Why do Northampton UK an Southampton UK both use “The Saints” as their football/soccer and rugby team nickname?
Northampton F.C was established by a clergyman (Northampton Saint James) and Southampton F.C. was originally made up of members of a youth organisation called Saint Mary’s.
There’s no real reason to use different nicknames, there isn’t really a big emphasis on nicknames in football in the UK anyway. Some have multiple nicknames.
To clarify that response, Northampton rugby club was established by the clergyman Samuel Wathen Wigg (curate of St James), whereas Northampton FC was founded 17 years later by someone completely different.
The nickname of the football club is the Cobblers, a legacy of the town’s historical association with the shoe trade.
You mean England there. In Scotland you have the Bairns, the Sons, the Honest Men, the Pars, the Dons, the Blue Toon, the Buddies, the Doonhamers, the Terrors, the Gable Endies, the Red Lichties, the Diamonds, the Jags, the Spiders, the Steelmen, the Bhoys, the Teds, the Bully Wee, the Wasps, the Warriors etc.
Then there are the nicknames which are based on clubs’ official names, like Hearts (aka the Jambos through rhyming slang), Hibs and the Saints (St Johnstone). Then there all the offensive nicknames.
The point about all of these nicknames, and nicknames for English clubs, is that they are not official, they are not part of the club’s official name. So for example you won’t see these names used in the fixture list. I feel that the more the club itself uses a nickname, the more devalued it becomes.
Also, FToSF, I think you might be underestimating the situation in England if you’re going by official names. There a lot of the Saints / Cobblers / Potters / Hatters type nicknames down there as well.
Saint Helens also go by the “saints” nickname, and probably a million other places.
Are any of those teams based in the Venice of the North?
You mean the red and yellow Magyars? On that list they’re the Jags.