Is the number 10 worn by the best player on the team? And if so, why?
There seems to be something special about that number, from Pele to Messi, that it couldn’t be just a coincidence.
Or is it?
In soccer different countries favoured different formations and so the numbering conventions weren’t exactly like-for-like. As time has gone on formations ave evolved which has meant that some numbers appear in positions that are definitely different.
Generally speaking the number 10 shirt will traditionally go to either a central attacking midfielder or a centre forward (though usually the number 9 is given to centre forwards whose primary job is goal scoring) or a position that is somewhere between the two (e.g. a second striker). This means the number 10 is usually responsible for a lot of the creative play and also for scoring goals. A lot of the best players ever have played in this role as it requires the most complete set of attacking skills. Pele, Messi, Maradona and Zidane are players who have all played this position and worn the number 10 shirt.
Thank you for the reply.
Do you know if soccer has rules that force this convention even today, or is it something teams follow out of tradition?
For example, in the NHL when I was a younger guy, numbers had rules associated with them. I don’t know if they were official league rules, but
The goalie was always number 1 or 30
Defenseman were always 2 - 6
Forwards (centers and wingers) 7-19 (in general)
First come first served 20-29
I know these weren’t hard and fast, but they did stay true to form for a long time. When Gretzky wore 99, that was the first number out of the 1-30 range that I can remember, although I am sure there were a few others. Then Mario came with 66, Coffey and Bourque wore 77, and the gloves were off. Guys started wearing any number they wanted to.
I’m sure someone will come in and correct me on the timing, but it seemed to begin changing in the aftermath of the merger between the NHL and the few WHA teams that came into the league, one of which was the Edmonton Oilers and Gretzky.
But Soccer seems to have maintained the convention. For instance, I don’t think I have seem a starting goaltender with a number other than 1. I’m sure there are, I don’t watch much soccerm but that’s one thing I’ve noticed.
I’m not sure when it changed but at least in the eighties the starting players were 1-11, with 12 and 14 (and maybe fifteen, I can’t remember when they went up to three substitutes allowed) would be the substitutes.
Take, for example, the squads in the most important game of the team I support’s (Coventry City) whole existence.
At some point the concept of “squad numbers” came in, probably at the same time the players started having their numbers on their shirts. After that all hell broke loose and there’s very little rhyme nor reason to it. Coventry these days have three goalkeepers in the squad (for example), 1, 13 and 23:
I’ve seen many goalkeepers start a game not with 1 as their number, but the convention is the normal first choice gets the number 1 when squad numbers are allocated. Beyond that there are preferences but I’d say “conventions” is pushing it.
Speaking of goalkeepers that don’t have “1”, in the most recent game in the English Premier league neither goalkeeper was the number 1 (and one team didn’t have a number 10, the number mentioned in the OP):
Just to add to the others… traditionally number 10 has been worn by a striker, and striker’s are generally always the biggest stars in a team because they score more goals than anyone else. So it isn’t that the best – or rather, most popular – player is awarded the no. 10 shirt, it’s that he’s already wearing it because of his position on the field.
Squad numbering is spoiling this tradition. It also makes it impossible to identify a player’s position on the field from his shirt number alone, which I always found useful. For instance, David Beckham, as a midfielder on the righthand side of the pitch, used to wear no. 7. Now he wears number 23 or something, which is meaningless outside of the squad sheet.
AFAIK the only actual rule is that the number 1 cannot be used for outfield players.
As far as relating numbers to positions is concerned, the problem is that at different times, and in different countries, various formations have been favoured. For example, at one time in British football the numbers 5 and 6 were for defensive midfieders. Though still referred to as half-backs or centre halves, these players now play further back as out-and-out defenders, the most defensive outfield players in modern formations.
Beckham wore 10 for a while with Man.U. He took 23 with the LA Galaxy as it is Michael Jordan’s number, and is highly desired in the U.S. and often not available to any but the best of players. Landon Donovan, a midfielder, wears 10 for LA Galaxy and for the US Men’s National Team.
P.S. Donovan is returning to LA for another season this year. Team USA is unclear at this point.
It’s my understanding that players used to be numbered back to front and in the 3-2-5 formation which was popular at the time, number 10 would be the center forward. Usually the best player, that became a thing and now it’s just tradition. Number 9 is now usually a striker and, 4 or 5 are defenders.
I don’t believe it’s the case that in the 80s things were still this way as Cruijff was #14 and he mostly played in the 70s.
I’m not the world’s greatest football expert, but with respect, I don’t think you quite have this right. Up until the late 1960s, the most common formation was 2-3-5 (denoting 10 outfield players) - 2 full backs, 3 half backs, and 5 forwards. So the numbering went like this:
1 Goalkeeper
2 Right Full Back
3 Left Full Back
4 Right Half (Back)
5 Centre Half (Back)
6 Left Half (Back)
7 Right Wing (Forward)
8 Inside Right (Forward)
9 Centre Forward
10 Inside Left (Forward)
11 Left Wing (Forward)
Words in brackets were usually omitted when saying these names aloud. At some point, 4-4-2 (four defenders, four midfielders, and 2 forwards) became more common, and so the standard numbering morphed into the following:
1 Goalkeeper
2 Right (Full) Back
3 Left (Full) Back
4 Centre Half/Centre Back
5 Centre Half/Centre Back
6 Centre Midfield
7 Right Midfield/Right Wing
8 Centre Midfield
9 Centre Forward
10 Centre Forward
11 Left Midfield/Left Wing
The logic of this becomes clearer if you imagine two of the half backs from the old system moving back into central defence under the new system, the two wings under the old system moving back into midfield (but still on the wing) under the new system, and one of the inside forwards under the new system moving to centre midfield under the new system.
To answer the OP, at many clubs the number 9 shirt is seen as holding greater status than the number 10, probably because (in English football at least) it has always been the centre forward’s number, and hence most of the highest goalscorers have worn it. Number 10 is often more of a playmaker’s role than the out-and-out goalscoring of number 9. And as others have said, a lot of the above has gone to pot now with players tending to have squad numbers that may bear no relation to where they play on the field.
Interestingly, I believe rugby union still makes it compulsory to wear the number associated with your position, except for substitutes of course. Although this was a bit of a shame for some clubs (Bath and Leicester spring to mind) which had a strong tradition of using letters to denote their players’ positions.
In the UK tradition no.10 tends to be a centre-forward, but in the Latin tradition the number 10 tends to be an attacking midfielder and in Latin countries it’s usual to speak of ‘the number 10’ as a position rather than simply a shirt number (similarly ‘the number 9’ is regarded as a position and there’s even a position called "the false number 9’).
Just for comparision, here’s a fairly conservative (not that I wholeheartedly agree with it or that it wouldn’t be subject to debate) list of the top 10 players of all time that I grabbed from a website, I’ve put the players’ most famous shirt numbers next to their name:
-
Pele 10
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Messi 10
-
Maradona 10
-
Cruyff 14 (though before 9)
-
Beckenbauer 5 (though also 4 and 6 in his early and late career respectively)
-
Platini 10 (though before 15)
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Di Stefano 9
-
Puskas 10 (though also 14)
-
Eusebio 13 (though also 10)
-
Best 7 (though also 8, 11 and 10, depending on his position)
Donovan should try his hand in the Premier League, he achieved everything he can achieve in Major League Soccer a while ago and his window of opportunity to play in the Premiership again is closing. As for the USMNT, he’s still one of your best players and whoever else comes in will always be a downgrade.
It’s not as though going to the EPL or not is up to Donovan - this is a buyers’ market!
Indeed and at 30 I’d say Donovan probably looks a bit long in the tooth for an EPL manager - why pay over the odds for a player who is likely past his prime when for the same price you might pick up the next hot young star?
Not to mention he’s a guy whose dedication to the sport is tenuous at best.
It’s true, but he impressed enough in two loan spells to Everton that there would be a number of Prem clubs interested - QPR were rumoured to be trying to get him on loan.
Ha! Now I know you’re kidding! The QPR bit gave it away.
Seriously - as per his wiki, the man scored twice in 17 EPL games for Everton (plus an additional zero times in 5 more miscellaneous FA cup and European games), which is pretty underwhelming for a striker.
He played right wing for Everton, not as a striker, and was great for both spells - really big hit with the fans, club and David Moyes. Kickstarted the second half of our season actually.
Pacey enough to give an outlet and seemed an intelligent, skilled player the few times I saw him.
Right now there is a several hundred post thread on an everton forum I look at praying for his return this january - we’re having a good season but our right side can be really weak. I’m not up on the financial regs of MLS but I understand there are obstacles to just signing him outright - plus of course LD trading in the California life for rainy NW England may figure into it as well.
Donovan has never played anything remotely like a pure goal scorer. Clint Dempsey is more of a striker than Donovan and that’s a huge stretch.
I mean Everton named him player of the month on his first loan spell and asked him back for a second loan. During that loan he assisted 7 times in 7 games. IIRC, they took something like 16 points out of those games while playing Chelsea, ManU, and Man City. You can say he didn’t play well during any of his stints in Germany, but Donovan did very well in England.
I think he only wore no.10 briefly in one season, early in his career, perhaps when his position wasn’t settled. He was no.7 until he joined Real Madrid, whereupon he took the squad number 23, as no. 7 was taken.
He then kept 23 when he moved again to LA Galaxy – I’m sure it was good PR to have Michael Jordan’s number, but it wouldn’t have been his only consideration. Having played with 23 for a while, there would be a benefit for keeping it, as players like to be known for a shirt number.