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Number of English football clubs documented for this season: 114 (You can only see the top 22 clubs)
For the selected season, this site documents and maps all "top tier" English football clubs in Levels 1-4 of the English football league system: FA Premier League (FA Carling Premiership), Football League First Division (Endsleigh League First Division), Football League Second Division (Endsleigh League Second Division), Football League Third Division (Endsleigh League Third Division). Note that we do NOT cover reserve teams.
History: The club was originally founded in 1886 as Dial Square by workers at Woolwich Arsenal Armament Factory in Woolwich, south-east London. They were renamed to Royal Arsenal shortly afterwards. They renamed themselves again to Woolwich Arsenal after turning professional in 1891. After moving to Arsenal Stadium in North London in 1913, the name was shortened to Arsenal. The nickname Gunners comes from what the workers used to make, when they weren't playing soccer, of course.
They made their home at the venerated Highbury until May 2006. In July 2006 the club moved to the new 60,000-seat Emirates Stadium in nearby Ashburton Grove. Arsenal have a long-standing and fierce rivalry with Tottenham Hotspur, located four miles away in Tottenham, whom they play in the North London derby.
History: Located in the steel city of Birmingham in the West Midlands, Aston Villa were founded by four members of the Villa Cross Wesleyan Chapel cricket team who were looking for a sport to play during the winter. The Aston part of the name came from nearby Aston University. Indeed, their first match was played against Aston Brook St. Mary's. Villains is a natural extension of Villa, which is what most soccer fans in the know call them. They even play their matches at Villa Park.
History: The men who formed the club had 17 members of the Blackburn Grammar School in the city of the same name. However, the team could not just call itself Blackburn as their main rival at the time was Blackburn Olympic. They took the name Rovers which was a common name in English soccer to describe teams that moved from ground to ground to play games. Doncaster, Bristol and Tranmere are other clubs who call themselves Rovers. The club is located a half-hour drive north of Manchester.
History: The pride of Southwest London, Chelsea's origin dates back to the 1870's as well. Their stadium, Stamford Bridge, was originally used by a track and field team. The land was purchased by two brothers with the intent of turning it into a soccer ground. Initially the stadium was offered to Fulham FC to play there, they turned down the chance and so instead a new side, Chelsea FC, was born in 1905 and moved into the new Stamford Bridge stadium. Their nickname, of course, comes from their uniforms. The Lion on their logo is descendant from England's national team which is known as the Three Lions.
History: The club was founded in 1883 by employees of Singers, the cycle firm, and was known as Singers until 1898 when the name was changed to Coventry City. Early matches were played at Dowells Field, off Binley Road until a move to Stoke Road in 1887 before the move to the present Highfield Road site in 1899. The period of 1887 to 1892 was a golden one for the club with the Birmingham Junior Cup being won in consecutive years, 1891 and 1892.
History: Crystal Palace Football Club was formed at the venue of the glass Palace that stood at the top of Sydenham Hill, the current location of the National Sports Centre.
History: Located in Liverpool, the club was founded by St. Domingo Methodist Church which was looking to find an activity for its cricket players to do in the winter. St. Domingo FC became Everton FC in 1878, named for the district around the church, because other city residents wanted to join the team. In 1892, they moved from Anfield to Goodison Park, their present home. Even though they have been known as the Blues for their royal blue kits, they are also called "The Toffees" or "The Toffeemen".
According to an Everton's fan site, there are two versions to explain how this name was adopted: the better known is that, in those days, a Mrs Noblett had a candy store near Goodison called Mother Noblett's Toffee Shop, where she advertised and sold her tasty merchandise on match days. Another reason might be that there was a house called Ye Anciente Everton Toffee House near the Queen's Head hotel. The word "toffee" also referred to Irishmen, of which there was a large population in the Liverpool area at the turn of the century.
History: Ipswich were formed as an amateur club in 1878, but it was not until 1936 when they turned professional. After winning the Southern League at the first attempt and finishing third the following season, they were elected to the Football League on May 30th, 1938.
History: Leeds is between Manchester and York in the north central part of the country. Leeds United entered the league in 1920 after being formed from the ashes of Leeds City. They are called the Whites for the all-white uniforms they wear at home.
History: Leicester Fosse Football Club played friendlies in their first four years of existence before signing their first professional in 1888. The team struggled financially through different leagues in the early 20th century. When Leicester was upgraded from a borough to a city, the team's name changed to Leicester City in 1919. The club entered the league in 1894 and have never been out of the top two divisions. Foxes comes from the proliferation of hunting activity in the area in central England.
History: In 1888, Everton was the biggest team in the city of Liverpool and played their matches at Anfield. When Everton bolted Anfield in 1892, the owner of the ground, John Houlding, decided to bring a team into the abandoned ground. According to Liverpool's website, the famous stand was called "The Kop" after the Liverpool Echo newspaper compared it in the early 1900's to the Spionkop; the hill where Boer guerrillas had inflicted a heavy defeat on the British army a few years earlier in the Boer War in South Africa. Their nickname comes from their all red uniforms.
More importantly, their anthem "You'll Never Walk Alone" was not originally a song created by the club itself, but rather from the Rogers and Hammerstein musical "Carousel". Liverpool native Gerry Marsden from the "Gerry and the Pacemakers" popularized it in the 1960s and the fans in the kop took it up. The song gained great reverence for its comfort for Liverpool fans after the Hillsborough disaster in 1989 that killed 96 fans.
History: They started their existence as Gorton St Marks', but seven years later, they became Ardwick FC. In 1894, the club became a limited liability company and changed their name again to Manchester City. While Manchester United has set up camp on the West side of the city, Manchester City now plays in East Manchester at their new ground, City of Manchester Stadium. Like many clubs, they are known as 'City', but they are mostly called the Blues for their uniforms.
History: The club was founded as Newton Heath by members of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway company, but that team went bankrupt in 1902 leading to the formation of Manchester United. The club was known since the turn of the 20th century as United, but in the late 40's and early 50's when Talismanic manager Matt Busby led the team to its greatest successes, the media and fans referred to the club as "Busby's Babes." Sadly, in 1958, a airplane crash in Munich took the lives of seven players as well as injuring Busby himself. After the crash, Busby's Babes seemed inappropriate so a new name was sought. English rugby club Salford toured France wearing red shirts and became known as "The Red Devils". Busby liked the sound of it, thinking a devil was more intimidating to opponents than angelic babes. He declared Manchester United should also be known as the "The Red Devils" and soon the club began incorporating the devil logo into match programs and scarves. In 1970 the club badge was redesigned, but now with a devil in the center holding a pitch-fork.
History: First, Newcastle is one of the northernmost English cities near the border with Scotland, and their people have a very distinct culture and linguistic differences. Newcastle is a club that came from the merger of two clubs Newcastle West End and Newcastle East End in 1892 although both had begun 11 years earlier.
Since Newcastle wears black and white jerseys, they have been called Magpies, which is a black and white bird. You will also hear them described as Tynesiders for being on the Tyne River and Geordies which all Newcastle residents are called. You might hear Newcastle called Toon which is a word in Newcastle for town. An unofficial slang has developed there called Newcastle English. Newcastle fans are often called the Toon Army.
History: Norwich City Football Club was formed at a meeting held at the Criterion Café in White Lion Street Norwich, on Tuesday 17th June 1902. They played their first competitive game in an FA Cup preliminary round, away at Lowestoft Town on Saturday 20th September 1902, losing 5-0. There was mention of a Norwich Football Club as early as 1868, which very much coincides with the formation of the first English teams such as Notts County and Sheffield United, but early reports included 13 or 14 men per side games with 'touchdowns' being scored.
History: Nottingham Forest Football Club originally emerged from a group of "shinney" players who played a then popular game very similar to hockey. At a time when football began to emerge as a growing force, a special meeting took place in 1865 at the Clinton Arms, Shakespeare St. to discuss a proposition moved by J.S. Scrimshaw to switch games from "shinney" to football. This was passed, and the first official football match played was on 22 March 1866 against Notts County (who had been formed in 1862). Following a brief transitionary period and the establishment of new committee, Nottingham Forest Football Club was born in 1867.
History: Queens Park Rangers were formed in the year 1882 by the old boys of Droop Street Board School. The boys were members of the St. Jude's Institute as they used this as the club headquarters, and in the early days were known as St. Judes. They obtained the name of Queens Park Rangers when they merged with a team called Christchurch Rangers in 1886. They called themselves Queens Park Rangers because most of the players came from the district of Queens Park.
History: Even before the foundation of the Football Association in 1863, Sheffield had been at the forefront of what is now regarded as England's national game – with the world's two oldest football clubs, Sheffield FC (formed 1857) and Hallam FC (formed 1860) leading a rising tide of interest in Association Football, or soccer as it was commonly called. Sheffield Wednesday Football Club was 'born' on the evening of Wednesday 4 September 1867, at a meeting of the members of The Wednesday Cricket Club – named after the day that the players, primarily local craftsmen, took a half-day off work to participate. The meeting took place at The Adelphi public house on the corner of Arundel Street and Sycamore Street (now the site of The Crucible Theatre, made famous as the venue for the World Snooker Championships) in the city centre, where a Mr. John Pashley formally proposed the extension of the Club to include football.
History: They are located on the English channel just west of Portsmouth. A club that has only recently come into prominence, Southampton were formed in 1885 and became founder members of Division 3 in 1920. They remained in this division until 1960 and finally made it to the top division 6 years later. Originally known as Southampton St. Mary's - the nickname Saints stuck. You will also see them referred to as Soton which is simply an abbreviation of the club's name.
History: They took their name from the gallant adventures of Harry Hotspur, a Shakespeare character and Hotspur FC was born, soon changed to Tottenham Hotspur to avoid confusion with London Hotspur. The club used to play near Tottenham Court Road, hence the name, before moving to North London.
History: Formed in 1895 as Thames Iron Works FC, turned professional in 1898, then in 1900 as West Ham United FC. Their stadium is also referred to as Upton Park, named after the surrounding area.
Wimbledon
Founded: 1889 Nickname: The Dons, Wombles, The Crazy Gang Stadium: Selhurst Park Stadium Address: Selhurst Park, South Norwood, London SE25 6PU League: FA Premier League (FA Carling Premiership)
History: In 1889 the team formed as Wimbledon Old Centrals, playing on the Common. First honors came with the Clapham League title in 1896. Became Wimbledon Football Club in May 1905. Moved to Plough Lane in 1912 and joined the Athenian League seven years later.
Notes: They are currently ground-sharing with Crystal Palace.