Chievo's Jonathan de Guzman (right) competes with AC Milan's Suso during a Serie A match in Milan, Italy on March 4, 2017. Photo: IC

Numbers on the backs of football shirts have been around for over a century in one form or another with squad numbers - where each player is given a specific number - following later.

That might be earlier than you think. It was introduced initially for the 1950 FIFA World Cup in Brazil and then it was made persistent for the duration of the tournament for the first time at the 1954 World Cup in Switzerland.

The phenomenon has continued on the biggest stage ever since and it has filtered down the football world to boot. The Football Association ditched their insistence on the starting 11 wearing the shirts to matches in 1993 and the 1993 Football League Cup, then known as the Rumbelows Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the first match to follow the new rules.

This set the precedent that the FA Premier League would follow the next year - along with the introduction of player names above their squad numbers.

So far, so normal. If you grew up watching football in the Premier League era then little of this will seem out of the ordinary. But as with every introduction of a new rule and anything with the capacity for human error, there have been several instances where numbering has not gone to plan over the years.

The 1974 World Cup was watched by millions around the world with the Netherlands national team wowing many of those with their Total Football. One other thing that sticks in the mind for those that remember as far back is that their striker Ruud Geels and not a goalkeeper was given the No.1 shirt. The Netherlands and Argentina had both decided to dish out numbers on the alphabetical order of their players' surnames, with Norberto Alonso getting the unusual honor for the Albiceleste.

The Dutch ditched it for 1978 but Argentina stuck with it and Osvaldo Ardiles wore it four years later in Spain. The winger would go on to fame in England where he played for and later managed Tottenham Hotspur. The Argentina squad was still doing it in 1986 in Mexico where Sergio Almiron sported the No.1 shirt. Interestingly a certain Diego Maradona was given the out-of-order No.10 in 1982 and the same shirt four years later - although that was in alphabetical order.

It is not something we have seen since. That may have been organic but FIFA made sure there would be no repeats at the World Cup when they ruled in 2007 that squad numbers at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa would have to include a goalkeeper in the No.1 shirt.

Relaxed rules 

The rest of world football is somewhat less stringent when it comes to squad numbers though.

Charlton Athletic's Stuart Balmer was given their No.1 shirt once squad numbers were introduced to England in the 1990s and the Scottish defender wore it for several seasons until alphabetical order was abandoned in Southeast London.

It's certainly not been consigned to the past, though. Filip Knezevic, the Serbian midfielder, is wearing it this season for his side Radnicki Nis in the Serbian Super League. He also wore it at one of his previous clubs, Borac Cacak.

Partizan's Simon Vukcevic was given the No.1 shirt in 2004-05 after the teenage winger became a fan favorite in helping the team to their first Serbian & Montenegrin League title. His career would take in stints at Sporting Lisbon and Blackburn Rovers but no more No.1 shirts.

Retired Greek international Pantelis Kafes is another player who has worn the No.1 shirt at more than one club, despite playing outfield. The creative midfielder wore it at two of the biggest clubs in the country, Olympiakos and AEK Athens.

Adolfo Bautista wore the No.1 shirt for several clubs, too. The former Mexico international striker wore it at CD Guadalajara, Jaguares and Chiapas this century. Bautista wore No.100 for Guadalajara too after getting permission from the Mexican FA, sporting No.1 in continental competitions. 

Netherlands international Jonathan de Guzman was given the No.1 shirt when he signed for Chievo Verona in Italy's Serie A.

In Brazil, Diego Souza wore it for Atletico Mineiro.

Over in Malta, Sliema Wanderers' David Carabott wore the number after moving to the Maltese champions for the 2005-06 season. The utility man also played 122 times for Malta, putting the Australian-born footballer second on the country's all-time appearance list.

At least Besiktas striker Daniel Pancu's adoption of the number made more sense. Starting goalkeeper Oscar Cordoba conceded a penalty and was then sent off in an Istanbul derby with Fenerbahce. Pancu went in goal and while he did not stop the spot kick, he pulled off a string of saves before his teammates snatched an unlikely equalizer to draw the game 3-3. The veteran striker was given the No.1 shirt for the following season.

Former Netherlands international Edgar Davids decided he wanted the shirt number to match his opinion of himself when he moved to English side Barnet as player-manager.

"That is my number for the season. I am going to start this trend," he announced after taking the shirt from former No.1, goalkeeper Graham Stack. "Squad numbers mean nothing to me and I've had a few over the years. So it is not an issue for me," said Stack after being handed the No.29. "Edgar Davids has asked to wear No.1, he asked me what number I want and I said I didn't mind." Davids lasted barely six months in the role.

'1+8'

Still, that made more sense than Inter Milan striker Ivan Zamorano wearing "1+8" on his back for three years from 1997. The Chile striker had lost his favored No.9 shirt after the arrival of Roberto Baggio at the club. The Divine Ponytail took Ronaldo's No.10 and the Brazilian was given Zamorano's number.

Scotland striker Derek Riordan was given the No.01 at Hibernian. His favored No.10 had already been taken but none of the club's goalkeepers had taken the No.1 shirt at Easter Road.