The Everton number 9 shirt has an extremely rich history with some truly great players wearing it. From the early days of Dixie Dean where he scored his record breaking 60 league goals in one season wearing the number. Dixie also became the first ever player to wear a number 9 shirt in an FA Cup final in the 1933 final where Everton beat Manchester City. Then other greats such as Tommy Lawton, Dave Hickson, Joe Royle, Bob Latchford and Graeme Sharp. In recent years the number 9 shirt has been worn by Kevin Campbell and Duncan Ferguson who both felt immense pride at wearing the famous number 9 shirt.

Now Beattie has taken over the mantle of being the Everton number 9 after a mixed 18 months at the club. Beattie had a tough first year with injury problems and also being sent off just games into his Everton career. He managed just 2 goals in his first 6 months and led to many fans questioning whether he was capable of living up to the reputation he forged at Southampton, where he scored 40 goals in his previous 2 seasons. However Beattie became an integral part of the Everton team last season scoring 11 goals despite having a distinct lack of service.

The Full List of New Squad Numbers;

1. Richard Wright
2. Tony Hibbert
3. Gary Naysmith
4. Jospeh Yobo
5. David Weir
6. Mikel Arteta
7. Andy van Der Meyde
8. Andrew Johnson
9. James Beattie
10. Simon Davies
11. James McFadden
13. Iain Turner
14. Kevin Kilbane
15. Alan Stubbs
16. Joleon Lescott
17. Tim Cahill
18. Phil Neville
19. Nuno Valente
21. Leon Osman
22. James Vaughan
23. Alessandro Pistone
24. Time Howard
26. Lee Carsley
28. Victor Anichebe
30. John Ruddy
31. Mark Hughes
35. Patrick Boyle.

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