Association Football club names are a part of the
sport
Sport is a physical activity or game, often Competition, competitive and organization, organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The numbe ...
's culture, reflecting century-old traditions. Club names may reflect the geographical, cultural, religious or political affiliations – or simply be the brand name of a club's primary sponsor. Because of the British
origin of the modern game and the prevalence of the English language, many clubs, even outside Europe, have their names written in English.
In Europe, most clubs are named after their towns or cities (e.g. "
Deportivo de La Coruña
Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña () or simply Depor, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, that competes in the Segunda División, the ...
", "
Liverpool F.C.", "
Hamburger SV
Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...
"). In South America, clubs are more likely to have names that do not bear the city's name.
Common versus official usage
It is not uncommon for a club to be known in common usage by a name other than its official name, or the name on the badge.
Other clubs are more usually known by
nicknames or contractions of their full names, for instance,
Vasco da Gama is usually called simply ''Vasco'',
F.C. Internazionale Milan is contracted to ''Inter'' or ''Inter Milan'',
Sporting Clube de Portugal
Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries, is often called ''Sporting'' or ''Sporting Lisbon''.
Manchester United
Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
is often shortened to ''Man Utd'', and ''Lyon'' ''or OL'' used instead of
Olympique Lyonnais.
Some clubs are commonly referred to by their initials, such as PSG for
Paris Saint-Germain and PNE for
Preston North End.
Profession/education
Profession
Education
NB: Football clubs associated with colleges and universities in the United States and Canada are not listed here. These clubs are not independent of the school, and are divisions within a much larger school sports program.
Days and dates
Specific origins of club
Ethnic, social, national or religious background
Geographical features
Specific geographical features
Animals
Plants
Space
Planets
Stars
Earth phenomena
Real or mythical people
Sport
Sports societies
Values and ideals
Different club or city
These clubs were named after unrelated clubs (i.e. clubs they are not affiliated with) or unrelated cities (in which they never played). In some cases these are refugee or diaspora clubs, in other cases they were founded by fans of foreign clubs.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Association Football Club Names
Names
A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A person ...
Club names
Names