It’s been happening steadily for a few years. Football reports in newspapers are increasingly ending up like this:
The Cherries hosted The Royals at the Vitality Stadium, and did better than on their last visit to the Madejski. Next week they host the Latics in the FA Cup, who triumphed over the Yellows at Field Mill in the last round.
What’s this all about? In English this is:
AFC Bournemouth played Reading in Bournemouth and did better than on their last visit to Reading. Next week they play Oldham in the FA Cup who beat Mansfield (who were playing at home).
No one ‘plays’ anyone. They ‘host’ or ‘visit.’ Nobody wins. They triumph, or overpower opposition.
When I was thirteen I knew the nicknames and the grounds, but they mainly departed my head along with my Roy of the Rovers annuals. I remember that Everton were The Toffees, but not much more.
I’m a Bournemouth fan. I’d noticed the creep of nicknames to a degree, but it accelerated when we were relegated to the Championship. We went down and The Reds (Brentford) went up the next year to join the other The Reds (Liverpool) and The Red Devils (Manchester United).
In the Premier League we had been lining up against The Reds, The Clarets, The Yellows, The Yellow Army, two teams called The Blues, The Sky Blues and The Red Devils.
In The Championship we discovered we were playing The Reds (Barnsley), The Blues, The Whites, another The Whites, The Lilywhites, The Tangerines, a different The Sky Blues, The Blue and Whites and the Red and White Wizards.
Or perhaps The Tykes, The Hatters, The Smoggies, The Hoops, The Tigers, The Lions, The Terriers, The Seasiders, The Riversiders, The Robins, The Swans, The Bluebirds or The Rams. OK, I knew The Rams because a friend had Derby County stickers on his car, and I guessed The Blades would be from Sheffield. Sheffield steel for knife manufacture was renowned.
I noticed the long list of teams nicknamed after colours when a friend posted a Bolton Wanderers picture on FB, celebrating their return to League One: The Whites Are Going Up, mind, they’re also known as The Trotters, so reporters can use that instead. It doesn’t refer to Only Fools and Horses, nor, hopefully, to ‘having the trots.’
Shirt colours mattered so much historically. It’s hard to see quite why this should continue when teams have dramatically different Away strips and Third strips to maximize their replica shirt sales. (Note that you can buy replica shirts in 4XL size for 52-57 inch waist, which says something about some English football fans).
So to Arsenal (The Gunners) 2021-22 shirts: red main shirt, yellow away shirt, blue third shirt. You can add an aquamarine ‘training shirt’ if you want the full set. You can follow the three colour theme around the country. It’s very hard to see why a third strip is needed. There should be a limited range of clashes. My school clashed with no one … we had chocolate brown football shirts, the only ones I’ve ever seen.
At university we formed a kickabout Sunday Afternoon team and suggested buying a set of shirts. Our captain, an Everton fan, said he could play in any colour except red … the colour of Liverpool … as his grandad would turn in his grave if he ever played football in a red shirt. We opted for royal blue to keep him happy.
Allegedly, Bournemouth are The Cherries. It does not imply that the players are virgins, either. The Bournemouth newspaper, the Daily Echo, resolutely calls them ‘The Cherries’ at all times and has a section online ‘Cherries News.’ I checked the Liverpool Echo online, which today used ‘Everton’ a dozen times, and ‘Toffees’ just once. I checked Arsenal’s website and they use ‘Arsenal’ except for a section ‘Junior Gunners.’
When I was a lad, The Cherries wore cherry red shirts with white sleeves, and white shorts. You’d see The Cherries on weekly programmes. No one at my school ever called them that. We used to call the team Boscombe: Are you going to see Boscombe on Saturday? They were named Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic in those days, matching our South Coast rivals, Brighton and Hove Albion. They were never called Bournemouth because that referred to Bournemouth FC, an amateur club who played at Victoria Park near my house. That team was called The Poppies and were founded in 1890, nine years before ‘The Cherries’ was founded as Boscombe FC. They’re now generally called ‘Bournemouth Poppies’ to avoid confusion. Yes, it is based on shirt colour, not a penchant for opiates.
In the 50s and 60s the ground at Bournemouth, Dean Court, resounded to a slow, bass shout of Come on, Boscombe! It’s certainly what my dad called them.
The name change to AFC Bournemouth came in 1972, when they changed from cherry red to red and black stripes, based on AC Milan. They hoped that opponents might be intimidated into thinking they were facing Milan. Nowadays when I want their website, I type AFCB, and I reckon I’m far more likely to say ‘AFCB’ than ‘The Cherries’ in conversation. Then again, the town is now officially called BCP (Bournemouth-Christchurch- Poole) so we’re used to initials.
Then to read these reports nowadays, as well as the nicknames, you really need to know the names of grounds. Some remain the same … You’re not going to mess with Anfield, Old Trafford or Elland Road. Fulham still play at Craven Cottage, and one of their nicknames is The Cottagers, a little unfortunate in its reference nowadays, which might be to a public toilet on Hampstead Heath. I always remember Fulham and their ground because I had Johnny Haynes football boots.
Many of the grounds have changed. Dean Court is now The Vitality Stadium (sponsors). Brighton moved to the new Falmer Stadium in 2008, but it’s now known as the Amex or The American Express Community Stadium. Arsenal play at The Emirates Stadium. Stoke play at The bet365 Stadium. Coventry play at The Coventry Building Society Arena. Hull at The KCOM Stadium. Huddersfield play at The John Smith’s Stadium (named after the beer). They used to be at the Alfred McAlpine Stadium (after the building company). Ed Sheeran sponsors Ipswich’s shirts, but they haven’t named the stadium after him. Yet.
It’s a code for initiates. After the Euro 2020 run, interest in football has widened. It should benefit clubs, but let’s plead for transparency. Abbreviations are fine for the majors … Man U or Spurs or Palace. Otherwise call a team by its name.
Ipswich Town are now called the Tractor Boys (haha) but when I were a lad 😉 they were always ‘the blues’
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As an 11 year old school boy in Poole I recall writing an ode which was pinned on the school notice board for all to see.
It started with ‘ Up the Cherries, slog it in, there goes Cutler down the wing’
A bit pathetic now but it does demonstrate that the name Cherries was in popular use at the time.
The cognoscenti will appreciate that this at the time when we were on our giant killing run.
I saw all of those games – happy days.
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Ah, 1957. Beat Wolves (3rd in Div 1) in the 4th round, then Spurs in the 5th round (2nd in Div 1) then lost to Man Utd (1st in Div 1)in the 6th round due to a dodgy penalty. The Daily Mirror printed a photo proving it wasn’t a handball, but square between the shoulder blades. Reg Cutler was Bournemouth’s famed winger. He broke the goalpost while scoring against Wolves. At Bournemouth School, Mr Cutler, the woodwork teacher, was known as “Reg” after the winger. Our rationale was Reg Cutler hit Wolves woodwork, whereas the woodwork teacher was known for hitting us with bits of thrown woodwork. The most serious offence was using the word ‘wood’ instead of ‘timber.’
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Must have been part of the teacher training curriculum for woodwork teachers.
Mind you, metal work teachers were even more lethal.
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