The England international has spoken about why he kept the shirt number he wore as a youth player at West Ham.
Declan Rice made a name for himself at West Ham wearing the number 41 shirt, steadfastly keeping the number he was assigned when he first broke into West Ham’s first team over many seasons.
He chose to keep that number when he moved to Arsenal in 2023 in a record £105m ($137m) deal, and seeing such a large number on the back of an adult player – not to mention one of The most expensive contract of all time – will definitely attract a lot of attention.
Why did Declan Rice choose shirt number 41?
Belief in mystery is a big part of the reason Rice chose to wear the number 41 shirt. He revealed his reasons for choosing the number on an episode of The Overlap with Gary Neville in 2022.
“It’s just some jerseys I got back in the academy, from the guy in charge of the jerseys, Jamo,” Rice said.
“It has stayed with me ever since. I also told my dad that, no matter what happens in my career, I will still choose number 41.
“I think ‘Rice 41’ sounds pretty good. I grew up with that number and am a bit superstitious. I don’t know if I can still maintain my form if I change to another shirt number.”
Arsenal had to change the shirt number rule because of Rice
In the same interview, Rice revealed that number 4 or number 6 were the standard first team numbers he wanted and that he had worn those numbers at the back during his career.
Interestingly, Arsenal may have changed an unofficial policy by allowing Rice to wear shirt number 41. Former Arsenal winger Alex Iwobi revealed in 2020 that he was encouraged to wear a traditional shirt number was more consistent when he passed at the Emirates, so he chose the number 17 instead of the number 45 he wanted.
Rice is not alone in the football world in letting superstition dictate his behavior.
The midfielder’s idol, John Terry, was famous for his superstitions and had a list of things he had to adhere to before every match, as well as keeping the same pair of foot guards for 10 years.
What shirt number does Declan Rice wear for England?
While Rice has worn the number 41 shirt for West Ham and Arsenal, he has worn other shirt numbers at international level for both the Republic of Ireland and England.
Shirt number 4 is the main shirt number he wears for England, reflecting his role in the team as a defensive midfielder. However, he also wore shirt numbers 18, 17, 16, 8, 7 and 5 when playing for the Three Lions.
He famously wore the number 10 shirt for Ireland in a national team friendly match against Türkiye in 2018 while playing as a centre-back, and also wore the number 7 shirt for Ireland, although not Must be a winger.
