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The mystery of the No. 18 shirt in the 1998 play-off final

So,

We're going through stuff we have at the museum and one of the items is a framed signed play-off final shirt.

It's slipping inside the frame so we need to take it out.

When we do we realise that this is match issued shirt with the embroidered "Wembley 1998"

They were never put on sale and it is the same short sleeve shirt as the two others we have (Mendonca's and Brown's).

But it has "18" on the back.

There was no number 18 that day. I even checked with the expert on all matters Charlton, Shirty5, and he was as stumped as us.

So why is there a number 18 play-off final shirt?

Over to you.

Comments

  • aliwibble
    aliwibble Posts: 26,501
    edited November 2014
    It was a spare one in case someone ruined their shirt by getting blood all over it from a cut head, or the Sunderland defenders were a bit too vigorous with the shirt-pulling?
  • Perhaps in case one of the players got injured in the warm up and we had to call on someone there but not actually in the team/bench?
  • Henry Irving
    Henry Irving Posts: 85,301
    aliwibble said:

    It was a spare one in case someone ruined their shirt by getting blood all over it from a cut head?

    Steve Brown's shirt still has some blood on the collar but as he said "it isn't mine".

    Could be but why 18 not 15, the next available number or just left blank?
  • Talal
    Talal Posts: 11,520
    It was done to cause confusion 16 years on.
  • cafc999
    cafc999 Posts: 4,972
    Having had a look at the back of the programme yesterday I noticed it named more players than the 3 subs that we had that day (One of them was a certain Kevin Lisbie!!)

    So maybe the club got made enough shirts for a squad size of, say 22 players (This now leads to a question of just how many shirts were there..??)
  • A club will have a few players who aren't subs on the day in a larger matchday squad, in case someone gets injured in the warm up etc.
  • A club will have a few players who aren't subs on the day in a larger matchday squad, in case someone gets injured in the warm up etc.
  • redlanered
    redlanered Posts: 2,205
    But if someone got injured in the warm up, the sub would start the match wearing a number 1-11 (e.g. if Sasa had got injured warming up, presumably Petterson or Salmon would have started the game, but wearing #1)
  • Henry Irving
    Henry Irving Posts: 85,301
    Talal said:

    It was done to cause confusion 16 years on.

    It worked then

    Damn you Curbs

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  • cafcfan
    cafcfan Posts: 11,207
    Someone put No 81 on upside down?
  • cafcdave123
    cafcdave123 Posts: 11,491
    Perhaps they just gave the entire squad a shirt to mark the occasion
  • Henry Irving
    Henry Irving Posts: 85,301

    Perhaps they just gave the entire squad a shirt to mark the occasion

    Could well be but that then leaves the question of who was number 18?
  • PL54
    PL54 Posts: 10,757

    Perhaps they just gave the entire squad a shirt to mark the occasion

    Could well be but that then leaves the question of who was number 18?
    Andy Delort
  • 18 you say? That can only be one man.

    image
  • golfaddick
    golfaddick Posts: 33,786
    it was Lee Harvey Oswald's......
  • Fiiiiiish
    Fiiiiiish Posts: 1,671
    It was the guess of how many times the ball would hit the back of the net that afternoon, not a bad guess.
  • Big William
    Big William Posts: 3,850
    Kanu
  • Kap10
    Kap10 Posts: 15,599

    Perhaps they just gave the entire squad a shirt to mark the occasion

    Could well be but that then leaves the question of who was number 18?
    Did we have squad numbers for the season then?
  • shirty5
    shirty5 Posts: 19,273
    Kap10 said:

    Perhaps they just gave the entire squad a shirt to mark the occasion

    Could well be but that then leaves the question of who was number 18?
    Did we have squad numbers for the season then?
    No

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  • A club will have a few players who aren't subs on the day in a larger matchday squad, in case someone gets injured in the warm up etc.

    A club will have a few players who aren't subs on the day in a larger matchday squad, in case someone gets injured in the warm up etc.

    You can say that again.
  • cafctom
    cafctom Posts: 11,375

    Perhaps they just gave the entire squad a shirt to mark the occasion

    Could well be but that then leaves the question of who was number 18?
    I remember a young Paul Konchesky had the number 18 shirt for a few years.
  • Perhaps the kit supplier charged £50 per shirt or 18 for £700. Someone thought "aha, we can get four free shirts here and if there's a museum one day there'll be a few spare".
  • _MrDick
    _MrDick Posts: 13,131
    Just thinking about the players who bundled Ilic after the penalty save ...

    Barness
    Chappell
    Mortimer

    I reckon it was Phil 'Bambi' Chappell
  • 18 you say? That can only be one man.

    image

    That's got to be a still from Les Miserables !

    (Oh, and " Bring him home" !)



  • Stig
    Stig Posts: 29,116
    I think it probably belonged to Golfie and referred to his desire to play 18 holes.
  • ricky_otto
    ricky_otto Posts: 22,600
    Stig said:

    I think it probably belonged to Golfie and referred to his desire to play 18 holes.

    Going by his relationship issues, I think he would settle for one hole at the moment.