What’s in a nickame? Some of the more original handles for football clubs can be found in the south

WE love our Tigers, Hawks and Demons but what about the fleet-footed big cats and the multi-headed dogs? Here are some weird and wonderful club nicknames from Melbourne’s Southern Football Netball league.

In blue, the Cerberus Navy players, aka the Three-Headed-dogs, sport their logo with pride.

THERE are Saints (St Kilda City) and Demons (Chelsea Heights and Springvale Districts).

There are birds of footballing prey in the Magpies (Clayton and Ashwood), Kookaburras (Keysborough), Hawks (Hallam) and Eagles (Doveton).

There are Bulldogs (St Paul’s and Highett), Dingoes (Dingley), Panthers (East Malvern) and Pumas (Lyndale).

And there are Lions (Murrumbeena, Carrum Patterson Lakes and South Yarra), as well as the Mountain Lions (Mt Waverley) and the Bears (Caulfield).

But while the Southern Football Netball League has a large number of common nicknames in its clubs ranks, it also has two of the most distinctive in suburban football: the Three-Headed Dogs and the Vampires.

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The Three-Headed Dogs? That’s the Cerberus handle and it causes Southern scribe Daryl Pitman to chuckle every time he writes it.

Cerberus is the Australian Navy team and plays out of the training base at Western Port.

After a few years of dominating the Thirds competition the club took its place in the new Division 4 this season.

In Greek mythology, Cerberus was a three-headed dog that guarded the entrance of Hades. In the Southern league, Cerberus is associated with its colourful nickname and striking logo, and its after-match hospitality.

“It has to be the best out there, doesn’t it?’’ Cerberus vice-president Chris Harrison said of the nickname.

HMAS Cerberus captain Dimitri Garoufalis, with the MFB’s Brock Ferguson and Victoria Police’s Ilya Fridman.

“The logo itself, the picture of the dog with three heads, that’s got to be the best going around. I’m an ardent Collingwood supporter so I love the Magpie. But our symbol is pretty good.’’

Harrison said all Navy sporting teams assumed the base symbol of HMAS Cerberus.

“Our Aussie Rules side, our rugby side, even our netball side, are proudly the Dogs,’’ he said.

The Vampires? That’s East Brighton, which, according to former long-serving player and Southern league historian Ross McCulloch, adopted the nickname early in the 1970s.

The East Brighton Football Netball Club are the unforgettable Vampires.

The way he remembers it, the club held a competition to decide on a new designation.

East Brighton has a red jumper with a white V.

“It was definitely about the male Dracula with the high collar and two big teeth with blood … that’s how it started,’’ McCulloch said. “Then over the years it morphed into the vampire bat after a drawing by Ian McCarthy. People said, ‘That’s much better’.’’

McCulloch admits he’s not particularly fond of the moniker and notes that the club has quietly embraced a new logo in its 70th year.

Expansion in the past few years has brought new nifty nicknames to Southern.

This season it welcomed the Redbacks, Hampton Park, from the South East league and start-up senior club Frankston Dolphins (which has no connection with the VFL’s Frankston Dolphins).

Another start-up, the Lightning, Lyndhurst, joined the SFNL two years ago.

But Pitman noted that the historic Cheltenham Football Club gave Southern another unusual nickname — the Rosellas.

“I don’t think there are many clubs out there calling themselves the Rosellas,’’ Pitman said.

Hampton’s handle has some originality to it as well. It’s known as the Hammers. For novelty value, they nailed it.

Know of any other unusual football club nicknames? Email [e-mail]

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