Stadium nick names

[Kevin S]

I would imagine the club's marketing and merchandise people do.

Indeed they do.

[ad hoc]

Has anyone actually been to Old Trafford? The "theatre of dreams" surely is somewhere inside your own head, a sort of synonym for involuntary imagination. Does that mean that the stadium doesn't actually exist?

[Gawpus]

Well EIM goes there, but he's an internal monologue, so also imaginary. Theory confirmed.

[Kevin S]

WFD's been. But he's a dog.

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

WFD's been. But he's a dog.

I've never counted but reckon it's in my top four most visited grounds/stadia, joining Carlisle's Brunton Park, Workington's Borough Park and Los Angeles' Dodger Stadium. Only one of those visits was for a Man Utd match - a less than dreamy midweek League Cup tie in 1986.

[Kevin S]

Totally off-topic now, but I wanted to mention that I changed the picture for Old Trafford on the RLWC 2021 wiki page as it was using the generic one, rather than a picture from an RL match. Some of the others still need doing, mind.

[Kevin S]

I've tended to call the London Stadium the "Olympic Stadium" - does that count as a nickname now?

[sw2borshch]

You still get people on occasion referring to the Riverside as the Cellnet. There was a brief spell of internet/local rag wags calling it the Phonebox, but it never stuck.
Occasionally referred to in print also as the Shiverside.

[Bored Of Education]

That’s how I found out the stadium’s real name when I first went there in the nineties but I suppose that was for an Inter game so maybe it was more prominent. I’m just surprised someone can actually visit the ground and never realise the actual official name.

You'd have been there two hours before the game to buy a badge and a programme after which you would be constantly asking people "Chi sta playando al left-back, por favore?" As far the Wales ticket, you or Pretend Best Friend (formerly of this parish) probably gave it to me in the queue just before the match to be safe.

[Fussbudget]

Totally off-topic now, but I wanted to mention that I changed the picture for Old Trafford on the RLWC 2021 wiki page as it was using the generic one, rather than a picture from an RL match. Some of the others still need doing, mind.

Hold on, they're building a stadium in that well-known rugby league hotbed, Cornwall, to host RL World Cup games? WTF?

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

Hold on, they're building a stadium in that well-known rugby league hotbed, Cornwall, to host RL World Cup games? WTF?

They haven't announced the venues yet so looks like the wiki page is ahead of itself. They have however learned from previous disasters - they used to hire venues out and hope people turned up, now they allow local authorities and clubs to bid for the games and do their own promotion to recover their costs. I don't think there will be a game in Cornwall though, unless the owners of the new stadium are really very keen to get involved.

[EIM]

Does anyone other than hack reporters/commentators ever refer to Old Trafford as the 'Theatre of Dreams'?

Anyone who calls Old Trafford 'The Theatre of Dreams' is a fucking nob. Same goes for Celtic fans and that nauseating 'Paradise' shite. "You off to the Theatre of Dreams on Saturday?" "Fuck off, mate."

Though I suppose it was fairly apt last season when I kept falling asleep during evening games. Three or four times it happened. Always in the first half. Yet to happen this season despite the deathly hush that sometimes falls over East Stand tier 2.

[Sam]

I can only think of one Argentine top tier stadium in Greater Buenos Aires that isn't better (in fact all but exclusively) known by its nickname. The exception to the rule is by far the newest one, unsurprisingly: Independiente's Estadio Libertadores de América.

[Third rate Leszno]

I've noticed that a lot of Europeans clubs/fans refer to Liverpool's home ground as "Anfield Road", in the same way that I might refer to Elland Road.

Back on pejorative nicknames (albeit at the gentler end of the spectrum), the now sadly demolished McCain stadium in Scarborough was always referred to as 'the McChip'

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

That'll be because of the song.

[Me Old Flower]

Easily adaptable to the Galph? Is it still called the John Smith's now? If so do they call it The Dishwater or the more direct The Piss?

Yeah, it is still the John Smith's Stadium. During the planning and building phase, the ground was being referred to as the Kirklees Stadium, which I think is still an official name. I've never heard anybody use that though.


I'm fairly sure Doncaster's Keepmoat ground was being referred to as the Lakeside Stadium prior to the sponsorship announcement, but I don't think it has ever been used officially. The stadium does however form part of the Lakeside Sports Complex, which includes the mini football pitches and athletics stadium.


As Third rate Lezno has just mentioned, Liverpool's ground is almost always called Anfield Road in Finland, which never sounded quite right.

[Giggler]

Yes, but that stadium has always been the Allianz Arena. Plus Allianz bought the naming rights for thirty years.

I still call Bolton's ground the Reebok, even though we've had two sponsors since. I'm tempted to revert to Middlebrook if they keep mucking about with the name.

Some Bury fans call it the Breezeblock. Hold my sides.

That said, a Shakers fanzine did a competition to name the stadium when it opened in 1997 and the winning entry was Trollineux, which I thought was funny.

[EIM]

For some unknown reason Gigg Lane was known to FC United fans as Le Stade de Gigg for a bit. Or maybe that was just me and my mates.

Anfield could be Anfailed. Or Unfilled. Or The San Giro if we were still allowed to harmlessly laugh at Thatcher's managed decline of the city through the 80s, but we're not any more because of Twitter sniwflakes and vegan sausage rolls or something. I can't keep up.

The Etihad is known variously as the Emptyhad, the Boo Camp (they used to boo a lot, you see) or the council house.

I think these sort of names for grounds are, along things like Chel$ki or Fyld£ or Liverpoo, are the worst thing about football. Far worse than spiralling ticket prices, rampant drug abuse and financial doping. Except Liverpoo. That's actually really funny.

[Giggler]

For some unknown reason Gigg Lane was known to FC United fans as Le Stade de Gigg for a bit. Or maybe that was just me and my mates.

Anfield could be Anfailed. Or Unfilled. Or The San Giro if we were still allowed to harmlessly laugh at Thatcher's managed decline of the city through the 80s, but we're not any more because of Twitter sniwflakes and vegan sausage rolls or something. I can't keep up.

The Etihad is known variously as the Emptyhad, the Boo Camp (they used to boo a lot, you see) or the council house.

I think these sort of names for grounds are, along things like Chel$ki or Fyld£ or Liverpoo, are the worst thing about football. Far worse than spiralling ticket prices, rampant drug abuse and financial doping. Except Liverpoo. That's actually really funny.

Bury's former press officer referred to Gigg as 'Le Stade de Gigg' too. It made me cringe hugely. Still does, as I experienced when reading it there.

I agree that names like this are the worst thing about football though. Grown men calling Bolton 'Whorewhich', for God's sake.

[Kevin S]

Yes, it's ridiculous. You'll often see Norwich fans write "1p5wich" online, referring to the score in a derby match 8 years ago.

[Pietro Paolo Virdis]

Regarding the Theater of Dreams, wasn't that in some sense stolen, or maybe even without sense simply straight off?
Something about Portugal, possibly Benfica rings a bell way back there.

[EIM]

It's a Bobby Charlton line.

[andrew7610]

Yes, it's ridiculous. You'll often see Norwich fans write "1p5wich" online, referring to the score in a derby match 8 years ago.

Younger and more excitable online Saints fans than me still write Fratton Park as Nottarf Krap, which in turn provokes responses from Pompey fans that have the phrase "I, for one" clumsily shoehorned in somewhere in reference to a couple of 4-1 gubbings they gave us just before they went off and did all those relegations.

[Pietro Paolo Virdis]

Before you start with 1p5wich, Whorewhich and the likes.
Pun threads on OTF generating 5 pages about something like "Food and Football players" with tweaks to the max to fit in such as "Ian Rushushi" or whatever, is only one baby step away from "1p5wich" or "Whorewhich"

There, I've said it.

[Pietro Paolo Virdis]

It's a Bobby Charlton line.

So he's the plagiarist!?