page_title: Number (sports)
section_title: Association football
hierarchical_section_title: Number (sports) / Association football
caption_attribution_description: English: Zona Norte combined v. Scottish Third Lamark A.C. match held in River Plate stadium (Alvear and Tagle), Buenos Aires. Both teams entering together to the pitch.
context_page_description: In team sports, the number, often referred to as the uniform number, squad number, jersey number, shirt number, sweater number, or similar is the number worn on a player's uniform, to identify and distinguish each player from others wearing the same or similar uniforms. The number is typically displayed on the rear of the jersey, often accompanied by the surname. Sometimes it is also displayed on the front and/or sleeves, or on the player's shorts or headgear. It is used to identify the player to officials, other players, official scorers, and spectators; in some sports, it is also indicative of the player's position.
  The International Federation of Football History and Statistics, an organization of association football historians, traces the origin of numbers to a 1911 Australian rules football match in Sydney, although photographic evidence exists of numbers being used in Australia as early as May 1903 in a Fitroy v Collingwood match. Player numbers were used in a Queensland vs. New Zealand rugby match played on 17 July 1897, in Brisbane, Australia, as reported in the Brisbane Courier.
context_section_description: In association football, the first record of numbered jerseys date back to 1911, with Australian teams Sydney Leichardt and HMS Powerful being the first to use squad numbers on their backs. One year later, numbering in football would be ruled as mandatory in New South Wales.
  In South America, Argentina was the first country with numbered shirts. It was during the Scottish team Third Lanark tour to South America of 1923, they played a friendly match v a local combined team ("Zona Norte") on June 10. Both squads were numbered from 1–11.
  March 30, 1924, saw the first football match in the United States with squad numbers, when Vesper Buick and Fall River Marksmen (winners of St. Louis and American Soccer Leagues respectively) played the National Challenge Cup, although only the local team wore numbered shirts.
  In England, Arsenal coach Herbert Chapman, brought the idea of numbered shirts, worn for the first time when his team played Sheffield Wednesday in 1928. Arsenal wore shirts from 1 to 11 while their rivals numbered from 12 to 22. Nevertheless, it was not until the 1939–40 season when the English Federation ruled that squads had to wear numbers for each player.
  Numbers were traditionally assigned based on a player's position or reputation on the field, with the starting 11 players wearing 1 to 11, and the substitutes wearing higher numbers. The goalkeeper would generally wear number 1, then defenders, midfield players and forwards in ascending order.
  The 1950 FIFA World Cup was the first FIFA competition to see squad numbers for each players, but persistent numbers would not be issued until the 1954 World Cup, where each man in a country's 22-man squad wore a specific number from 1 to 22 for the duration of the tournament. After some teams such as Argentina fielded non-goalkeeper players with number 1 (in the 1982 and 1986 World Cups), FIFA ruled that number 1 had to be assigned to a goalkeeper exclusively. That change was first applied in the 1990 World Cup. The rule is still active for competitions organised by the body.
  In 1993, England's Football Association switched to persistent squad numbers, abandoning the mandatory use of 1–11 for the starting line-up. The persistent number system became standard in the FA Premier League in the 1993–94 season, with names printed above the numbers. Most European top leagues adopted the system over the next five years.
  In addition to "1" being commonly assigned to the starting goalkeeper, it is also common for defenders to wear numbers in the lower single digits, for strikers to wear "7" or "9" or "11", and for a team's central playmaker to wear "10."
  It is common for players to change numbers within a club as their career progresses. For example, Cesc Fàbregas was first assigned the number 57 on arrival at Arsenal in 2003. On promotion to the first team squad he was switched to number 15 before inheriting his preferred number 4 following the departure of Patrick Vieira.
  Very high numbers, the most common being 88, are often reserved and used as a placeholder, when a new player has been signed and played by the manager prior to having a formal squad number. However, in some countries these high numbers are well-used, in some cases because the player's preferred number is already taken or for other reasons. On joining A.C. Milan; Andriy Shevchenko, Ronaldinho and Mathieu Flamini all wore numbers reflecting the year of their birth (76, 80 & 84 respectively), because their preferred numbers were already being worn.
caption: First use of numbers in South America: Scottish club Third Lanark and Argentine "Zona Norte" combined entering to the pitch with numbered jerseys, 10 June 1923
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