Retired Number 10 Jersey for Maradona

Lore & Background

Napoli retired the number 10 jersey for Diego Maradona in 2000, cementing his legacy as the club's greatest icon. The number remains permanently out of circulation, a tribute to his role in leading Napoli to their first Serie A titles and the UEFA Cup.

In Their Own Story

The stadium lights hummed against the empty pitch, casting long shadows where the ghost of a giant still danced. A young academy player paused before the museum display, his breath fogging the glass as he stared at the number '10' stitched in gold—pristine yet heavy with the weight of history. He knew he would never wear that shirt, but as his hand hovered over his own chest, the expectation settled like a mantle: he was free to play, but never to replace. The jersey remained in the glass, not as an artifact, but as a vow.

Reader's Guide

It notes that some teams retire numbers for fans (e.g., number 12 for the 'twelfth man') or in honor of tragedies (e.g., number 58 for the Las Vegas shooting victims). It also mentions that numbers may be retired for players who died or had careers ended by injury, and that some teams unofficially take numbers out of circulation.

Did You Know?

• The first number officially retired by a professional team was Ace Bailey's #6 by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1934.
• Some teams retire number 12 in honor of their fans, the 'twelfth man'.
• In 2017, Kobe Bryant became the only player to have two numbers (8 and 24) retired by the same franchise, the Los Angeles Lakers.
• The University of Michigan retired Gerald Ford's number 48 due to his future career as U.S. President.