Here are those players that have worn the number 9 shirt in competitive games since squad numbers were brought into the Football League in the 1999/2000 season.
Paul Tait (Jul 99 – Jun 02)
The first player would be Tait who joined the club from Northwich Victoria, making over 60 appearances for the club before leaving in the summer of 2002. He would also play for Hull City, Bristol Rovers, Rochdale, Chester City, Boston United, Southport, Northwich and Barrow before retiring from the game in 2009.
Rob Hulse (Jul 02 – Jun 03)
Next saw the Academy product Hulse take the shirt for his final season with the club where he would finish second in the Division 2 Golden Boot standings with 23 league goals. He would join West Bromwich Albion in the summer of 2003 for £750,000 and would also play for Leeds United, Sheffield United, Derby County, Queens Park Rangers, Charlton Athletic and Millwall before retiring in 2013. He currently works in the health service in a hospital in Dudley.
Steve Jones (Jul 03 – Jun 06)
Jones would join the club from Leigh RMI in the summer of 2001 for a total of £150,000 (half upfront and the other half after 60 appearances), making over 170 appearances before leaving for Burnley in the summer of 2006. He would spend 2 seasons with the Clarets (including a 4-game loan spell with the Alex) and would also play for Huddersfield Town, Bradford City, Walsall, Motherwell, Droylsden, AFC Telford United, Airbus, Nantwich Town, Whitchurch Alport and current club Alsager Town where he is still playing at the age of 43, he has also been coaching at his last 3 clubs.
Luke Rodgers (Jul 06 – Jan 07)
Luke joined the club from Shrewsbury Town in the summer of 2005 for a fee of £120,000 as he wore the number 9 shirt for his final 6 months with the club. He would make 39 appearances before joining Port Vale in January 2007 and would also play for Yeovil Town, Notts County, New York Red Bulls, Lillestrom, Portsmouth, a second spell at Shrewsbury, Hammarby IF, Forest Green Rovers, Sutton Coldfield Town, Solihull Moors, Hednesford United and Highgate United before retiring in 2017. Since his retirement, he has become a football agent.
Nicky Maynard (Jul 07 – Jul 08)
The homegrown striker wore the number in his final season and made almost 70 appearances for the first team (including a debut goal 3 minutes after coming off the bench at half-time). He joined Bristol City for £2.25m in the summer of 2008 and would also play for West Ham United, Cardiff City, Wigan Athletic, MK Dons, Aberdeen and Bury. He joined Mansfield Town last summer and is considering an extension with the club.
Anthony Elding (Jul 08 – Jun 10)
Elding joined the club in July 2008 from Leeds United for £160,000 and would make 33 appearances for the club (also spending time on loan at Lincoln City and Kettering Town) before leaving for Rochdale on a free transfer in the summer of 2010. After leaving the Alex he played for Ferencvarosi in Hungary, Rochdale, Stockport County, Grimsby Town, Preston North End as well as Irish clubs Sligo Rovers twice, Cork City, Ballinamallard United and Derry City. Since retiring from playing, he has been coaching in the Republic of Ireland (currently with Sligo as their Youth Development Phase assistant manager) and has his UEFA A coaching license.
Calvin Zola (Jul 10 – Jun 11)
Zola signed for the club in the summer of 2008, making almost 80 appearances for the club in his time with the club. He joined Burton Albion on loan in January 2011 and joined them permanently that summer and would also play for Aberdeen and Stevenage before retiring in the summer of 2015.
Shaun Miller (Jul 11 – Jun 12)
Another home-grown forward who would wear the number in the final season of his first spell. He would make almost 180 appearances in his first spell with the club before moving to Sheffield United in the summer of 2012. He would also play for Shrewsbury Town, Coventry City, Crawley Town, York City, Morecambe and Carlisle United before a loan move back to the Alex in January 2018 – for the rest of his career see later in this post.
Mathias Pogba (Jul 12 – Jun 14)
The elder brother of Manchester United’s Paul joined the club from Wrexham in the summer of 2012. He would make over 60 appearances in his 2 seasons with the club before leaving for an undisclosed fee to Pescara. He would also play for Crawley Town, Partick Thistle, Sparta Rotterdam, Tours and Manchego as he would clock up the air miles by playing in 7 different countries before joining his current club Lorca FC in January.
Vadaine Oliver (Jul 14 – Jun 15)
Oliver joined the club in the summer of 2013 for an undisclosed fee from Lincoln City and wore the number 9 during his second season at the club. He would make 42 appearances for the club (and had a loan spell at Mansfield Town) before leaving for York City in 2015. He would also play for Notts County and Morecambe before joining current club Northampton Town last summer, where he is considering a contract extension with the club following their promotion into League 1.
Marcus Haber (Jul 15 – Jun 16)
The Canadian international took the number 9 in his second season with the club, making over 80 appearances in his spell. After leaving the club in the summer of 2016, he would play for Dundee and Falkirk before moving to current club Pacific FC in early last year to play in the Canadian Premier League.
Chris Dagnall (Jun 16 – Jun 18)
Next saw Dagnall wear the shirt in his 2 season spell with the club, where he would also captain the club in his second season. He made over 80 appearances for the club before joining Bury in the summer of 2018. He would join Tranmere Rovers in January last year before joining current club Yeovil Town in October.
Shaun Miller (Jul 18 – Jun 19)
The returning Miller would rejoin the club, initially on loan, in January 2018 before signing permanently that summer. He would make almost 50 appearances in that 18-month period before a loan move to Morecambe for last season and he is currently a free agent.
Chris Porter (Jul 19 – present)
We looked at Porter’s career in the number 7 column from Tuesday.
