Season in Numbers – Manchester United, 1996-97

• – Given that it’s May 4, it’s an ideal excuse to revisit this article

When Andy Cole arrived at Manchester United in January 1995, he took number 17, which was the lowest available – it had been freed up by the departure of Colin McKee.

The following summer, Mark Hughes left United but Cole didn’t switch to to the newly-vacant number 10 – presumably, there was an agreement that he would eventually get 9, which was still held by Brian McClair.

That move came prior to the 1996-97 season and it was part of a pleasingly-large tidy-up operation. Of the United starting 11 for the FA Cup final win over Liverpool, Cole was one of five to move downwards.

With club captain Steve Bruce leaving to join Birmingham City, David May switched to 4 and his old 12 was in turn taken by Philip Neville.

While Neville was favoured ahead of his brother Gary for the cup final, there was little doubt that the older sibling was the long-term right-back for club and country – he played in four out of five games at Euro 96, only missing the semi-final against Germany through suspension – and, having previously worn 27 and 20 for United, he was given the number 2 which became available after Paul Parker left.

Like the number 10, 8 had been unoccupied throughout 1995-96 after Paul Ince left but those digits were given to Nicky Butt (8, previously 19) and David Beckham (10, formerly 24 and 28 before that). Other changes saw Paul Scholes (22) swap with Simon Davies (18) while Ben Thornley moved from 28 to 23.

With Roy Keane continuing to wear number 16, the opportunities for United to field 1-11 were rare but they did come close in the Champions League. Manager Alex Ferguson opted for a brave set-up at home to Porto in the quarter-final first leg in March and was rewarded with a 4-0 win.

While Nicky Butt was the only member of the 1-11 who was absent, there was a quirk as Ronny Johnsen wore 5 in Europe when he was allocated 19 domestically.

This came about because Lee Sharpe, the previous holder of 5, had joined Leeds United the week before the season began – but, in this, the first season of squad numbers in European competition, Uefa insisted that squads were 1-25 with no gaps. Johnsen would move to 5 in the Premier League for the 1997-98 season.

One other note of interest for the European numbering was that players on the ‘B’ list had to numbered outside of the 1-25 bracket. As 26 and 27 were to be reserved for any mid-season signings, the next highest available was 28 and that was given to Philip Neville, who was still a teenage at the beginning of the campaign.

Scholes wore 12 in Europe while Chris Casper – usually 26 – took Johnsen’s 19. The number 18 was filled by Michael Appleton.

The (domestic) squad in full was: