He Wears the Number 20

The vast majority of the time, it is an absolute privilege to be able to write about Liverpool Football Club. I have done so when we’ve won the Champions League, lifted the Premier League trophy and won every piece of silverware that has been available to us. I have, of course, been critical of the Reds at times, but I have also been able to write things filled with joy and happiness. I have written pieces boasting huge amounts of adulation and celebrated things that most football clubs’ supporters only ever get to dream of. In the wake of the Champions League final in 2022, I wrote about the disappointment of losing to Real Madrid, yet again, and I also touched on the fear that too many Liverpool fans will have felt thanks to their appalling treatment at the hands of the French police. This is the first time, though, that I have had to write about something so utterly devastating as the loss of life that we have all been mourning over the past couple of days after the news of Diogo Jota’s passing reached us all.

Liverpool Remembers…Anfield tributes for Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva

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— Colin Lane (@snapperlane.bsky.social) 5 July 2025 at 18:03

Trying to find the words isn’t easy, but when you run a Liverpool-themed blog, you sort of have to. It goes without saying that you don’t need to read this if you don’t think you’re in a good place to do so, but I’ll say it anyway. This is a death that has hit us all hard. The unexpected nature of it is obviously a big part of that, but so is the fact that it came so hot on the heels of his wedding and that his brother was in the car with him. It leaves most of us reeling from the feeling of incredible sadness about how his poor family must be coping with it all. Reds around the world have wanted to show their respect, as have others associated with football in any way. It is all but impossible to look at social media and not see the likes of other professional footballers paying tribute in their own way, or musicians including reference to the deaths during sets. This is something that has had an impact across the spectrum, because of the manner in which it happened and the way it left us all thinking it could’ve been us.

A Tragedy on Every Level

It is crucial to accept that the human element to this story is the most important one. The thoughts, feelings and emotions of his family, friends and teammates are paramount. How each of us chooses to deal with the tragic loss is something that we will need to work out for ourselves. That includes the idea that, for some, looking at the footballing side of things will be their own process. The idea that football is the most important of the least important things in life never feels truer than in a moment like this. We all know that it is a daft thing to care so deeply about a group of people that we’ve never met. In one sense, talking about the grief associated with this feels somehow twee and wrong. Why would people grieve over someone they didn’t know? Not really, anyway. But the truth is that the footballers represent us. It is why we get so easily hurt when a player chooses to depart the club we support, as we saw recently with Trent Alexander-Arnold. That might well be true for Jota more than most.

Every Liverpool goal scored or assisted by Diogo Jota.

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— Andrew Beasley (@andrewbeasleyfootball.com) 6 July 2025 at 15:24

He was a lad who liked to play video games. He went to the horse racing. When Leicester City fans were giving it the tragedy chanting in the cup that time, Jota was as affronted by it as anyone in the Kop. A lad from Portugal, yes, but an adopted Scouser. He played like it, too. His goals weren’t always the cleanest, often seeing him bundle his way through defences before slotting into the bottom corner. He scrapped, fought and battled in a way that supporters loved. It is what Scousers have always had to do, thanks to the fact that our city has been so put upon time and time again. Football shouldn’t matter and most of us know that, deep down. Yet it does. There will be countless supporters wondering what the future will look like for Liverpool on the pitch in the wake of this tragedy, even though they’re aware of how tasteless that is. Given it was the football that brought Jota into our lives, we can’t be too affronted at the idea that it’s what people think about now too. On that front, he will be sorely missed.

Liverpool Should Retire the Number 20 Shirt

I don’t normally agree with the idea of retiring football shirts. The sport is one that continues forever, whether we like it or not. Even after a devastating tragedy like Hillsborough, matches took place again. It is like that old poem, where we feel as though all of the clocks should be stopped, but life doesn’t work like that. There are often spurious reasons why some clubs choose to retire a shirt. Birmingham City did so after Jude Bellingham left, for example, simply because he was really good at football. If Liverpool started doing that sort of thing, we’d have no numbers left. Yet in the case of Diogo Jota, I think it makes perfect sense for the Reds to say that the number 20 shirt is forever his. Unlike previous players, he hasn’t been sold. He didn’t choose to retire from the sport. He is our number 20 and he always will be. His ownership of the shirt is frozen time, forever tied to his name and linked to the heartbreaking tragedy of his death. How can anyone else wear it in the future?

Ohhh, he wears the number 20
He will take us to victory
And when he’s running down the left wing
He’ll cut inside & score for LFC
He’s a lad from Portugal
Better than Figo don’t you know
Ohhh, his name is Diogo …
#Diogo #Redsky #lfc

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— Whaley Queen of the Woke (@simonwhale.bsky.social) 3 July 2025 at 15:05

Liverpool will make the right decision about it, of course. They always do. Whilst the owners have made mistakes, as I’ve written about in the past, the people at the top generally get it right far more often than they get it wrong. Everything that has happened in the days since Jota’s death became a global news story has been perfectly judged by the club. Whether it be the opening of the book of condolence through to the reports that the remainder of his contract will be paid to his family, the Reds have got it right in what must be utterly impossible circumstances. If they decide that retiring the number 20 shirt is not the right thing to do, I will completely understand. They will have their reasons for not doing so, perhaps concerned about the precedent that it will set. These, though, are exceptional circumstances. I hope we never, ever need to look at this for reference on how to handle a similar situation. Diogo Jota wears the number 20. He always will.