Squad Numbers

Discussion of all things related to the club and first team
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Jamie
Posts: 469
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2021 11:51 am

Is there any news on how HRB will be wearing numbers for the coming season?

Last year a lot of clubs got misled by an email from the FA about Covid and how having their own kit was allowed, and could use "squad numbers" it was meant for grassroots clubs who take their own kit home and wash it.

I'm really hoping the club revert back to traditional 1 to 11, especially it being a centenary season.
So much easier for fans to follow substitutions etc.

Having squad numbers on works in the leagues where it's enforced, with names on shirts, and players properly keep the same number for the season, not swapping when players come and go, and changing "squad number" throughout the season.

Does any one else have any thoughts? Probably don't care lol.

But let's get back to the 1 to 11 , and have proper line ups so match reports and the website are accurate!
Last edited by Jamie on Wed Aug 04, 2021 10:40 am, edited 1 time in total.
Tony
Posts: 1303
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2021 8:57 pm

Agree, stick with 1 to 11.
RogerB
Posts: 146
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2021 5:10 pm

Disagree. Felt the squad numbers worked well last season and made player identification easier.
Lord Elpus
Posts: 643
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2021 3:09 pm

1-11 for me, every time.
Jamie
Posts: 469
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2021 11:51 am

RogerB wrote: Tue Aug 03, 2021 6:33 pm Disagree. Felt the squad numbers worked well last season and made player identification easier.
Hi RogerB,

but that's my exact point, no all the players kept the same number, some fringe players changed numbers during the course of a season.

Like a sunday team when someone gets there early and dives in the kit bag to get the number they want.

Also, you can be if an academy player gets put on the bench for a game, he won't be given a "squad number", he will just be giving one of the shirts someone who's not in the matchday squad isn't using.

If doing squad numbers, you do it all in, or not at all.
RogerB
Posts: 146
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2021 5:10 pm

Hi Jamie
I cannot see the logic of saying that, because squad numbers don't work on 2 or 3 occasions a season for minor county cup games, they should be scrapped for Conference, FA Cup and Trophy games. After all, earlier this year a makeshift Derby County side had to wear 1 - 11 against Chorley in the FA Cup. In the 1978 World Cup, France had to borrow green and white shirts from the local team in Mar del Plata to avoid a colour clash and therefore not all players were wearing correct squad numbers. In neither case was there an outcry that squad numbers should be abandoned in the EFL, the FA Cup or the World Cup finals.
What is the relevance of your analogy to a Sunday side?
Squad numbers do make it easier to identify players. All you have to do if you've forgotten a player's squad number is check with the list in the programme. With the 1 - 11 scenario, you have to try to remember what was announced over the PA before the match.
And the other point that not only you, Jamie, but also Tony and Lord Elpus seemed to have overlooked is that players come in different sizes! By keeping the same number, each player can wear a shirt and shorts that fits him, whether it's M, L, XL or even S. If a team wears 1 - 11, what size shirts and shorts do you supply? A kind of Large one-size-fits-all and have half the team making do, kitwise? Or, are you saying that for each shirt number and shorts number we should supply several different sizes?
Tony
Posts: 1303
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2021 8:57 pm

Roger, before last season we obviously didn’t have kits in various sizes for 1 to 16. We have a policy of only signing players who fit an L fitting or otherwise their mums take them in if the shirt is a bit big. If you need a shirt bigger than L then clearly you are not fit enough. What would have happened in the season when Dowse played something like 74 different players? Squad numbers would have been pretty meaningless. With 1 to 16 the manger at least knows if he sees No2 in the opposition penalty area then he is out of position and needs to shout at him to get back.
RogerB
Posts: 146
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2021 5:10 pm

Dowson was a manager who relied on short-term loans (even so, was it really 74?) Gary relies on having a settled squad.
Tony
Posts: 1303
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2021 8:57 pm

Actually it was 71.
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TW2-Beaver
Site Admin
Posts: 231
Joined: Mon Jan 18, 2021 6:02 pm

My thoughts are...

- If we are going to do squad numbers again then we must have enough shirts to accommodate some academy players who will occasionally feature, otherwise they end up wearing someone else's number which sort of defeats the objective.

- I am 99% sure that our kits last season were washed together by our kit team, so having one kit per player for covid reasons was pretty pointless and a misinterpretation of poorly explained rules.

- There were instances last season where squad numbers were changed needlessly (ie, not just because a new player was allocated the number of a player who had left). For example, Ryan Gondoh wore #14 in his early appearances (replacing Danny Bassett who had left) but he was then switched to #16 for some reason. Also, David Amate wore #22 early in the season but this number was then allocated to Mauro Vilhete although Amate was still a member of the squad (obviously this was because not enough numbers existed for the senior academy players to have their own).

- Overall, I think 1-11 would be simpler. If we are going to do squad numbers, can we order enough shirts that we can stick to the numbers once allocated please?
Jamie
Posts: 469
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2021 11:51 am

Well, looks like the "squad numbers" have got silly already. Players using numbers other players already have worn.

Why can't the club just go back to proper 1 to 11, as the way numbers are being used at the moment is pointless, and looks like pub league
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