Manchester United Number 7, Liverpool Number 9 and Every Iconic Premier League Shirt

Ten shirts carry more weight in the Premier League than any others, and the Manchester United number 7 sits at the top of the pile. Below is every player to wear it, plus the Liverpool number 9 and 7, Arsenal's 14 and 9, Chelsea's 9, the Spurs 9 and 10, Man City's 10 and the Newcastle 9.

The rule for every list is the one Ball Boffin uses: the player wore the shirt in a Premier League match between 1993-94 and the end of 2024-25. Each list runs in the order the players first wore the number.

How fixed squad numbers began in 1993-94

Before 1993, numbers went 1 to 11 on whoever started, and the left back might be 3 one week and 12 the next. The change came at Wembley. The 1993 League Cup final, Arsenal 2-1 Sheffield Wednesday on 18 April 1993, was the first match in which European clubs wore squad numbers and player names on their shirts. Steve Morrow scored the winner, and nobody remembers the numbers on his back.

From August 1993 squad numbers became compulsory in the Premier League, with names printed above them. That is why every list here starts in 1993-94. Players can now wear anything from 1 to 99, but the old 1 to 11 still carry the romance, as the lists below prove.

Man Utd number 7: every player in the Premier League

Ten men have worn the Manchester United number 7 in the Premier League. Here they are in order.

Ronaldo is the only one to wear it in two separate spells.

Manchester United number 7 after Ronaldo

The Manchester United number 7 became a burden once Ronaldo left in 2009. Owen, Valencia, Di Maria, Depay and Sanchez all wore it in the next nine years and none of them stayed long. Cavani was the best of that lot and handed it straight back when Ronaldo came home. When this prompt comes up on Ball Boffin, Cantona and Beckham are the answers everyone reaches for first. Try it in today's quiz.

Liverpool number 9: every player in the Premier League

The Liverpool number 9 has had twelve owners, from a club legend at the end of his career to a striker who wore it for half a season on loan.

1. Ian Rush, the first holder when squad numbers arrived
2. Robbie Fowler
3. Nicolas Anelka, on a half-season loan
4. El Hadji Diouf
5. Djibril Cisse
6. Fernando Torres
7. Andy Carroll
8. Iago Aspas
9. Rickie Lambert
10. Christian Benteke
11. Roberto Firmino
12. Darwin Nunez, who took the shirt for 2023-24

Diouf in the 9 is the name that wins arguments in the pub. Aspas and Lambert, both one-season stays, are the ones people forget.

Liverpool number 7

The Liverpool number 7 has been more stable. Eight players have worn it.

1. Nigel Clough, from 1993-94, for three campaigns
2. Steve McManaman, from 1996, for three seasons
3. Vladimir Smicer, who took it from McManaman
4. Harry Kewell, who joined in 2003
5. Robbie Keane, for the first half of 2008-09
6. Luis Suarez, from January 2011
7. James Milner, for eight seasons until summer 2023
8. Luis Diaz, from 2023-24

Arsenal number 14

Thierry Henry made Arsenal's 14 the most famous number in north London, but he was not the first.

1. Martin Keown, who wore it in 1993-94
2. Thierry Henry
3. Theo Walcott, from 2007-08 until he left for Everton in January 2018
4. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
5. Eddie Nketiah, handed the shirt with a new contract in June 2022

Arsenal number 9

Arsenal's 9 has a reputation as a cursed shirt, and the list explains why. Thirteen players, and plenty of short stays.

1. Alan Smith
2. Paul Merson, for two seasons between 1995 and 1997
3. Nicolas Anelka, signed from PSG in 1997
4. Davor Suker, 11 goals in all competitions in 1999-00
5. Francis Jeffers, signed in 2001
6. Jose Antonio Reyes, who arrived in January 2004
7. Julio Baptista, on loan in 2006
8. Eduardo
9. Park Chu-young
10. Lukas Podolski
11. Lucas Perez, signed in 2016
12. Alexandre Lacazette, from summer 2017 until he went back to Lyon in 2022
13. Gabriel Jesus

Anelka is the only man on both the Arsenal and Liverpool 9 lists. Useful to know.

Chelsea number 9

Chelsea's 9 is the busiest shirt here. Seventeen players, including a centre back and a midfielder.

1. Tony Cascarino, the 9 in 1993-94
2. Mark Stein
3. Gianluca Vialli, who joined in 1996
4. Chris Sutton
5. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, who joined in 2000
6. Mateja Kezman
7. Hernan Crespo, the 9 in 2005-06
8. Khalid Boulahrouz
9. Steve Sidwell, who joined in 2007
10. Franco Di Santo, who joined in January 2008
11. Fernando Torres, from January 2011
12. Radamel Falcao, on loan in 2015-16
13. Alvaro Morata, signed in summer 2017
14. Gonzalo Higuain, on loan from January 2019
15. Tammy Abraham, given it under Frank Lampard in 2019
16. Romelu Lukaku
17. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

Torres also wore Liverpool's 9, and Aubameyang wore Arsenal's 14 first. Boulahrouz, a defender, in the Chelsea 9 is the best pub fact on this page.

Spurs number 9

1. Darren Anderton, the 9 in 1993-94
2. Les Ferdinand, who switched to 9 ahead of 1999-00
3. Frederic Kanoute, who joined in 2003
4. Grzegorz Rasiak, signed in 2005 and gone a few months later
5. Dimitar Berbatov, from 2006
6. Roman Pavlyuchenko, from 2008
7. Roberto Soldado, signed from Valencia in 2013
8. Vincent Janssen
9. Gareth Bale, in 2020-21
10. Richarlison, from 2022-23

Spurs number 10

1. Teddy Sheringham, the 10 in 1993-94
2. Les Ferdinand, the 10 in 1998-99
3. Steffen Iversen
4. Robbie Keane
5. Darren Bent
6. Emmanuel Adebayor, on loan from Man City in 2011-12
7. Rafael van der Vaart, for the first two league games of 2012-13
8. Harry Kane
9. James Maddison, after Kane left in 2023

Ferdinand wore both the Spurs 9 and 10, which makes him a handy answer twice over. He also appears on the Newcastle 9 list below.

Man City number 10

1. Garry Flitcroft
2. Shaun Goater
3. Antoine Sibierski
4. Rolando Bianchi
5. Robinho
6. Edin Dzeko
7. Sergio Aguero
8. Jack Grealish

Newcastle number 9

1. Andy Cole, for a season and a half before leaving in January 1995
2. Les Ferdinand, for one season
3. Alan Shearer, from 1996
4. Obafemi Martins, signed after Michael Owen was injured at the 2006 World Cup
5. Andy Carroll, for half a season
6. Papiss Cisse
7. Dwight Gayle
8. Salomon Rondon, for his one season
9. Joelinton, who joined in 2019 and wore it for two seasons
10. Callum Wilson, from 2021-22

Which names score best?

Ball Boffin rewards the answers nobody else gives. Cantona, Shearer and Henry will barely trouble the scorer. Boulahrouz, Rasiak, Iversen and Bianchi are a different story. For more practice, try our Premier League quiz questions, test yourself on the Arsenal Invincibles squad, or see who made the England top scorers list.