It always seems as though the numbers are all over the place. I get that they can’t just be numbered 1 – 11 as the team is often much larger and will differ per starting lineup but who delegates who wears the ‘number 40’ shirt and does the team even have that much players with reserves & substitutes taken into account?
Who decides who gets to inherit a number from a retired legend for example?
In: 8
Typically when a new player joins a team, the team will tell them “These are the numbers we have available, pick which one you want.” They won’t change existing players’ numbers without that player’s consent (and usually not unless that player explicitly requests it).
A lot of American teams will retire the numbers of particularly legendary players, so no one inherits their number.
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