Premier League top 6 clubs’ nickname and their origin
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Some football club nicknames have become as well-known as their official team names, with Chelsea dubbed ‘the Blues’ and Southampton nicknamed ‘the Saints.’
The nicknames of Premier League teams are pretty self-explanatory, often paying homage to the club’s trademark kit colours or the mascot on their crest and badge. Other nicknames, on the other hand, have a more affectionate and unique etymology, such as Juventus being known as ‘the Old Lady’ and Koln as the ‘Billy Goats’.
Here are the Top 6 Premier League clubs’ nicknames and the origin of such labels with their historical and geographical significance:
Arsenal: The Gunners
Arsenal’s nickname refers to the club’s origins, as it was founded by workers of the Royal Arsenal armament factory in Woolwich, which produced ammunition, weapons (such as artillery and small arms), and explosives.
Cannons have appeared on the Arsenal crest since 1888, and the nickname and logo were retained despite the club’s move from Woolwich to Highbury in north London in 1913.
Chelsea: The Blues
While the Blues are as obvious as the Clarets, it replaced the nickname ‘The Pensioners,’ which was used until the 1950s because of their association with the famous Chelsea Pensioners hospital for British war veterans.
Prior to COVID, loyal ‘pensioners’ were still given seats at Stamford Bridge games. ‘The Pensioners’ was axed in the 1950s at the request of coach Ted Drake, a former star player who thought it was an embarrassment and went on television to criticise it. For lack of a better name, Chelsea adopted the pseudonym ‘The Blues’ from then on.
Liverpool: The Reds
While the nickname that pays homage to their shirt colour is uninteresting, there is when it comes to Liverpool’s badge, which features the Liver Bird. The Liver Bird is a mythical creature that was used as the city seal long before the formation of the football club in 1892. It is an imaginary cross between an eagle and a cormorant.
The Kop refers to the most famous section of the club’s fans, as well as the club itself at times. It was named after the Spion Kop battlefield in South Africa, where a local regiment suffered heavy losses during the Boer War in 1900. In 1906, the club built a new cinder and brick stand, and local sports editor Ernest Edwards coined the name to honour the fallen soldiers.
Manchester City: The Citizens
After rising from the ashes of failed club Ardwick FC, one of Manchester City’s first nicknames was ‘The Brewerymen’, thanks to financial support from a local brewery called Chester’s who leased the club’s original Hyde Road ground until the move to Maine Road in 1923.
They also assisted in the acquisition of players, and the club’s headquarters was a pub called The Hyde Road Hotel owned by the Chesters, with many of the club’s officials and directors working in the brewing industry.
The nickname Citizens evolved from the word City, but it does not appeal to everyone. TalkSPORT ranked it the worst of all 20 Premier League nicknames, which appears to be a pass for the Blues, Reds, and Clarets.
Manchester United: The Red Devils
Salford, a local rugby league club, is credited with helping United come up with their nickname. The French press was so taken with all-red Salford’s performances on tour in France in 1934 that they dubbed them ‘Les Diables Rouges’.
Sir Matt Busby, the legendary United manager who had lost eight players among 23 lives in the Munich Air Disaster in 1958, apparently liked the nickname because the reference to the devil sounded intimidating. In 1970, the club began officially incorporating the devil logo into its merchandise, and it was added to the team’s badge.
Tottenham Hotspur: The Lilywhites, Spurs
Tottenham’s first jerseys, dating back to 1882, were navy blue, and later half and half blue and white shirts. Before Tottenham adopted the famous white jersey in 1898, they also wore a brown striped combination similar to Bradford City. The club directors chose to emulate Preston North End, who had just completed an unbeaten season, by appropriating their kit and nickname, which Preston still uses.
Tottenham began as the Hotspur Football Club, formed by schoolboys from Saint John’s Middle Class School and Tottenham Grammar School, the majority of whom had previously played for the Hotspur Cricket Club, which had been formed two years earlier. Sir Henry Percy, a 14th-century knight nicknamed Harry Hotspur for his aggressive horseriding style, inspired the clubs’ names.
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Sujeeth Shetty
(766 Articles Published)