The Players Behind the Shirt - Liverpool No. 7
Following a bit of confusion with the previous title, I've undertaken a subtle rebrand to avoid anybody guessing who's actually wearing the shirt in the picture.
Now I wasn't sure which shirt number to go with for Liverpool with there being a couple of iconic players that sprung instantly to mind - Stevie G. (No. 8) and Fernando Torres (No. 9) being 2 in recent memory. So I used Google and was told:
"7 shirt is without question the most famous of all numbers when it comes to Liverpool players past and present" - thebleacherreport
There was go then. Without question. And the first name that I think of at Liverpool with this number is the legenday Kenny Dalglish. I was just old enough to watch him when I was young, but he was coming to the end of his career so I didn't see enough to remember much about him. Ian Callaghan, Kevin Keegan and Peter Beardsley also noteworthy.
And then I wondered, who's wearing that number this season? I couldn't remember, so let's see who's on the list since squad numbers were assigned to individual players:
1993 / 1994 - Nigel Clough
1994 / 1995 - Nigel Clough
1995 / 1996 - Nigel Clough
1996 / 1997 - Steve McManaman
1997 / 1998 - Steve McManaman
1998 / 1999 - Steve McManaman
1999 / 2000 - Vladimir Smicer
2000 / 2001 - Vladimir Smicer
2001 / 2002 - Vladimir Smicer
2002 / 2003 - Vladimir Smicer
2003 / 2004 - Harry Kewell
2004 / 2005 - Harry Kewell
2005 / 2006 - Harry Kewell
2006 / 2007 - Harry Kewell
2007 / 2008 - Harry Kewell
2008 / 2009 - Robbie Keane
2009 / 2010 - Vacant
2010 / 2011 - Luis Suarez
2011 / 2012 - Luis Suarez
2012 / 2013 - Luis Suarez
2013 / 2014 - Luis Suarez
2014 / 2015 - Vacant
2015 / 2016 - James Milner
2016 / 2017 - James Milner
2017 / 2018 - James Milner
2018 / 2019 - James Milner
2019 / 2020 - James Milner
2020 / 2021 - James Milner
So James Milner's been Liverpool's No. 7 for the past 6 seasons! Despite having played over 500 Premier League games and winning both the Premier League and Champions League, I'll forget him quickly.
So this list is a bit of a mixed bag - there are no bad players but there are a few in there who's best football was played elsewhere. Nigel Clough was far better at Nottingham Forest, Harry Kewell and Robbie Keane were better at Leeds. And then you get to Luis Suarez - a player who played such a huge part in very nearly winning the Premier League. It's strange to think that in his 4 years at the club, he won a single trophy - The League Cup. So no surprise that the opportunity to go to Barcelona was too good to turn down.
The only players left to mention are McManaman and Smicer.
Now a commentator / TV Pundit, Steve McManaman (a local Liverpool lad) was one of the best English players at the time and left Liverpool for Real Madrid. I have fond memories of him playing for England at Euro '96 before we inevitably lost on penalties to Germany.
Having also impressed at Euro '96 (with the Czech republic reaching the final), it was only a matter of time before Smicer moved to an English team and he joined his Czech team mate Patrik Berger. I can't remember much about Smicer's time at Liverpool unfortunately.
So there we have it, another famous shirt and another list including some great players.
Previous Articles:
Barcelona No. 10
Manchester United No. 7
