Famous retired jersey numbers in football

Retiring a jersey number is one of the ways that various clubs have resorted to honour their superstars who had had a huge impact in the game and became fan-favourite. Although retiring a jersey isn’t just about honouring a player for his services, but giving away a squad number entirely for good.Now not many supporters wouldn’t appreciate the idea of retiring a number for a specific player, especially if it’s an iconic number as the temptation to don the number themselves is what has been inspiring kids to take up football for years now. However, we aren’t just talking about your usual footballers.In this slideshow, we take a look at 9 such great players whose shirts were retired by their clubs.

#1 Javier Zanetti - #4 (Inter Milan)

Javier Zanetti has always been one of those players who have been playing for ages. In his 19-year-old career as one of Inter’s most prized asset, Zanetti represented the Milanese club in 858 appearances over the period of 1995 to 2014, winning five league titles, four Coppa Italian cups, a Champions League title and a Club World Cup.

It was announced by Cub president Erick Thohir last season that the club would be retiring the iconic #4 jersey donned by the Argentine full-back at the end of this season, and he would be also made Vice President of the club as a tribute to his services.

#2 Diego Maradona - #10 (Napoli)

Diego Maradona was the superstar of the Italian club Napoli during his period at the club from 1984 to 1991. Donning the number 10 jersey, what he did at the club was simply astonishing as he single handedly led the club to their maiden Serie A title in 1986-87 along with the Coppa Italia. He was the key man again when Napoli triumphed in 1989-90 winning their second Serie A title.

Maradona played 259 matches for Napoli scoring 115 goals leading Napoli’s top goal scorers list till date. Though he left Napoli in an unharmonious fashion after serving a 15-month ban for failing a drug test for cocaine, Napoli duly showed their gratitude to their hero by retiring his famous number 10 shirt.

#3 Pele - #10 (NY Cosmos)

Pele, regarded as the best player ever, was also given this honour. Surprisingly, it was not given by Santos, the club where he spent almost 20 years scoring over 500 goals. Rather, it was given by New York Cosmos with whom he finished his playing career.

Pele made 56 appearances scoring 31 goals for the Cosmos. After his retirement, the cosmos retired the no. 10 jersey worn by Pele.

The NY Cosmos were dissolved in 1985 and refounded in 2010.

#4 Bobby Moore - #6 (West Ham United)

Bobby Moore, the only England captain to lift the World Cup, was known for his reading the game and opposition movements. Moore spent 16 years at West Ham making over 500 appearances.

Bobby Moore was also chosen in the World team of the 20th century.

West Ham retired his no. 6 shirt in 2008, 15 years after his death, in honour of his services to the club.

#5 Ferenc Puskas - #10 (Honved AC)

Ferenc Puskas is regarded as the best Hungarian footballer of all time. He played for Budapest Honved from 1943-1956 scoring over 300 goals in 341 appearances.

During his playing time with Honved, he was the top scorer in the Hungarian league on 4 occasions and in 1948 he was the top goal scorer in Europe. He won 5 Hungarian league titles with Honved before moving to Real Madrid.

Budapest Honved AC honoured him by retiring his no. 10 shirt for his services to the club.

#6 Franco Baresi - #6 (AC Milan)

Franco Baresi was a Milan loyalist throughout his career, playing from 1977 to 1997 and is one of the greatest defenders of all time. Earlier in his career, he played as a sweeper and then played as a centre-back.

During this period, he made over 700 appearances for Milan winning 6 Serie A titles and 3 European Cups. He is also credited for providing a budding path for the then youngster Paolo Maldini who would also go on to become a club great.

Baresi was also voted as Milan’s player of the century in 1999. As a tribute to the legend, the club retired the number 6 jersey worn by Baresi.

#7 Johan Cruyff - #14 (Ajax)

The Dutch master is one of the greatest players to play football. He was the main component of the “Total-football” which was widely used by the Dutch team.

Johan Cruyff’s love affair with Ajax began when he joined Ajax youth system on his 10th birthday. He made his first senior start for Ajax in 1964 and went on to win 8 Eredivisie titles and 3 European Cups before he left for Barcelona in 1973. He again returned to Ajax in 1981 to play for two seasons. Later, he also coached Ajax from 1985 to 1988.

During his double stint as a player, he scored 204 goals in 276 appearances for Ajax. Hence, Ajax retired his number 14 jersey in 2007.

#8 Roberto Baggio - #10 (Brescia)

Better known as “The Divine Ponytail” for his hairstyle, Roberto Baggio had a long career playing for many top Italian teams like Internazionale, Milan and Fiorentina. However, it was Brescia who honoured him by retiring his no. 10 shirt.

Roberto Baggio was one of the finest Italian players who had the craft to play in the middle as well as the pace required to play in the wings. In addition, he was a free-kick and penalty specialist. Till date, he has the highest conversion rate in penalties scoring 108 goals from 122 attempts (excluding penalty shootouts).

Baggio joined Brescia in 2000 and played till his retirement in 2004 scoring 45 goals in 95 appearances.

#9 Paolo Maldini - #3 (AC Milan)

Paolo Maldini is another Italian legend who was a ‘One-club player’ for Milan throughout his career from 1984 to 2009.

Having captained the side during most of the time of his career, he won 7 Serie A titles and 5 European Cups. Along with Baresi, he was a part of a formidable Milan team that dominated the European football.

For his loyalty towards the club, he was rightly credited by retiring his no. 3 shirt. But, Maldini can re-instate the no.3 jersey if one of his sons play for AC Milan.