's shirt number has been retired due to great service to the club as opposed to a tragic incident. Although it has not been officially retired Gianfranco Zola's no.25 shirt has not been reissued by Chelsea since he left the club in 2003.
National teams Argentina and Cameroon have been prevented by FIFA rules dealing with squad numbers for Finals tournaments, from retiring the numbers of Diego Maradona (10) and Marc-Vivien Foé (17) respectively, but in other competitions or friendlies national associations may assign numbers according to criteria of their choosing.
Retired numbers
- ^Note 1 : Gyula Grosics never played for Ferencváros during his career. Although he wanted to do so, the Communist regime in Hungary did not allow him to sign for them. Grosics thus ended his career. At the age of 82, he was allowed to sign for the club officially and stand in goal for a few minutes in a friendly against English club Sheffield United before being substituted. His shirt number was then withdrawn by Ferencváros. [1]
Special cases
Team | # | Player | Position | Years | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Milan | 3 | Paolo Maldini | Left fullback | 1984–2009 | The shirt will not be fully retired. Maldini has given consent for his sons to adopt the number 3 shirt if either of them play professionally for the club.[1][4] |
América | 10 | Cuauhtémoc Blanco | Striker | 1992–1997, 1998–2000, 2002–2004, 2005–2007 | The shirt number would be retired for a period of 5 years, starting in June 2007. However, jersey #10 has been occasionally re-issued for special cases, due to CONMEBOL rules, which state that shirts must be numbered 1–25 in continental club competitions (such as Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana, amongst others).[5]. More recently, this number was given to Salvador Cabañas |
Argentinien | 10 | Diego Maradona | midfielder | 1979–1994 | The number 10 had been retired by Argentine Football Federation (AFA) in October 2001 to honour Maradona. Before the 2002 World Cup, the AFA submitted a squad list of 23 players for the tournament, listed 1 through 24, with the number 10 omitted.[1] FIFA rejected Argentina's list, and the governing body's president, Sepp Blatter suggested the number 10 shirt be instead given to the team's third-choice goalkeeper, Roberto Bonano. AFA ultimately submitted a revised list with Ariel Ortega, originally listed as number 23, as the number 10.[6] The number 10 has been worn by other players since, most notably by Lionel Messi, whom Maradona considers his "successor." |
Dunfermline Athletic | 4 | Norrie McCathie | Defender | 1981-1996 | The club retired the number after club captain McCathie was found dead in his home on January 8, 1996, as a result of Carbon Monoxide poisoning.[7] At that time, Scottish League clubs used shirt numbered from 1 to 11, so for the remainder of the 1995–96 season, 12 was used instead. However, the number was not retired permanently, and has been re-issued since. |
Exeter City | 9 | Adam Stansfield | Forward | 2006-2010 | The club retired the number 9 for nine seasons after the striker died of cancer on 10 August 2010.[8] |
Maccabi Tel-Aviv | 12 | Meni Levi | Defender | During a game between Maccabi Tel-Aviv and Beitar Jerusalem, Levi chest-controlled and kicked the ball, ran back to defend, then collapsed. He returned to his feet, and then collapsed a second time. He was subsequently on a life-support machine, and has since returned home. The club claims that the number 12 is unofficially reserved for the fans.[9] | |
Orlando Pirates | 22 | Lesley Manyathela | Striker | −2003 | The club retired the number 22, after Manyathela died in a car crash in August, 2003. However, Confederation of African Football rules state that shirts must be numbered 1–30 in continental club competitions, so Pirates has been re-issued it in those special cases. |
Real Oviedo | 10 | Peter Dubovsky | Midfielder | 1995–2000 | The Spanish Football League allowed Oviedo to retire number 10 just for the 2000–2001 season, as an exception to its rules. At the end of the season, number 10 was re-issued. |
Sevilla FC | 16 | Antonio Puerta | Left back, Left winger | 2004–2007 | The shirt has not been fully retired. It was temporarily retired after Puerta died of a cardiac arrest on the first matchday in La Liga 2007–2008 However, the Spanish Football Federation rules state that clubs must use number 1 to 25 for their regular squad, and as a result, David Prieto wore the number in 2008 in honour of his friend.[10] |
Stabæk | 7 | Christer Basma | Central defender | 1995–1998 | The club had retired the number to honor his services for the club. However, the retirement was revoked after 2004 season and the number given to Henning Hauger. |
UANL Tigres | 7 | Gerónimo Barbadillo | Midfielder | 1977–1982 | The number is currently retired but has been occasionally re-issued for special cases, due to CONMEBOL rules, which state that shirts must be numbered 1–25 in continental club competitions (such as Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana, amongst others). |
Universitario de Deportes | 22 | José Luis Carranza | Midfielder | 1986–2004 | The number is currently retired but has been occasionally re-issued for special cases, due to CONMEBOL rules, which state that shirts must be numbered 1–25 in continental club competitions (such as Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana, amongst others). |
Maccabi Tel-Aviv | 8 | Avi Nimni | Midfielder | 1989–2004, 2006–2008 | Avi Nimni is considered by many to be Maccabi Tel-Aviv's best player of all-times. He is also the club's top goal scorer (174 Goals). He played in 1997 for Atlético Madrid and in 1999 for Derby County. In 2004 Maccabi Tel-Aviv's manager Nir Klinger sacked him from the club over personal issues and he moved to Beitar Jerusalem until the end of the 2005–6 season. Some Maccabi fans who hailed Nimni as a king came to the games during this period dressed in black and others boycotted the team until the management brought him back for the 2006–7 season. He continued playing for the club until the end of the 2007–8 season and then retired. The new management decided to retire the number 8 shirt as a tribute to his career at the club. In the middle of the 2008–9 season Avi Nimni was appointed as Maccabi Tel-Aviv's manager. |
Haka | 14 | Valeri Popovitch | Forward | 1994–2008 | First ever retired shirt number in the history of Finnish football is ex-Haka's Valeri Popovitch's number 14. Popovitch has stated that his sons, whom are still playing for Haka's junior teams, can wear the legendary number if they want.[11] |
Wycombe Wanderers | 14 | Mark Philo | Midfielder | 2004-2006 | Philo was killed in a car accident and the number 14 shirt retired. It was later revealed he was significantly over the drink-drive limit and his car veered on to the other side of the road, killing a 58-year-old mother of two. |
Dedication to fans
Some clubs dedicate a number to their fans, and do not issue it to any player. The most common number for this practice is 12, from descriptions of the fans as "the twelfth man". All of the Japanese clubs reserve number 12 for their supporters. Other clubs and teams include:
Reading and Bryne reserve the number 13 for their supporters, Panathinaikos reserve this number in honour of Gate 13, the ultras based in the respective gate in home matches. Norwich City also reserve the number 13 shirt for "the fans" while Oldham Athletic reserve the number 40 for their fans.
Djurgården reserve the number 1 for their supporters.
After their 15 point deduction, Leeds United retired the number 15 shirt for the 2007–08 season only.[12]
AFC Bournemouth use squad number 27 for the North Stand which houses the large majority of hardcore supporters, the number 50 for "12th man" and the number 99 shirt for their mascot, Cherry Bear.
Leicester City have reserved the number 50 for the mascot, Filbert Fox, to which he wears the number on his shirt to every game.
Swansea City use the number 32 for their main sponsors, 32Red who use it as a part of the 32Red shirt winner competition. The winning fan gets to have his name on the club shirt and is included in the official match day squadlist as number 32 for that season.
Bristol City use the squad number 32 as their fans number for the 2010/11 season as goalkeeper Dean Gerken wears the number 12 shirt.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Scott Murray and Paolo Bandini (27 May 2009). "Which clubs have retired shirt numbers?". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 May 2009.
- ^ http://www.exetercityfc.co.uk/page/OfficialWord/0,,10436~2129402,00.html
- ^ "Swans to retire Besian's shirt". Swansea Official website. 2010-05-18. Retrieved 2010-05-18.
- ^ "Maldini shirt waits for 3G". Channel 4. 2007-05-26. Retrieved 2007-05-26.
- ^ "Retira America el 10 del Cuauh como tributo". El Universal.
- ^ "Ortega fills Maradona's shirt". BBC Sport. 27 May 2002.
- ^ "NMBF Profile". Norrie McCathie Benevolent Fund. Retrieved 2007-01-26.
- ^ "Club Retires Number 9 Shirt". exetercityfc.co.uk. 20 August 2010. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
- ^ "Levi continues rehab at home". Eternal-Allegiance. Retrieved 2007-01-26.
- ^ "Prieto: Wearing Puerta's No. 16 Is An Honour". Goal.com. 2008-07-25. Retrieved 2009-01-07.
- ^ "Numero 14 poistui käytöstä". fchaka.fi. 2009-07-13. Retrieved 2009-07-14.
- ^ "Squad Numbers". LeedsUnited.com. Retrieved 1 Aug 2008.