Right, I’ll take Scotland then. It being my specialist subject and all.
Senior football (I’ll tackle this definition later) in Scotland consists of the Scottish Premier League and Scottish Football League. The SPL is the top level, and is formed of twelve clubs. The SFL is formed of three divisions, the First, Second and Third Divisions, each containing ten clubs. There is annual promotion and relegation between these four levels - the team that finishes top of the SFL First Division gets to play in the SPL the following season. Between the First, Second and Third Divisions, but not between the SPL and the First Division, automatic promotion of the top-placed team and relegation of the bottom-placed team is augmented by a playoff system.
These 42 senior teams are all “professional”, in that their players get reimbursed for playing, even if it is just a match fee. However, only the SPL clubs, and most of the SFL First Division clubs, are “full-time”, by which I mean the first-team players earn their living from playing football and nothing else. Clubs in the Second and Third Divisions will commonly have a full-time manager and a few core staff, but their players will be part-time, and will most likely have a full-time job in a different industry.
There are other “professional” football teams in Scotland - indeed, some of the Junior (the Senior / Junior thing does not refer to the age of the players or clubs. Confusing, eh?) and Highland League teams can pay fees and attract crowds greater than SFL Third Division teams. However, the 42 is a closed shop - you have to be voted in, and this only happens when one of the 42 goes out of business, or the league system is expanded.
Nicknames - these are quite fluid. Some teams possess nicknames that are used in normal conversation. For example, Aberdeen FC (my team) are nicknamed “the Dons”, and everyone in Scotland knows this - “the Dons” is used in media coverage and normal conversation. For other teams, like Hibs, Hearts and Kilmarnock, the shortened version of their full name functions as a “nickname” (although they also tend to have other nicknames, such as “Jambos” for Hearts) and these tend to be widely used. Here are the twelve SPL clubs this season with what I think their nicknames are:
Aberdeen - the Dons
Celtic - the Bhoys / the Hoops
Dundee United - the Tangerines / the Arabs
Dunfermline Athletic - the Pars
Hibernian - Hibs
Heart of Midlothian - Hearts
Inverness Caledonian Thistle - (had to look this one up - wiki says Caley Thistle / ICT / Caley Jags)
Kilmarnock - Killie
Motherwell - the Well / the Steelmen
Rangers - the Gers
St. Johnstone - the Saints
St. Mirren - the Buddies
These names are perhaps more engrained in Scottish culture than the English nicknames listed by isiahrobinson. You could expect to see any of them appear in match reports or pub conversations. The most obscure one is probably “the Bhoys” for Celtic - “the Hoops” is much more common now.
Of course, I’ve only listed the twelve teams from the top level in Scottish football. As you go down the divisions, the nicknames keep coming, and some of them are fantastic. The “Gable Endies” (Montrose) and “The Blue Brazil” (Cowdenbeath) are two particular highlights. Nicknames of Scottish football teams is a pretty complex subject, but you get the idea, I hope.
Man, this post has turned into an absolute beast. And there’s still so much I haven’t covered. In the unlikely event that you want to know more about this “fascinating” subject, I’ll try to help.