Why did the late, great Johan Cruyff wear the No 14 shirt?

Why did the late, great Johan Cruyff wear the No 14 shirt?

Johan Cruyff wore the No 14, usually reserved for substitutes during his era as a player. It arose from a superstition. 

He did not wear it for the first six season of his career, but eventually took the No 14 shirt by chance. His Ajax team-mate Gerrie Muhren could not find his No 7 shirt, so Cruyff offered him the No 9.

Instead, Cruyff picked a spare top out of the extras basket, which turned out to be the No 14. 

Ajax beat rivals PSV 1-0, on October 30, 1970, and Cruyff decided they should keep the same numbers for the next game. After that he mainly stuck with 14 for the rst of career, although at Barcelona he often sported the No 9 instead, because the league demanded numbers 1 through 11.

Even at the 1974 World Cup, when the numbers were issued alphabetically, Cruyff got to keep his 14. In 2007 Ajax retired the No 14 in homage to Cruyff.