Position Numbers

This goes back to when shirt numbers reflected the positions.

#9 -- Striker/Goalscorer
#'s 2 thru 5 -- Defenders
#1 and #12 -- GK's (who until the 80's, or so, could only wear green, red, or yellow)

 

That would leave #11 - who by default would be the lesser effective striker / forward, I imagine.

 

The numbers reflecting positions have evolved over time according to the trends in formations. This is similar to the way the positions in american football evolved according to the trends in formation.

It used to be that there were 5 forwards, and numbers 7-11 were the fowards from left to right. At this time, there was no such thing as a #10 the way we think of it now. That came about as the 5-man forward line began to evolve, and the inside forwards (8 and 10) moved behind the central forward (9).

There was once a trend where the #6 was considered a libero, or a defender who was allowed to wander wherever he wanted. People don't usually refer to this position anymore. So the way we think of positions doesn't always last. Maybe some day, the classic #10 attacking midfielder will be no more, and in all honesty, you don't see this kind of player on a lot of teams today.

In baseball, there isn't too much question as to the position of a player. But in soccer, positions are very fluid, and coaches are always coming up with new formations, and players are always coming up with new styles of playing.

- Paul

 

It depends on the country. Different number systems evolved differently in diiferent places.

I suggest you read The Simplest Game: The Intelligent Fan's Guide to the World of Soccer
by Paul Gardner. It talks about the evolution of such things.

Some quick paraphrasing...

The #10 in the attacking mid/withdrawn forward mode is South American. Think Maradona.

Traditionally #'s started at the GK and went forward. In England 2, 3 and 4 were all in the back line, 6 was a mid in the old W-M formation who evolved to the back line.
5, 7, 8, 11 are midfeidlers. 5 usually the d-mid, 7 on the outside, 8 the playmaker, 11 having been a winger who evolved to outside mid. 9 (old center) and 10 are forwards (old winger).

In South America the system evolved quite differently.. if I remember correctly 5 became a defender in the middle to join 2 and 3. 11 and 9 are forwards... the 10 having moved back into the withdrawn role.... etc, etc...

 

The Dutch 4-3-3:


.11............9............7

..............10

........8...........6

...5......4......3......2

..............1

And I thought the #2 keeper 'traditionally' wore #18.

 

Actually, I thought the reserve keeper wore #13, since his appearance on the field meant bad luck had already happened anyway...

Mind you, I'm the starting keeper, and I wear #13...

 

Here is the "old" British position names to go with the numbers. I'd say these were valid until the mid-70s or so.

1- Goalkeeper (obviously)
2- Right Full-Back
3- Left Full-Back
4- Right Half-Back
5- Centre Half
6- Left Half-back
7- Outside Right (forward), known as "right-winger"
8- Inside Right (forward)
9- Centre Forward
10- Inside Left (forward)
11- Outside Left (forward), known as "left-winger"

 

Argies used to number themselves alphabetically, that was pretty cool.

 

The W-M Formation in the 1950's

.11............9............7

.......10...........8

........6...........4

..3............5............2

..............1

 

Now it looks like this...

#10-Owen #9-Vassell

#11-Heskey #8-Scholes #4-Hargreaves #7-Beckham

#3-A. Cole #5-Campbell #6-Ferdinand #2-Mills

#1-Seaman

Of course one would think the #6 should be worn by the d-mid, but when English clubs started playing with a back four, the #6 (the players wearing that number) moved back, leaving the #4 in midfield.

When you talk about the #10, I think of Pele, not Maradona.

BTW, Claudio Reyna is a #8, not a #10.

Here would be the U.S. line-up from the World Cup match vs. Portugal...

#1 - Friedel
#2 - Sanneh
#3 - Hejduk
#4 - Mastroeni
#5 - Pope
#6 - Agoos
#7 - Stewart
#8 - O'Brien
#9 - McBride
#10 - Donovan
#11 - Beasley

 

i'm not sure where you got that numbers list for the USA match.

those are all the starters, yes, but not the numbers they wore, but that might've been your point. i didn't follow what you were getting at.

Reyna wore the 10 at the Cup. Donovan's worn it the last 2 games, and Mathis has worn the armband and the 9.

 

We're speaking (writing) about position numbers, or in other words, what position they played.

I wasn't referring to their uniform numbers.

 

I always wondered if it was a flat 3 in the midfield in that formation. Thanks for the post. It's apparently kind of a dual dmid set-up.