Highlights

• Tommy Oar wore number 121 for Australia due to a registration mix-up, making it a rather unusual squad number.
• Ronaldo wore number 99 for AC Milan as teammate Filippo Inzaghi already wore the number 9 shirt.
• Gary Hooper chose the number 88 because he was born in 1988, a simple but personal reason for his squad number choice.

Nothing says it's time for a new football season like the official unveiling of a team's squad numbers. With new faces in the squad, players departing and perhaps younger talents stepping up for a more prominent role, fans are always keen to see who's been given what.

The purists hate it, though. The main squad should get 1 to 11 and that's that. But that's rarely the case anymore. And while the numbers-by-position model is admittedly a cool idea and nice to see on occasion, the game has evolved, rendering it less logical. Positions are too fluid, people are in and out of the team and, above all, players have the numbers they like.

With that being the case, every now and then, a player takes to the pitch sporting a rather peculiar squad number on the back of the shirt. It might be a player who has some emotional attachment to a specific number, or perhaps it's a senior star who has never wanted to change that first number they had when breaking through as a youngster.

There are plenty of examples and so, in honour of those rather striking and strange exceptions, GIVEMESPORT has compiled a list of the oddest squad numbers in football history. We've also delved into the reason behind those decisions – with some explanations more understandable than others.

Tommy Oar

121 - Australia

To kick us off, we've got the utterly bizarre situation where Tommy Oar wore number 121 on his debut for Australia. Usually, squad numbers do not go beyond double digits – presumably due to a lack of space for a third number on the back of a shirt, and also because there's just no need to go that high.

Either way, Oar inadvertently got around this rule when he got called up to represent his country in the Asian Cup qualifiers. The competition said that players had to be registered with a number in advance of the tournament, but as a few years had passed before the midfielder got his first call-up, over 100 players had already been registered ahead of him. He told the press:

"Well, it wasn't only me that had a very strange number in that camp because I remember before the Asian Cup qualifiers began, I'm pretty sure that the FFA had to register any potential Australian player and give them a number that couldn't be changed. So I guess the numbers would have been registered one or two years before that when I would have been 16 or something at the time. Yeah, so I would have been the 121st player registered and then I guess when I was selected 12 months later, or whatever it was, the number couldn't be changed. So it's quite a funny story."

Ronaldo

99 - AC Milan

In the modern age, there are perhaps no number nine in world football more famous than Brazilian royalty Ronaldo Nazário. The legendary forward – all throughout his career - wore the shirt for Brazil, Cruzeiro, PSV Eindhoven, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Corinthians.

And yet, when he played for AC Milan, he had something else printed on the back of that iconic red and black strip. The reason why? Well, when he arrived in Italy back in 2007, prolific poacher Filippo Inzaghi was already using that number. Settling for the next best thing, Ronaldo simply copied-and-pasted the figure to get #99. Clever, really.

Gary Hooper

88 - Celtic, Wellington Phoenix, Omonia Nicosia, and Barnet FC

Gary Hooper might not be the most illustrious name here, but he caught the eye at Celtic when he joined in 2010 and opted for the number 88 shirt. He scored an impressive 82 goals in 137 games for the Bhoys before going on to later wear the shirt for Wellington Phoenix, Omonia Nicosia, and Barnet FC.

Prior to heading to Scotland, he'd worn the number 10 at Scunthorpe United but decided to switch things up and try something new in his changed environment. Hooper chose that specific figure as he was born in 1988. Hardly the most inventive reasoning, but each to their own.

Bixente Lizarazu

69 - Bayern Munich

It might sound as though Bixente Lizarazu was trying to get away with a schoolyard joke by having the number 69 on the back of his shirt but he has always insisted that he wore it for good reason. He was born in 1969, his height is 169cm and his weight at the time was 69kg, so it’s not unfair to say that he has one of the more unusual reasoning on this list.

The France World Cup winner wore the shirt at Bayern Munich during his final two years as a professional player. You can't help but feel as though he'd been waiting his whole career to pull on the shirt.

Trent Alexander-Arnold

66 - Liverpool

Trent Alexander-Arnold's no.66 has become one of the most iconic kit numbers in the modern game. Ever since bursting onto the scene as a teenager in 2017/18, the fullback has established himself as one of the best technical footballers currently playing. He's won it all with Liverpool too, lifting the Champions League, Premier League, Club World Cup and more.

Seeing as he's English, you may think this number was a reference to his nation's World Cup win in 1966. Or perhaps it's just a distinctive number that helps him stand out. In fact, it's for none of these reasons. Alexander-Arnold simply wears it because kit man Lee Radcliffe randomly picked it out for him one day. Radcliffe explained to Liverpool.com:

"We don't like to give them a low number in case they sort of think they've made it straight away, if you know what I mean. You pick it out because it's a free number and it's around that sort of number you think, 'We'll give that out because he's only just come down'. When you see him now lifting trophies and celebrating with No.66 on the back, it's a weird feeling and I can't really describe it. It's weird to see such a high number and for someone to be happy with it!"

Nicklas Bendtner

52 - Arsenal and Sunderland

One of football's most colourful characters in modern times, Nicklas Bendtner was never too far away from a weird headline. His shirt number switch in 2009 from 26 to 52 was one of them. Reports suggested he switched to 52 to represent his £52,000-per-week wages, but this turned out to be a falsehood.

Instead, it was supposed to give him good luck. He only wore that number for Arsenal and then Sunderland, before giving up on the idea. In 2020, he finally offered a full explanation for his kit change, explaining in his book:

"I switch from the No 26 jersey to No 52 jersey because of a professional fortune-teller my mum knows. Or a clairvoyant, as she calls herself. She thinks 26 is a s*** number for me, because 2 + 6 = 8, which is my so-called ‘bad number’. She’s found this out… somehow. According to the friend, 7 is my lucky number. My strength number. Unfortunately, 7 is already taken. And 25 (2 + 5 = 7) was Adebayor’s, which means it’s all tied up with bad karma. We settle for 52 in the end. When it’s made official, everyone thinks it’s a hint about my new wages: £52,000 a week."

Phil Foden

47 - Manchester City

Phil Foden was long hyped up and being the next big thing coming through at youth level within English football. Unlike so many others before him, though, he actually delivered on his promise and has established himself as a key man for Manchester City over the past few years, winning the treble with his boyhood club in the 2022/23 season.

Since making his debut for the Premier League champions – in 2017, aged just 17 – he has kept faithful to the same number. Foden has a good reason for sporting the number too, doing so to pay tribute to his grandfather, Ronnie, who passed away at the age of 47. He even turned down a chance to wear #10 for City, saying: "I just have a thing with 47. I'd like to create my own legacy and keep that number."

Mario Balotelli

45 - Inter Milan, Manchester City, AC Milan, Liverpool, Brescia Calcio, AC Monza, Adana Demirspor and FC Sion

When talking about the weird and wonderful within football, it feels only right that Mario Balotelli enters the conversation at some point. The Italian striker once looked capable of becoming one of the best players in the world but his off-field antics saw him fall short of truly fulfilling his potential.

He is best associated with #45, which he wore for Inter Milan, Manchester City, AC Milan, Liverpool, Brescia Calcio, AC Monza, Adana Demirspor and FC Sion across the course of his nomadic career. He supposedly chose the number as a youngster at Inter because four and five add to make nine; a striker's main number – and you can't really argue with that logic.

Declan Rice

41 - West Ham and Arsenal

Since joining Arsenal for £100m in the summer of 2023, very few have come to question that substantial transfer fee, proving just how good Declan Rice has been for the Gunners. Despite his rise to being one of the best midfielders in the game, he wears the same number 41 in north London that he first donned at West Ham United.

There's no great meaning behind the number, though, as it was just randomly assigned to Rice when he was coming through as a youngster for the Hammers. However, he told Gary Neville during an episode of The Overlap in 2022:

"I think 'Rice 41' has a nice ring to it, I've grown up playing in it and I'm a bit superstitious about things like that... I don't know if I changed to a new number if it would hamper my performances, I don't know!"

Bruno Guimarães

39 - Atlético Paranaense, Olympique Lyon, and Newcastle United

Bruno Guimarães is such a good midfielder, he can play in either the six or the eight role – often dominating the middle of the park for Newcastle United. And while he can operate in those positions, wherever he ends up playing, he'll do so with the number 39 printed on his back.

The Brazilian has a pretty heartwarming explanation for why he wears that specific number too. It's all to do with his upbringing and the sacrifice his parents made when he was a kid to help him with his dream. In Febuary 2023, he explained:

"The number 39 gave me everything in life. It got me here to Newcastle. It fed me, clothed me, and paid for three-hour bus rides to pursue my dream. #039 was the dispatch number of my father’s taxi in Rio de Janeiro."

Nicolas Anelka

39 - Manchester City, Fenerbahce, Bolton Wanderers, Chelsea, Shanghai Shenhua Liansheng, West Bromwich Albion and Mumbai City FC

Nicolas Anelka famously set English football on fire during a brief but brilliant spell at Arsenal before then heading off to Real Madrid where he failed to have the same impact. After bouncing around at a few clubs, he ended up at Manchester City where he took on the unusually high number of 39.

Despite being a proven goalscorer, he would continue to stick to the figure for the rest of his career, wearing it for other English clubs such as Bolton Wanderers, Chelsea and West Bromwich Albion. He explained his decision in a Q&A for the Trotters, saying:

"I had to choose a number when I signed for Manchester City. Only three numbers were available and 39 was one of them, so I took it and always wanted to keep it after this."

Scott McTominay

39 - Manchester United

Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay may divide the fanbase but the truth is, he is one of the more reliable academy players to have emerged during the post-Sir Alex-Fergruson era. He has, after all, now played over 230 times for the Red Devils in all competitions. Having racked up so many minutes, you might be wondering why he still wears the same number first given to him when he broke into the senior team. Well, it seems he hasn't given much thought to it. McTominay told club media in 2021:

“Nobody has ever said change your number – there’s not been a single conversation about changing my number. Not three years, two years or a year ago. Nothing has ever been said about it. I’m perfectly fine with that. I’ve never even asked myself and never thought or brought it up in conversation to change my number. I’m perfectly fine, so 39. I see 39 everywhere now, I can’t get it out of my head!”

Ivan Zamorano

1+8 - Inter Milan

Ivan Zamorano, a lesser-known name on this list, really had to think outside the box to get what he wanted for Inter Milan when he lost his original number. The arrival of striker Roberto Baggio's at the club forced Ronaldo to give up number 10. The Brazilian claimed the 9, which left Zamorano without a number.

He refused to wear another, however, and so started wearing a shirt bearing the number '1+8'. In his eyes, this mathematically meant he was still the number 9 striker. Talk about mental gymnastics. That said, it truly is, albeit relatively sneaky, wonderfully silly stuff.

William Gallas

10 - Arsenal

This is just odd for a few reasons. Not only did William Gallas have no business wearing the No.10 simply as a centre-back, but he certainly shouldn't have been allowed to be the first man to wear the number following the departure of club icon Dennis Bergkamp.

And yet, Arsenal allowed him to claim that jersey. In an interview with FourFourTwo (via Mirror), he revealed that he initially wanted to wear No.13, but it was already taken by Aleksandr Hleb. He consequently had a choice between 3 – which had just been vacated by Cole – or 10. He explained his controversial final decision, saying:

"I saw it as a great opportunity as I'd already worn the same number earlier in my career [as a youth player], and my daughter had been born on November 10. At the same time, it was good for Arsenal that I wore the number. If a young player is given the No.10 shirt, it'll be far too much pressure on his shoulders."

Cristiano Lupatelli

10 - Chievo

Cristiano Lupatelli is another player whose main task is to prevent goals rather than score them but still chose to wear number 10 when the opportunity arose. The goalkeeper moved from Roma to Chievo in 2001 and arrived with his unusual request for a pretty silly reason.

Indeed, Lupatelli picked the #10 shirt – perhaps the most sought-after at any club – simply because he'd made a bet with friends. Maybe the most surprising part of this all is that the Italian club allowed it. He later reflected:

"It all started as a joke, and it became reality. Something I think is funny and nice."

Micky van de Ven

37 - Tottenham Hotspur

Micky van de Ven bucked the traditional trend upon his arrival at Tottenham Hotspur. Central defenders can typically be seen donning jerseys with either 4, 5 or 6 on the back – but the Dutchman opted for no.37.

A stalwart in the heart of the north London-based outfit’s back line when not injured, the lightning-quick Netherlands international chose the unorthodox number to commemorate a childhood friend, who passed away when they were younger. The 22-year-old lifted the lid on the reason, claiming that 37 was his late pal's favourite number.

“With a friend of mine, he passed away when we were younger, and it was always his favourite number. So, when I had the opportunity to choose No 37 when I signed for Tottenham. To be honest, it's for him."