List of football club nicknames in the United Kingdom

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Main article: Lists of nicknames in football (soccer)

This is a list of nicknames for United Kingdom football clubs. All the nicknames are usually preceded by 'The'. The origins of some nicknames are unclear with various stories being put forward.

The usual basis for nicknames are:-

• Local industry
• Colour(s) of home strip
• Name of club
• Name of area or ground
• Logo

Contents 1 England 2 Northern Ireland 3 Scotland 4 Wales 5 References

[edit] England

Main article: Football in England

Nickname	Club(s)	Reason
Addicks	Charlton Athletic	A corruption of the word 'haddocks', named after a local fish and chip shop
Baggies	West Bromwich Albion	Acquired when the players played in long shorts (debatable - see the club's article for more details)
Bantams	Bradford City	A reference to the claret and amber colours of the club's strip [1]
Bees	Barnet	Based on colour of home strip
Bees	Brentford	Misinterpretation of an 1890s chant "Buck up Bs"
Black Cats	Sunderland	Named after the Black Cat battery gun which stood on the river Wear. Also references the lucky black cat which led to the team winning the FA cup. [2]
Blades	Sheffield United	Local links with steel and cutlery. Used to be the nickname of Sheffield Wednesday until they became The Owls in 1899
Blues	Birmingham City	Colour of home football kit
Blues	Chelsea	Colour of home football kit
Blues	Chester City
Blues	Grays Athletic	Colour of home football kit
Blues	Ipswich Town	Colour of home football kit
Blues	Shrewsbury Town	Colour of home football kit
Blues	SOUTHEND UNITED	Colour of gome football kit	Boro	Middlesbrough	Short version of name
Brewers	Burton Albion	Local links to the brewing industry
Brummagem	Birmingham City	Local pronunciation of "Birmingham"
Bulls	Hereford United	After the local breed of cattle
Bummingham Titty (unofficial)	Birmingham City	Given by fans in reference of the physical appearance of its executive, Karren Brady, 1990's nickname
Canaries	Norwich City	Initially due to popularity of canary breeding in Norfolk, later home strips are the same colour as the bird, and is now used in the club's logo.
Cardinals	Woking	Colour of the Cardinal Red in the home kit
Chairboys	Wycombe Wanderers	Local links to the furniture making industry
Cherries	Bournemouth	Former owner owned Cherry Tree Plantation near the ground
Citizens	Manchester City	Developed from 'City'
Clarets	Burnley	Colour of home strip
Club	Sheffield F.C.	Due to the fact they were the "Original Football Club"
Cobblers	Northampton Town	Local links to the shoe making industry
Cod'eads	Grimsby Town	Local links to the declining fishing industry
Cottagers	Fulham	From club's ground, Craven Cottage
Cumbrians	Carlisle United	From Cumbria, the county the club are from.
Daggers	Dagenham & Redbridge	Based on club name
Dale	Rochdale	Short version of name
Diamonds	Rushden & Diamonds	Short version of name
Dolly Blues	Lancaster City	Derived from the fact that team originally played in the same colour as the 'Dolly Blue' washing tablets
Dons	Milton Keynes Dons	A contraction of Wimbledon, from the club's original location, as Wimbledon F.C.
Dons, The	AFC Wimbledon	A contraction of Wimbledon. See Wimbledon F.C.
Eagles	Crystal Palace	Club logo features eagles
Filberts	Leicester City	Seldom used, derives from previous ground being located on Filbert Street
Fleet	Ebbsfleet United	Short version of name
Fosse	Leicester City	Original name was Leicester Fosse, which derived from The Fosse Road. Name still in use by commentator Stuart Hall
Foxes	Leicester City	Outline of Leicestershire on a map resembles a foxes head, Hunting tradition of the county [3]
Gas (unofficial)	Bristol Rovers	Old ground next door to a Gasworks
Gills	Gillingham	Short version of name
Glovers	Yeovil Town	Local links to the glove making industry
Grecians	Exeter City
Gulls	Torquay United	Seaside link
Gunners	Arsenal	Local links to military arsenal
Hammers	West Ham United	Although this may initially appear to be based on a simple shortening of the name, observation of the club's crest will reveal crossed metalworking hammers, indicating the club's origins as the football team of Thames Ironworks.
Harriers	Kidderminster Harriers	Short version of name
Hatters	Luton Town	Local links to hat making industry
Hatters	Stockport County	One of Cheshire's and Britain's main hatting industry towns
Heed	Gateshead	Based on shortening of Gateshead, and the local pronunciation of Head
Hoops	Queens Park Rangers	Design of home strip
R's	Queens Park Rangers	Final initial of club abbreviation, QPR
Hornets	Watford	Colour of strip
Imps	Lincoln City	Legend of the imp statue in Lincoln Cathedral (also "Red Imps")
Iron	Scunthorpe United	Local links to the iron industry
Irons	West Ham United	Indicates the club's origins as the football team of Thames Ironworks (see "also Hammers").
Kettles	Kettering Town	Shortened version of name
Lambs	Tamworth	Team plays at The Lamb Ground, named after a local pub
Latics	Oldham Athletic	Short version of name
Latics	Wigan Athletic	Shortened version of name
Lillywhites	Preston North End	Colour of home strip
Lillywhites	Fulham	Colour of home strip
Lilywhites	Tottenham Hotspur	Colour of home strip
Lions	Millwall	Featured on badge
Magpies	Newcastle United	Based on colour of home strip
Magpies	Notts County	Based on black and white colour of home strip [4]
Mariners	Grimsby Town	The club is based on the coast
Mighty Whites	Leeds United	Based on the colour of the home strip
Peacocks	Leeds United	(Virtually obsolete). Stems from the former name of the Elland Road stadium, The Old Peacock Ground, which was in turn named after the nearby The Old Peacock pub[5].
Millers	Rotherham United	Based on ground name (Millmoor)
Minstermen	York City	York Minster is a famous landmark in the city
Monkey hangers	Hartlepool United F.C.	During the Napoleonic wars the citizens of Hartlepool allegedly hung a monkey believing it to be a French spy.[6]
O's	Leyton Orient F.C.	Before Squad numbers on shirts, Orient Players wore Large Letter Os on their shirt backs
Owls	Sheffield Wednesday	Based on name of local area (Owlerton), after a visitor to the city drew a cartoon depicting Sheffield Wednesday as an owl.
Pensioners	Chelsea	Originates from the Chelsea pensioners, based at the nearby Royal Hospital Chelsea
Pilgrims	Boston United	Local links to the pilgrims who went to the New World
Pilgrims	Plymouth Argyle	Local links to the pilgrims who went to the New World
Pirates	Bristol Rovers	Local links to shipping
Pompey	Portsmouth	The nickname for the city
Pool	Hartlepool United	Short version of name
Pool	Liverpool	Short version of name
Poppies	Kettering Town	Stadium built on a former poppy field
Posh	Peterborough United	Believed to derive from former manager Pat Tirrel proclaiming that he was looking for: "Posh players for a posh team" [7]
Potters	Stoke City	Local links to the pottery industry
Quakers	Darlington	Local links to religious movement
Rams	Derby County	Folk song "The Derby Ram", and by extension an emblem of the city [8]
Rebels	FC United of Manchester	The club having been formed by disaffected fans after the takeover of Manchester United by Malcolm Glazer.
Red Devils	Manchester United	Nickname originally belonged to nearby rugby league team Salford
Red Devils	Crawley Town
Red Imps	Lincoln City	Colour of home kit and legend of the imp statue in Lincoln Cathedral
Reds	Liverpool	Colour of home kit
Reds	Nottingham Forest	Colour of home kit
Railwaymen	Crewe Alexandra	Local links to railways
Riversiders	Blackburn Rovers	After a side of the ground adjacent to a river
Robins	Cheltenham Town	Colour of home kit same as a robin's chest
Robins	Bristol City	Colour of home kit same as a robin's chest
Robins	Swindon Town	Colour of home kit same as a robin's chest
Robins	Altrincham	Colour of home kit same as a robin's chest
Rovers	Blackburn Rovers	Shortened name
Rovers	Doncaster Rovers	Shortened name
Rovers	Tranmere Rovers	Shortened name
Rovers	Bristol Rovers	Shortened name
Royals	Reading	The town is in the Royal County of Berkshire.
Saints	Southampton	The club was originally known as Southampton St. Mary's
Saints	St Albans City
Saddlers	Walsall	Links to the saddle making industry
Salop	Shrewsbury Town F.C.	Traditional name for the town of Shrewsbury and also Shropshire as a county
Sandgrounders	Southport
Seasiders	Blackpool	Based on coast
Seagulls	Brighton & Hove Albion	Other than the obvious, a response to the similar sounding nickname 'Eagles' of their arch rivals Crystal Palace
Shakers	Bury	Club's first chairman, JT Ingham, said before a Lancashire Cup game with Blackburn, "We will shake them. In fact, we are the Shakers." [9]
Shaymen	Halifax Town	Originates from the club's ground
Shots	Aldershot Town	Short version of name
Shrews	Shrewsbury Town	Short version of name
Shrimps	Morecambe	Possibly related to the fishing/shrimping industry in the region
Shrimpers	Southend	A historic local industry; alliterative
Silkmen	Macclesfield Town	Local links to the silk industry
Sky Blues	Coventry City	Colour of home strip
Sky Blues	Manchester City	Colour of home strip
Spireites	Chesterfield	Due to famous crooked spire in the town
Sports	Eastbourne Borough	Due to team's previous name of Langney Sports F.C.
Spurs	Tottenham Hotspur	Short version of name
Stags	Mansfield Town
Stanley	Accrington Stanley
Super Hoops	Queens Park Rangers	Based on the pattern of the home strip
Terras	Weymouth	Club plays in a terracota coloured kit
Terriers	Huddersfield Town	Named after the Yorkshire Terrier breed of dog
Tigers	Hull City	Colour of home strip
Tigers	Gloucester City	Colour of home strip
Toffees	Everton	Unknown. Possibly named after a local toffee shop, or the nickname for the local Irish population [10]
Toon	Newcastle United	Local pronunciation of 'Town', meaning City Centre where the ground is situated
Tractor Boys	Ipswich Town	Local links to agriculture[11]
Tricky Trees	Nottingham Forest
Trotters	Bolton Wanderers	In the 19th century, one of their pitches was adjacent to a piggery and clearances often end up in there. Players had to 'trot' through the pig-pens to retrieve the balls.[12]
Tykes	Barnsley	Colloquial name for a Yorkshireman.
Tynesiders	Gateshead	Gateshead is located on Tyneside
U's	Cambridge United	Initial of name
U's	Colchester United	Initial of name
U's	Oxford United	Initial of name
Valiants	Port Vale	Based on official name
Vics	Northwich Victoria	Based on shortening of official name
Vikings	Doncaster Rovers
Villans	Aston Villa	Based on official name
Wolves	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Based on shortening of name
Yellows (unofficial)	Cambridge United	Colour of home kit
Yellows	Mansfield Town	Colour of home kit

[edit] Northern Ireland

Main article: Association football in Northern Ireland

Nickname	Club(s)	Reason
The Bannsiders	Coleraine	River Bann is close by
The Blues	Linfield	Original kits were blue in colour
The Glens	Glentoran	Abbreviation of team name Glen(toran)
Hatchetmen	Crusaders
The Reds	Cliftonville	Kit colour is red
Seasiders	Bangor	Bangor (Co. Down) is a sea-fronted town
Sky Blues	Ballymena United	Colour of team shirt
Stute	Institute	Abbreviation of Intstitute
The Whites	Lisburn Distillery	Kit colour is white

[edit] Scotland

Main article: Football in Scotland

Nickname	Club(s)	Reason
Accies	Hamilton Academical
The Arabs	Dundee United
Bairns	Falkirk	From the ancient motto of the town parish - "Better meddle wi the deil than the Bairns o Falkirk"
Bhoys	Celtic	From early promotional material. The 'h' was used to capture the Irish accent of the team's original fanbase.
The Binos	Stirling Albion
The Black and Whites	Elgin City
The Blue Brazil	Cowdenbeath
The Blues	Stranraer
The Blue Toon	Peterhead
Buddies	St Mirren
Bully Wee	Clyde	Small team who would bully bigger teams - wee bullies
Cabbage and Ribs	Hibernian	Rhyming Slang
Caley; Caley Thistle	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	Short version of the name
Celts	Celtic
The Dees	Dundee
The Diamonds	Airdrie United
Dons	Aberdeen
Doonhamers	Queen of the South
The Fifers	East Fife
The Gable Endies	Montrose
The Galabankies	Annan Athletic
Gers	Rangers
The Hedgemen	Brechin City
Hibees	Hibernian	Short version of the name
The Honest Men	Ayr United
Hoops	Celtic	From the horizontal hooped home strip
Jags	Partick Thistle
Jambos, Jam Tarts	Hearts
Killie	Kilmarnock
Light Blues	Rangers
The Livi Lions	Livingston
The Loons	Forfar Athletic
The Pars	Dunfermline Athletic
The Red Lichties	Arbroath
The Rovers	Raith Rovers
Saints	St. Johnstone & St Mirren
The Shire	East Stirlingshire
Sons	Dumbarton
The Spiders	Queen's Park
The Staggies	Ross County
The Steelmen	Motherwell
The Super Js	St. Johnstone	A reference to St. Johnstone being the only league club in Scottish (or English) football with a J in its name
Teddy Bears	Rangers	Rhyming slang (when spoken with a Glaswegian accent, 'bear' rhymes with 'Ger'
The Terrors	Dundee United	play on words with the team playing in tangerine and black.
'Tic'	Celtic	Short version of the name
Ton	Morton	Short version of the name
The Warriors	Stenhousemuir
The Wasps	Alloa Athletic
The Wee Gers	Berwick Rangers
The Wee Rovers	Albion Rovers
Well	Motherwell	Short version of the name

[edit] Wales

Main article: Football in Wales

Nickname	Club(s)	Reason
Bluebirds	Cardiff City	Colour of home football kit & possibly named after 1909 children's play 'Blue Bird'
Exiles	Newport County	Club were forced to play several seasons in Gloucestershire by the FAW
Ironsides	Newport County	Association with steelworks and other heavy industries
Red Dragons	Wrexham	Featured on logo
Robins	Wrexham	Colour of home kit same as a robin's chest
Swans	Swansea City	Short version of the name. Another poplar name for swans fans is' the jack army ' the citizens of Swansea are referred to as jacks

[edit] References

1. ^ "History, Bradford City FC". theBRADFORDCITYsite.
2. ^ "Black Cat Nickname". Sunderland A. F. C..
3. ^ "Leicester City Club Profile". ratetheref.co.uk.
4. ^ "Notts County, History". Notts County.
5. ^ "WAFLL - Elland Road History". WAFLL. Retrieved on 2007-05-08.
6. ^ "Monkey Legend". Hartlepool United.
7. ^ "Peterborough United, History". Peterborough United.
8. ^ "Derby County". Extra Football.
9. ^ "Bury, History". Bury Football Club.
10. ^ "Everton History". ToffeeWeb.
11. ^ "Tractor boys making noise". BBC Sport (2000-12-19). Retrieved on 2008-06-12.
12. ^ "Alternative History: Bolton Wanderers". My Eyes Have Seen The Glory.