A winner usually wore the number nine shirt at Highbury. Numerous Arsenal legends including the likes of Ted Drake, Reg Lewis, David Herd, Joe Baker, John Radford, Frank Stapleton, right through to Alan Smith all graced the number nine shirt and banged in the goals. That is, right up until the 1994-95 season when it became just another squad number.

Since squad numbering was introduced there have been no fewer than seven Arsenal players who’ve had their backs adorned with the number nine. This despite the fact that the shirt lay unused during the 2000-01 season. None of its wearers in that time have really settled in to it and made it their own. No one has worn it for more than two and a half seasons and none have set the world on fire. So is it jinxed perhaps? By way of comparison the one, two, eight and ten shirts have all had only a couple of owners, most of whom are legends.

The incumbent in 1994-95 was Alan Smith, who had worn the shirt quite heroically for no less than eight seasons. However, in the one season he wore it as a squad number he had a miserable injury-prone time, and netted just four goals. When Smudger retired through injury the following season he was replaced by another legend. But Dennis Bergkamp didn’t want the nine shirt; he wanted and was given number ten, which rather forced the Merse to take over Smudger’s old number.

Now Merse is a much-beloved Gooner and rightly so, but he certainly wasn’t without his problems. Most of us, I imagine, still regard him as a number ten, which was his allotted number for so many seasons. After his addiction problems his career was resurrected at Highbury but the nine shirt did him no favours. Had it done so he wouldn’t be permanently stuck on his tantalisingly annoying 99-goal tally with Arsenal, he’d have joined the 16 other players, which of course includes Smithy, in achieving the elusive ton.

Following Merse was a young kid who we were somewhat surprised merited such a squad number. However, Arsène knows, and for a couple of seasons Nic was challenging Wrighty for his place in the team. Nicolas Anelka was an excellent footballer but what a miserable sh*t he was. Surely the only player in the history of the Premiership to sport a longer face than Van Nistelrooy, and certainly the sourest-faced moaner ever to wear Arsenal’s nine shirt. Here was a kid learning his trade with all the potential to be a world-beater, and yet all he did was moan about his Dutch team-mates before dropping us in it by demanding a transfer. In all fairness it has to be said he top-scored for us with 19 goals in a season wearing the nine shirt, but as despised ex-Arsenal men go he’s right up there with the Cashleys of this world. Real Madrid were welcome to him, and if there was a consolation for Arsenal it was the huge profit margin on a youngster Arsène stole from France.

To replace “horseface” Le Boss landed us with Davor Suker, a short-term purchase due to his somewhat advanced years. Suker was a world class striker in his time, but not for us. He’d been the darling of the Bernabeu and top scored in a World Cup tournament, but he couldn’t hold down a regular place in our team. For Arsenal he produced a rather meagre 11 goals in 39 outings. One season at Highbury was more than enough before he departed to West Ham. A fallow season for the nine shirt followed, which was hardly surprising since the squad number remained vacant.

Next up we got the “fox in the box”, or at least we thought we had. Mister glass ankles himself, Franny Jeffers, who came along to adorn our treatment table and pick up a few medals by virtue of being a squad member. He was a calculated gamble that didn’t come off and so was shipped out on loan before being moved on. His replacement was a grinning Spaniard who looked the part but flattered to deceive. When he was good he was great, but his family couldn’t settle and he either couldn’t be bothered, or was too thick to learn English. His desire to return to the Spanish sunshine was obvious despite signing an extended contract. So Real Madrid did a deal on the eve of the transfer deadline and although technically only on loan to the Galacticos, no one seriously believes that Jose Antonio will ever return.

So the swap deal for Reyes saw a new number nine appear, and I wish the Beast all the best in his new shirt number. Personally I think he’ll need all the luck he can get because if any of our squad numbers are jinxed, it has to be the number nine shirt.