Manchester United are one of the most successful and historic teams in England. The team’s number 7 shirt is one of the most famous in the world, with many footballing legends wearing that number 7 shirt.
Who has worn the number 7 shirt for Man Utd? Manchester United legends like Johnny Berry, George Best, Bryan Robson, Eric Cantona, Cristiano Ronaldo, and David Beckham have all worn the Manchester Utd number 7 shirt. The Manchester Utd number 7 shirt is currently assigned to summer 2023 signing Mason Mount.
The list of players who have worn the number 7 shirt goes on for some time. Many Manchester United legends have worn the shirt in the team’s long history. There have been some incredible Manchester United players to wear the legendary shirt, so let us take a look at a few of them.
Who was the first number 7 for Manchester United?
It wasn’t until the 1993-1994 Premier League season that assigned squad numbers for a season became a standard practice. Before then, usually teams would field numbers 1-11 often designated by position on the pitch, taking into account the superstition or preference of a few established personalities in each dressing room. Therefore it is unclear who the first ever number 7 for Manchester United was. The first name that springs to mind is Irish goal machine George Best. However even before best joined Manchester United their legendary history had already started to be inked. Johnny Berry played for Manchester United between 1951 and 1958, playing 247 games and winning 3 English League titles.
Berry usually wore the now famous number 7 shirt and was a key part of the Busby Babes team up until the Munich Air disaster in February of 1958. Despite surviving the crash, Berry was never able to play professional football again and was forced into retirement at just 31.
It would be fair to say that Johnny Berry was one of the early foundations in the legend of the Manchester United number 7 shirt.
Did Cristiano Ronaldo wear number 7 for Man Utd?
Cristiano Ronaldo is probably the most famous player to have worn the number 7 for Manchester United. The Portuguese winger first joined the club in 2003 and he was given the number 7 shirt immediately after joining. It was a huge move by United at the time as Ronaldo took the shirt from the departing David Beckham who had left for Real Madrid the same summer.
Replacing David Beckham is certainly never going to be an easy job, but Ronaldo certainly did that and even more. CR7 stayed in Manchester for six years and became one of the world’s best there.
When he left for Real Madrid in 2009, Ronaldo had won the Premier League three times as well as the Champions League. He won the Ballon d’Or with United in 2008 as well as being named FIFA World Player of the Year.
He returned to Manchester in 2021, having signed back from Juventus. Ronaldo was given the number 7 shirt from Edinson Cavani who had previously held the shirt. There’s no doubt that his second spell with the team did not go as well as the first. Ronaldo left the club in November 2022 having not won anything with the team in his second spell.
Did David Beckham wear number 7 for Man Utd?
David Beckham did wear number 7 in his time with Man Utd. Beckham joined the Manchester United youth team in 1991 having been recruited from Tottenham’s academy.
He progressed to the first team in 1992 and became an important part of the team over the next few years.
But he was not immediately given the number 7 shirt. This is because Manchester United legend Eric Cantona held the number 7 shirt when Beckham was coming through the first team. He inherited the number 7 shirt for the 1997-98 season onwards. He held that shirt until leaving for Real Madrid in 2003.
During his time in the number 7 shirt, Beckham was a crucial part of the Manchester United team that won four Premier League titles and the Champions League in 1998-99. He was part of the team that won the treble for United in that 1998-99 season.
Did Eric Cantona wear number 7 for Man Utd?
Eric Cantona did wear number 7 for Manchester United during his time with the club. Cantona joined Manchester United from Leeds in 1992. When he joined the club he was seen as a senior figure and became a leader in the dressing room at a time when Manchester United were bringing through a lot of young talent.
When Cantona joined Brian Robson moved to the number 12 shirt for the remainder of his Utd career.
Cantona played as the team’s number 7 for five of his six seasons with Manchester United, with the 1993/94 season being the only exception to that. Cantona had an incredibly successful time when he was wearing number 7 for Manchester United.
He won four Premier League titles, with three of them coming while he was wearing the number 7 shirt. Cantona also won two FA Cups with Manchester United. But his influence on the team was really seen later down the line. In the number 7 shirt, Cantona helped to develop young players while still performing at an incredibly high level.
Who wore the number 7 shirt for Man Utd after Cristiano Ronaldo?
When Cristiano Ronaldo left Manchester United in 2009, they had a big job replacing him. One of those replacements was given the number seven shirt. The number seven shirt has a lot of history with Manchester United, but this player did not become a Manchester United legend.
Michael Owen wore the number 7 for Manchester United after Cristiano Ronaldo. When Ronaldo left in July 2009, they brought Michael Owen in just two days later. Owen had a massive reputation coming to Manchester United considering his achievements with Liverpool.
Owen wore that number 7 shirt for only three seasons and certainly did not live up to expectations. He scored just five goals in his 31 league appearances for United. However, he did win a Premier League title with the team in 2010-11 as well as winning the League Cup in the 2009-10 season.
List of significant Manchester United Number 7’s
| Manchester Utd Number 7 | Years | Status |
| Johnny Berry | 1951 – 1958 | Legend Status |
| Un-assigned | 1958-1963 | Un-assigned |
| George Best | 1963 – 1974 | Legend Status |
| Un-assigned | 1974 – 1981 | Un-assigned |
| Bryan Robson | 1981 – 1992 | Legend Status |
| Eric Cantona | 1992 – 1997 | Assigned PL |
| David Beckham | 1997 – 2003 | Assigned PL |
| Christiano Ronaldo | 2003 – 2009 | Assigned PL |
| Michael Owen | 2009 – 2012 | Assigned PL |
| Antonio Valencia | 2012- 2013 | Assigned PL |
| Un-assigned | 2013 – 2014 | Un-assigned |
| Angel Di Maria | 2014-2015 | Assigned PL |
| Memphis Depay | 2015 – 2017 | Assigned PL |
| Alexis Sanchez | 2017 – 2019 | Assigned PL |
| Un-assigned | 2019 – 2020 | Un-assigned |
| Edinson Cavani | 2020 – 2021 | Assigned PL |
| Christiano Ronaldo | 2021 – 2022 | Assigned PL |
| Mason Mount | 2023 – TBC | Assigned PL |
Prior to the Premier League era shirt numbers were usually assigned 1-11 based on the starting line up. So several players would have worn each shirt during a season. The above list of all Man Utd number 7’s from Johnny Berry to Ronaldo (the second time) has assigned Berry, Best and Brian Robson “legend” status as they can be clearly identified as the clubs main number 7 during their playing time.
Following Cantona being officially assigned the number 7 shirt for the Premier League season, each listing is accurate to who had the shirt assigned for Premier League games.
Who wears number 7 for Manchester United right now?
Summer 2023 signing from Chelsea Mason Mount has been assigned the famous Manchester United number 7 shirt for the upcoming 2023-24 season. Mount is a hard working midfielder with the knack for finding pockets of space and creating opportunities both with and without the ball. Having come through Chelsea’s academy set up, the England International quickly established himself in the Chelsea first team, winning Chelsea player of the year in 2020-21 and 2021-22 before injury and club disruption sabotaged his 2022-23 campaign. Mount seems ideally suited to be the glue between Fernandez and Casemiro in the middle of the park at Old Trafford. Manager Erik Ten Hag obvisouly belives he has a big part to play at the club after handing Mount the iconic number 7 jersey.
