Why did Bryan Robson wear the no.7 shirt at Man United?

“For me, it all started with George Best but I tell you what – some people don’t seem to remember what a great player Stevie Coppell was.

“I played with him for England and he was a terrific footballer. He was so unfortunate to get a really bad injury. I played in the game against Hungary and it was a shocking tackle from the Hungarian player that injured him and did his cruciate-knee ligament. Steve never really came back as the same player.”

The incident occurred in a World Cup qualifier at Wembley in November, 1981. Just past the hour mark, Coppell collected a pass from Paul Mariner and beat his marker Jozsef Toth for pace. However, the Hungary captain was guilty of a late challenge that, somehow did not even result in a yellow card. 

Aston Villa’s Tony Morley came on as substitute when Coppell was lifted off the pitch and, for the record, England won 1-0, thanks to a Mariner goal, with Robson wearing no.6, Coppell 8 and Keegan in the no.7 jersey in the international clash.