What’s in a name?

Before the 2013/2014 premier league season started Hull City owner Dr Allam had already re-registered the official club title as ‘Hull City Tigers Ltd’. In the process of doing so ‘City’ and ‘Association Football Club’ were removed from the name.

More recently Dr Allam’s application to the FA to change the clubs name to Hull Tigers has been rejected. If this had been given the green light by the FA, rebranding could have been in place for the 2014/2015 season. 

Groups of Hull City fans, including City Till We Die (CTWD) are opposing current owner Assem Allam’s proposed name change and rebrand. 

So, what’s in a name?

In Hull’s case the club’s history dates back to 1904 when it was founded as Hull City Association Football Club.  Attempts had been made over a number of years to found a football club in the city.  This proved difficult due to the popularity of rugby league in the city which is home to both Hull and Hull Kingston Rovers.

This being the case why are they referred to as Hull City and not Hull City A.F.C or Hull City Association Football Club? After all the names of football clubs are part of the sports culture. Isn’t this why the fans are opposing the name change?

Let’s imagine how the premier league might look if all clubs adopted the same approach and included their nickname instead of united city etc.

Team	New Team Name
Arsenal	Arsenal Gunners
Aston Villa	Aston Villa Villans
Cardiff City	Cardiff Blue Birds
Chelsea	Chelsea Pensioners or Blues
Crystal Palace	Crystal Palace Eagles
Everton	Everton Toffeemen
Fulham	Fulham Cottagers
Hull City	Hull Tigers
Liverpool	Liverpool Reds
Manchester City	Manchester Citizens or Blues
Manchester United	Manchester Red Devils
Newcastle United	Newcastle Magpies
Norwich City	Norwich Canaries
Southampton	Southampton Saints
Stoke City	Stoke Potters
Sunderland	Sunderland Back Cats
Swansea City	Swansea Jacks or Swans
Tottenham Hotspur	Tottenham Hotspur Spurs or Lilywhites
West Bromwich Albion	West Bromwich Baggies
West Ham United	West Ham Irons or Hammers

Obviously these names are just a fun look at what might be if premier league teams followed the Hull City example. Or are they fun? Or a reality waiting to happen?

If it does happen it could destroy the culture and history of English football as we know it.