Chelsea's most iconic shirt numbers

  • John Terry's number 26 has only been worn once since he left Chelsea
  • No player has dared take on Gianfranco Zola's 25 in the last 20 years
  • Frank Lampard scored all 211 of his club-record goals in the iconic number eight shirt
Chelsea's number 26 will forever be associated with John Terry
Chelsea's number 26 will forever be associated with John Terry / Ian Walton/GettyImages
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In the superstitious sphere of professional football, squad numbers are an easy gateway to omens good and bad.

At the start of the 2022/23 season, Thomas Tuchel revealed that "nobody wants to touch" the number nine shirt for fear of inheriting the goal drought that its previous owners have suffered.

Other numbers on Chelsea's roster have been avoided out of respect rather than reticence. Here are some of the most iconic digits in the club's history for all the right reasons.


Chelsea's number 26

John Terry
John Terry tried to honour his shirt number in his appearance for Chelsea / Matthew Ashton - AMA/GettyImages

Player

Years in the shirt

John Terry

1998 - 2017

Kalidou Koulibaly

2022 - 2023

There had been a compromise with Antonio Conte and David Moyes had been convinced. In his final Chelsea appearance, on the last day of the 2016/17 Premier League season against Sunderland, John Terry would be subbed off in the 26th minute as a nod to the shirt number which he had worn since breaking into the first team in 1998.

However, after all the applauding and back slapping, Terry didn't make it off the pitch until the 28th minute.

Nevertheless, Terry's association with the 26 was so strong that Kalidou Koulibaly felt compelled to call the former Chelsea captain and ask permission to wear his number when he joined the Blues in 2022. Terry (reluctantly) agreed but Koulibaly only lasted one undistinguished season in west London.


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Chelsea's number 25

Gianfranco Zola of Chelsea looks dejected
No Chelsea player has worn the number 25 since Gianfranco Zola / Ross Kinnaird/GettyImages

Player

Years in the shirt

Gianfranco Zola

1996 - 2003

Before a Coppa Italia match against Pisa, Diego Maradona famously lent his number ten shirt to Gianfranco Zola while the pair were at Napoli, wearing number nine that night. Mark Hughes wasn't so generous when Zola arrived in west London, forcing the pint-sized playmaker into number 25.

However, Zola's infectious zeal in Chelsea's colours made the number one of the most iconic of the club's modern era. While Terry's digit was reprised for Koulibaly, no one has dared take Zola's 25 since Maradona's protege left Chelsea in 2003.


Chelsea's number 11

Didier Drogba
Didier Drogba enjoyed an immediate scoring uptick once he swapped 15 for 11 / Ian Walton/GettyImages

Player

Years in the shirt

Dennis Wise

1990 - 2001

Damien Duff

2003 - 2006

Didier Drogba

2006 - 2015

Oscar

2012 - 2014

Pedro

2016 - 2020

While the number 11 shirt evokes a sense of flair and flamboyance, the player that has spent the most years wearing that digit for Chelsea in the modern era was famous for the less glamorous side of the game.

"Dennis Wise was unbelievable with what he used to get away with," former Manchester United defender Gary Neville remembered. "He’d gouge your eyes out."

Fittingly, Wise spent 11 years in Chelsea's number 11, earning more enemies than trophies as he would pinch and pull hair as well as ploughing into full-blooded tackles.

Didier Drogba became the scourge of opposition teams for what he did on the ball rather than what went on off it. With a quick flick of his forehead, Drogba flashed in arguably the most important goal in the modern history of Chelsea to haul Bayern Munich level in the 2012 Champions League final, teeing up a penalty shootout which he won with the final kick.


Chelsea's number ten

Soccer - Barclays Premier League - Chelsea v Liverpool
Eden Hazard (left) and Juan Mata would be two of the best number tens in Chelsea modern history / Matthew Ashton/GettyImages

Player

Years in the shirt

Mark Hughes

1996 - 1998

Joe Cole

2003 - 2010

Juan Mata

2011 - 2013

Eden Hazard

2014 - 2019

Once Eden Hazard permanently switched to the number ten shirt in 2014, he reached such a consistent level of excellence that Jose Mourinho would play down the strengths of opposition players by explaining that they were "no Maradona, no Messi, no Hazard".

Hazard only got the ten after Juan Mata became an opponent, joining Manchester United midway through the 2013/14 campaign. Yet, Mata had ended his first two seasons in west London as Chelsea's Player of the Year. Alongside a consistent flood of assists domestically, Mata created goals for his teammates in the final of the FA Cup, Champions League and Europa League.


Chelsea's number eight

Frank Lampard X
Frank Lampard became the club's record scorer in the number eight shirt / Ian Walton/GettyImages

Player

Years in the shirt

Jimmy Greaves

1957 - 1960

Ray Wilkins

1973 - 1979

Frank Lampard

2001 - 2014

Had Jimmy Greaves opted against an ill-fated move to AC Milan, there's every chance that the most prolific goalscorer in English top-flight history would have ended up as Chelsea's leading goal-getter.

In any case, it was another number eight that snatched that mantle half a century later. Unlike Greaves, Frank Lampard's number of choice reflected his position in midfield, making his scoring feats all the more impressive.


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