Brazil and their numbering maze
A few months ago, we attempted to ascertain the origins of the Brazil numbering system. While large parts of that article were correct, recently reader Alexander Howells got in touch …
Humble beginn-Ings
Danny Ings has recently joined Liverpool on a free transfer from Burnley. The Reds have a number of low numbers free – so many, in fact, that we feel they …
Love me Ten-der
It’s 20 years to the day since Dennis Bergkamp signed for Arsenal for what was then a British record of £7.5m – though, as it was widely accepted that Stan …
Cork City’s defensive combinations
There are six defenders in the Cork City squad with numbers between 2 and 11. John Kavanagh wears 2 and is a solid and dependable right-back. Number 3 is former …
The picture isn’t upside-down
This is the line-up of Deportivo Riestra, who play in the fourth tier in Argentina. We’re not exactly sure what coach Leonardo Ragazzo was doing but we’ll try to find …
Arsenal’s brief reversion to 1-11
It’s rare to hear TV commentators talk about squad numbers, but the BBC’s Steve Wilson (we think it was him anyway – post Motson and Davies, the Beeb’s commentators seem …
Liverpool’s beautiful imperfections
Regular readers of the blog will know that we have a fondness for the numbering system used by Liverpool in their glory days of the 1970s and 80s. It’s something …
West Brom’s venture into the past
For Saturday’s Premier League game against Leicester City, West Bromwich Albion honoured the late Jeff Astle by wearing a replica of the kit worn in the 1968 FA Cup final …
The History of Numbers
We’ve already looked at how the British numbering system came into force but haven’t really examined the origins of how numbers came to be on players’ shirts. To do such a …
Ronnie Whelan’s slightly-faulty memory
For much of his Liverpool career, Ronnie Whelan wore the number 5 shirt, first on the left side of midfield and then in the middle after the arrival of John …