the Name Game
Football’s finest clubs were not always as we know them
If you look at sports teams in the US or China, it is not unusual for them to be renamed or even move cities at the drop of a hat or the whim of an owner, whichever is quicker.
That is not usually the case in football, though. Or so we like to think. Such was the ire that surrounded the moving of Wimbledon from South London to Milton Keynes that it resulted in the Football Leagues two newest teams: MK Dons and AFC Wimbledon.
Or so we like to think. There was a time when changing names was not unusual. In fact changes to names in football’s early days were so common that it is more than likely your favorite English team was once known as something else.
Starting with A. Arsenal were famously Woolwich Arsenal before heading north of the river for Highbury, but long before that they were Dial Square and there was also a brief period of being Royal Arsenal.
Birmingham City were known as Small Heath Alliance then Small Heath and indeed only added the “City” element of their name in 1943, after 38 years of being known simply as Birmingham. Perhaps it would have been better off with the original name as the city’s Small Heath area has reached global renown as the home of the BBC TV show Peaky
Blinders and its eponymous gang.
Holy sport
On the fringes of England’s second city are West Bromwich and neighboring Wolverhampton. The Baggies were not Albion initially but the West Bromwich Strollers, although that lasted only two years, while Wolves were known as St Luke’s after the church in Blakenhall where they were founded.
Longtime Premier League club Bolton Wanderers were once Christ Church.
Such was the presence of the church in the era of football club formation that if the original names had stuck, then Southampton would have plenty of rivals to their current Saints nickname, which results from their origins as St. Mary’s Church of England Young Men’s Association.
AFC Bournemouth may have spent most of their life outside of the top flight but they share a similar origin to the Premier League elite. The club started out from Boscombe St. John’s Lads’ Institute FC. They were later named Bournemouth and
Boscombe Athletic Football Club in 1923 before taking their current name in 1972.
Everton were originally St Domingo, and so were Liverpool given that the teams did not split until after they had been renamed. So Liverpool were originally their fiercest rivals, Everton.
The team that pipped Liverpool to the English Premier League last season, Manchester City, were once known as St Marks (Gorton) after the church and its neighborhood in the city. They spent several years as either Gorton Athletic or Ardwick Association Football Club as they moved around the city before adopting the name Manchester City in 1894.
Manchester United might be one of the most recognizable names in world football, but there is a doubt whether they would be as popular had they seen fit to stick with the original name. The club was founded as Newton Heath (Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway) back in 1878 before becoming Manchester United in 1902 – but only after considering Manchester Central and Manchester Celtic as alternative names. Being named after a place of work, like Manchester United and rivals Arsenal started their lives out, was the same for West Ham United. The Irons, as they are sometimes still known by fans, began as the Thames Ironworks before being renamed in 1900. Sunderland began life as the Sunderland and District Teachers Association Football Club, dropping the pedantic aspect of their name once they allowed non-teachers. A dispute once saw Middlesbrough split into two teams, one known as Middlesbrough Ironopolis, before the clubs merged again.
Cricket origins
The Boro started life as a cricket team, as did plenty of others.
None are perhaps more famous than The Milan Cricket and Football Club who became five-time European champions AC Milan. They became Milan Football Club then the all-Italian Description Associazione Calcio Milano before dropping the “o” off their name after World War II. It’s hard to see that they would have had quite the global renown or success had they stuck to their original calling.
Given that the beautiful game was exported from England, many Brazilian clubs also started out as cricket clubs.
Elsewhere in Europe, European royalty Real Madrid only added the “Real” part in 1920 while Hamburg were once known as Germania and PSV Eindhoven began life as works team Philipps Eftal.
Back in England, the Wednesday Cricket Club were so named because that was the day they played. They ditched the cricket in the 1860s as they adopted football before adding their hometown in 1929 to become Sheffield Wednesday.
Further south, the Hotspur Cricket Club went on to become Tottenham Hotspur. As a side note, the aforementioned Birmingham City were started by a group of cricketers from a church.
Stoke City, the oldest team in the Football League, were once the Stoke Ramblers before merging with the Stoke Victoria Cricket Club to become Stoke Football Club. They took the City name in 1925 after Stoke was granted city status.
Similarly, Leciester City were previously Leicester Fosse, named after the road they played on, only changing to “City” once city status was granted to Leicester after World War II. Swansea Town’s move to become Swansea City in 1969 was similarly inspired. Their biggest rivals, Cardiff City, began life as the rather more cryptic Riverside AFC.
Elsewhere, like Stoke and their nod to wandering the land, Watford were once the Watford Rovers as Burnley were once Burnley Rovers – a name that they shared with local rivals Blackburn – and changed after switching from rugby to football. Crystal Palace were once known as Crystal Palace Rovers.
Newcastle United started life as Stanley but that is nothing compared to Spanish fourthlight side Mostoles Balompie who decided upon their recent promotion to become Flat Earth FC.