Soccernet

New Newcastle striker Best
turns down No.9 shirt

5 February 2010

Newcastle's new signing Leon Best has turned down the chance to take the club's famous No.9 shirt because he says he has not earned it yet.

Best, who signed for the club for £2 million from Coventry, took the No.20 shirt because of the iconic status of the No.9 jersey on Tyneside.

''They showed me the numbers that were available when I signed and the nine was there, but I took the 20. The No.9 shirt has to be earned here,'' Best told the Daily Mail. ''It isn't like the No.9 shirt at other clubs. You have to earn it. You can't just walk in and take it. There is so much history there that I didn't want it.

''I'd like it in the future, but I want to prove that I'm worthy first. I'd like to be given it rather than take it.''

The shirt has been held by legends at St James' Park, including Jackie Milburn, Wyn Davies, 'Supermac' Malcolm Macdonald and the modern-day heroes such as Andy Cole and Les Ferdinand. But Alan Shearer virtually made the shirt his own, scoring more than 200 goals for the club in over a decade.