There are 22 players on the field, or pitch as it’s known, with one referee running amongst them. Jersey numbers are used in soccer primarily for identification. The numbers on the back of a player’s jersey remove the need for a referee to remember a specific player’s name. With so many factors that the referees need to have in mind, it helps if they don’t have to remember each player’s name as well. The game has been formed over hundreds of years into the sport we watch today.ĭue to this sport being so highly developed, the referee has to be aware of a lot of aspects when officiating the game. Soccer is one of the most meticulously developed sports in the world. Let’s get started! Why Soccer Players Wear Numbers on their Jerseys In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the culture of numbers in soccer and see precisely why the players have to wear numbers, how does number allocation work, and the relation between soccer positions and numbers. Because every player wears the same color jersey, the number is the primary way for the referee to tell the players apart. Each player on a team wears a different number to the others. The primary purpose, or meaning, of the number on the back of a soccer player’s jersey is to identify a specific player. However, many people don’t understand what they mean and why soccer players have to wear a number. If you’ve ever watched a game of soccer, you’ll have noticed that each player wears a number on their back.

Numbers of soccer positions