There are some football terms that make complete sense as soon as you hear them. Others, meanwhile, can be a little bit confusing to those not overly familiar with the sport.
There is an argument that ‘12th Man’ as an expression fits into the latter category, especially when you consider the fact that the use of substitutions has been around since they were introduced to the Laws of the Game back in 1958.
Rather than being the first sub to come on, which would obviously be the 12th player used, the phrase actually refers to the supporters who get behind their team.
Why ‘12th Man’
Although the term is mainly used when it comes to talking about association football, there are numerous sports that allow for 11 players per team to be present during a match. As a result, the added impetus given to the people on their field by the supporters in the crowd can be seen as being worth an extra man.
It is for this reason that the fans in the ground are referred to as the ‘12th man’. Interestingly, that isn’t the case in Canada. Instead, as there are 12 players on the field for each team in Canadian football, the supporters are instead known as the ‘13th man’, for obvious reasons.
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It is fair to say that the term does seem to be somewhat anachronistic nowadays. After all, women’s football continues to enjoy a return to popularity that we haven’t really seen since it was at its height prior to the Football Association’s decision to ban women from using their facilities.
Even so, the term itself is an easy way to refer to the people who make up the crowds at a football match and are willing to create noise and atmosphere in order to help the players that they support get the game across the line. If you want to be particularly all-inclusive, you could refer instead to the ‘12th person’.
A Brief History of the Saying
The first recorded use of ‘12th man’ as an expression occurred in 1900. Interestingly, it wasn’t in England that it happened, as you might assume, but instead in the United States of America. A magazine was published by the University of Minnesota that made reference to the ‘mysterious influence of the twelfth man on the team, the rooter’.
Of course, just because it first happened in the US doesn’t mean that it isn’t also a common phrase used in football in the United Kingdom. Aston Villa are known to refer to the Holte End at Villa Park as the ‘12th man’ for the club’s games.
There are numerous such references to it in association football, including the fact that some clubs, such as Bayern Munich, Rangers and Feyenoord, have actually retired the number 12 shirt as an homage to the supporters. Yet there is no denying that its use is just as prevalent in the world of American football, with the likes of the Green Bay Packers, the Seattle Seahawks and the Miami Dolphins all using it as a way to reference the excellent support that they’re shown by their supporters.
Regardless of the country and the use, it is a phrase that means the fans of the teams that are playing.