Football's famous number 9 shirt began as an accident of numbering in 1933
When shirt numbers first appeared at the 1933 FA Cup final, one side wore 1 to 11 and the other 12 to 22. By chance, Everton's powerhouse Dixie Dean, record holder for goals in an English season, drew number 9. The digit has stood for the centre-forward ever since.
Forwards, or attackers, play furthest up the pitch and carry the lightest defensive load, so they usually score the most goals. Modern line-ups field between one and three of them; the popular 4–2–3–1 uses a single striker, and some unusual systems use none at all. Attacking roles reward unpredictability and players willing to run straight at defenders.
Not every forward does the same job. A classic centre-forward is often tall and strong, winning headers and long balls and holding the ball up with his back to goal while teammates join the attack. A striker in the stricter sense relies more on pace and timing, slipping off a defender's blind side to receive the ball in a scoring position, as Thierry Henry did. Nimble, smaller forwards such as Michael Owen gain from quickness and balance.
Between the striker and midfield sits the vaguest role of all, the second or shadow striker. Dennis Bergkamp filled it behind Henry at Arsenal. Michel Platini coined a memorable label, the nine-and-a-half, for his successor at Juventus, Roberto Baggio. The ancestor of this role is the inside forward: in the old 2–3–5 formation two inside forwards flanked the centre-forward, until the WM system pulled them back into attacking midfield.
Shirt numbers still hint at style. Number 9 marks out-and-out goalscorers like Alan Shearer, 10 goes to creative deep-lying forwards in the mould of Pelé, and 7 and 11 are linked with wingers. Those wide players descend from outside forwards, whose job was to shoot first, cross second and outrun defenders on the counter-attack. Britain, with its fondness for 4–4–2, usually counts wingers as midfielders, while Latin and Dutch football cultures still call them forwards.
Source: Forward (association football)
