Association football club names are a part of the sport'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 A Coruña", "Liverpool F.C.", "Hamburger SV"). In South America, clubs are more likely to have names that do not include the name of the city.
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 Milano is contracted to Inter or Inter Milan, Sporting Clube de Portugal is often called Sporting. Manchester United 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 TopicMeaningCountryClubsAgricultureKolos is Ukrainian for spike and stands for the Kolos sport society of agriculture workers. Nyva means field. Meliorator stands for working in drainage or canal development. BelarusMeliorator Zhitkovichi, Niva Dolbizno, BGATU-Niva Samokhvalovichi (defunct), Kolos Ustye (until 1993) KazakhstanMeliorator Chimkent (until 1992) KyrgyzstanKolos Nizhnechuyskoye RussiaKolos Pokrovskoye, Kolos Bykovo (defunct), Kolos Krasnodar (defunct), Niva Slavyansk-na-Kubani (defunct) Soviet UnionKolhospnyk Berehove (until 1962), Kolhospnyk Cherkasy (until 1967), Kolhospnyk Poltava (until 1965), Kolhospnyk Rivne (until 1967), Kolos Pavlohrad (until 1982), Kolos Poltava (until 1985), WFC Nyva Baryshivka (until 1991) UkraineKolos Buchach, Kolos Kovalivka, Kolos Luzhany (until 1996), Kolos Nikopol (until 1992), Meliorator Kakhovka (until 1995), Nyva Bershad, Nyva Buzova, Nyva Ternopil, Nyva Vinnytsia, Nyva Myronivka (defunct), Nyva-Tekstylnyk Dunaivtsi (until 2006)Armed forcesFor sport clubs affiliated with or named after the armed forces of a country. See also sports societies section. BhutanRoyal Bhutan Army FC (defunct) BotswanaBotswana Defence Force XI BruneiRoyal Brunei Armed Forces BulgariaCSKA Sofia Burkina FasoUS des Forces Armées CanadaCavalry FC Central African RepublicForces Armées Centrafricaine ChinaBayi (defunct) EnglandUnited Services Portsmouth, Royal Artillery (Portsmouth) F.C. (defunct) EthiopiaDefence Force GuyanaGuyana Defence Force HungaryKispest Honvéd KazakhstanCSKA Almaty (defunct) LaosLao Army LesothoLesotho Defence Force LithuaniaKauno Jėgeriai (defunct), FK Saliutas Vilnius (defunct), FK Riteriai MalaysiaArmed Forces F.C. MalawiMalawi Armed Forces College, Kamuzu Barracks, Moyale Barracks MoldovaCSCA Chişinău (formerly, defunct) MoroccoAS FAR NepalNepal Army F.C. PakistanPakistan Army PhilippinesPhilippine Air Force PolandLegia Warsaw, Śmigły Wilno RomaniaCSA Steaua București RussiaCSKA Moscow, SKA-Rostov, SKA-Khabarovsk ScotlandThird Lanark A.C. (defunct) Sierra LeoneRepublic of Sierra Leone Armed Forces SingaporeSingapore Armed Forces (formerly, defunct) Soviet UnionSKA Lviv (defunct), VPS Kharkiv (defunct) SurinameSNL TajikistanCSKA Dushanbe (defunct), CSKA Pamir Dushanbe, Khosilot Farkhor Trinidad and TobagoDefence Force UgandaUganda Peoples’ Defence Force UkraineCSKA Kyiv, SKA-Lotto Odesa (defunct), SKAD-Yalpuh Bolhrad (defunct), VPS Kramatorsk (defunct), SKA Odesa (until 1992) United StatesCharleston Battery, New York Generals (defunct) Vatican CityFC Guardia ZambiaZambian ArmyArsenalFactories creating weapons. Granat is the Polish for grenade ArgentinaArsenal de Sarandí BelarusFC Arsenal Dzerzhinsk BrazilArsenal Czech RepublicFK Arsenal Česká Lípa EnglandArsenal GhanaBerekum Arsenal HondurasArsenal F.C. LesothoArsenal FC MauritiusArsenal Wanderers MontenegroFK Arsenal Tivat PolandGranat Skarżysko-Kamienna RussiaFC Arsenal Tula ScotlandArsenal North SerbiaFK Arsenal 1930 SpainClub Arsenal (defunct) SurinameSV Arsenal UkraineArsenal Kharkiv, Arsenal Kyiv, FC Arsenal-Kyivshchyna Bila Tserkva (defunct) United StatesDetroit Arsenal (defunct)Aviation AngolaAtlético Sport Aviação AustraliaNewcastle Jets CanadaEdmonton Aviators (defunct) EnglandBritish Airways, Crawley Down Gatwick, Oxhey Jets GermanyLufthansa SG Berlin (defunct) IndiaAir India LaosLao Airlines JapanAll Nippon Airways (defunct) PakistanPakistan Civil Aviation Authority (defunct), Pakistan International Airlines (defunct) Saint Kitts and NevisUnited Old Road Jets United StatesArlington Aviators (defunct) WalesCardiff AirportBanking EgyptNational Bank of Egypt EnglandBankers F.C. (defunct), National Westminster Bank EthiopiaCommercial Bank of Ethiopia IndiaIndian Bank, J&K Bank, State Bank of India Kerala IranBank Tejarat F.C. (defunct) KenyaKenya Commercial Bank MalaysiaPublic Bank (defunct) NigeriaFirst Bank, New Nigerian Bank, Union Bank (defunct) PakistanAllied Bank (defunct), Habib Bank (defunct), National Bank of Pakistan (defunct), Zarai Taraqiati Bank (defunct) South KoreaChohung Bank (defunct), Hanil Bank (defunct), Goyang KB Kookmin Bank (defunct), Housing & Commercial Bank (defunct), Industrial Bank of Korea (defunct) TaiwanTaipei City Bank (defunct) ThailandBangkok Bank (defunct), Krung Thai Bank (defunct), Thai Farmers Bank (defunct) ZambiaZanaco F.C.Beer AustraliaCascades (defunct) EnglandCrosswell's Brewery (defunct), Farnham United Breweries (defunct) EritreaAsmara Brewery EthiopiaDashen Beer (defunct), Harar Beer LiberiaMonrovia Club Breweries NigeriaPremier Breweries (defunct) PeruSporting Cristal UgandaNile Breweries UkraineObolon Kyiv United StatesNew Jersey Brewers (defunct), St. Louis Central Breweries (defunct)Building, Construction, etc.Everything connected with building and constructions: clubs named after the process of building constructions, the profession (FC Stroitel), companies (), substances used for construction (FC Cement), or companies producing it (Semen Padang) EgyptSuez Cement (defunct) EthiopiaMuger Cement IndonesiaSemen Padang NigeriaEagle Cement (defunct) RussiaFC Cementnik (Mikhaylovka), Stroitel Morshansk SerbiaCement Beočin Soviet UnionBudivelnyk Prypiat (defunct), Budivelnyk Poltava (until 1972) UkraineTsementnyk-Khorda Mykolaiv (until 2002)CarsClub names containing the name of an automobile company. These clubs were either founded as works teams by a company for its employees (e.g. Kamaz), bought by a company (e.g. Ford), or incorporate a corporate sponsor's name (e.g. Skoda Xanthi). Avtomobilist stands for automobile service, not automobile manufacturing. AustraliaMarconi–Datsun Leopards, Safeway United (defunct) ChinaDalian Huifeng Automobile Plaza (defunct) EnglandVauxhall Motors, Coventry Alvis, Ford Motors (defunct), Hucknall Rolls Leisure (defunct), Mercedes-Benz F.C. (defunct), Sunderland Nissan (defunct) GreeceSkoda Xanthi IrelandFord (defunct) ItalyFIAT Torino JapanHonda Motor, Mitsubishi Mizushima FC, Nissan FC Ladies (defunct) LaosLao Toyota, Mazda Laos GB MalaysiaProton F.C. (defunct) Northern IrelandFord F.C. RomaniaDacia Pitești (defunct) RussiaKAMAZ, Lada Togliatti, Torpedo-ZIL South KoreaUlsan Hyundai, Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors, Daewoo Royals (formerly) Soviet UnionAvtomobilist Lviv (defunct), Avtomobilist Zhytomyr (until 1976) TurkeyOyak Renault G.S.D. (defunct) UkraineLada Chernivtsi (defunct), Avtomobilist Sumy (until 1993), Skify-LAZ Lviv (until 1995) United StatesSt. Louis Simpkins-Ford (defunct)Chemical industryClubs named after the profession (Khimik) or chemical elements (Amkar, = AMmiak" (ammonia) and "KARbamid (carbamide)).