Positional numbers in soccer professional#

So, when a referee needs to speak to James Milner, they may call him by name. Of course, if a referee is experienced with the league they’re refereeing in – they may recognize many players without having to read the number on their backs.įor example, James Milner of Liverpool, despite not being a world class player and probably not as famous as the likes of Mo Salah, who plays for the same team, is still a reasonably recognizable player in the English Premier League as he’s been playing there for almost two decades. It’s unlikely that the ref can actually read the last name on someone’s back from a distance.īut everyone can see the number from anywhere around the field. The number is usually printed big enough to take up most of the space on the back. However, the print of a player’s name is finer and much smaller than the number on their jersey. And because of this, it’s not that hard to know and use their names. Some people will now correctly point out that the players’ last names are actually printed just above or below the number on their backs. It’s far more likely that the referee will shout something like, “Hey, number two! Come here!” It’s unlikely that a referee is going to shout, “Hey, Victor, come here!” – as not every referee will recognize Victor Lindelof just by looking at him. That’s not how a referee communicates.įor example, Victor Lindelof of Manchester United in England wears the number 2. If they need to talk to a player, the referee will rarely shout out a player’s name to get their attention. The referees use the jersey number to identify a player. Especially when new players arrive and some players leave every season. The fact is there’s no way that anyone’s going to remember so many faces and so many names.

Positional numbers in soccer professional#

On top of this, there are also around 20 teams in a professional soccer league. That means that over 50 people can be directly involved with the game, and 22 of those are playing on the field. On top of this, there are also three (or in some cases even more) referees on the sides of the pitch (not to mention the coaching teams). There are 22 players on the field, or pitch as it’s known, with one referee running amongst them. Jersey numbers are used in soccer primarily for identification. The numbers on the back of a player’s jersey remove the need for a referee to remember a specific player’s name.

With so many factors that the referees need to have in mind, it helps if they don’t have to remember each player’s name as well. The game has been formed over hundreds of years into the sport we watch today.ĭue to this sport being so highly developed, the referee has to be aware of a lot of aspects when officiating the game. Soccer is one of the most meticulously developed sports in the world. Let’s get started! Why Soccer Players Wear Numbers on their Jerseys In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the culture of numbers in soccer and see precisely why the players have to wear numbers, how does number allocation work, and the relation between soccer positions and numbers. Because every player wears the same color jersey, the number is the primary way for the referee to tell the players apart. Each player on a team wears a different number to the others. The primary purpose, or meaning, of the number on the back of a soccer player’s jersey is to identify a specific player. However, many people don’t understand what they mean and why soccer players have to wear a number. If you’ve ever watched a game of soccer, you’ll have noticed that each player wears a number on their back.