Forget dull club nicknames like 'the Blues' and 'the Reds', check out some of Britain's more interesting ones...
1 The Posh Peterborough
The name apparently comes from the 1920's when the manager of nearby Fletton Utd advertised for 'posh new players to join a posh new team'. After that Peterborough & Fletton Utd were formed and 'The Posh' nickname stuck with them throughout the various mergers and folds that led to the formation of the present day Peterborough. The crowd still regularly greet the team with shouts of 'Up the Posh', as they did in the 20's and 30's.
2 The Blue Brazil Cowdenbeath
There doesn't seem to be a definitive answer as to the origins of this classic nickname. Its been suggested that it arose because of the club's financial plight in the early 1980's and humorously compared to that of Brazil's national debt. However, popular consensus seems to be that it's just down to a heavy dose of football irony. Oh yes, and they play in blue shirts, obviously.
3 Maryhill Magyars Partick Thistle
Partick were given nicknamed the Maryhill Magyars during the fifties in honour of the great Hungarian team of the time (known as the Mighty Magyars). And Maryhill ? That's the name of the area of Glasgow that the club are based in. They are also known as the Jags and the Harry Wraggs
4 The Toffeemen Everton
Allegedly named after the legendary 'Mother Noblett's Toffee Shop' that sold Everton Mints on match day. Another explanation is that "toffee" is slang for "Irishmen", of which there were plenty in Liverpool when the nickname was first coined. Not satisfied with one cracking nickname, the club has another in "The School of Science", used regularly by radio fruitcake Stuart Hall.
5 The Bully Wee Clyde
The most common theory behind this one is from fans shouting "Bully Wee Clyde" in the early days of the clubs formation (Bully being an olden-days slang for good work). The other popular idea is that Clyde's support were known as 'wee bullies', a reference to their aggressive reputation.
6 The Honest Men Ayr United
Taken directly from the famous poem "Tam o'Shanter" by Robert Burns (nicknamed himself as 'the Bard of Ayrshire'), it includes the line... Auld Ayr, Wha'm ne'er a town surpasses, For honest men and bonnie lasses. Very cultural.
7 The Loons Forfar Athletic
Unfortunately, in the local East of Scotland dialect, Loons means "lads" rather than the "deranged fruitcake" we were hoping it meant. The phrase "I'm off to see the Loons" was coined when the young reserve team of the original Forfar club broke away and created the loontastic Forfar Athletic.
8 The Spireites Chesterfield
Terrific, traditional-sounding nickname from the north Derbyshire club. Named after the town's famous crooked spire. The 'Ite' word is still affectionately used in the North Derbyshire/South Yorkshire area (e.g. Spireite, Wednesdayite, Unitedite)
9 The Doonhamers Queen of the South
Fabulously stereotypical-Scottish sounding nickname, taken from the name given to the natives of Dumfries, who referred to the town as Doon-Hame (down home).
10 Pompey Portsmouth
No nickname list would be complete without Pompey. The club's world renowned nickname is the same as the city's, and although no-one seems to know the exact origin, most of the favourites are all naval based and include... (1) the naval abbreviation of the harbour's Portsmouth Point is Pom. P, (2) "Poor Old Pompey" - a beery heckle during a naval-lecture on Roman general Pompey and finally, our own favourite (because it sounds just like those south-coast scallywags)... (3) some 18th century Portsmouth sailors climbed Pompey's pillar near Alexandria, Egypt, and became known as the "Pompey boys".
Close, but no cigar, has to be Bury's nickname 'The Shakers', named after one
of their chairmen who was heard proclaiming before a match
"We'll shake them. In fact, we're the Shakers."
Our list is dominated by Scottish clubs, and there are even more from over the border that
deserve honourable mentions...
The Edinburgh clubs; Heart of Midlothian are known as "Jambos" (derived from Hearts/Jam Tarts),
whilst across the city, their arch rivals Hibernian, as well as being known as "the Hibees"
(pronounced "high-bees", universally shortened to Hibs), are
also called 'the Cabbage', as in the Cockney rhyming slang 'the Cabbage And Ribs'
(rhymes with Hibs, geddit ?). One of the city's pubs (in Albert Street), is also named after this.
Arbroath are affectionately known as "The Red Lichties". Translated into English, this means
the Red Lights and refers not to a dodgy area of Arbroath, but to the lights that used to
guide boats back into the harbour.
"The Gable Endies" is Montrose's moniker. It's not quite as exciting as it sounds - instead of
referring to a famous, old, partisan section of the ground, where Montrose used to be roared to victory against the Glaswegian intruders, it actually refers to the continental-style in which the town's wealthy houses used to be built (gable-end to the street). Bah!
And finally, Dundee Utd are nicknamed "the Arabs", which apparently comes from the sixties when the club's groundsman used to get a bit carried away when sanding their pitch.
