Since squad numbers were introduced in Great Britain in 1993, players have chosen to express themselves by the numbers on their back. In England, some have become legendary -- see No. 7 at Manchester United, worn by the likes of Eric Cantona, David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo in the Premier League era. But has someone worn every number from 1-50?
We liked this from the NBA so much that we thought we'd have our own go. It would be hard to argue that Blackpool's Andy Reid (No. 43), or Villa's Jack Grealish (No. 40) are "the best" to have ever worn the shirt, and Man Utd youngster James Wilson even figures twice (No. 47 and 49).
But there are some crackers in there too. Enjoy.
Notes:
- 1-11 is virtually impossible to assign
Goalkeepers, obviously are all going to want No. 1, (unless you are Tim Howard, who opts for No. 24 at Everton) but there's little disputing that Peter Schmeichel deserves the shirt. There have been a host of first-class defenders to wear Nos. 2-6 too, so we went for arguably the best players to have played in their positions in the Premier League era.
No. 7 is too difficult. Clearly Ronaldo, Beckham and Cantona are streets ahead of the rest, with only Robert Pires near them, while No. 8 sees Frank Lampard miss out. Ian Wright, Nicky Butt, Peter Beardsley too. Don't even start us on No. 10 and No. 9. Perhaps only the legendary No. 11 Ryan Giggs fully deserves his spot having made his number legendary.
- There are some great players who don't like 1-11
Some of the best players in the Premier League era haven't been conventional.
Thierry Henry wore No. 14 for Arsenal; Roy Keane (No. 16) and Paul Scholes (No. 18) made themselves legends at Man Utd; Jamie Carragher's No. 23 and John Terry's No. 26 show that defenders aren't scared to go high either. Chelsea's Gianfranco Zola (No. 25) is also worth a mention (sorry Antonio Valencia, Emmanuel Adebayor and Nwankwo Kanu.)
- It's not just reserves who take high numbers
Yaya Toure's No. 42 and Carlos Tevez's No. 32 -- while he was at Manchester City -- are surely the best to have worn the highest numbers. Mario Balotelli at No. 45 isn't pulling up trees at Liverpool but it's a notable number all the same and Martin Skrtel also adds to the Liverpool tally with his No. 37.
OK, Jordan Rossiter and James Wilson (twice) are a bit of a stretch, but there are still some big names like Petr Cech, Raheem Sterling (sorry Liverpool fans) and Lazar Markovic to be wearing them currently.
Also, we couldn't let a No. 36 go by without mentioning a Spurs legend. RIP, Dean Richards.
If you have any additions, please add them in the comments section below.
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