Football clubs: what's in a nickname?

Football clubs for the workers
There are a great many reasons why particular football club nicknames came about, and one of the most common is the industrial heritage of the team's town or local area.

With the birth of "the beautiful game" in the mid-19th century, dozens of football clubs sprung up across the UK, many in the manufacturing towns that drove British industry. This industrial background can be seen in the names of many of the country's favourite football clubs.

East London club West Ham, for example, takes its nicknames "The Hammers" and "The Irons" from its association with The Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Factory. Originally started by workers from the ironworks, the club began life as Thames Ironworks FC, before changing its name to West Ham in 1900. West Ham's shipbuilding past can also be seen in the crossed riveting hammers of the club's badge.

Arsenal FC has a similarly industrial past. The football club owes both its name and its nickname ("The Gunners" or "Gooners") to its origins as a club set up for and by the workers at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich. The club began life as Dial Square in 1866, but quickly changed its name to Royal Arsenal, then Woolwich Arsenal in 1891 after the club went professional.

In time the club came to be known as just Arsenal, and in 1932 manager Herbert Chapman managed to get the local Underground station renamed from Gillespie Road to Arsenal, making it the only Tube station to be named after a football club. As with West Ham, the nickname is reflected in the club badge, in this case a crest featuring a cannon.

Football clubs nicknamed for their home ground
A large number of football clubs owe their nicknames to the location of the club's home ground. For example, Chelsea FC's nickname ("The Pensioners") derives from the ground's proximity to the nearby Royal Chelsea Hospital for war veterans, known as "Chelsea Pensioners".

Other football clubs got their nicknames from the name of their home grounds. Fulham FC and its fans are known as "The Cottagers", a name taken from the home ground at Craven Cottage.

Football clubs named for the players' strip
Manchester City, Birmingham and Chelsea are all known as "The Blues" after their blue strips. Similarly, Newcastle United's nickname "The Magpies" derives from its black-and-white strip.

Mysterious football club nicknames
While the nicknames of most football clubs are easy enough to uncover, a few remain stubbornly indecipherable and remain the subject of much debate. Nobody really knows from where Charlton Athletic gets its nickname, "The Addicks". One school of thought is that the name comes from a local fish shop and is a derivation of "Haddock"...