Many football clubs around the world are just as famous for nicknames as the official club team name – with the likes of Manchester United known as the ‘Red Devils’ and Arsenal referred to as the ‘Gunners’.
Every team across the Football League has an official club nickname, though punters looking at football odds are likely to revert to the full title rather than the team’s nickname.
Most English club nicknames are reasonably easy to recognise, with some paying homage to the club’s crest, mascot or trademark kit colours.
In fact, the most popular football nicknames often relate to jersey colours – the ‘Reds’, the ‘Blues’ and ‘Whites’ are all fairly common in English football and sports betting.
European football club nicknames often link back to etymology but we’ll touch on those a little later. For now, let’s get stuck into the Premier League club nicknames.
Premier League Nicknames
Some of the biggest clubs in the sport play in the Premier League, with the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City ranking as three of the top teams on the planet.
Some of the best nicknames are for clubs regularly fighting for UCL prize money. Here are all 20 EPL nicknames:
- Arsenal: Gunners
- Aston Villa: Villains
- Bournemouth: Cherries
- Brentford: Bees
- Brighton: Seagulls
- Chelsea: Blues
- Coventry: Sky Blues
- Crystal Palace: Eagles
- Everton: Toffees
- Fulham: Cottagers
- Hull: Tigers
- Ipswich: Tractor Boys
- Leeds: Whites
- Liverpool: Reds
- Manchester City: Cityzens
- Manchester United: Red Devils
- Newcastle: Magpies
- Nottingham Forest: Forest/Garibaldis
- Sunderland: Black Cats
- Tottenham: Lilywhites
Best Nicknames in European Football
- Yellow Submarine: Villarreal’s iconic yellow kits were bought by mistake due to a stock shortage, and the nickname came about in the 1960s when fans started playing the Beatles’ ‘Yellow Submarine’.
- The Old Lady: The “old” part comes from “Juventus” stems from “youth” in latin, and the club had a tendency to retain its older players. “Lady” was due to supporters referring to the club as female.
- Billy Goats: Köln received a billy goat as a gift from a circus director, which was adopted by the club as a living mascot.
- Winged Lions: Venezia are named the Winged Lions as the golden winged lion is the symbol of St. Mark and the emblem of Venice.
- Foals: A young squad and attacking play earned Borussia Mönchengladbach the “Foals” nickname in the 1970s.
- Goths: Oviedo was designed in Visigothic style, leading to Real Oviedo adopting the “Goths” nickname.
Serie A Nicknames
Whether you’re into in play betting on Italian football or simply enjoy following the sport on TV, Serie A is one of the biggest domestic leagues around.
The Serie A club nicknames can be found below – both with their local nickname and an English translation. So what are you waiting for? Find out Serie A football nicknames here.
- Atalanta - I Nerazzurri (The Black and Blues)
- Bologna - I Rossoblu / I Veltri (The Red and Blues / The Greyhounds)
- Cagliari - Gli Isolani (The Islanders)
- Como - I Lariana / I Voltiana (Those from Lake Como / The Voltaics)
- Cremonese - I Grigiorossi (The Gray and Reds)
- Fiorentina - La Viola (The Purple One)
- Genoa - I Rossoblu / l Grifone (The Red and Blues / The Griffin)
- Hellas Verona - I Gialloblu (The Yellow and Blues)
- Inter - I Nerazzurri (The Black and Blues)
- Juventus - I Bianconeri / La Vecchia Signora (The Black and Whites / The Old Lady)
- Lazio - I Biancocelesti (The White and Sky Blues)
- Lecce - I Giallorossi (The Yellow and Reds)
- Milan - I Rossoneri (The Red and Blacks)
- Napoli - Gli Azzurri (The Blues)
- Parma - I Gialloblu / I Crociati (The Yellow and Blues / The Crusaders)
- Pisa - I Nerazzurri (The Black and Blues)
- Roma - I Giallorossi (The Yellow and Reds)
- Sassuolo - I Neroverdi (The Black and Greens)
- Torino - il Toro / I Granata (The Bull / The Maroons)
- Udinese - I Bianconeri (The White and Blacks)
- Venezia - I Leoni alati (The Winged Lions)
Bundesliga Nicknames
- Augsburg - Die Fuggerstadter (Residents of the Fugger City)
- Bayer Leverkusen - Die Werkself (The Company XI)
- Bayern - Die Roten (The Reds)
- Borussia Dortmund - Die Schwarzgelben (The Black and Yellow)
- Borussia Monchengladbach - Die Fohlen (The Foals)
- Eintracht Frankfurt - Die Adler (The Eagles)
- Freiburg - Breisgau-Brasilianer (Brazilians of Breisgau)
- Hamburger SV - Die Rothosen (The Red Shorts)
- Heidenheim - N/A
- Hoffenheim - Die Kraichgauer (From Kraichgau region)
- Koln - Die Geißböcke (The Billy Goats)
- Leipzig - Die Roten Bullen (The Red Bulls)
- Mainz - Die Nullfunfer (The O-Fives)
- St. Pauli - Freibeuter der Liga (League Buccaneers)
- Stuttgart - Die Roten (The Reds)
- Union Berlin - Die Eisernen (The Iron Ones)
- Werder Bremen - Die Grun-Weissen (The Green-Whites)
- Wolfsburg - Die Wolfe (The Wolves)
La Liga Nicknames
Some of the greatest team names are based on Spanish clubs, with players from Barcelona, Real Madrid and Valencia attracting plenty of attention.
The best La Liga team nicknames can help neutrals to pick a side when watching a Spanish football match. Without further ado, let’s take a look at the top La Liga soccer names.
- Alaves - El Glorioso (The Glorious One)
- Athletic Club - Los Leones / Los Rojiblancos (The Lions / The Red and Whites)
- Atletico Madrid - Los Colchoneros / Los Rojiblancos (The Mattress Makers / The Red and Whites)
- Barcelona - La Blaugrana
- Celta Vigo - Os Celestes (The Sky Blues)
- Elche - Los Franjiverdes / Els frangiverds (The Green-striped ones)
- Espanyol - Periquitos (Parakeets)
- Getafe - Los Azulones (The Deep Blues)
- Girona - Blanquivermells (White and Reds)
- Levante - Granotes (The Frogs)
- Mallorca - Los Bermellones (The Vermilions)
- Osasuna - Los Rojillos (The Reds)
- Oviedo – Los Godos (The Goths)
- Rayo Vallecano - Los Franjirrojos (The Red Sashes)
- Real Betis - Betis / Los Verderones (Lilywhites / The Big Greens)
- Real Madrid - Los Blancos / Meringues (The Whites / The Meringues)
- Real Sociedad - Txuri-urdinak (The Whites and Blues)
- Sevilla - Los Rojiblancos / Los Hispalenses (The White and Reds / The Ones from Hispalis)
- Valencia - Los Che ('Hey!')
- Villarreal - El Submarino Amarillo (The Yellow Submarine)