Previous entries in this series:
When I began watching football in 1990, I quickly noted how prevalent the 2-5-6-3 7-8-4-11 9-10 numbering system was in England.
Liverpool were of course a notable exception, while Manchester United also had number 5 in midfield but Tottenham Hotspur seemed very much out of the ordinary – 5 and 9 in midfield and sometimes with 2 and 3 reversed from their usual spots.
By the end of the 1992-93 season, the last of 1-11 in the top flight, things were returning to normal. Pat Van Den Hauwe, who could play right- or left-back but only wore number 3, was coming to the end of his time at the club, while the centre of defence had returned to a 5-6 pairing.
Even that was a little bit unusual though as Neil Ruddock joined from Southampton in 1991 and requested to wear his favoured number 6 – since November 1986, it had been the only number that club captain Gary Mabbutt wore but he generously switched to 5 for 1992-93. Edit: See Mark Mitchener’s comment below.
While Darren Anderton, newly signed from Portsmouth in 1992, wore 10 in a couple of his early games, the arrival of Teddy Sheringham from Nottingham Forest saw him take 10. With strike partner Gordon Durie wearing 8, Anderton assumed the number 9 shirt on the wing and would retain it until George Graham initiated a numbers tidy-up in 1999.
While Tottenham lost 6-2 to Liverpool on the final weekend of the Premier League season, the involvement of Arsenal and Sheffield Wednesday in both cup finals meant those two clubs had a backlog of fixtures and they finished their league programmes on Tuesday, May 13, four days before the FA Cup final.
Spurs made the short trip to Arsenal and a 3-1 win against an under-strength lifted them above the Gunners to finish eighth. Tottenham didn’t have their full first team out, either. Van Den Hauwe and fellow full-back David McDonald were playing their final games for the club (as was Ruddock, about to join Liverpool) while midfielder Danny Hill and John Hendry, scorer of two goals, were still some way down the depth-chart, as evidenced by their 1993-94 squad numbers.
1992-93 final game
1992-93 final game, 1993-94 squad numbers
1993-94 opening game
Colin Calderwood, signed from newly-promoted Swindon Town, took Ruddock’s place in defence but was assigned 5 as his squad number with Mabbutt returning to 6.
Otherwise, the numbering was reflective of 1992-93 – David Howells might have perhaps deserved 4 ahead of Vinny Samways and would get it in 1995.
Anderton and Nick Barmby (7) missed the 1993-94 opening game, a 1-0 win away to Newcastle United, but both were part of the strongest 11.
Less than two years after winning an England cap, midfielder Andy Gray was out of favour to the extent that that he was given number 33.
Paul Allen left early in 1993-94 and Durie was signed by Rangers in November.
Ronny Rosenthal, signed from Liverpool, was given 11 when he arrived while the vacant 8 was filled by centre-back Kevin Scott when he joined from Newcastle (incidentally, the 5 he had worn there was given to winger Ruel Fox).
While Tottenham didn’t start a match with all of the players number 6-11 in any league game after Scott and Rosenthal joined, they did have five of them away to Leeds late in the season, making for an odd overall look.
The Tottenham squad in full was:
Re: Mabbutt/Ruddock at 5/6. My recollection was that Mabbutt was injured in the summer of 1992 and missed the start of the season. (Digging out the old Rothmans Yearbook indicates he missed the first 12 league games). Jason Cundy had joined on loan from Chelsea towards the end of 1991-92, playing the last 10 games and wearing 5 in each game (with Mabbutt at 6).
At the start of 1992-93, with Mabbutt injured, Cundy joining permanently and Ruddock arriving from Southampton, Cundy stuck with the 5 he’d had as a loanee, and Ruddock took the absent Mabbutt’s 6. So when Mabbutt was fit to return in October 1992, he replaced Cundy in the team – but took 5, with Ruddock retaining 6. Choice, or convenience? (Shades of the situation in your excellent article explaining the Edinburgh/Van den Hauwe LB/RB 2/3 saga).
Incidentally, Ruddock had worn 6 for Southampton in 1991-92 under new manager Ian Branfoot, but for the previous couple of seasons under Branfoot’s predecessor Chris Nicholl, Ruddock had almost exclusively worn 5, with his regular centre-back partner Russell Osman wearing 6. So he’d only regularly worn his “favoured” 6 for one season before joining Spurs.
Thanks Mark, great research!