We can all agree that football is a lot of fun. We like watching it, we enjoy all the moments, whether they are good or bad for our team, it all makes for countless hours of entertainment for all of us football fans. But things can get to a whole new level when people start getting creative with team names.
Did you know that in some places around the world, teams are literally called coffee? It is not a joke. And if you think that things can’t get weirder than that, then you are mistaken. There are hundreds of unusual football team names out there, and we are going to mention some of the most unique and interesting ones that we found.
Crewe Alexandra (England)
The League Two outfit, Crewe Alexandra, may not sound that quirky or unique. But it is actually the only top-flight football team in England with the letter X in its name. The club started as part of the local cricket club back in 1877. The football club then took the same name and uses it to this day.
The name originates from Princess Alexandra of Denmark, the wife of Edward VII. This also makes her the daughter of Queen Victoria.
Hashtag United (England)
The name Hashtag United is one of the quirky football team names that sounds like it was invented by a bunch of YouTubers. Oh, wait, it was actually founded by YouTuber Spencer Carmichael-Brown aka Spencer FC. They are an English non-league outfit which assembled in 2016 by a group of friends and other YouTubers.
The team was aptly created for the social media age, as their initial games were all filmed and uploaded on YouTube for people to see. They quickly became famous, with their Instagram account reaching 100,000 in a record-breaking time. Interestingly, the former Chelsea captain, César Azpilicueta, invested in the club in 2018 and became its co-owner.
The Strongest (Bolivia)
Yes, the club is actually called “The Strongest,” which is not only pretty brash but calling your club that way because things can easily backfire on you. Luckily, the Bolivian outfit hailing from La Paz is the winningest club in the country, winning the title a total of 16 times.
The club was founded in 1908, with the original name being “The Strong Football Club,” but they eventually decided to shorten it and go for the abbreviated version. The story also says that the name goes back to one of the original co-owners, Victor Manuel Franco, and was one of the words he knew how to say in English.
Millonarios F.C. (Colombia)
The Millonarios was actually originally called the Municipal Sports Club and was founded in 1937. Hailing from Bogotá, at that time in Colombia, it was impossible not to have ties with the Cartels. Millonarios too had connections with the Cartel, with their owner being Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha, or “El Mexicano,” during 1980.
However, the name of the club actually derives before that. During the 1930s the club spent too much on foreign players, especially expensive Argentinian footballers. For that reason, the public started calling them millionaires, meaning that they were rich. The name stuck and it soon became the official name of the club which they still have even today.
Kaizer Chiefs (South Africa)
The Kaizer Chiefs of Johannesburg bear one of the strangest football team names in the world. They are one of the most successful clubs in South Africa with a number of domestic titles and even playing in the final of the 2021 CAF Champions League. But the way they got their name is actually an amalgamation of the original founder’s name and the club he played for previously.
Former striker Kaizer Motaung founded the club in 1970 after coming back from the US where he played for Atlanta Chiefs. You now get how the club got its name. Also, the English indie rock band Kaiser Chiefs, fans of Leeds, decided to call themselves like that due to The Peacocks’ former captain Lucas Radebe playing for Kaizer Chiefs previously.
Bodø/Glimt (Norway)
Bodø/Glimt has one of the most unique football team names due to being the only club in the world with a forward slash in their name. They actually began their career by simply being called Glimt, which is Norwegian for Flash. However, years later they found out that a club bearing the same name already existed, so they decided to change it.
Adding the hometown name in front of the club name is nothing unusual. Bodø Glimt sounded just fine. But for some reason, they decided to make it a bit more unique and separated the two words by a forward slash. It makes things very confusing during cup ties or draws when they play other teams.
SV Robinhood (Suriname)
Suriname may not have a famous football league, due to many Surinamese players playing for the Dutch national team and going to the Eredivisie. Actually, if most of them stayed home, Suriname would have had one of the strongest teams in the world. But their best team in the league is actually SV Robinhood.
The club is more than aptly named when you know that it originally started as an outlet for poor members of the local community. They don’t really steal from the rich, but they have given everything to the poor. Prompting the creation of this club with a cool football team name.
Ethiopian Coffee (Ethiopia)
One of the most funny football team names has to be Ethiopian Coffee. We all love coffee, and we all know that one of the best ones comes from Ethiopia. The Addis Ababa-based club couldn’t have referenced that enough that they decided to put it on the logo and name the club based on their country’s biggest export.
Ethiopian Coffee made history when they won their first league title in 1997. They repeated this success two more times. But except for the name, they are not a groundbreaking club in their country.
FC Santa Claus (Finland)
According to legends, the Finnish town of Rovaniemi is the place where old Saint Nick originates from. For that reason, the local club got the name FC Santa Claus, paying homage to our favourite jolly bearded guy. Their origins start in 1992 but never made it past the Finnish third league.
Besides having one of the most unique football club names, they also have fitting kits. They sport red and white football jerseys that resemble Santa Claus’s outfit, making them fitting representatives of the legend of Saint Nicholas.
Go Ahead Eagles (Netherlands)
One of the weirdest football team names is that of the Dutch outfit – Go Ahead Eagles. They actually started out as Be Quick in 1902. But needed to change it to Go Ahead only three years later at the request of the Dutch FA. Believe it or not, Go Ahead were one of the most successful Dutch clubs during the early years. Winning four Netherlands Football League Championships.
Now, they are a stable member of the Eredivisie, promoted for the fifth time in the 2020/21 season. The name was changed in 1971 to Go Ahead Eagles due to the eagle being on the coat of arms of the city of Deventer. The Go Ahead department wanted to separate from their parent club, so they needed a way to make a distinction.
Insurance Management Bears (Bahamas)
The Nassau-based club started off as Bears FC, which sounds like a normal name, but it would definitely eliminate this club from our list of the most unusual football team names. However, due to sponsorship reasons, their official name became Insurance Management Bears.
Every time we hear this name, we picture a bear handling your insurance affairs. Would you hire a bear to do your insurance? This is already getting too weird, so we should stop here.
FL Fart (Norway)
We are trying our best not to sound too immature with this one. But apparently, “fart” means “speed” in Norwegian. But it’s not making things any easier for us or less fun. The club actually hails from Vang, situated just outside Hamar. The name is definitely the best thing about them, as they can’t really pride themselves on any trophies or successes. But the women’s football club, which is far more notable than the men’s. Known for their many relegations from the top flight of Norwegian football.