Football player positions on one pitch
Every football player biography starts from the same fixed frame: eleven players a side, one of them a goalkeeper. Law 3 of the IFAB Laws of the Game sets eleven as the maximum and says a match may not start or continue if a team has fewer than seven. Inside that frame the jobs split into four lines: goalkeeper, defenders, midfielders and forwards.
The goalkeeper is the only player allowed to handle the ball, and only inside their own penalty area. Defenders protect the space in front of goal, with full-backs on the flanks and centre-backs in the middle. Midfielders link the two ends; some sit deep and win the ball, others carry it forward or arrive late in the box. Forwards are judged on goals, although the best of them do as much work without the ball as with it.
Formations change the balance, not the count. A 4-4-2 and a 4-3-3 both use ten outfield players.
Shirt numbers and what they used to mean
For most of the twentieth century a shirt number told a crowd exactly where a player stood. Numbered shirts first appeared in England on 25 August 1928, when Sheffield Wednesday played Arsenal, and the Football League made them compulsory for the 1939–40 season. The numbers followed positions in the old 2-3-5 formation, and when teams moved to 4-4-2 the same numbers stayed on the same backs, roughly as in the table below.
| Number | Role | Line |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Goalkeeper | Goalkeeper |
| 2, 3 | Full-backs | Defence |
| 5, 6 | Centre-backs | Defence |
| 4 | Defensive midfielder | Midfield |
| 8 | Central midfielder | Midfield |
| 7, 11 | Wingers | Midfield |
| 9 | Striker | Attack |
| 10 | Second striker | Attack |
The link between number and position broke in English football when the Premier League adopted fixed squad numbers for the 1993–94 season. A centre-back can wear 23 now and nobody blinks. Older supporters still talk about "a proper number nine", which says something about how long the habit lasted.
What a player biography covers
A biography on Footbo follows a career in order, and each stage has to be backed by a date. The usual outline:
- Birthplace, family and the first club, including youth teams where they are known.
- The senior debut: date, opponent where the record has it, and the player's age.
- Transfers, with the fee only when a reliable figure exists.
- International career: first cap, tournaments and the final total.
- Honours, records and how the career ended.
Fees are the hardest part. Reported figures differ between clubs, agents and newspapers, so a fee only appears when it can be traced.
Gianluigi Buffon as the model biography
The first full biography in the Players section belongs to a goalkeeper, which is fitting for the number 1 at the top of the table above. Gianluigi Buffon was born in Carrara on 28 January 1978 and made his Serie A debut for Parma on 19 November 1995, aged 17. Juventus signed him in July 2001 for a fee reported as a world record for a goalkeeper. He was Italy's first-choice goalkeeper when they won the 2006 World Cup, finished with 176 caps, the most in the national team's history, and retired in 2023 at the age of 45.
That career covers almost three decades at the top level, which is why the biography runs long.
Players in the shorter articles
Plenty of players appear in dated match pieces and portraits rather than full biographies: Francesco Totti at Roma, Andrés Iniesta's two decades at Barcelona, Johan Cruyff, David Seaman, N'Golo Kanté in Leicester City's title season, Edin Džeko and Miroslav Klose. Each piece belongs to the week it describes, so a transfer rumour reads as a rumour and a form slump as a slump. The pick of them is listed below.
Player stories from the archive
Questions people ask
How many players are on a football team?
Each team has a maximum of eleven players on the pitch, and one of them must be the goalkeeper. Under Law 3 of the Laws of the Game, a match may not start or continue if a team has fewer than seven players.
What does the number 9 mean in football?
In the traditional numbering that grew out of the 2-3-5 formation, the number 9 was the centre-forward or striker. The Premier League replaced fixed 1 to 11 numbers with squad numbers in 1993-94, but the phrase number nine still describes a central striker.
When did footballers start wearing shirt numbers?
Numbered shirts first appeared in England on 25 August 1928, in a match between Sheffield Wednesday and Arsenal. The Football League made numbers compulsory from the 1939-40 season.
Which goalkeeper holds Italy's appearance record?
Buffon won 176 caps for Italy, the most in the national team's history. He was the goalkeeper of the side that won the 2006 World Cup and retired in 2023 at the age of 45.