Liverpool were in a state of flux when squad numbers came into being in the summer of 1993.
It was only three years since the Reds had last been league champions, and they were the 1992 FA Cup winners, many of those who had enjoyed silverware-laden careers at Anfield had departed or were close to the exit.
Recruitment is never an exact science, of course, but Liverpool struggled to adequately replace the top performers who had helped to keep the club at the summit of English football.
The club had finished sixth in 1992-93 but, had they not beaten Tottenham Hotspur 6-2 in their final match, they would have wound up in tenth.
There were two big signings for 1993-94, with diverging approaches in terms of allocating squad numbers.
Nigel Clough joined from relegated Nottingham Forest and he was awarded the prestigious number 7 shirt – which, incidentally, had been worn by left-back Steve Harkness in that last game of 1992-93.
Meanwhile, centre-back Neil Ruddock, who had worn 6 for Tottenham after joining in 1992 (with captain Gary Mabbutt happy to switch to 5), opted for number 25 – seemingly as a reference to his transfer fee of £2.5m.
Instead, 6 was given to midfielder Don Hutchison as captain Mark Wright had 5. For so long, it had been a midfielder’s number at Liverpool but the most recent long-term occupant, midfielder Ronnie Whelan, was assigned number 12.
He mentioned the incident in his autobiography, Walk On: My Life in Red. Having outlined how he did well wearing 5 early in his career and sought to hold on to it, he gets his dates slightly wrong but still expresses disappointment, not least with how the manager, his former team-mate Graeme Souness, dealt with the matter.
“I found out in the 1992-93 that Wrighty would be the permanent captain now and that he’d be wearing the number 5 shirt. I’d be wearing number 12.
“A manager with half-decent man-management skills would’ve gone to a player who’d been there all his career, whether it was me or anybody else, and explained the situation. No big deal: just show a bit of respect and courtesy to a long-serving player, that’s all.”
It was midway through 1992-93 that Wright, who had worn 6 since signing in 1991, took advantage of a Whelan injury absence to claim 5. Indeed, Whelan appeared in 6 – the number he usually wore for the Republic of Ireland – in a few games late in the campaign, before being replaced by the emerging Jamie Redknapp.
1992-93 final game
1992-93 final game, 1993-94 squad numbers
1993-94 opening game
Redknapp was, however, given 15 for the new season while another starlet, Steve McManaman, who had worn 7 for the second half of 1992-93 and had also appeared in 5, 8, 9, 10 and 11, was listed as 17.
After continuing to develop in 1993-94, it seems that Roy Evans – who had replaced Souness during 1993-94, sought to reward them with lower numbers – 8 for Redknapp, 11 for McManaman – as well as 6 for Ruddock and 12 for Robbie Fowler, who had broken through wearing 23 – but ultimately this did not happen. More on that here.
The squad in full was:
