Prostate Cancer UK is the Official Charity Partner of The Football League. To celebrate and begin this massive partnership with a bang, we've worked with bloggers from each of the 72 Football League clubs to create this collection of the best - and worst - players to have worn the No9 shirt.

 

Nigel Clough, Nottingham Forest. Photo courtesy of Action Images

Why the No9 shirt?

It's in recognition of the fact that prostate cancer affects one in nine men. However, since the partnership began prostate cancer now affects one in eight men, so it is now even more important to reach football fans with this message.

But beyond that, there's no shirt more iconic than the No9. In footballing days of old, every shirt number had meaning: No3 was traditionally the left-back, No7 the tricky winger and so on. 

In today's world of large squads - where it's not uncommon to see a player take to the field with a 36 on their back - numbers have less significance. Except, that is, for the No9 shirt. 

When squad numbers are assigned before the start of a season, there's an expectation levelled at the No9. This is the guy that's going to score the goals to lead your club to glory - or at least to safety from relegation. He's your talisman, your hero, your saviour. Well, that's the theory, anyway. 

Thanks to our 72 bloggers we've got a definitive list of each Football League club's most cherished No9s  - 360 strikers who have scored their way into fans' hearts. And just to prove that sometimes the weight of responsibility is too much to bear, our bloggers have also selected a No9 who stood out from the crowd - but for all the wrong reasons...

We hope you enjoy it.