Association football club names

Football club names are a part of the sport's culture, reflecting century-old traditions. Club names may reflect geographical, cultural, religious or political affilitiations — or simply be the brand name of a club's primary sponsor. Because of the British origin of the sport, many clubs, even outside Europe, have their names written in English.

Formation of the name

A club's name is usually composed of two or more of the following elements, in most cases in the language of the club's home country:

• a word describing the type of entity that runs the club (or ran it when it was originally founded), such as "Club", "Association", "Society", "Centre", "League", "Union", etc. More recently some clubs are regular commercial enterprises and may have this reflected in their names.
• a word indicating that the club is associated with some sport(s), usually (but not always) including football. Examples are "football", "athletics", "exercises", "sports", etc.
• a geographical name associating the club with some place (usually the town or region where it plays home matches). Examples: "Paris", "Milano", "Recife", "Croatia", "Goiás" or, alternatively, a word that associates the club with something else (a religious, cultural or political tradition). Sometimes the name of the town or the country may be written as in English (AC Milan) or in broken English (River Plate).
• a proper name, mascot or nickname, like "Cruzeiro" "Betis", or "Crusaders".
• in Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands some clubs are associated with the monarchy like Real Madrid.

Except for particles (prepositions, conjunctions, etc.) other words appear infrequently.

In Europe, many (if not most) clubs are named after their towns or cities (e.g. "Deportivo La Coruña", "Liverpool FC", "Hamburger SV", etc. In South America, clubs are more likely to have proper names than to bear the city's name. Some clubs, like Hansa Rostock or Torpedo Moscow may have both.

It is not uncommon for a club to be known for a name that is not written on its badge; which can be for several reasons, but usually it is because there are two different clubs with exactly (or more or less) the same name, prompting one or both to be suffixed with a geographical distinction. Famous instances of this are CSKA Moscow and CSKA Sofia; Dynamo Moscow, Dynamo Kyiv, Dynamo Dresden and Dinamo Tbilisi; América de Cali (Colombia) and Club América (Mexico).

Other clubs are more usually known by nicknames than their full names. In Brazil, for instance, Vasco da Gama is usually called simply "Vasco".

In a few cases the thought surname is the official name of the club. The most common misunderstandings of this are Glasgow Rangers and Glasgow Celtic, where their proper official names are simply Rangers F.C. and Celtic F.C. Another misunderstanding is Belfast Crusaders where the proper name is just Crusaders F.C.

Club names referring to a profession or education

Topic	Meaning	Country	Clubs
Academical	Affiliation with academics. See also Estudiantes, University, Polytechnic.	Bulgaria	Akademik Sofia, Akademik Svishtov
		Denmark	Akademisk Boldklub
		Germany	Akademischer BC 1897 Charlottenburg, Akademischer SC 1893 Berlin
		Portugal	Académica de Coimbra
		Scotland	Hamilton Academical
Metallurgy		Russia	Metallurg Krasnoyarsk, Metallurg Lipetsk, Metallurg-Kuzbass Novokuznetsk
		Ukraine	Metalurh Donetsk, Metalurh Nikopol, Metalurh Zaporizhia
Students	Affiliation with students. See also Academical, Polytechnic, University.	Argentina	Estudiantes de La Plata, Estudiantes de Río Cuarto
		Romania	Sportul Studenţesc
		Venezuela	Estudiantes de Mérida

Club names referring to an ethnic, national or religious background

Topic	Meaning	Country	Clubs
Albion	Archaic name for Great Britain	England	Brighton & Hove Albion
		Scotland	Stirling Albion
Borussia	Latin name for Prussia.	Germany	Borussia Dortmund, Borussia Mönchengladbach, Borussia Fulda, Borussia Neunkirchen
Croatia	Clubs founded by and for members of the Croatian diaspora.	Australia	Adelaide Croatia Soccer Club, SC Croatia, Sydney Croatia, North Perth Croatia, Newcastle Croatia, Whyalla Croatia, Fremantle Croatia, Gwelup Croatia
		Canada	Toronto Croatia,
		Germany	Croatia Berlin

Club names referring to geographical features

Topic	Meaning	Country	Clubs
Borough		England	Stevenage Borough, Nuneaton Borough, Eastbourne Borough, Radcliffe Borough, Hampton & Richmond Borough
City		England	Norwich City, Manchester City, Birmingham City, Gloucester City,
		Italy	Città di Palermo
		Northern Ireland	Armagh City
		Spain	Ciudad de Murcia
County		England	Derby County, Notts County
Forest	Indicates a close proximity to a forest	England	Nottingham Forest, Forest F.C., Forest Green Rovers, Forest Town, Waltham Forest

Club names referring to sport

Topic	Meaning	Country	Clubs
Athletics	Club names containing a reference to athletes or athletics.	Brazil	Atlético Mineiro
		England	Charlton Athletic, Oldham Athletic, Wigan Athletic
		Spain	Athletic Bilbao, Atlético Madrid
Football	Club names containing a term for football. Examples: balompié (Spanish), calcio (Italian).	Italy	Ascoli Calcio 1898, Cagliari Calcio, Udinese Calcio
		Spain	Albacete Balompié, Real Betis Balompié, Écija Balompié
Gymnastics	These clubs usually have a historical affiliation with gymnastics.	Germany	Turn und Spielvereinigung Koblenz
		Norway	Larvik Turn & I.F.
		Spain	Gimnàstic de Tarragona, RS Gimnástica de Torrelavega
Olympic Games	Club names containing a reference to either the Olympic Games or the ancient city of Olympia, Greece.	Azerbaijan	FK Olimpik Baku
		Belgium	Olympia Bruxelles
		England	Blackburn Olympic
		France	Nîmes Olympique, Olympique Lyonnais, Olympique Marseille
		Greece	Olympiacos
		Honduras	CD Olimpia
		Mali	Cercle Olympique de Bamako
		Niger	Olympic FC de Niamey
		Paraguay	Olimpia Asunción
		Romania	Olimpia Satu Mare
Rowing	These clubs usually have a historical affiliation with rowing.	Brazil	Clube de Regatas do Flamengo, Club de Regatas Vasco da Gama, Clube de Regatas Brasil, Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas, Colo-Colo de Futebol e Regatas, Palmas Futebol e Regatas, São Cristóvão de Futebol e Regatas
Sport	Club names containing the word "sport." Examples: deportivo (Spanish), desportivo (Portuguese), sport (Dutch), spor (Turkish language).	Colombia	Deportivo Cali
		Netherlands	Helmond Sport
		Portugal	Desportivo das Aves
		Spain	Deportivo de La Coruña
		Turkey	Bursaspor, Trabzonspor
Stadium	Club names containing the word "stadium." Examples: stade (French), stadion (Dutch and German).	Côte d'Ivoire	Stade d'Abidjan
		France	Stade Rennes, Stade Reims, Stade Brest 29, Stade Saint-Brieuc, Stade Bordelais, Stade Français Paris, Stade Laval, Stade Plabennecois
		Gabon	Stade d'Akébé, AS Stade Mandji
		Mali	Stade Malien
		Senegal	Stade Mbour

Sports societies

Topic	Meaning	Country	Clubs
CSKA	CSKA means Central Army Sports Club in Slavic languages, indicates that the team was originally part of the army.	Armenia	CSKA Yerevan
		Bulgaria	CSKA Sofia
		Moldova	CSKA-Agro Stauceni
		Russia	CSKA Moscow
		Tajikistan	CSKA Dushanbe
		Ukraine	CSKA Kyiv
Dynamo	Eastern European teams, indicates that the team was originally part of the Soviet Dynamo sport society or an equivalent such as Sportvereinigung Dynamo.	Albania	KS Dinamo Tirana
		Belarus	FC Dinamo Minsk, FC Dinamo Brest
		Croatia	Dinamo Zagreb
		Estonia	Dünamo Tallinn
		Georgia	FC Dinamo Batumi, FC Dinamo Sokhumi, FC Dinamo Tbilisi
		Germany	Berliner FC Dynamo, SG Dynamo Dresden
		Latvia	FK Dinamo-Rīnuži/LASD
		Moldova	FC Dinamo Bender
		Romania	FC Dinamo Bucureşti
		Russia	Dynamo Moscow, Dynamo Bryansk, Dynamo Makhachkala, Dynamo Stavropol
		Ukraine	Dynamo Kyiv, FC Dinamo Luhansk

Club names referring to values and ideals

Topic	Meaning	Country	Clubs
Friendship		France	Union Amicale Cognac, Amicale Sportive de Poissy, Amicale Sportive Vitré
		Germany	Sportfreunde Lotte, Sportfreunde Seligenstadt, Sportfreunde Siegen, Sportfreunde Stiller
		Luxembourg	Les Amis de la Moselle Remerschen, FC Amis des Sports Luxembourg
		Namibia	Friends
		Northern Ireland	Ballyclare Comrades F.C.
Harmony		Belgium	V.C. Eendracht Aalst 2002
		Germany	Eintracht Frankfurt, Eintracht Braunschweig, Eintracht Duisburg 1848, Eintracht Friedrichshagen, Eintracht Mahlsdorf, Eintracht Trier
		Switzerland	Concordia Basel
Hope		Benin	Espoir FC
		Cameroon	Espérance FC
		France	Espérance Sportive Troyes Aube Champagne
		Niger	Espoir FC
		Rwanda	Espoir FC
		Tunisia	Espérance Sportive de Tunis, Espérance Sportive de Zarzis, Espoir Sportif de Hammam-Sousse
Invincibility		England	Folkestone Invicta
Strength		Bolivia	The Strongest
		Brazil	Força e Luz
Youth	Examples of this are "jeunesse" (French), "junior" (several languages) and "juventus" (Latin)	Algeria	Jeunesse Sportive de Kabylie
		Argentina	Boca Juniors, Argentinos Juniors, Juventud Alianza de San Juan
		Belize	Juventus (Belize)
		Brazil	EC Juventude
		Cameroon	Jeunesse Bamiléké
		Cape Verde	Juventude do Norte
		Colombia	Atlético Junior
		Côte d'Ivoire	Jeunesse Club d'Abidjan
		Italy	Juventus F.C., A.S. Fortis Juventus 1909, S.S. Juve Stabia
		Luxembourg	Jeunesse Esch, Jeunesse Hautcharage, Jeunesse Sportive Verlorenkost
		Morocco	Jeunesse Massira
		Romania	Juventus Bucureşti
		Tunisia	Jeunesse Sportive Kairouanaise
		Uruguay	Rampla Juniors

List of common club names

Name	Examples	Meaning
Ahly	Al-Ahly, Al-Ahli SC	Al-Ahly is the Arabic for "national".
Ajax	AFC Ajax, Ajax America, Ajax Cape Town, Ajax Kenitra, FC Ajax Lasnamäe, Ajax Sportman Combinatie	After either Ajax the Great or Ajax the Lesser.
Alexandra	Crewe Alexandra	Named after Princess Alexandra.
Alianza	Alianza Lima, Alianza F.C., Alianza Atlético	Spanish for alliance.
Amateur	Fulwood Amateurs	Originally founded as an amateur organisation
America	América FC, Club América, América de Cali
Angel	Tonbridge Angels
Arabi	Al Arabi Kuwait, Al-Arabi SC	Al-Arabi is the Arabic for "Arab".
Argyle	Plymouth Argyle	Named after The Argyle Tavern or Argyle Terrace, both in Plymouth.
Arsenal	Arsenal F.C., Arsenal de Sarandí, Arsenal Kyiv
Arminia	Arminia Bielefeld, Arminia Hannover	From Arminius.
Assyria	Assyriska Föreningen	Clubs founded by and for members of the Assyrian diaspora
Beitar	Beitar Jerusalem, Beitar Tel Aviv	Stands for "Brit Yosef Trumpeldor", originally affliated with Israeli Zionist organizations.
Bohemia	FC Bohemians Praha, Bohemian F.C.	Refers to Bohemia or Bohemianism
Boys	Newell's Old Boys, Ocean Boys, Young Boys
Casuals	Corinthian-Casuals, Walton Casuals
Celtic	Glasgow Celtic, Farsley Celtic, Stalybridge Celtic, Donegal Celtic, Lurgan Celtic	Clubs founded by and for members of the Irish diaspora
Central	Rosario Central, Central SC, Central United
Cherno More	FC Chernomorets 919 Burgas, FC Chernomorets Novorossiysk, FC Chornomorets Odessa, PFC Chernomorets Burgas Sofia, PFC Cherno More Varna	Refers to the Black Sea in several Slavic languages
Cobre-	Cobreloa, Cobresal	Spanish for copper.
Dons	Milton Keynes Dons	Named after the nickname of MK Dons' predecessors, Wimbledon F.C.
Español	Central Español, RCD Espanyol, Social Español, Unión Española	Refers to the Spanish people.
Excelsior	Excelsior Mouscron, Excelsior Rotterdam	Means "higher".
FC		"Football Club"; used worldwide Also: CF (Spanish), VV (Dutch), NK (Croatian), FK (Various), JK (Finnish)
FFC	1. FFC Frankfurt	Frauenfußballclub (= Women's football club)
Fortuna	Fortuna Köln, Fortuna Sittard, Fortuna Düsseldorf, Fortuna Magdeburg	Means "fortune".
Germania, Alemannia	BFC Germania, Alemannia Aachen	Alternative names of Germany.
Górnik	Górnik Łęczna, Górnik Zabrze	Górnik is polish for "miner"
Guaraní	Guarani, Club Guaraní	Name of a group of culturally related indigenous peoples of South America.
Hakoah	Hakoah Ramat Gan, Hakoah Vienna, New York Hakoah, Sydney Hakoah, Jødisk Idrætsforening Hakoah	Means "strength". Specific to Jewish clubs.
Hapoel	Hapoel Kfar Saba, Hapoel Petah Tikva, Hapoel Tel Aviv	Workers' teams, originally affliated with the Histadrut trade union.
Harriers	Kidderminster Harriers	Name usually used for athletics teams, named after the Harrier hawk
Hercules/Heracles	Hércules CF, Heracles Almelo	After the Greek demi-god
Hibernia	Hibernian F.C., Hibernians F.C.	Clubs founded by and for members of the Irish diaspora
Hotspur	Tottenham Hotspur	Named after Sir Henry Percy (a.k.a. Sir Harry Hotspur)
Independiente	CA Independiente, Independiente Medellín	Means "independent".
International	FK Inter Bratislava, UWIC Inter Cardiff F.C., F.C. Internazionale Milano, FC Inter Baku, Inter Bom-Bom, Inter Club d'Escaldes, Inter Monaro, Sport Club Internacional, Internazionale Torino
Invicta	Folkestone Invicta	Motto of the county of Kent.
Ittihad	Al-Ittihad (Jeddah), Al-Ittihad (Tripoli)	Al-Ittihad is the Arabic for "the union".
-kameratene	Hamarkameratene, Mandalskameratene	Norwegian for Comradeship.
Krylya	FC Krylya Sovetov Samara	Means wing in several Slavic languages
Lokomotiv	Lokomotive Leipzig, Lokomotiv Moscow, Lokomotiv Plovdiv	For Eastern European teams, indicates that the team was originally part of the Soviet Lokomotiv sport society or an equivalent.
Maccabi	Maccabi Bucureşti, Maccabi Los Angeles, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Maccabi Haifa	For Jewish teams, indicates that the team was originally part of the Maccabi sport society.
Main	Maltby Main
Metallurg	Metallurg Magnitogorsk, Metalurh Donetsk	Indicates a relation to metallurgic industry.
Municipal	CSD Municipal, Deportivo Municipal, Once Municipal
Nasr	Al-Nasr, Al-Nasr SC	Al-Nasr is the Arabic for "victory".
National	Atlético Nacional, El Nacional, Nacional de Montevideo, Nacional FC, Naţional Bucureşti
Orient	Leyton Orient	From "Orient", meaning "eastern" or "from the east".
Pers-	Persib, Persik Kediri, Persipura Jayapura	short for "Persatuan," Indonesian for "United".
Petrolero	Oriente Petrolero, Esmeraldas Petrolero	Founded by oil company workers.
Pogoń	Pogoń Lwów, Pogoń Szczecin	Polish for "knight-in-pursuit", related to the Pogoń Litewska
Polonia, Lechia	Polonia Warszawa, Lechia Gdańsk	Alternative names of Poland.
Polytechnic	FC Politehnica Chişinău, FC Politehnica Iaşi, FCU Politehnica Timişoara	See also Academical, Estudiantes, University.
Portuguese	Portuguesa, Portuguesa FC, Toronto Supra Portuguese
Pro	Pro Vercelli, Pro Patria, Pro Sesto	Latin for "in favour/support of"
Racing	Racing Santander, Racing Strasbourg, Racing Avellaneda
Railway	Leigh RMI	Founded as a division of a railway company
Ramblers	Cobh Ramblers, Burnham Ramblers
Rapid	Rapid Bucureşti, Rapid Vienna, Rapid JC
Rangers	Glasgow Rangers, Queens Park Rangers, Stafford Rangers, Rangers de Talca
River	River Plate, River Plate (Uruguay), River AC
Royal, Real	Real Madrid, Royal Antwerp FC, Real Zaragoza, Real Salt Lake, Koninklijke HFC, Real Potosí	Royal. Koninklijke is a Dutch equivalent.
Rovers	Blackburn Rovers, Bristol Rovers, Sligo Rovers, Tranmere Rovers
Santos	Santos FC, Santos Laguna, Santos de Angola, Santos de Guápiles	Portuguese and Spanish for saints.
Slavia	SK Slavia Praha, PFC Slavia Sofia, FC Slavia Mozyr, Slavija Istočno Sarajevo, Sława Lwów	Refers to the Slavic peoples
Sparta(n)	Sparta Praha, Sparta Rotterdam, Blyth Spartans, Sparta Sarpsborg	From Sparta.
Spartak	Spartak Moscow, Spartak Vladikavkaz	From Spartacus. For Eastern European teams, indicates that the team was originally part of the Soviet Spartak sport society or an equivalent. Zenit (sports society)
Sport Club	Karlsruher SC, SC Heerenveen, Vasas SC, SC Corinthians
Sporting	Sporting Lisbon, Sporting Cristal
Stanley	Accrington Stanley	Named after the Stanley Arms on Stanley Road, Accrington.
Star	Étoile Sportive du Sahel, Groene Ster, Red Star Belgrade, Estrela da Amadora
Steel	Stahl Eisenhüttenstadt, Stal Mielec, Stålkameratene, FC Stal Alchevsk	Indicates a relation to steel industry.
Swifts	Heybridge Swifts, Stourport Swifts	Named after the swift species of bird.
Synthonia	Billingham Synthonia	Only club in Britain to be named after a synthetic fertiliser (the club used to have a close connection with the manufacturers of Synthonia, ICI)
Syriac	Syrianska IF Kerburan, Valsta Syrianska IK	Refers to Syriacs
Tiger	UANL Tigres, CA Tigre
Torpedo	Torpedo Moscow, Torpedo Kutaisi, Torpedo Zaporizhzhya
Town	Ipswich Town, Huddersfield Town, Luton Town
Trinity	Gainsborough Trinity	Named after the Holy Trinity.
Turbine	1. FFC Turbine Potsdam	means Turbine
Union	Unión de Santa Fe, União de Leiria, União São João
United	Manchester United, Newcastle United, D.C. United, Colchester United, Sheffield United, Carlisle United, Leeds United, Limavady United	Often (but not always) refers to the result of a merger
University	Universitario de Deportes, Universidad de Chile, Universitatea Craiova	Affliation with universities. See also Academical, Estudiantes, Polytechnic.
Vale	Port Vale	Named for teams located in a town in a valley
Vasco	CR Vasco da Gama, Vasco da Gama (South Africa), Vasco SC, AD Vasco da Gama	Named after Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama.
VfB	VfB Admira Wacker Mödling, VfB Auerbach, VfB Einheit zu Pankow, VfB Eppingen, VfB Fichte Bielefeld, VfB Fortuna Chemnitz, VfB Hermsdorf, VfB Hüls, VfB Lübeck, VfB Oldenburg, VfB Pößneck, VfB Stuttgart	German for Verein für Bewegungsspiele (association for exercise games)
VfL	VfL Bochum, VfL Gummersbach, VfL Halle 1896, VfL Klafeld-Geisweid 08, VfL Osnabrück, VfL Wolfsburg	German for Verein für Leibesübungen (association for physical exercises)
VfR	VfR Aalen, VfR Bürstadt, VfR Mannheim, VfR Schlesien Breslau, VfR Wormatia Worms	German for Verein für Rasenspiele (association for lawn games)
Victoria	Northwich Victoria, Biddulph Victoria	Named for Queen Victoria, who was Queen at the time most football clubs were founded.
Villa	Aston Villa	Named after Villa Cross Wesleyan Chapel in Aston, Birmingham.
Wacker	Admira Wacker Mödling, Wacker Burghausen	German word meaning 'Brave'
Wanderers	Bolton Wanderers, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Sliema Wanderers, Montevideo Wanderers, Santiago Wanderers, Excursionistas	Usually used when a club has changed grounds several times
Welfare	Armthorpe Welfare, Brodsworth Welfare, Glasshoughton Welfare, Nostell Miners Welfare
Zenit	FC Zenit Saint Petersburg, FC Zenit Čáslav	For Eastern European teams, indicates that the team was originally part of the Soviet Zenit sport society or an equivalent.