List of retired numbers in association football

This wiki lists two Rowdies numbers retired, 6 and 12, in 2010-13; I think there was another number retired back in the original Rowdies era circa 1975-1993 but I'd have to research that as my memory may well be faulty. 

I'm not crazy about the idea of retiring numbers in soccer, especially numbers 1-11. These numbers mean something in soccer which they don't mean in typical American sports with large squads and unlimited substitution. It doesn't translate well.
 
(Follow link for full article.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_retired_numbers_in_association_football

List of retired numbers in association football

This practice, long established in the major North American sports, is a recent development in football since squad numbers for specific players were not widely used until the 1990s. Before then, it was typical for players in the starting lineup to be issued numbers 1 to 11 by formation/position on a match-by-match basis, and substitutes to be numbered from 12 upwards, meaning a player might wear different numbers during the season if they were to play in different positions for tactical reasons, or simply not be a regular in the starting lineup.

Retiring a player's number usually occurs after the player has left the team or retired. It honours a player who has meant so much to his club that they retire the shirt number that the player wore during their time there, meaning no other player is permitted to use that number in the future. In some cases, such as those of Jason Mayélé, Vittorio Mero, Marc-Vivien Foé, Miklós Fehér, Ray Jones, Dylan Tombides, François Sterchele, David di Tommaso, Antonio Puerta, Besian Idrizaj and Piermario Morosini, numbers have been retired to posthumously honour a player who died while still active. Also, Norwegian club Fredrikstad retired Dagfinn Enerly's number following an on-pitch accident that left him paralysed. In Britain, only Bobby Moore's and Jack Lester's shirt numbers have been retired due to great service to the club as opposed to a tragic incident. Although it has not been officially retired, Gianfranco Zola's No. 25 shirt has not been reissued by Chelsea since he left the club in 2003.

The Argentina, Ecuador and Cameroon national teams have been prevented from retiring the numbers of Diego Maradona (10), Christian Benítez (11)[1] and Marc-Vivien Foé (17), respectively, by FIFA rules dealing with squad numbers for Finals tournaments; in other competitions or friendlies, national associations may assign numbers according to criteria of their choosing. Similarly, several clubs have been required to reissue retired numbers for continental club competitions due to squad numbering rules of continental confederations. For example, CAF and CONMEBOL have such rules in their club competitions, but CONCACAF does not.

Some South American teams (such as Universitario de Deportes or Flamengo, and even Mexican teams invited for the occasions) have occasionally had to re-issue their retired numbers for special cases due to CONMEBOL rules, which state that shirts must be numbered 1–25 in continental club competitions (such as Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana, among others).

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United States

Tampa Bay Rowdies    

6    

South Africa

Mike Connell    

Defender    

1975–1984    

Number retired 10 August 2013[28]

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United States

Tampa Bay Rowdies    

12    

United States

Perry Van der Beck    

Midfielder    

1978–1982, 1984, 1991–1993    

Number retired 1 October 2010[29]

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