List of football club nicknames in the United Kingdom

Main article: Lists of nicknames in football (soccer)

This is a list of nicknames for United Kingdom football clubs. All the nicknames are usually preceded by 'The'. The origins of some nicknames are unclear with various stories being put forward.

The usual basis for nicknames are:

• Local industry
• Colour(s) of home strip
• Name of club
• Name of area or ground
• Logo

England

Main article: Football in England

Nickname	Club(s)	Reason
Addicks	Charlton Athletic	A corruption of the word 'haddocks', named after a local fish and chip shop
Ash Trees	Ashford Town (Middlesex)	The emblem of the town, derived both from the name of the town and from the large tree that stood in the centre of the town for many years.
Badgers	Fulham	From the traditional colours of the strip as well as the club mascot 'Billy the Badger'
Baggies	West Bromwich Albion	Acquired when the players played in long shorts (debatable - see the club's article for more details)
Bantams	Bradford City	A reference to the claret and amber colours of the club's strip
Bees	Barnet	Based on colour of home strip
Bees	Brentford	Misinterpretation of an 1890s chant "Buck up Bs"
Black Cats\Coal Cats	Sunderland	Named after the Black Cat gun battery which stood on the river Wear. Also references the lucky black cat which led to the team winning the FA Cup.
Blades	Sheffield United	Local links with steel and cutlery.
Blues	Birmingham City	Colour of home football kit
Blues	Chelsea	Colour of home football kit
Blues	Chester	Colour of home football kit
Blues, Toffees	Everton	Colour of home football kit, shop near Goodison Park which sold Toffees
Blues	Grays Athletic	Colour of home football kit
Blues	Ipswich Town	Colour of home football kit
Blues	Shrewsbury Town	Colour of home football kit
Blues	Southend United	Colour of home football kit
Boro	Middlesbrough	Short version of name
Boro	Stevenage	Short version of original name, Stevenage Borough
Brewers	Burton Albion	Local links to the brewing industry
Bulls	Hereford United	After the local breed of cattle
Canaries	Norwich City	Initially due to popularity of canary breeding in Norfolk, later home strips are the same colour as the bird, and is now used in the club's logo.
Cardinals (Cards for short)	Woking	From the Cardinal red of the red and white shirt halves
Chairboys	Wycombe Wanderers	Local links to the furniture making industry
Cherries	Bournemouth	Stadium built on a cherry tree orchard
Ciderheads/Zyderheads	Bristol City	Local links to cider making and drinking
Citizens	Manchester City	Developed from 'City'
Clarets	Burnley	Colour of home strip
Cobblers	Northampton Town	Local links to the shoe making industry
Tayn	Northampton Town	Town said in a northampton accent
Mariners	Grimsby Town	Local links to the declining fishing industry
Cottagers	Fulham	From club's ground, Craven Cottage
Cumbrians	Carlisle United	From Cumbria, the county the club are from.
Daggers	Dagenham & Redbridge	Based on club name
Dale	Rochdale	Short version of name
Diamonds	Rushden & Diamonds	Short version of name
Dolly Blues	Lancaster City	Derived from the fact that team originally played in the same colour as the 'Dolly Blue' washing tablets
Dons	Milton Keynes Dons	A contraction of Wimbledon, from the club's original location, as Wimbledon F.C.
Dons	AFC Wimbledon	A contraction of Wimbledon. See Wimbledon F.C.
Eagles	Crystal Palace	Taken from nickname of Benfica.
Filberts	Leicester City	Seldom used, derives from previous ground being located on Filbert Street
Fleet	Ebbsfleet United	Short version of name
Fosse	Leicester City	Original name was Leicester Fosse, which derived from The Fosse Way. Name still in use by commentator Stuart Hall
Foxes	Leicester City	Outline of Leicestershire on a map resembles a foxes head, Hunting tradition of the county
Gas (unofficial)	Bristol Rovers	Old ground next door to a Gasworks
Gills	Gillingham	Short version of name
Glaziers	Crystal Palace	Reference to The Crystal Palace. No longer used.
Glovers	Yeovil Town	Local links to the glove making industry
Grecians	Exeter City	Grecians was, for centuries, the nickname for people from the St Sidwells parish of Exeter where the ground is situated
Gulls	Torquay United	Seaside link
Gunners	Arsenal	Local links to military arsenal/due to the founders was in fact workers on a local arms factory
Hammers	West Ham United	Although this may initially appear to be based on a simple shortening of the name, observation of the club's crest will reveal crossed metalworking hammers, indicating the club's origins as the football team of Thames Ironworks.
Harriers	Kidderminster Harriers	Short version of name
Hatters	Luton Town	Local links to hat making industry
Hatters	Stockport County	One of Cheshire's and Britain's main hatting industry towns
Heed	Gateshead	Based on shortening of Gateshead, and the local pronunciation of Head
Hoops	Queens Park Rangers	Design of home strip
Hornets	Watford	Colour of strip
Imps	Lincoln City	Legend of the imp statue in Lincoln Cathedral (also "Red Imps")
Iron	Scunthorpe United	Local links to the iron industry
Irons	West Ham United	Indicates the club's origins as the football team of Thames Ironworks (see "also Hammers").
Kettles	Kettering Town	Shortened version of name
Kopites	Liverpool	Indicates the KOP GRandstand in the famous Anfield Road ground
Knitters	Hinckley United	Local links to the Knitwear and Hosiery industry
Lads	Sunderland	Fans use this all the time Gonna watch the Lads, also the clubs fans motto is Ha'way the Lads which is also seen on the stand at the Stadium of Light.
Lambs	Tamworth	Team plays at The Lamb Ground, named after a local pub
Latics	Oldham Athletic	Short version of name
Latics	Wigan Athletic	Shortened version of name
Lillywhites	Preston North End	Colour of home strip
Lillywhites	Fulham	Colour of home strip
Lilywhites	Tottenham Hotspur	Colour of home strip
Lions	Millwall	Featured on badge
Magpies	Newcastle United	Based on black and white colour of home strip
Magpies	Notts County	Based on black and white colour of home strip
Mariners	Grimsby Town	The club is based on the coast
Mighty Whites	Leeds United	Based on the colour of the home strip
Millers	Rotherham United	Based on ground name (Millmoor)
Minstermen	York City	York Minster is a famous landmark in the city
Monkey hangers	Hartlepool United	During the Napoleonic wars the citizens of Hartlepool allegedly hanged a monkey believing it to be a French spy.
Nailers	Belper Town	The manufacture of nails was formerly a widespread cottage industry locally
O's	Leyton Orient	Before Squad numbers on shirts, Orient Players wore Large Letter Os on their shirt backs
Owls	Sheffield Wednesday	Based on name of local area (Owlerton), after a visitor to the city drew a cartoon depicting Sheffield Wednesday as an owl.
Peacocks	Leeds United	(Virtually obsolete). Stems from the former name of the Elland Road stadium, The Old Peacock Ground, which was in turn named after the nearby The Old Peacock pub.
Pensioners	Chelsea	Originates from the Chelsea pensioners, based at the nearby Royal Hospital Chelsea
Pilgrims	Boston United	Local links to the pilgrims who went to the New World
Pilgrims	Plymouth Argyle	Local links to the pilgrims who went to the New World
Pirates	Bristol Rovers	Local links to shipping
Pompey	Portsmouth	The nickname for the city
Pool	Liverpool	Short version of name
Pools	Hartlepool United	Short version of name
Poppies	Kettering Town	Stadium built on a former poppy field
Posh	Peterborough United	Believed to derive from former manager Pat Tirrel proclaiming that he was looking for: "Posh players for a posh team"
Potters	Stoke City	Local links to the pottery industry
QPR	Queens Park Rangers	Abbreviation of club name
Quakers	Darlington	Local links to religious movement
R's	Queens Park Rangers	Final initial of club abbreviation, QPR
Railwaymen	Crewe Alexandra	Local links to railways
Rams	Derby County	Folk song "The Derby Ram", and by extension an emblem of the city
Rebels	FC United of Manchester	The club having been formed by disaffected fans after the takeover of Manchester United by Malcolm Glazer. None of the fans refer to the club by this, it is purely a media name, primarily used by the Manchester Evening News. Most fans refer to the club simply as FC.
Red Devils	Crawley Town
Red Devils	Manchester United	Nickname originally belonged to nearby rugby league team Salford
Red Imps	Lincoln City	Colour of home kit and legend of the imp statue in Lincoln Cathedral
Reds	Liverpool	Colour of home kit
Reds	Nottingham Forest	Colour of home kit
Riversiders	Blackburn Rovers	After a side of the ground adjacent to a river
Robins	Altrincham	Colour of home kit same as a robin's chest
Robins	Bristol City	Colour of home kit same as a robin's chest
Robins	Charlton Athletic	Colour of home kit same as a robin's chest
Robins	Cheltenham Town	Colour of home kit same as a robin's chest
Robins	Swindon Town	Colour of home kit same as a robin's chest
Rovers	Blackburn Rovers	Shortened name
Rovers	Bristol Rovers	Shortened name
Vikings	Doncaster Rovers
Rovers	Tranmere Rovers	Shortened name
Royals	Reading	The town is in the Royal County of Berkshire.
Saddlers	Walsall	Links to the saddle making industry
Saints	Southampton	St. Mary's Church Young Men's Association
Saints	St Albans City
Salop	Shrewsbury Town	Traditional name for the town of Shrewsbury and also Shropshire as a county
Sandgrounders	Southport	Town is on a stretch of coast known for its expansive sandy beaches
School of Science	Everton	1928, comment of Everton's attractive style of play with the team being called 'scientific' or 'the school of science
Seadogs	Scarborough Athletic	Proximity to the coast
Seagulls	Brighton & Hove Albion	Based on coast, also a response to the similar sounding nickname 'Eagles' of their arch rivals Crystal Palace
Seals	Chester City	Old ground named Sealand Road
Seasiders	Blackpool	Based on coast
Shakers	Bury	Club's first chairman, JT Ingham, said before a Lancashire Cup game with Blackburn, "We will shake them. In fact, we are the Shakers."
Shaymen	Halifax Town	Originates from the club's ground
Shots	Aldershot Town	Short version of name
Shrews	Shrewsbury Town	Short version of name
Shrimps	Morecambe	Possibly related to the fishing/shrimping industry in the region
Shrimpers	Southend United	A historic local industry; alliterative
Silkmen	Macclesfield Town	Local links to the silk industry
Sky Blues	Coventry City	Colour of home strip
Sky Blues	Manchester City	Colour of home strip
Smoggies	Middlesbrough	From the industrial pollution, or smog, from the steel and chemical plants surrounding the town
Spireites	Chesterfield	Due to famous crooked spire in the town
Sports	Eastbourne Borough	Due to team's previous name of Langney Sports F.C.
Spurs	Tottenham Hotspur	Short version of name
Squirrels	Formby	Formby's nature reserve is home to one of England's largest remaining populations of red squirrels
Stags	Mansfield Town
Stanley	Accrington Stanley	Based on official name
Stripes	Stevenage Borough	Based on the pattern of the home strip
Super Hoops	Queens Park Rangers	Based on the pattern of the home strip
Tangerines	Blackpool	Colour of their home kit
Terras	Weymouth	Club plays in a terracota coloured kit
Terriers	Huddersfield Town	Named after the Yorkshire Terrier breed of dog
Tigers	Gloucester City	Colour of home strip
Tigers	Hull City	Colour of home strip
Toffees	Everton	Back in the 1950s and 1960s a woman in a blue and white dress used to walk around before the game and throw toffees to people in the crowd, a tradition since revived. The other league teams then referred to them as the "Toffees"
Toon	Newcastle United	Local pronunciation of 'Town', meaning City Centre where the ground is situated
Tractor Boys	Ipswich Town	Local links to agriculture
Tricky Trees	Nottingham Forest
Trotters	Bolton Wanderers	In the 19th century, one of their pitches was adjacent to a piggery and clearances often end up in there. Players had to 'trot' through the pig-pens to retrieve the balls.
Tykes	Barnsley	Colloquial name for a Yorkshireman.
Tynesiders	Gateshead	Gateshead is located on Tyneside
U's	Cambridge United	Initial of name
U's	Colchester United	Initial of name
U's	Oxford United	Initial of name
United	Leeds United
Valiants	Port Vale	Based on official name
Vics	Northwich Victoria	Based on shortening of official name
Chicken Orientals	Leyton Orient	Based on the infamous masses of Chinese Takeaways in Leyton
Villans	Aston Villa	Based on official name
Whites	Leeds United
Wolves	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Based on shortening of name
Yellows (unofficial)	Cambridge United	Colour of home kit
Yellows	Mansfield Town	Colour of home kit. The team is also known as the Stags, as evidenced by the stag head on their crest.
Yids	Tottenham Hotspur	For the club's North London Jewish heritage

Northern Ireland

Main article: Association football in Northern Ireland

Nickname	Club(s)	Reason
The Bannsiders	Coleraine	River Bann is close by
Blues	Linfield	Original kits were blue in colour
Red and Blues	Ards	kits blue & red
Glens	Glentoran	Abbreviation of team name Glen(toran)
Hatchetmen	Crusaders
Reds	Cliftonville	Kit colour is red
Seasiders	Bangor	Bangor (Co. Down) is a sea-fronted town
Sky Blues	Ballymena United	Colour of team shirt
Stute	Institute	Abbreviation of Intstitute
Whites	Lisburn Distillery	Kit colour is white
Candy Stripes	Derry	Kit colour is red and white stripes

Scotland

Main article: Football in Scotland

Nickname	Club(s)	Reason
Accies	Hamilton Academical	Short for Academical
Arabs*	Dundee United	First few games were played on sand as grass turf had not yet been laid. * This nickname refers to the fans only, not the team.
Bairns	Falkirk	From the ancient motto of the town parish - "Better meddle wi the deil than the Bairns o Falkirk"
Bhoys	Celtic	From early promotional material. The 'h' was used to capture the Irish accent of the team's original fanbase.
Binos	Stirling Albion	Contraction of Albion
Black and Whites	Elgin City	Club colours.
Blue Brazil	Cowdenbeath
Blues	Stranraer	Club colours.
Blue Toon	Peterhead	The town of Peterhead is nicknamed the Blue Toon.
Buddies	St Mirren	The club play in Paisley and a person from Paisley is called a Buddie.
Bully Wee	Clyde	Small team who would bully bigger teams - wee bullies
Cabbage and Ribs	Hibernian	Rhyming slang for Hibs
Caley; Caley Thistle	Inverness Caledonian Thistle	Short version of the name
Dees	Dundee
Diamonds	Airdrie United
Dons	Aberdeen	Short for 'Aberdonians'.
Doonhamers	Queen of the South	A term used for people from Dumfries
Fifers	East Fife
Gable Endies	Montrose
Galabankies	Annan Athletic
Gers	Rangers
Hedgemen	Brechin City
Hibees	Hibernian	Short version of the name
Honest Men	Ayr United	From a line in Robert Burns' poem 'Tam O' Shanter: 'Auld Ayr, wham ne'er a toun surpasses, for honest men an' bonnie lasses.'
Hoops	Celtic	From famous hooped home shirt
Jags	Partick Thistle	In colloquial Scottish a 'jag' is the sting of a nettle or thistle.
Jam Tarts, Jambos	Heart of Midlothian	Rhyming slang for Hearts
Killie	Kilmarnock	Short for Kilmarnock.
Light Blues	Rangers	Club colours.
Lions	Livingston	Club badge has a lion on it.
Loons	Forfar Athletic	Local name for 'lads' which were given to Angus Athletic's 2nd XI, composed largely of younger players who broke off to form Forfar Athletic.
Pars	Dunfermline Athletic
Red Lichties	Arbroath
Rovers	Raith Rovers
Saints	St. Johnstone & St Mirren
Shire	East Stirlingshire
Sons	Dumbarton	Shortened form of "Sons of the Rock" a term used for a person from Dumbarton. Their stadium was for many years, directly under Dumbarton Rock
Spiders	Queen's Park	The narrow black and white stripes of their kit supposedly resembles a spider’s web
Staggies	Ross County
Steelmen	Motherwell	A reference to the (former) steelworks at nearby Ravenscraig
Super Js	St. Johnstone	A reference to St. Johnstone being the only league club in Scottish (or English) football with a J in its name
Tangerines	Dundee United	Colour of their home kit
Teddy Bears	Rangers	Rhyming slang (when spoken with a Glaswegian accent, 'bear' rhymes with 'Ger'
Terrors	Dundee United	play on words with the team playing in tangerine and black.
Tic	Celtic	Short version of the name
Ton	Greenock Morton	Short version of the name
Warriors	Stenhousemuir
Wasps	Alloa Athletic	Their traditional home strip is black and yellow
Wee Gers	Berwick Rangers	To differentiate between their Rangers and other possibly bigger clubs called Rangers in Scotland.
Wee Rovers	Albion Rovers
Well	Motherwell	Short version of the name

Wales

Main article: Football in Wales

Nickname	Club(s)	Reason
Bluebirds	Cardiff City	Colour of home football kit and possibly named after 1909 children's play 'Blue Bird'
Exiles	Newport County	Club were forced to play several seasons in Gloucestershire by the FAW
Ironsides	Newport County	Association with steelworks and other heavy industries
Jacks	Swansea City	Seamen from the town formerly referred to as 'Swansea Jacks', also after the dog Swansea Jack
Magpies	Barmouth & Dyffryn United
Red Dragons	Wrexham	Featured on logo
Robins	Wrexham	Colour of home kit same as a robin's chest
Swans	Swansea City	Short version of the name
Wingmakers	Airbus UK Broughton	Refers to being the works team of the Airbus UK factory