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The last player to wear the shirt
was Obafemi Martins, when he left, manager Chris Hughton decided to drop
number 9 for the 09-10 season.
There are many great forwards that have played for Newcastle. Alan
Shearer is mentioned, and players such as Jackie Milburn and Malcolm
MacDonald must be described as fantastic.
But who is the real legend ? The number 9 shirt of course !
Newcastle is famous for it, they have managed to make the number
legendary.
Pele and Maradona made the number 10 shirt a symbol. Manchester United
made their number 7 special with Best, Cantona, Beckham and Ronaldo, and
we all now what West Ham did with their number 6.
But to our knowledge no one has really made "9" as special as it has
been at Newcastle. If you get this shirt you must either have earned it,
or been signed by Newcastle to score 20 or more every season.
The shirt has a long and proud history and a long range of players with
great skill and goalscoring abillity weared this shirt.
Alan Shearer is the record holder with 206 goals in 395 games over a 10
year period from 1996 to 2006. Les Ferdinand scored 50 goals in 83 games
and before him Andy Cole netted 68 goals in 84 appearances.
Malcolm MacDonald had a great period at Newcastle from 1971 to 1976 and
scored 121 goals in 228 games. Super Mac will for many be up there with
Shearer in legendary status and one of the greatest number 9's.
If you go further back, names such as Jackie Milburn, in the 50's and
Len White in the 60's are also names with a fantastic goal ratio that
made this shirt special.
Albert Stubbins, a player in the 30's, scored 237 goals in 218 games. A
number of the goals were scored during World War II and not counted as
league goals. But his tally was anyway fantastic.
Hughie Gallagher was another fantastic goalscorer for Newcastle, netting
143 in 174 games in the 20's and 30's.
So who will be the next number 9 at Newcastle. Andy Carroll is mentioned
as one that could fit the bill, but so far Chris Hughton has not given
it to anyone.
A question is, could the number 9 be a burden for the team and limit the
teams way of playing ?
The number 10 shirt weared by Maradona and Pele and the number 7 shirt
at Manchester United never limited the play and the pressure was on
performance and not goalscoring.
Newcastle did fantastic this season, as a team, without the number 9.
Could it be that Newcastle should follow West Ham and retire the shirt
and focus more on team performance.
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