The people who live on through football clubs

By Pete Reilly Source:Global Times Published: 2019/9/10 22:48:40

Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane celebrates scoring in a match on August 10 in London. Not many know the Premier League club are named after a person. Photo: IC



What's in a name? While there might be no professional team called William Shakespeare FC, the English playwright, there are plenty of clubs whose names feature real people.

Many count because of their hometowns. The Milton Keynes Dons - named after John Maynard Keynes - are one such example, but many more are named explicitly after real people.

It's a phenomenon across the globe that can be found throughout the football pyramid and it is a similarly wide range of inspiration. There are kings (­Arminia Bielefeld are named after the tribal chief who saw off the Romans), slaves (every team named Spartak is done so for Spartacus) and even Santa Claus. The team named after St Nicholas can be found in the Finnish third tier.

English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur might be the most famous example, even if many people do not realize it. Last season's UEFA Champions League finalists take the Hotspur part of their name from the 14th-century English nobleman Sir Henry Percy, better known as Harry Hotspur. Percy came to fame for his role during the Anglo-Scottish Wars, which lasted from the 14th to 16th centuries. They may be long forgotten but the Hotspur Football Club, as the team was initially known when it was formed out of the cricket club of the same name, has gone on to become one of the best known in the game.

Royal connection

Historical figures have been turned to by other clubs in the English game. Northwich Victoria were formed in 1874 and while they may now only play in the Northwest Counties Football League, the English ninth tier, they were one of the founding members of the Second Division in 1892. That saw them become fully professional and had the first football superstar, Billy Meredith. The club was named after reigning monarch Queen Victoria.

Another team in the county of Cheshire has similarly royal connections. Crewe Alexandra, who play in EFL League Two, were named after Princess Alexandra, then Princess of Wales. Alex, as the team is often known, were long regarded for their youth development program and brought through players who would go on to be full internationals such as Dean Ashton, Neil Lennon, Robbie Savage and David Platt. Times have been more difficult at Gresty Road in recent years.

Elsewhere in Europe, Sampdoria are half-named after a real person. The club was formed with a merger between Sampierdarenese, a part of Genoa and Andrea Doria, a club named after the famous Genovese admiral. In turn, they are perhaps the only club half-named ­after an episode of the hit TV series Seinfeld. Swiss side Neuchatel Xamax take the latter part of their name from ­founder Max Abegglen, who used his name written out back and forth.

Founding fathers  

Other people have even named clubs after themselves. Former Inter Milan forward Mohammed Kallon set up a team in his homeland Sierra Leone and called them Kallon FC. He signed for his own club in 2009 and aside from a brief stint at Shaanxi Chanba in the Chinese Super League, he finished his career with the club, officially retiring in 2016, two years after his last game.

Similarly, South African side Jomo Cosmos were named after their founder. Jomo "Black Prince" Sono combined his own name and that of his former club New York Cosmos when he created the club in 1983. They are currently in the South African second tier but have spent several seasons in the top flight over the years.

There they played against arguably South Africa's most famous side, Kaizer Chiefs. The Johannesburg club are the current ABSA Premiership champions and are the most popular team in sub-Saharan Africa. They were named after Kaizer Motaung, the founder of the club. Some of the biggest names in ­African football played for the side, including ­Lucas Radebe, whose time at Leeds ­United led to the band Kaiser Chiefs choosing their name for the star ­defender's former club.

From South Africa to South America, where we find the most fertile of football grounds for clubs named after real people. The most notable is perhaps Vasco de Gama, the Brazilian side are the country's fifth-best supported club and three times national champions. It was the club where Pele scored his 1,000th goal and also a former club of Romario, the only other player who claims to have reached that milestone. Romario was in the team in 2000 when they beat Manchester United in the Maracana in the inaugural FIFA Club World Championship and the club finished the tournament as the second-best team on the planet - losing the final to rivals Corinthians.

Chilean side Colo-Colo are the only team from the country to have won the Copa Libertadores. They are named after the former Mapuche chief Colocolo, who lived in the 16th century. The translation of his name - mountain cat - also makes for a pretty good nickname. Elsewhere on the continent, you'll find Argentine sides Newell's Old Boys (named after Isaac Newell, the English teacher who introduced football to the country), Almirante Brown (named after the first admiral of the navy) and Club Atlético Victoriano Arenas (perhaps the only team named after an estate agent).

Australia's Marconi Stallions, who now play in the lower leagues in New South Wales but were once home to future internationals Christian Vieri and Mark Schwarzer, were named after the inventor of the radio. The club website explains that Guglielmo Marconi was chosen because of its appeal to both Italians and Australians, in a club that had strong ties with Sydney's Italian migrant community.

Anyone of us

And finally there is a team named after you. More accurately, Trinidad and Tobago's Joe Public FC are named after everybody. Despite the lack of glamour in the name several professionals came through their ranks, including former Southampton striker Kenwyne Jones who played for Trinidad & Tobago in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The team was owned by disgraced former CONCACAF president Jack Warner, who founded the team in 1996, suffered relegation in 2011 - the same year that Warner lost his titles.

Proof that even naming yourself after everyone is no insulation against the actions of real people.

Posted in: SOCCER

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