Footy List: Weird club nicknames

IN THIS iPad-exclusive series, we look at some weird and wonderful lists about AFL.

IN THIS iPad-exclusive series, we look at some weird and wonderful lists about AFL.

1. NOARLUNGA (South Australia) -- The Shoes

The Onkaparinga River forms a horseshoe shape as it winds around the town of Noarlunga, which is just south of Adelaide. So it makes perfect sense to call the town’s footy club the Shoes

2. HENTY (New South Wales) -- The Swampies

The town of Henty in the Riverina region sits next to the Doodle Cooma Swamp, so the choice of the Swampies as the footy club’s nickname seems obvious. But many clubs are located next to a swamp and no one else goes by the Swampies nickname, so maybe it’s not obvious after all.

3. CONGUPNA (Victoria) -- The Road

The original name of the club just north of Shepparton was the Congupna Road Football Club. When it was decided to drop the Road from the title, it was adopted as the nickname. “Go the Roaders,” the fans say.

4. GLENCOE (South Australia) — The Murphys

Glencoe is a rich farming area just out of Mount Gambier. The Murphys is a nod to the Irish background of the local potato-growers.

5. YARRAWONGA (Victoria) — The Pigeons

The Murray River club wears the blue and white hoops of Geelong. When a club president proposed a decade ago that the club drop its historic nickname of the Pigeons favour of the Cats, he was voted out of office.

6. BIRCHIP-WATCHEM (Victoria) — The Bulls

The town of Birchip, in the southern Mallee region, is known as the home of the Mallee bull, so the footy club goes by the nickname the Bulls for good reason. The strange quirk is that it wears the old Fremantle jumper replete with a big anchor -- and it’s 350km inland.

7. ULVERSTONE (Tasmania) — The Robins

Essendon is called the Bombers because Essendon Airport is nearby. In Tasmania, clubs that wear Essendon colours have historically called themselves the Robins. While most of those clubs in recent years have defied reason and rebranded themselves the Bombers, North West Coast club Ulverstone has stuck with tradition.

8. TYABB (Victoria) — The Yabbies

The last four letters of the Mornington Peninsula club’s name demands that its football club be called the Yabbies. In the early 1980s, the committee tried to introduce the nickname the Lions, but good sense prevailed.

9. NORTH OLD BOYS (Victoria) — The Griffins

In Greek mythology, a griffin is a heroic symbol known for its speed, strength and courage. An image of a griffin which has the head and wings of an eagle, and the body of a lion is on the amateur club’s purple guernseys.

10. OLD HOBARTIANS (Tasmania) — The Ships

Ahoy there! The expression, “They’re sailing home,” has added credence at Old Hobartians, whose ground overlooks a bay off the Derwent River.

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