Retired numbers in association football

Association football clubs around the world sometimes retire squad numbers to recognise players' loyal service, sometimes as a memorial after their death.

Contents 1 Background 2 Retired numbers 3 Special cases 4 Dedication to fans 5 References

Background

This practice, long established in the major North American sports, is a recent development in football since squad numbers for specific players were not widely used until the 1990s. Before then, it was typical for players in the starting lineup to be issued numbers 1 to 11 by formation/position on a match-by-match basis, and substitutes to be numbered from 12 upwards, meaning a player might wear different numbers during the season if they were to play in different positions for tactical reasons, or simply not be a regular in the starting lineup.

Retiring a player's number usually occurs after the player has left the team or retired. It honours a player who has meant so much to his club that they retire the shirt number that the player wore during their time there, meaning no other player is permitted to use that number in the future. In some cases, such as Jason Mayélé, Vittorio Mero, Marc-Vivien Foé, Miklós Fehér, Ray Jones, François Sterchele, David di Tommaso, Antonio Puerta and Besian Idrizaj, numbers have been retired to posthumously honour a player who died in tragic circumstances while still active. Also, Norwegian club Fredrikstad have retired Dagfinn Enerly's number following an on-pitch accident that left Enerly paralysed. In Britain, only Bobby Moore's shirt number has been retired due to great service to the club as opposed to a tragic incident. Although it has not been officially retired Gianfranco Zola's no.25 shirt has not been reissued by Chelsea since he left the club in 2003.

The Argentina and Cameroon national teams have been prevented by FIFA rules dealing with squad numbers for Finals tournaments, from retiring the numbers of Diego Maradona (10) and Marc-Vivien Foé (17) respectively, but in other competitions or friendlies national associations may assign numbers according to criteria of their choosing. Similarly, several clubs have been required to reissue retired numbers for continental club competitions due to squad numbering rules of continental confederations. For example, CAF and CONMEBOL have such rules in their club competitions, but CONCACAF does not.

Retired numbers

Team	#	Player	Position	Years	Notes
SK Rapid Vienna	5	Peter Schöttel	Defender	1986–2001
SK Sturm Graz	3	Günther Neukirchner	Defender	1989–2006
SV Ried	16	Herwig Drechsel	Midfielder	1995–1998, 1999–2010
SV Ried	27	Sanel Kuljic	Striker	2003–2006
Al Ahly	3	Mohamed Abdelwahab	Defender	2004–2006	posthumous
Anorthosis Famagusta	14	Temuri Ketsbaia	Midfielder	1991–1994 2002-2009
FC Basel	2	Massimo Ceccaroni	Defender	1977–2002
FC St. Gallen	17	Marc Zellweger	Defender	1994-2001 2003-2010
Club Brugge	23	François Sterchele	Striker	2007–2008	posthumous
UR Namur	3	Michel Soulier	Defender	1967–1977	posthumous
Montreal Impact	20	Mauro Biello	Forward	1993–1998, 2000–2009
Cobreloa	8	Fernando Cornejo	Midfielder	1992–1997, 2000–2004	posthumous
Chengdu Blades	18	Yao Xia	Striker	2005–2010
Dalian Shide	26	Zhang Yalin	Midfielder	2000–2009	posthumous
Liga Deportiva Alajuelense	20	Mauricio Montero	Defender	1985–1997
Cartaginés	11	Leonel Hernández	Winger	1957–1977
Dynamo České Budějovice	8	Karel Poborský	Midfielder	1991–1994, 2005–2007
Lokomotiv Plovdiv	8	Hristo Bonev	Midfielder	1963–1967, 1968–1979, 1982–1984
AaB	12	Torben Boye	Defender	1984–2002
FC Midtjylland	32	Kristian Bak Nielsen	Defender	2000–2007, 2010-
FC Nordsjælland	26	Jonathan Richter	Midfielder	2005–2009
Næstved BK	7	Rasmus Green	Midfielder	2005–2006	posthumous
Viborg FF	22	Søren Frederiksen	Striker	1989–1994, 1998, 2001–2005
FC Copenhagen	32	Peter Møller	Striker	1993–1994, 2001–2005
FAS	10	Mágico González	Forward	1977–1982, 1991–1999
Hartlepool United	25	Michael Maidens[1]	Midfielder	2004–2007	posthumous
Exeter City	9	Adam Stansfield[1]	Forward	2006–2010	posthumous
Queens Park Rangers	31	Ray Jones[1]	Forward	2006–2007	posthumous
Rushden & Diamonds	1	Dale Roberts[2]	Goalkeeper	2008–2010	posthumous
West Ham United	6	Bobby Moore[1]	Centre back	1958–1974	posthumous
Wycombe Wanderers	14	Mark Philo[1]	Midfielder	2004–2006	posthumous
Macclesfield Town	21	Richard Butcher[3]	Midfielder	2010–2011	posthumous
Manchester City	23	Marc-Vivien Foé[1]	Midfielder	2002–2003	posthumous
Reus Deportiu	7	Jordi Pitarque	Midfielder	2009–2010	posthumous
Lyon	16	Luc Borrelli	Goalkeeper	1998–1999	posthumous
Lyon	17	Marc-Vivien Foé	Midfielder	2000–2003	posthumous
Lens	17	Marc-Vivien Foé	Midfielder	1995–1999	posthumous
Clermont	14	Clément Pinault	Defender	2008–2009	posthumous
Sedan	29	David di Tommaso	Centre back	2000–2004	posthumous
Wacker Burghausen	11	Marek Krejčí	Striker	2004–2007	posthumous
PAOK	17	Panagiotis Katsouris	Midfielder	1996–1998	posthumous
Olimpia	11	Wilmer Velásquez	Forward	1991–1995, 1996–1998, 1999–2001, 2002–2009
Happy Valley	2	Leung Sui Wing	Sweeper	1976–1997
Hong Kong Rangers	15	Cheung Yiu Lun	Defender	1992–1995, 1996–1999, 2001–2002	posthumous
Tai Po FC	16	Mao Mengsuo	Midfielder	2008–2010	posthumous
Ferencváros	2	Tibor Simon	Right fullback	1985–1999	posthumous
Kispest AC/Honvéd	10	Ferenc Puskás	Deep-lying forward	1939–1956	posthumous
Hapoel Be'er Sheva	6	Chaswe Nsofwa	Striker	2007	posthumous
Siena	4	Michele Mignani	Centre back	1996–1997, 1998–2006
Atalanta	14	Federico Pisani	Deep-lying forward	1991–1997	posthumous
Avellino	10	Adriano Lombardi	Midfielder	1975–1979	posthumous
Bologna	27	Niccolò Galli	Defender	2000–2001	posthumous
Brescia	10	Roberto Baggio	Deep-lying forward	2000–2004
Brescia	13	Vittorio Mero	Defender	1998–2001, 2002	posthumous
Cagliari	11	Gigi Riva	Striker	1963–1978
Chievo Verona	30	Jason Mayélé	Left/right winger	2001–2002	posthumous
Genoa	6	Gianluca Signorini	Sweeper	1988–1995	posthumous
Internazionale	3	Giacinto Facchetti	Left fullback	1961–1978	posthumous
Messina	41	Salvatore Sullo	Midfielder	2001–2007
Milan	6	Franco Baresi[1]	Defender	1977–1997
Milan	3	Paolo Maldini	Defender	1984–2009
Napoli	10	Diego Maradona	Midfielder	1984–1991
Roma	6	Aldair	Centre back	1990–2003
Thespa Kusatsu	31	Ryosuke Okuno	Defender	2002–2003
Yokohama F. Marinos	3	Naoki Matsuda	Defender	1995–2010	posthumous
Daewoo Royals, Busan I'cons	16	Kim Joo-Sung	Midfielder	1987–1992, 1994–1999
Al Ahly Tripoli	14	Tarik El Taib	Midfielder	1995–2001
Atlante	12	Félix Fernández	Goalkeeper	1989–1998, 1999–2001, 2002–2003
Atlante	3	Federico Vilar	Goalkeeper	2003–2010
Club Deportivo Guadalajara	22	José Martínez	Midfielder	1970–1981	posthumous
Club de Fútbol Monterrey	28	Jesus Arellano	Right Winger	1992–1997, 2000–2011
UANL Tigres	7	Gerónimo Barbadillo	Midfielder	1977–1982
Ajax	14	Johan Cruijff	Striker	1964–1973, 1983–1984
Utrecht	4	David di Tommaso	Centre back	2004–2005	posthumous
NAC Breda	13	Ferry van Vliet	Midfielder	2001–2002	posthumous
Linfield	11	Noel Bailie	Defender	1986 - 2011
Fredrikstad	8	Dagfinn Enerly	Winger	2004–2005
Chepo	77	Jonathan Rodríguez	Midfielder	2006–2009	posthumous
Universitario de Deportes	22	José Luis Carranza	Midfielder	1986–2004
Legia Warsaw	10	Kazimierz Deyna	Midfielder	1966–1978	posthumous
Benfica	29	Miklós Fehér	Striker	2002–2004	posthumous
Dinamo Bucharest	11	Cătălin Hâldan	Midfielder	1994–2000	posthumous
CSKA Moscow	16	Serhiy Perkhun	Goalkeeper	2001	posthumous
Espanyol	21	Daniel Jarque	Defender	2002–2009	posthumous
Assyriska FF	18	Eddie Moussa	Striker	2001–2010	posthumous
Helsingborgs IF	17	Henrik Larsson	Striker	1992–1993 2006–2009
Kalmar FF	15	Johny Erlandsson	Winger	1973–1988
Norrköping	18	Stefán Þórðarson	Striker	2004–2007
TOT-CAT	19	Chanont Wong-aree	Defender	2009–2010	posthumous
Real Salt Lake	9	Jason Kreis	Midfielder/Striker	2005–2007	Retirement ceremony held on July 4, 2011.[4][5]
New York Cosmos	10	Pelé	Striker	1975–1977	Number retired on October 1, 1977, at halftime. [6]
Los Angeles Galaxy	13	Cobi Jones	Midfielder	1996–2007
Hoàng Anh Gia Lai	13	Kiatisuk Senamuang	Striker	2001–2006
Swansea City	40	Besian Idrizaj[7]	Striker	2009–2010	posthumous
CSD Municipal	15	Juan Carlos Plata	Forward	1990–2010
NK Maribor	19	Stipe Balajić	Defender/Midfielder	1998–2005
Sporting Cristal	6	Gianfranco Espejo	Midfielder	2006–2008 2011	posthumous
Skoda Xanthi F.C.	13	Olubayo Adefemi	Defender	2011	died in a car accident

Special cases

Team	#	Player	Position	Years	Notes
AC Milan	3	Paolo Maldini	Left fullback	1984–2009	The shirt will not be fully retired. Maldini has given consent for his sons to adopt the number 3 shirt if either of them play professionally for the club.[1][8]
América	10	Cuauhtémoc Blanco	Striker	1992–1997, 1998–2000, 2002–2004, 2005–2007	The shirt number would be retired for a period of 5 years, starting in June 2007. However, jersey #10 has been occasionally re-issued for special cases, due to CONMEBOL rules, which state that shirts must be numbered 1–25 in continental club competitions (such as Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana, amongst others).[9] More recently, this number was given to Salvador Cabañas and is currently being worn by Daniel Montenegro.
Argentina	10	Diego Maradona	midfielder	1979–1994	The number 10 had been retired by Argentine Football Federation (AFA) in October 2001 to honour Maradona. Before the 2002 World Cup, the AFA submitted a squad list of 23 players for the tournament, listed 1 through 24, with the number 10 omitted.[1] FIFA rejected Argentina's list, and the governing body's president, Sepp Blatter suggested the number 10 shirt be instead given to the team's third-choice goalkeeper, Roberto Bonano. AFA ultimately submitted a revised list with Ariel Ortega, originally listed as number 23, as the number 10.[10] The number 10 has been worn by other players since, most notably by Lionel Messi, whom Maradona considers his "successor."
Dunfermline Athletic	4	Norrie McCathie	Defender	1981–1996	The club retired the number after club captain McCathie was found dead in his home on January 8, 1996, as a result of Carbon Monoxide poisoning.[11] At that time, Scottish League clubs used shirt numbered from 1 to 11, so for the remainder of the 1995–96 season, 12 was used instead. However, the number was not retired permanently, and has been re-issued since.
Exeter City	9	Adam Stansfield	Forward	2006–2010	The club retired the number 9 for nine seasons after the striker died of cancer on 10 August 2010.[12]
Maccabi Tel-Aviv	12	Meni Levi	Defender	-2007	During a game between Maccabi Tel-Aviv and Beitar Jerusalem, Levi chest-controlled and kicked the ball, ran back to defend, then collapsed. He returned to his feet, and then collapsed a second time. He was subsequently on a life-support machine, and has since returned home. The club claims that the number 12 is unofficially reserved for the fans.[13]
Motherwell	10	Phil O'Donnell	Midfielder	1990–1994, 2004–2007	Phil O'Donnell collapsed while playing for Motherwell against Dundee United in 2007. He was later pronounced dead at Wishaw General Hospital. The number 10 shirt was worn by his nephew David Clarkson during the 2008-09 season. Since Clarkson left in June 2009, it has not been retired, but has not been issued to any subsequent player.
Orlando Pirates	22	Lesley Manyathela	Striker	2000−2003	The club retired the number 22, after Manyathela died in a car crash in August, 2003. However, Confederation of African Football rules state that shirts must be numbered 1–30 in continental club competitions, so Pirates has been re-issued it in those special cases.
Real Oviedo	10	Peter Dubovsky	Midfielder	1995–2000	The Spanish Football League allowed Oviedo to retire number 10 just for the 2000–2001 season, as an exception to its rules. At the end of the season, number 10 was re-issued.
Sevilla	16	Antonio Puerta	Left back, Left winger	2004–2007	The shirt has not been fully retired. It was temporarily retired after Puerta died of a cardiac arrest on the first matchday in La Liga 2007–2008 However, the Spanish Football Federation rules state that clubs must use number 1 to 25 for their regular squad, and as a result, David Prieto wore the number in 2008 in honour of his friend.[14]
Stabæk	7	Christer Basma	Central defender	1995–1998	The club had retired the number to honor his services for the club. However, the retirement was revoked after 2004 season and the number given to Henning Hauger.
UANL Tigres	7	Gerónimo Barbadillo	Midfielder	1977–1982	The number is currently retired but has been occasionally re-issued for special cases, due to CONMEBOL rules, which state that shirts must be numbered 1–25 in continental club competitions (such as Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana, amongst others).
Sporting Cristal	6	Gianfranco Espejo	Midfielder	2006–2008, 2011	The number is currently retired but has been occasionally re-issued for special cases, due to CONMEBOL rules, which state that shirts must be numbered 1–25 in continental club competitions (such as Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana, amongst others).
Maccabi Tel-Aviv	8	Avi Nimni	Midfielder	1989–2004, 2006–2008	Avi Nimni is considered by many to be Maccabi Tel-Aviv's best player of all-times. He is also the club's top goal scorer (174 Goals). He played in 1997 for Atlético Madrid and in 1999 for Derby County. In 2004 Maccabi Tel-Aviv's manager Nir Klinger sacked him from the club over personal issues and he moved to Beitar Jerusalem until the end of the 2005–06 season. Some Maccabi fans who hailed Nimni as a king came to the games during this period dressed in black and others boycotted the team until the management brought him back for the 2006–07 season. He continued playing for the club until the end of the 2007–08 season and then retired. The new management decided to retire the number 8 shirt as a tribute to his career at the club. In the middle of the 2008–09 season Avi Nimni was appointed as Maccabi Tel-Aviv's manager.
FC Haka	14	Valeri Popovitch	Forward	1994–2008	First ever retired shirt number in the history of Finnish football is ex-Haka's Valeri Popovitch's number 14. Popovitch has stated that his sons, whom are still playing for Haka's junior teams, can wear the legendary number if they want.[15]
Wycombe Wanderers	14	Mark Philo	Midfielder	2004–2006	Philo was killed in a car accident and the number 14 shirt retired. It was later revealed he was significantly over the drink-drive limit and his car veered on to the other side of the road, killing a 58-year-old mother of two.[16]
FC Midtjylland	14	Mohammed Zidan	Striker	2003–2004	FC Midtjylland originally retired Zidan's number 14, because of his exceptional abilities, but has re-issued the number to the second goalkeeper Kasper Jensen.
Universitario de Deportes	22	José Luis Carranza	Midfielder	1986–2004	The number is currently retired but has been occasionally re-issued for special cases, due to CONMEBOL rules, which state that shirts must be numbered 1–25 in continental club competitions (such as Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana, amongst others).

Dedication to fans

Some clubs dedicate a number to their fans, and do not issue it to any player. The most common number for this practice is 12, from descriptions of the fans as "the twelfth man". All of the Japanese clubs reserve number 12 for their supporters. Other clubs and teams include:

Melbourne Heart Club Brugge KRC Genk Atlético Mineiro Avaí Flamengo Beroe StZ Botev Plovdiv Omonia Sparta Prague AGF Odense BK Bristol Rovers Oxford United Oldham Athletic Plymouth Argyle Portsmouth Reading[17] Lens Mikkelin Palloilijat VfL Bochum Werder Bremen Rot-Weiss Essen TuS Koblenz Borussia Mönchengladbach

Bayern Munich PAOK FC Ferencváros Újpest Persija Jakarta Foolad Cork City Shamrock Rovers Atalanta Cesena Genoa Lazio Lecce Parma Torino FC Seoul Incheon United Seoul United Valletta Club de Fútbol Monterrey UANL Tigres Yagon United FC Yadanarbon United FC Feyenoord

PSV Eindhoven FC Zwolle IK Start Vålerenga Pogoń Szczecin Lech Poznań Polonia Warszawa Vitória de Guimarães (from 2011/2012 onward) Rapid Bucharest Zenit Saint Petersburg CSKA Moscow Aberdeen Red Star Belgrade Hammarby Malmö FF Helsingborgs IF FC Basel 1893 Chonburi BEC Tero Sasana Muangthong United Thai Port Fenerbahçe Sivasspor Dynamo Kiev

AIK, Djurgården and also the German club Eintracht Braunschweig reserve the number 1 for their supporters.

Reading, Notts County and Bryne reserve the number 13 for their supporters, Panathinaikos reserve this number in honour of Gate 13, the ultras based in the respective gate in home matches. Norwich City also reserve the number 13 shirt for "the fans" while Shrewsbury Town reserve the number 13 shirt for the fan who wins a pre-season competition.

After their 15 point deduction, Leeds United retired the number 15 shirt for the 2007–08 season only.^[18]

Bursaspor reserve the number 16 for their supporters.

AFC Bournemouth use squad number 27 for the North Stand which houses the large majority of hardcore supporters, the number 50 for "12th man" and the number 99 shirt for their mascot, Cherry Bear.

Oldham Athletic reserve the number 40 for their fans.

Leicester City have reserved the number 50 for the mascot, Filbert Fox, to which he wears the number on his shirt to every game.

APOEL reserve the number 79 in honour of PAN.SY.FI. (APOEL Ultras), as the number 79 symbolizes the foundation year (1979) of the group.

References