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By fans, for fans. By fans, for fans. By fans, for fans.

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0 Yes, it has happened. Between 1999 and 2002 Aberdeen's Moroccan striker, Hicham Zerouali obtained special dispensation from the SPL to wear zero as it was his nickname.

 

1 Clearly the obvious number for any club's first-choice goalkeeper, though not always. In 1974 the Dutch World Cup squad was numbered alphabetically, starting with Ruud Geels. Goalkeeper Jan Jongbloed was No8. Johann Cruyff should have been No1, but he wanted to keep No14. More on Cruyff later. In 1978 and 1982 Argentina went down the same route, with first Norberto Alonso and then Ossie Ardiles carrying No1. The somewhat less celebrated Charlton player Stuart Balmer also wore No1 in the mid-nineties.

 

2 Traditionally the number worn by a right-back. Famous wearers of this number have been Phil Neal and Gary Neville, along with Mike Duxbury.

 

3 Our pick for the most prominent No3 is predictably, as well as justifiably, Paolo Maldini. The AC Milan legend has worn it throughout his career and rumour has it that the imprint is actually visible on his back.

 

4 Has to be one of the dullest numbers on the pitch. A straw poll revealed Ronald Koeman as the archetypal No4 - filling the sweeper role in the dream Holland side of the late eighties and early nineties.

 

5 Only Franz Beckenbauer can claim this shirt, despite also wearing No6 on occasion. The Liverpool sides of the seventies and eighties broke with tradition and gave this number to midfielders, including Ray Kennedy and Ronnie Whelan.

 

6 As football icons go, Bobby Moore has to be right up there with the best. He wore No6 and any Hammers player wearing that number had better be up to the job, which doesn't necessarily explain why George McCartney is wearing it now. Another former England captain Tony Adams wore it and current skipper John Terry is carrying on the tradition.

 

7 For Manchester United fans, No7 is the number of George Best, Eric Cantona and David Beckham. Try to take that number from Cristiano Ronaldo and he would be off faster than you could wink. At Liverpool too, it was the number of Kevin Keegan, Kenny Dalglish and Peter Beardsley. Purely out of interest, and in no way enhancing the number's reputation, Harry Kewell wears Liverpool's No7 now.

 

8 Ian Wright, Wright, Wright wore No8 with total pride throughout his Arsenal career on his way to a scoring record and the fans' hearts, before undoing all his good work with his current career.

 

9 From Jackie Milburn to Alan Shearer, No9 is the number of Newcastle's front man. It is also the number of Ronaldo. When he moved to Inter, he took the number from Ivan Zamorano, prompting the Chilean to spit his dummy and famously wear 1+8 as a protest. No9 is also the name allocated to Ronaldo in a number of football management games that did not pay for his image rights.

 

10 Fighting with No7 for top billing in the mythology of football, No10 possibly shades it: Pele, Maradona, Rivera, Platini, Puskas, Zidane - need we say more?

 

11 Surely this is the number of the tricky winger. The most recent example of the tricky No11 is Ryan Giggs, whose shirt number is almost as iconic as his chest wig.

 

And outside the first XI ...

 

12 In the days of one substitute, this was the number worn by "super-sub" David Fairclough. He made this number his own, which has to be a dubious claim to fame. Marco van Basten wore 12 when he scored "that goal" in the 1988 European Championships against Russia, though Van Basten diluted his claim for iconic status by wearing No9 in the 1990 World Cup. In more recent times it has become the squad number reserved for the 12th man - the fans - by many clubs, except ...

 

13 Reading give No13 to their fans, just to be different. No13 is also the squad number worn by David "Calamity" James in this year's World Cup - more ironic than iconic. It wasn't an unlucky number for Gerd Müller, who wore it in 1974 as his goals carried West Germany to the World Cup.

 

14 The aforementioned Dutch genius Johann Cruyff always wore No14, even when the rest of the squad were numbered alphabetically. When you're that good, no one is going to argue over your squad number. Now it is the number worn by Arsenal goal machine, Thierry Henry.

 

16 Manchester United fans will permanently associate this with mild-mannered and quiet-spoken Roy Keane, the player who perhaps more than anyone symbolised the dominant force of the nineties.

 

19 Paul Gascoigne at Italia 90. Many fans associate this number with the man who became an international star at the World Cup. Since then, it has been worn by: Les Ferdinand (1998), Joe Cole (2002) and Aaron Lennon (2006), so maybe it still belongs to Gazza.

 

20 Paolo Rossi came back from a suspension for his involvement in a betting scandal to score six goals as Italy won the World Cup in Spain in 1982.

 

23 Already an iconic No7 for Man Utd and England, David Beckham has been a marketing icon for Real Madrid wearing No23. Raul kept No7, but Beckham outsold everyone in the shirt stakes. Coincidentally this is also the number of players in national squads for major tournaments, but don't put your money on Beckham wearing it in Euro 2008.

 

40 In the first season of Premiership squad numbers (1993/94) Lee Chapman became the first player to wear No40 when he signed for West Ham.

 

69 Bixente Lizarazu wore this number at Bayern Munich. Despite rumours to the contrary, this was apparently because: he was born in 1969, his height was 1.69m and he weighed 69kg. Any link to other reasons for wearing this number is entirely coincidental, or so he said.

 

88 Gigi Buffon, the most expensive keeper in history chose this number one season, sparking controversy. The number is associated with fascism in Italy and Buffon had previously been seen sporting a T-shirt with the fascist slogan "Death to those who surrender". He denied any links to fascism and the number was swiftly changed.

 

99 The highest number allowed by Fifa under current regulations. Vitor Baia wore this number when Porto won the European Cup final of 2004.

 

100 Guadalajara's Adolfo Bautista wears this number in domestic matches in Mexico, making him the highest-numbered player that the Knowledge is aware of.

 

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