Gower Ditches Unlucky Number 11 Shirt

Swansea City midfielder Mark Gower will be ditching the 'cursed' number 11 shirt next season and wear number 27 instead.

The former Southend United player was a regular in his first season with the Swans last year but he struggled to score a single goal in 32 League starts.

His eagerness to score his first goal affected his performances as the pressure built up game by game.

He came close to scoring a number of times, hitting the woodwork and was denied his best and easiest chance of netting in an FA Cup match at home to Premiership side Fulham, but goalkeeper Schwarzer denied him by making a superb save.

The curse of the number 11 shirt has affected a number of former players. Rory Fallon, Darryl Duffy and Adrian Forbes most notably.

Gower is looking for more luck next season with a new shirt number, he told News of the World:

'I went in to see the boss Paulo Sousa and asked him if I could change it. I'd try anything to get me scoring again.

'When I first picked the number, the boys in the team told me it was cursed.

'They said whoever had that number, the goals always seemed to dry up.

'I laughed it off but I did everything but score last season.

'There were so many times when I couldn't believe how the ball hadn't ended up in the net.

'It may be like clutching at straws but I'm hoping changing the number to 27 will do the trick.'

We hope so too Mark!

For the very latest Championship odds

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.