Why did certain players wear strange shirt numbers?

[Dark Savante]

I think everyone knows Cruyff adorned himself with the 14 because he wanted his own number to make unqiue, but I've always wondered why:

Osvaldo(Ossie) Ardiles wore #1 when he was a defensive midfielder.

Vitor Baia wearing #99

I'm sure there are many more examples of players wearing bizarre shirt numbers, feel free to add them on. I would love to know the story behind these two in particular though. Anyone have the scoop?


:D

Anyone remember Zamorana wearing 1+8 (IIRC) when Ronaldo went to Inter? lol, quite possibly the stupidest number I've ever seen!

[Excape Goat]

Osvaldo(Ossie) Ardiles wore #1 when he was a defensive midfielder.


Anyone remember Zamorana wearing 1+8 (IIRC) when Ronaldo went to Inter? lol, quite possibly the stupidest number I've ever seen!


asf should correct me. I think Argentina used alphabetic order for numbering. Maradona was the exceptional.

Zamorana's shirt is a collector item.

Beckham's reason for 23?????

[Bertje]

Van der Vaart wanted the #23 shirt at HSV, because he had his best seasons at Ajax in that shirt.

[lanman]

asf should correct me. I think Argentina used alphabetic order for numbering.

The first year it was introduced in England Charlton used alphabetical order. Stuart Balmer wore #1.

[comme]

asf should correct me. I think Argentina used alphabetic order for numbering. Maradona was the exceptional.

Zamorana's shirt is a collector item.

Beckham's reason for 23?????

Beckham wears 23 because it was Michael Jordan's shirt number. IIRC, Jordan himself wore 23 because his brother wore 45, and as that shirt was unavailable to him he wore 23, roughly half 45.

[Cassano]

Anyone remember Zamorano wearing 1+8 (IIRC) when Ronaldo went to Inter? lol, quite possibly the stupidest number I've ever seen!

He got mad that he had to give up his #9 to Ronaldo, so he figured he'd take 18 with a plus sign so he has technically be "#9" [1+8=9].

Francesco Coco used to wear #77 at Milan and Inter.

Cristiano Lupatelli, ex-goalkeeper of Chievo and Roma, and now goalkeeper of Parma, wore the number 10 at Chievo [strange having your goalkeeper be the #10]....

[gaijin]

Pantelis Kafes wears no1.

Strange thing is, he is an outfield player! :eek:

More often than not you still players with 70's and 80's as the year they were born.

Celsinho at Lokomotiv will wear 88, because he was born in 1988. :)

[Cassano]

Salvatore Foti of Sampdoria has number 88 because he was born in 1988.

[schafer]

Who's the guy at Livorno who wears 99? (Lucarelli?)

[Craps]

are there any outfield players who wear 00 or 0?

[Cassano]

Who's the guy at Livorno who wears 99? (Lucarelli?)

Yes, Lucarelli. I think he chose 99 because number 9 was taken when he joined.

are there any outfield players who wear 00 or 0?

You're not allowed to wear 0 or 00 according to FIFA regulations.

[Craps]

You're not allowed to wear 0 or 00 according to FIFA regulations.

um i totally knew that i was just testing you...

[Fiorentina lives!]

I once saw a Mexican (UAG) player wear 109. Yes, frikkin 109...

And a Chivas Originals (read the Mexican club, not the US copy) player wears (or wore) 100... Mexican League obviously rules in terms of weird numbers...

And who's that Italian goalie who wears 11??? I saw that once too, it might have been in Bologna...

[Excape Goat]

I once saw a Mexican (UAG) player wear 109. Yes, frikkin 109...

And a Chivas Originals (read the Mexican club, not the US copy) player wears (or wore) 100... Mexican League obviously rules in terms of weird numbers...

And who's that Italian goalie who wears 11??? I saw that once too, it might have been in Bologna...

I think one of the Mexican players was sponsored by a radio station. That number was the frequency of the station.


Alain Sutter used to wear #66 at MLS because of Route 66.

[Cassano]

And who's that Italian goalie who wears 11??? I saw that once too, it might have been in Bologna...

That probably was Lupatelli...

Luca Bucci, 'keeper of Parma, wears 7, his back-up Guardalben wears 99.

[guado]

I think one of the Mexican players was sponsored by a radio station. That number was the frequency of the station.


Alain Sutter used to wear #66 at MLS because of Route 66.

the radio station was no. 58.

adolfo bautista wears no. 100 on chivas. he wore a different number for libertadores.

mexico has had players wear 100 before - (erubei cabuto- ex atlas and queretaro keeper). number higher than 100 are banned though.

manuel vidrio, who had a short stint at osasuna when javier aguirre began coaching them, wore no. 99 with pachuca.

america once had a couple of young players with no 114 and 128 for their first game on the bench (not too sure about the second number- but i'm sure about the 114.)

there was a player from sierra leone who played for monterrey - not much skill, but a loooooooooot of speed. he'd be fed long balls non stop and was pretty prolific that way. he wore no. 690.

[theworm2345]

Here players are allowed to wear whatever number they want

Robert Parrish: http://halloffamememorabilia.com/images/products/MM-08PHPAR660med.jpg
The Worm (Dennis Rodman): http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Field/5842/rodman/rodman-three.jpg
Randy Moss: http://www.edgeofsports.com/2005-01-10-112/randt

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink said in his book he could choose his own number, it is usually 9, but he wore 18 (because 9 was taken, and 18 is 9*2) last year, so I guess they are letting players choose

[ForeverRed]

Lizarazu wears jersey number 69 because 3 was taken when he returned from Marseille and because that is the year of his birth and also his weight and height.

[unclesox]

Here players are allowed to wear whatever number they want

Robert Parrish: http://halloffamememorabilia.com/images/products/MM-08PHPAR660med.jpg
Going off-topic a bit here...

The first American player in any team sport that I can remember to wear the number "00" was Jim Otto, who was a center with the Oakland Raiders from 1960-1974.

Otto and the Raiders were part of the newly established gridiron American Football League (AFL) that was trying to compete against the NFL during the 1960s.

Otto, who initially wore number 50, said that his friends used to call him "Ott", which sounded like "aught", which basically means nothing, or zero.

Raiders equipment manager Frank Hinek suggested that Otto wear the number "0", or "aught", as his jersey number. But at the time there was a player with the Washington Redskins named Johnny Olszewski who wore the number "0" (they called him "Johnny O") and so they didn't want to appear as copying him.

It was then suggested that Otto wear "00", or "aught-0", to stand for "Otto".
Jim's initial response was, "It seems kind of wierd", but he was eventually persuaded to give it a try as it was felt it would help promote the league.

So Otto wore number 50 for the first few games of the 1960 season until the Raiders received permission from league commissioner Joe Foss that he could wear 00. Foss thought it was a great idea.

http://www.alphaflex.net/dev/images/photos/Otto1.jpg http://www.houstonprofootball.com/team/images/PICTURE_wr1.gif
Jim Otto .............. Ken Burrough

Ken Burrough was the second player after Otto to wear the number 00. A rookie in 1971, he was a standout wide receiver with the Houston Oilers throughout the 1970s.

[OMfreak]

SUPERSTItion my friends............Superstition. and i know about it too.