In this column, we look at those players who have worn the number 7 shirt since squad numbers were brought in for the 1999/00 season.
Colin Little (Jul 99 – Jun 03)
The first player on the list is Little who joined the club from Hyde United in 1996. He would spend the next 7 years at the club, making over 200 appearances before joining Macclesfield Town permanently following two short-term loans with the club in his final Alex season. He would also play for Halifax Town, Altrincham twice, FC United of Manchester, New Mills and Witton Albion before retiring from playing in 2012. He has been a coach with Manchester United since 2009, he currently is their assistant manager at Under-18 level.
Neil Sorvel (Jul 03 – Jun 05)
Next on the list is the first player to have graduated from the Alex academy, albeit one that was in his second spell with the club, after he would rejoin the club in 1999 from Macclesfield Town. He would make almost 300 appearances for the club across his two spells before joining Shrewsbury Town in 2005. After 2 seasons with the Shrews he would also play for Morecambe, Southport, Droylsden, Hyde and Northwich Victoria before retiring in 2011. Since retiring, he would become assistant manager to Phil Parkinson at Nantwich Town and followed him to current club Altrincham in April 2017.
Kenny Lunt (Jul 05 – Jun 06)
We looked at Lunt’s career in the number 4 column, he wore the number 7 in the final season of his first spell with the club.
Tony Grant (Jul 06 – Jan 07)
The midfielder would join the Alex in January 2006 wearing the number 36 before moving to 7 for the 06/07 season. He would make 15 appearances with the Alex in his year at the club before moving to Accrington Stanley in January 2007 in a player/coach deal and would also join Chester that summer in a similar deal. After retiring from playing, he would also coach at Blackburn Rovers, scout at Everton, become Blackpool assistant manager and joined Brisbane Roar, and Jason Kearton as a result, as an assistant to Robbie Fowler before both the club left last week.
Anthony McNamee (Mar 07 – May 07)
Next came loanee McNamee who joined the club on loan from Watford until the end of the season. He would make 5 appearances for the club in his short spell and would also play for Swindon Town, Norwich City, MK Dons, Wycombe Wanderers, Macclesfield Town, Aldershot Town and Woking before retiring in 2014.
Steven Schumacher (Jul 07 – Jun 08)
Like Lunt, we looked at him in the number 4 column and he wore the number 7 shirt in his first season of 3 with the club.
Eugen Bopp (Jul 08 – Jun 09)
German Bopp took the shirt following a year with the number 10 in his second of 2 seasons with the club. He would only make 21 appearances for the club before playing for Carl Zeiss Jena in his native country, York City, Dunkirk and Basford United. He retired in 2015.
Clayton Donaldson (Jul 10 – Jun 11)
The Jamaican international Donaldson would wear the shirt in his final of 3 seasons at the club, the season that he won the League 2 Golden Boot, and would make 130 appearances in his time with the Alex. He would join Brentford and would also play for Birmingham City, Sheffield United and Bolton Wanderers before joining current club Bradford City last summer.
Lee Bell (Jul 11 – Jun 12)
Bell wore the shirt in his second spell which culminated in a 5-second play-off final appearance at Wembley. After leaving the Alex the first time, he would play for Burton Albion, Mansfield Town and Macclesfield before re-joining the Alex in 2010. After 2 seasons back at the club, he would rejoin Burton and finish his career with a loan spell at Macclesfield. Following his retirement in 2015, he became a coach with Crewe and has been Under-18s manager since January 2017.
Max Clayton (Jul 12 – Jun 14)
The younger Clayton brother is next on the list having worn the shirt for his final 2 seasons at the club. Having made almost 100 appearances for the club, he joined Bolton Wanderers in 2014 and Blackpool in 2017 but had only made 37 appearances between the clubs and has been without a club since last summer.
Oliver Turton (Jul 14 – Jun 15)
We covered Turton’s career to date in the number 2 column as he wore the number 7 for the one season that he started in central midfield before returning to his normal right-back role.
Ryan Lowe (Jun 16 – Jan 17)
The Liverpudlian would rejoin the club for a third spell in the summer of 2016 following a loan spell the previous season, becoming the club captain in the process. He made over 100 appearances for the club across his 3 spells before rejoining Bury for his 3rd spell there as a player/coach in January 2017. He would take over as player/manager with the Shakers in January 2008, retiring as a player at the end of the season before joining current club Plymouth Argyle last summer.
Chris Porter (Jul 17 – Jun 19)
The penultimate player is Porter who joined the club from Colchester United in the summer of 2017. He has made over 100 appearances and has been the top scorer in 2 of the last 3 seasons for the club, switching number to the number 9 last summer.
Daniel Powell (Jul 19 – present)
Powell took over as the number 7 last summer and has made over 30 appearances for the club and has plenty of experience at League 1 level at his first club, MK Dons, and his first season at previous club Northampton Town.
