English Football Club Nicknames Quiz

Answer: Professions

Luton Town are known as The Hatters. The name is a reflection of the straw hat-making trade that was prevalent in the town from the 17th century. One in three of the town's residents worked in the industry around the time of the club's formation in 1885.

Luton Town have had an up and down history as a club, with spells in each of the four divisions of The Football League and a brief period in non-league football (2009-2014). They were promoted to the Premier League for the first time in 2023 with victory over Coventry City in the Championship play-off final.

Answer: Colours

Although they have been known as The Reds for the majority of their existence, Liverpool played in blue and white for their first few years, something unthinkable now given their fierce rivalry with city neighbours, Everton. They adopted red shirts, the colour of the city of Liverpool, in 1894.

Liverpool are one of the most successful clubs in the history of English football, winning multiple English league titles, including a run of eight titles in eleven years in their peak period between 1976 and 1986.

Answer: Professions

Known as The Railwayman, owing to the major railway engineering works that employed several thousand of the town's residents. Four of the seven founding board members of the club were railway clerks.

After reaching the FA Cup semi finals in 1888, Crewe Alexandra joined the Football League in 1892. They had to wait until 1963 before they could celebrate their first promotion, achieved by finishing third in the Fourth Division. Sadly, they came straight back down the following season.

Answer: Professions

Walsall were founded when the town's two leading clubs, Walsall Town and Walsall Swifts, joined forces as Walsall Town Swifts in 1888. They were founder members of the second division of the Football League in 1892, although they failed re-election after just three seasons and were in and out of the league several times before the league's break for the first World War.

The club changed their name to Walsall in 1896. The Swifts part of the old name stuck around as a nickname for a while before the club adopted The Saddlers to reflect the town's pre-eminence in the manufacture of leather goods. The swift remains as part of the club's logo to this day.

Answer: Cats & Dogs

Formerly known as The Rokerites, a name derived from their Roker Park home ground, Sunderland asked their fans to come up with a new nickname when they moved to a new ground, the Stadium of Light, in 1997. Their new moniker, The Black Cats, came from the name of a battery of guns that protected the town by the mouth of the River Wear.

Sunderland won many trophies in their Roker Park days, winning a record-equalling 6 league titles prior to World War II, a tally that was soon surpassed by a number of clubs after the war. They struggled to match that success after the war, having to wait until the 1973 FA Cup to lift silverware again, a match won as a Second Division side in a shock result against the highly-fancied Leeds United, of the First Division.

Answer: Birds

Brighton and Hove Albion's nickname of The Seagulls is relatively new (in English football terms at least). For much of their existence, Brighton were simply known as Albion and then briefly as The Dolphins from the animal on the city's crest.

The Seagulls is said to have been inspired by their peculiar "local" rivalry with Crystal Palace. The antagonism between the two clubs is not one borne of geography but is said to have derived from the enmity between the two clubs' managers in the 1970s, Alan Mullery of Brighton and Terry Venables of Palace, who had been teammates at Tottenham Hotspur a decade earlier. When this rivalry spilled over from the dugout to the terrace, the Brighton fans started responding to the Palace fans shouting "Eagles" with their own chant of "Seagulls" inspired by the most prominent local bird in their seaside town.

Brighton have spent time in all four divisions of the English league system, coming close to dropping out of the Football League in 1997 but rebuilding impressively to reach the Premier League just 20 years later. Brighton were FA Cup finalists in 1983, losing to Manchester United after a replay.

Answer: Birds

Bradford City were founded as a football club in 1903 but they had existed as a rugby league club, known as Manningham, from the 1880s. Uniquely, Bradford were admitted to the Football League without ever having played a single game of football before admission, because their geographical location of West Yorkshire was unrepresented in the league at that time.

The nickname of The Bantams came about from the colours of Manningham Rugby Club that Bradford City adopted. Manningham played in amber and claret, also called blood and mustard, and these colours were said to resemble the plumage of the bantam. Though they are officially known as The Bantams, some fans refer to them as The Paraders (after the ground Valley Parade) or The Gents.

Answer: Professions

One of the founding members of The Football League in 1888, Stoke City are one of the oldest clubs in England (though the precise date of their founding is disputed).

The area of North Staffordshire where the club is located is known as the Potteries because of the industry that produced china and earthenware in the region from the coal that was mined locally. Stoke-on-Trent as the centre of this area is closely associated with the trade and the football club soon adopted the nickname The Potters.

Answer: Colours

Preston are nicknamed The Lilywhites. They didn't always play in white, starting out with blue and white hooped shirts but crucially in the season that made the club legendary they had a kit of plain white shirt with blue shorts.

That season was the debut season of The Football League in 1888-89. It was a season that would earn that particular side the moniker of The Invincibles as they won both The Football League title and the FA Cup without losing a single game. What's more, they achieved their cup triumph without even conceding a goal. Such high achievement inspired a whole host of clubs to try to emulate them, to the degree that they borrowed their colours and, in the case of Tottenham Hotspur, even their nickname ... 72 years after Preston achieved it, Tottenham matched their feat of winning the League and Cup double in the same season, 196-61.

Answer: Food & Drink

Bournemouth are known as The Cherries, a nickname they gained around the time that they moved to their Dean Court ground in 1910. There are two possible derivations of the name; either for the colour of their shirts (then as now, cherry red and black stripes); or for the cherry orchards that were in the grounds of Kings Park that sat alongside the stadium.

In those days, AFC Bournemouth were known as Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic, changing their name to the current AFC Bournemouth in 1971. By doing so, they placed themselves at the head of the alphabetical list of English league clubs and differentiated themselves from the amateur club Bournemouth.

Answer: Cats & Dogs

Up until the end of the 1960s Huddersfield were simply referred to as "Town". It was the nickname they had throughout their heyday in the 1920s when they became the first club to win three successive Football League titles.

In the 1969-70 season, the club decided it needed a rebrand and to the classic blue and white striped shirt was added a logo of a red Yorkshire Terrier. At the same time an actual Yorkshire Terrier called Skippy was adopted as the club's mascot, replacing a stuffed donkey. From that point onwards Huddersfield Town began to be known as The Terriers.

Answer: Colours

Birmingham City have always played in predominantly blue shirts, ever since their formation as Small Heath Alliance in 1875. So it no surprise that they have the nickname of The Blues. Their fans are also known as Bluenoses.

City have kept things much the same throughout their history with St Andrews having been their home for over 100 years since they moved there in 1905. The only thing that the club seems to have liked changing was their name. Small Heath Alliance became Small Heath in 1888. Under this name their won the inaugural season of the Football League second division in 1892-93. A year after the move to St Andrews they became Birmingham FC and in 1943 they added City to their name.

Answer: Food & Drink

When Everton left their Anfield Road ground (paving the way for the formation of their great rivals Liverpool), they moved to play in an area in the north end of Stanley Park. Before games they would meet at The Queen's Head Hotel in Village Street. Next door to the hotel was "Ye Anciente Everton Toffee House" from where the club gained its nickname of The Toffees.

Everton were founding members of The Football League in 1888 and were only the second team to be crowned champions of England just three years later. It was the first of many titles, including two in the 1980s (1985 and 1987), that formed part of a run of eight years in which the title stayed in the city of Liverpool.

Answer: Birds

Which came first; the nickname or the kit? Because Norwich's colours of yellow and green certainly make them look like their current nickname, The Canaries. But Norwich used to play in blue and white. And their nickname used to be The Citizens.

It turns out that the name came first. It was inspired by the canaries that were introduced to the area in the 16th century by Dutch and Flemish wool workers, who establish canary breeding in the city. There is evidence of Norwich City being referred to as "Canaries" in match previews from 1905 even if this was not yet the primary nickname at this stage. The change to a yellow and green kit came two years later.

Answer: Cats & Dogs

Millwall were founded in the eponymous area on the Isle of Dogs in North London in 1885. Despite moving south of the river in 1910, where they have remained ever since, they retain their north London name.

Millwall were a highly successful side when the south of England clubs were mainly amateur, with professionalism being confined to the North and Midlands areas. As well as winning the Southern League in 1895 and 1896, Millwall performed well in the FA Cup in the Victorian era. Their most successful run of those times was the source of their nickname.

In the course of a Cup run that took them to the semi-finals in 1900, they were described in an English newspaper as "The Lions of the South" after an impressive victory over then Football League leaders, Aston Villa. As the owners of the club were not keen on the name The Dockers that the fans used to describe themselves, they adopted the nickname The Lions, adding the animal to the club crest a few years later.

In season 1927-28 Millwall scored 87 goals at home. It's still an all-time record and, in all likelihood, will remain unbroken for the foreseeable future.
Millwall would eventually reach the FA Cup final for the first time in 2004, losing to Manchester United.