“It’s a privilege and an honour,” those are the words Ebere Eze used to describe becoming our new number 10. It’s a shirt steeped in history.
The 27-year-old has become the latest to don the famous jersey, taking it on from Emile Smith Rowe, who departed for Fulham in 2024.
The number has been donned by a host of club legends, from the late Kevin Campbell to the brilliant Dennis Bergkamp, as players etched their names into our history with iconic goals wearing the number 10.
Kennedy at the double
We were one of the first English teams to have numbers on the back of shirts, with our legendary manager Herbert Chapman a pioneer. After George Eastham made it his own in the 1960s, scoring on his debut, the number 10 came into its own in the 1970s.
Ray Kennedy wore the shirt in our iconic 1970/71 season, most famously in our match against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane. A victory on the final day is all we needed to secure the title, and Ray, wearing 10, was the man to do it, netting a late header as we won the league at our rivals for the first time.
We also went on to win the double, with Kennedy wearing number 10 again as we defeated Liverpool 2-1 at Wembley in extra-time.
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Dennis Delight
Strangely, on our of our most famous nights, legendary centre back, Steve Bould wore No. 10 in our famous 2-0 win over Liverpool 2-0 at Anfield in 1989, but four years later, numbers on shirts were about to change forever.
The Premier League era kicked off in 1992/93 and in its second season, squad numbers were introduced. Now, player would be given their designated number for a season, rather than being handed one from the kit man numbered 1-11.
Paul Merson, who had worn 10 regularly during his time alongside Campbell, took on the jersey in the Premier League. The PFA Young Player of the Year in 1989 played 425 times for us, netting 99 goals, winning five trophies before handing the number over to Bergkamp.
Signing after two years at Inter Milan, it took Dennis eight games to net his first goals. But after that, he didn’t look back. The Dutchman scooped the FWA and PFA Player of the Year in 1998 as his 22 goals helped fire us to the double. Our No. 10 went on to win 10 major honours before retiring in 2006.
Eze time
The number has been passed between players since 2006, with the likes of Jack Wilshere, Robin van Persie and – oddly for a defender – William Gallas all holding the position before Smith Rowe took it on in 2021.
Emile held the number until his departure in 2024, and has now passed it on to another Hale Ender in Ebere.
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