- Dec 23, 2004
- 11,916
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DIDN'T anderton also wear 9.
numbers don't seem to matter these days
They only really mattered when the standard formation was the 2-3-5 from which they arose. You'd have
11---10---9---8---7 Forwards
-------6---5---4----- Half backs
---------3---2------- Full backs
-----------1---------- Goalkeeper
so the centre forward was number 9, full backs 2 and 3, 'centre half' number 5 etc. It was the standard for teams to be numbered like this and it was considered poor sportsmanship the first time a manager had the idea of sending his team out with the shirts mixed so as to confuse the opposition!
Given that formations are all but dead these days, numbers only really serve the purpose of identification.