Today’s date, February 4, can of course be written 4-2, which is representative of the part of Earl Barrett’s squad number journey while at Everton.
Signed in the spring of 1995 from Aston Villa, three-times-capped England right-back took the number 4 shirt that had been vacated by Ian Snodin.
Then, that summer brought a large-scale tidy-up from the Toffees and Barrett moved to 2, signifying his status as first-choice right-back as Matt Jackson was relegated to number 15.
Barrett is one of a few Everton players to make a switch within the 1-11 bracket and, by and large, such moves are pleasing as they generally involve a player taking on a number that is a better fit positionally compared to what they previously had.
No fewer than four Arsenal 11s in the squad numbers era have gone on to wear a lower number for the club while a shift from 11 to 8 at Chelsea in 2014 had a knock-on impact on a young Mohamed Salah – though he would later benefit as Roberto Firmino’s move from 11 to 9 at Liverpool allowed the Egyptian to wear his favoured number.
At Manchester United, there was the unusual situation of two players making the same move in consecutive years and there are move instances, in Britain and abroad yet to be covered.
For now, though – and if you have not do so already – why not tackle the quiz from last August on the topic of squad number moves within the 1-11 bracket last August?
