Fans are only just realising why no club has ‘London’ in its name.. but footballing giants did consider shock change

IT’S so obvious… but many of us have never noticed.

But no football club in England has “London” in its name. Not one.

There are currently 13 teams in the Premier League and Football League pyramid based in the capital.

Of the top 92 clubs, 14 per cent hail from the city.

But none of them have the word “London” in them.

There’s a huge history of teams being named after capital cities – Roma, Paris Saint-Germain, Real and Atletico Madrid, Hertha Berlin… the list goes on.

And yet in England – despite London being the third-most-populous capital in the world, behind only Moscow and Istanbul – we have no teams named after London.

So what’s the reason for it?

It all goes back to the 19th Century… but don’t worry I’ll try to keep it brief.

In the late 1800s, football originated in private schools, with amateur sides such as Old Etonians the top clubs of the era.

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But as the sport captured the attention of the capital, it spread north – accelerating the rush to football introducing professional teams.

Even now, football clubs represent their local community and are a hub of their area.

But in the late 1800s and early 1900s, teams represented their most-immediate area.

And with London being such a vast, sprawling city – a number of clubs popped up all over.

Fulham were the first team from the capital to be formed in 1879 – then known as Fulham Church St Andrews Sunday School FC.

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Glyn Cricket Club – now known as Leyton Orient – soon followed, sparking a surge of copycats.

Millwall were named after the windmills which stood on London’s docklands.

Arsenal – now synonymous with North London – were named after Woolwich Arsenal in the SOUTH of the city, with the “Gunners” nickname coming from the nearby munitions factory.

Another Fulham-based club followed… Chelsea.

But with the name “Fulham” already taken, owner Gus Mears borrowed the name from the next borough over in the west of the capital.

It’s claimed Mears toyed with the idea of calling the club “London FC”.

However, it’s unknown why that was rebuffed.

Elsewhere, the likes of Tottenham, West Ham, Brentford, Charlton and Crystal Palace were all named after their community base.

And despite more and more clubs popping up in the 20th Century, none included “London” in their name.

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk