Roberto Donadoni – four numbers in three seasons for Milan

The last time that Italy used ‘block’ numbering at a major tournament was at the 1998 World Cup, but fractures in the system began to be seen in the years leading up to that.

At USA94, for example, captain Franco Baresi was allowed to wear number 6 and Roberto Baggio was given his favoured 10. The skipper should have been 3 as the second defender alphabetically (Luigi Apolloni was 2) while Baggio would have been 17 if he followed the system.

Neither of them were at Euro 96, but there still some notable exceptions to the order. Paolo Maldini, Baresi’s successor as captain, was able to wear 3 while his Milan team-mate Alessandro Costacurta had the number 5 that he had passed up when squad numbers were introduced in Serie A the previous season, opting for 29 instead.

The defenders lowest in the alphabetical listing, Roberto Mussi and Moreno Torricelli, wore 8 and 9 respectively, but they should have been 7 and 8. Instead, midfielder Roberto Donadoni had 7 – just as he had for Milan’s European Cup/Champions League finals of 1989, 1994 and 1995 (1993 was an exception, as he had 10 on his back).

In block system for Euro 88 and Italia 90, he wore 17 and for USA 94 he was number 16. However, like Costacurta, Donadoni had his preferred number on his back in England having worn a different one for much of the previous season – when the Milan list was finalised, he was given 11 with Paolo di Canio wearing 7.

Donadoni did get to wear 7 in the Uefa Cup that season as 1-11 was still in force for European competitions. The 2-0 victory over Sparta Prague in November 1995 – striker Marco Simone wore 11 – was the last time he wore 7 for the Rossoneri in an official match.

However, even though he left for the New York/New Jersey Metrostars in the summer of 1996, his Milan number journey was far from over.

Donadoni wore 7 in the MLS (Costacurta opted to take the vacant 11 at Milan) but, after a disappointing 1996-97 season for Milan – they finished 11th – he was persuaded to re-sign by coach Fabio Capello.

He made his second debut for the club in a defeat at home to Lecce on October 20 – as this was a time when Serie A still had somewhat-sensible numbering rules and clubs didn’t usually have gaps in the lists submitted at the beginning of a season, 32 was the lowest number available. Just eight days later, he was back in 7, though.

There was one notable gap in the Milan list for 1997-98 – number 6 had been retired in honour of Franco Baresi following his retirement. On October 28, a special celebration match was held, with Milan players past and present taking on a World XI.

It’s an occasion that we will look at in more detail in a future article but every player involved wore a 1-11 number – meaning Donadoni and the then-current incumbent Edgar Davids both wore 7 for Milan.

The 1997-98 season wasn’t as bad as the previous one – but only just, as Milan came tenth. A big clear-out was needed and new coach Alberto Zaccheroni effected it, bringing in players like Oliver Bierhoff, Thomas Helveg and goalkeeper Christian Abbiati.

Donadoni survived the cull, retained as an experienced head, and while his old number 11 was available following the departure of Andreas Andersson, that went to Maurizio Ganz, who had worn 36 after joining from Inter during 1997-98.

Instead, Donadoni shifted to number 8, freed up after Marcel Desailly’s transfer to Chelsea. It meant that, with Costacurta having moved back to the more-familiar 5 a year previously, three players in the squad had worn 11 in the short period since fixed numbering came in.

Donadoni played nine times as the club regained the Scudetto in dramatic fashion, his sixth and last title before joining Al-Ittihad for the last year of his playing career.