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Post: “Desert” in Scotland and the mayor’s hat. How did the nicknames of the clubs come about?

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Construction of the Royal Hospital in the Chelsea district began on 11 March 1682. In addition to its original purpose, it became a nursing home for ex-soldiers. At that time, no one would have thought that this event would give the nickname to the “blue” team in London. In Russia, Chelsea are called “aristocrats”. In the UK they say “retirees” much more often. Due to the neighborhood with the Royal Hospital. RIA Novosti Sport tells about the history of the emergence of the most unusual nicknames for football clubs.

“Kangaroo” from Prague

The emblem of the Czech “Bohemians” showcases an unusual beast. Kangaroo doesn’t seem like the obvious choice for a European club. But only until we learn a little more about the team.

In 1927, an offer came from Australia to arrange a friendly match with Czechoslovakia. The final match did not take place, but a club from Prague’s Vrsovice district went to the Green Continent. For the sake of the tour, the team even changed its name to “Bohemians”, which translates as “Czechs”.

The club spent 114 days in Australia and played 19 matches (14 wins, two draws, three losses). The players brought home two kangaroos as gifts to Czechoslovak President Tomas Masaryk. From that moment on, this beast appeared on the team’s emblem. They also decided to keep the name used during the tour.

Now the club continues to play in the elite division of the Czech championship. In its composition, Tomas Necid, a former soldier familiar to Russian fans, plays. And the head of the club is the man whose “invention” hurt the fans of the Russian team in 2018 – Antonin Panenka.

FC Bohemians 1905 - RIA Novosti, 1920, 03/10/2023

Italian “Flying Donkeys”

For many years the football clubs “Verona” and “Chievo” “share” a city. Of course, this turned into a basic confrontation. Verona performed much better than its neighbors. The team often played in the top league and even became the champion of Italy in 1985.

The story “Chievo” looks more modest. The club managed to reach Serie D (fourth division) only in 1975. Also, the team played in the home stadium of their main rivals. Of course, Verona fans could not do without a joke. One of them was the word “It’s better for donkeys to fly than to have Chievo in Serie A”.

He laughed at it until 2001. It was then that the team made its debut in the major leagues. The club immediately placed fifth and remained in the top 10 for the next two seasons. Fans of “Verona” in 2002 were very upset. His favorites were relegated and did not appear in Serie A for 11 years. Fixed the “Flying Donkeys” alias for “Chievo”.

However, the story did not have a happy ending. In 2019, Chievo left Serie A, after which financial difficulties began. In the summer of 2021, the team disbanded. Although fans don’t need to grieve for long. In September of the same year, the club was re-established under the name Chievo 2021. A new “flight” to Serie A has begun.

FC Chievo - RIA Novosti, 1920, 03/10/2023

What are the “Arabs” doing in Scotland?

Dundee United are known by the nickname “The Tangerines” because of the distinctive color of their uniforms and logo. In this case, the team is also called the “Arabs”. From where?

In December 1963, the club faced a problem that Russian football is well aware of. Dundee United were due to play a home match, but heavy weather caused the pitch to freeze. To save the situation, they sprinkled sand on it. The fans immediately had an affair with the desert and the Arabs.

But this is far from the only truth worth knowing. In 1966, the team reached European cups for the first time in history. In a two-legged match, the club eliminated Barcelona from the Fairs Cup with a total score of 4:1 (2:0, 2:1).

20 years later the rivals met again. If you think that the Catalans are taking revenge, you are wrong. Dundee advanced to the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup with a 3-1 aggregate win (1-0, 2-1).

The team now continues to play in Scotland’s top league. Who knows, maybe soon there will be a new chance to upset your favorite rival.

FC Dundee United - RIA Novosti, 1920, 10.03.2023

Dwarves on the football field

Originating from the city of Genk, the club was destined to be nicknamed “miners” or “miners” because of its developed coal industry. Of course it wouldn’t have happened without it. However, the team has another rather unexpected name.

Some people call “Genk” the “Smurfs” because the club’s colors are blue and white. The club was founded in 1988. His appearance was at the peak of popularity of the cartoon blue dwarfs. They released an animated series based on the comics in the 80s, and “Game Boy” and “Super Nintendo” games in the 90s.

For a brief history, the team became the four-time Belgian champion. He has also won the National Cup five times and the Super Bowl twice.

FC Genk - RIA Novosti, 1920, 10.03.2023

about this cover

In Russia, too, not without nicknames. If “meat”, “horses” and others are still widely known among fans, many have already forgotten about the performance of “hats” in the RPL.

In 1997, the Torpedo-ZIL team appeared in Moscow. He was promoted to the big leagues in 2001 but soon changed his name. At first, the name of the club was changed to “Torpedo-Metallurg”, then – to “Moscow”. Later, Chairman Yuri Belous said that his surname should be obtained from the interdepartmental commission. The influence of Yuri Luzhkov helped to significantly speed up the process.

The mayor of the capital regularly visited the matches of the team. The club also received a nickname in honor of the feature that everyone associates with Luzhkov.

“He asked me what the name of the team would be apart from the official version. I said journalists wrote “townspeople” and fans said “hat” or “beekeeper”. Luzhkov smiled and Belous then said, “Good,” he shared.

In 2005, Moscow became the first RPL club for Leonid Slutsky. With him, the team showed the best results and took fifth, sixth and fourth place. Despite this, the coach was fired in 2007.

The history of “Moscow” was short-lived. After the 2009 season, the team announced that it would not participate in the next Russian championship due to financial problems. The club spent another year in the amateur league and then ceased to exist.

Russian Football Championship - RIA Novosti, 1920, 03/10/2023

Source: Ria

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