Number(sports)

In team sports, the number, often referred to as the uniform number, squad number, jersey number, shirt number, sweater number, or similar (with such naming differences varying by sport and region) is the number worn on a player's uniform, to identify and distinguish each player (and sometimes others, such as coaches and officials) from others wearing the same or similar uniforms. The number is typically displayed on the rear of the jersey, often accompanied by the surname. Sometimes it is also displayed on the front and/or sleeves, or on the player's shorts or headgear. It is used to identify the player to officials, other players, official scorers, and spectators; in some sports, it is also indicative of the player's position.

The International Federation of Football History and Statistics, an organization of association football historians, traces the origin of numbers to a 1911 Australian rules football match in Sydney, although photographic evidence exists of numbers being used in Australia as early as May 1903.

Association football

Football midfielder Diego Maradona(right) wearing the number 10 shirt, traditionally employed by players of his position. Here he is fighting to keep ball possession from Italian defender Claudio Gentile.

In association football, numbers were traditionally assigned based on a player's position or reputation on the field, with the starting 11 players wearing 1–11, and the substitutes wearing higher numbers. The goalkeeper would generally wear number 1, then defenders, midfield players and forwards in ascending order.

Numbers being assigned to each player in a squad was initiated for the 1954 World Cup, where each man in a country's 22-man squad wore a specific number for the duration of the tournament. In 1993, England's Football Association switched to persistent squad numbers, abandoning the mandatory use of 1–11 for the starting line-up. It became standard in the FA Premier League in the 1993–94 season, with names printed above the numbers. Most European top leagues adopted the system over the next five years.

It is common for players to change numbers within a club as their career progresses. For example Cesc Fàbregas was first assigned the number 57 on arrival at Arsenal in 2003. On promotion to the first team squad he was switched to number 15 before inheriting his preferred number 4 following the departure of Patrick Vieira.

Very high numbers, the most common being 88, are often reserved and used as a placeholder, when a new player has been signed and played by the manager prior to having a formal squad number. However in some countries these high numbers are well used, in some cases because the players preferred number is already taken or for other reasons. On joining AC Milan Andriy Shevchenko, Ronaldinhoand Mathieu Flamini all wore numbers reflecting the year of their birth (76, 80 & 84 respectively), because their preferred numbers were already being worn.

Australian rules football

In Australian rules football, players traditionally wear numbers on the backs of their guernseys, although some competitions (the WAFLis one example) may feature teams who wear smaller numbers on the front, usually on one side of the chest. The number being worn is usually not relevant to the player's position on the ground, although occasionally a club will allocate the Number 1 guernsey or an otherwise prestigious number to the team captain (such as the Richmond football club, which allocates Number 17 to its team captain in honor of Jack Dyer, who wore that number with distinction). Port Adelaide assigns Number 1 to the team captain. In these situations, it is usually customary for players who reliquish the captaincy to switch to another.

AFL clubs generally do not retire numbers (although Geelong temporarily retired the Number 5 between 1998 and 2005 after the retirement of Gary Ablett Sr.), but instead will often choose to give their more prestigious numbers to highly touted draftees or young up-and-coming players who are shown to have promise and may share certain traits with the previous wearer, such as position or playing style. For example, as of 2010, Michael Hurley inherited the Number 18 jumper left vacant by the retired Matthew Lloyd, effectively keeping the No. 18 guernsey in Essendon's goalsquare for another era.

Sons of famous players will often take on their father's number, especially if they play at the same club. Sergio Silvagni and his sonStephen, for example, both wore Number 1 for Carlton. Matthew Scarlett wears his father John's Number 30 at Geelong. In contrast, some sons of famous players also prefer to take on other numbers in the hopes that it will reduce the burden of having to fulfill high expectations. Notable examples of this are Gary Ablett Jr. at Geelong (who wore Number 29 instead of his father's Number 5) and Jobe Watson at Essendon, who passed up Tim's Number 32 in favour of Number 4.

Clubs will often feature retiring champions "passing on" their famous guernsey numbers to the chosen successors, usually in ceremonial fashion, such as a club function or press conference.

The highest number worn in a VFL/AFL game is number 65 by Andrew Witts of Collingwood for seven games in 1985. With the demise of Reserves and Under 19's teams it is highly unlikely that any player will play senior football in a number as high again. The highest number used in the 2011 season was number 55 for Nathan Ablett in two games for the Gold Coast Suns.

Cricket

The 1995–96 World Series Cup in Australia saw the first use of shirt numbers in international cricket, with most players assigned their number and some players getting to choose their number, most notably Shane Warne wearing 23 as it was his number when he played junior Aussie Rules for St Kilda Football Club. Other countries soon adopted the practice, although players would typically have different numbers for each tournament, and it was several years later that players would consistently wear the same number year-round. Ricky Ponting (14) still uses the same number as in that initial season.

Player numbering was first used in the Cricket World Cup in 1999, where the captains wore the number 1 jersey and the rest of the squad was numbered between 2 and 15. An exception was that South African captain Hansie Cronje retained his usual number 5 with opener Gary Kirsten wearing the number 1 which he had also done previously.

Shirt numbers no longer remain exclusive to the short forms of the game, and navy blue numbers are now used on the playing whites in the Sheffield Shield to aid spectators in distinguishing players. However, a recent fashion that has been taken up by several nations is the process of giving a player making his Test debut an appearance number, along with his Test cap, for reasons of historical continuity. The number is in the order a player makes his Test debut. If two or more players make their debut in the same match, they are given numbers alphabetically based on surname. For example, Thomas Armitage is Test player Number 1 for England. He made his debut in the very first Test Match, against Australia, on 15 March 1877, and was first in alphabetical order amongst that England XI.Ben Stokes is the most recent test debutant for England, making his debut on 5 December 2013 against Australia. He is Test player Number 668 for England. These numbers can be found on a player's Test uniform, but it is always in discreet small type on the front, and never displayed prominently.