My Favourite Football Numbers
In this article, I take a look at some of my favourite numbers in football…
Numbers in football are everywhere. Stats-wise, you only have to click on a Premier League match report from the weekend on the BBC website to be greeted by expected goals (xG), expected assists (xA) and a match momentum graph that measures which team was most likely to score in each specific minute of the 90.
Whilst on the surface, having this layer of numerical information to help guide your understanding of the game is a useful tool, it can also be quite draining. With easily accessible data covering every small detail of football—from player distance covered to expected Goals on Target (xGOT)—it could be argued that football is becoming robotic, and that there's an overreliance on numerical information shaping our game.
There is debate over whether clubs’ uses of data are killing players’ individual brilliance. However, I’ll leave that to the experts to scrutinise, rather than a biased fan who loves nothing more than a piledriver from 35 yards out.
On Always Thinking Football, we like to make light of all things to do with our beautiful sport, so I wanted to focus on five footballing numbers that help shape my love of the game. In this piece, I’ll cover the football numbers (mainly statistics) that I find quirky and romantic, while possibly providing you with some ammunition for your next sports round in a quiz.
Remember: numbers in football are everywhere.
1–11 – Burnley
In the opening month of the 2021–22 Premier League season, Liverpool hosted Burnley in the first fixture back at Anfield after the COVID-19 pandemic.
So, why draw upon this one specific game in a piece about numbers in football? Well, for the first time in the century, Sean Dyche picked an entire Premier League starting XI with players numbered between 1–11.
Nick Pope – 1
Matthew Lowton – 2
James Tarkowski – 5
Ben Mee – 6
Charlie Taylor – 3
Johann Gudmundsson – 7
Jack Cork – 4
Josh Brownhill – 8
Dwight McNeil – 11
Chris Wood – 9
Ashley Barnes – 10
Call me old-fashioned or a traditionalist, but there was something quite romantic about seeing a 4-4-2 formation with Chris Wood (9) and Ashley Barnes (10) leading the line. Full-backs Matthew Lowton (2) and Charlie Taylor (3) bombing up and down with the (in my opinion) correct numbers reflecting their right and left-back statuses respectively. Busy yet technical midfielders in Jack Cork (4) and Josh Brownhill (8) operating centrally.
I’ve perhaps left myself open to criticism by identifying how these numbers reflect positions, as I understand how there are different squad number traditions across the globe. However, as a fan who grew up with terrestrial TV, my only exposure to live football was through watching England play international games in a 4-4-2 formation with players numbered 1–11—so this team selection was a lovely, nostalgic throwback.
Quick, get me in front of that green wall now.
6 – Goalkeepers
In Jacob’s cleverly written piece last week, he likened the uncommon 155 checkout in darts to a goal being scored by a goalkeeper. Immediately, this took me back to the goal I’ve celebrated the loudest for a neutral team—Alisson for Liverpool vs West Brom. In a uni house of Liverpool fans, with washing and furniture scattered across the front room, the Brazilian shot-stopper headed in a last-gasp winner to help the Reds secure Champions League football. The washing and furniture were unharmoniously rearranged by a house of excited 20-year-olds taking part in what can only be described as unbridled limbs.
Rewind 14 years, my father announced—whilst browsing Ceefax—that Paul Robinson had scored for Tottenham vs Watford, which was my first exposure to the notion that a goalkeeper could, in fact, score a goal. For the rest of the Saturday, my actions could only be likened to Sherlock Holmes deducing a case presented to him by Watson - I just could not get my head around it. I pleaded with my dad to let me stay up in the evening to conquer the solution to my investigation—however, it was to no avail.
First thing Sunday on Match of the Day, I watched the ball bounce over a helpless Ben Foster and it was everything I dreamed it could be. A long-range punt met with a bamboozling reaction, opening up another layer to a sport I was rapidly falling in love with. The chaos of a goalkeeper goal still sticks with me until this very day and I long for the next one.
Aside from Alisson and Robinson; Peter Schmeichel, Brad Friedel, Tim Howard, and Asmir Begović are the six goalkeepers in the sacred goalkeeper scoring club. But the real question is: who is next? And why is it Jordan Pickford?
9,583.1 miles – Plymouth
Quick-fire questions…
Which is the largest city in the UK to have never hosted a top-flight game of football?
Which club’s fanbase has the furthest cumulative distance to travel to away games this season?
Which club has the tenth-highest away following in the EFL this season?
The answer to all three questions? The Green Army, Plymouth Argyle.
An incredibly well-supported club with a passionate fanbase, Plymouth fans have often had little to celebrate in their 139-year history. In fact, this season, they’re in the midst of a tense end-of-season relegation battle, with the Pilgrims three points below the dreaded relegation line. From entering administration in 2011 and finishing 21st in League Two just 12 years ago, to beating Premier League-bound Ipswich to the League One title in 2023—one thing has remained constant: the commitment and passion of the fans.
Travelling an average of 416 miles to each game and turning out in their numbers, Plymouth represent the greatness of football fandom. No matter the situation, the love and commitment to your team’s cause never wavers.
Stay up this year, you Greens.
1 – Motherwell
Mother well? Yeah, she’s great, thanks—but not as great as John Hunter’s Steelmen in 1927.
Why the number 1? In 1927, Motherwell became the first and only non-Spanish club to win the illustrious Copa del Rey. Okay, this was classed as an unofficial version of the tournament, with the event organised as a special end-of-season one-off contested between Real Madrid, Motherwell and checks notes Swansea City. However, after an invitation from the Royal Spanish Football Federation, it represented an early opportunity for a British club to win a title in Europe.
After a 3-1 win against Real Madrid, just days after their semi-final against the Jack Army, the trophy still holds a proud place in the Motherwell cabinet.
Was this a number that helped shape my love of the sport? Probably not. However, the sense of fulfilment I get from knowing a quirky stat to drop into football conversations provides an unmatched intellectual buzz.
I probably should get a life.
8 – The FA Cup
The FA Cup is arguably enduring its most engaging tournament in the last two decades, with three of the four remaining clubs seeking their first pieces of silverware in quite some time. For fans of Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest, and Crystal Palace (the latter gunning for their first major honour), this season’s campaign has presented their most realistic recent opportunity to bask in the glory of winning English football’s most prestigious knockout cup.
Now, not to rain on the three clubs’ parades—but they are all Premier League teams, as the league becomes more competitive, we should hope that this is a positive sign of things to come.
But what about the clubs outside the top flight and their chances of victory?
Hence, my inclusion of the number 8—it represents the number of clubs to have won the FA Cup whilst outside the top of the English football pyramid, and why that resonates with me:
Notts County – 1894
Tottenham Hotspur – 1901
Wolverhampton Wanderers – 1908
Barnsley – 1912
West Bromwich Albion – 1931
Sunderland – 1973
Southampton – 1976
West Ham United – 1980
Will we see Wembley playing host to another winner outside the top tier of English football?
As a Sunderland supporter, the FA Cup over recent years has provided me with little to no joy. From Gus Poyet fielding a weakened side against Hull, which could have sent us to a semi-final at Wembley, to being knocked out in Round 1—oh, and I’m not even going to mention the debacle of last season’s third round. I do, at times, find myself disillusioned with the tournament.
However—and maybe this is my snobbery as a Championship supporter—I have to remind myself of the non-league clubs that enter the competition before the season even commences. Realistically, do Chelmsford City believe they can win the FA Cup? Probably not. But as over 800 fans watched the Clarets take on National League leaders Barnet in Round One back in October, there would have been a common thought amongst fans: “We couldn’t… could we?”
They couldn’t—losing 4–0 to the Bees. However, it was a memorable away day for supporters, who now dream of going further in next year’s FA Cup. The tournament is famed for these micro-level, underdog opportunities, where fans of lower-division sides are provided with the chance to believe and think what if—whether their team is victorious or not!
So, the number 8 represents the number of times a non–first-tier club has won the FA Cup, but it also symbolises the teams, every season, that have their David vs Goliath opportunities across our unique and special football pyramid throughout the Football Association Cup.
Alexa, play ‘Underdog’ by Kasabian.
In a footballing world where we continue to have a plethora of numbers presented to us at a supersonic rate, try not to lose sight of the digits and stats that remind us why we are so deeply invested in the game.
What are your favourite footballing numbers? Be sure to let us know in the comments!
We delve into the football alternative to certain darts checkouts.