Where do soccer clubs get their names?

Happy Friday, folks.

Manchester United are called United. Right now they’re anything but. The captain is blaming the coaches, the coach is blaming the players, and a club that was in Italy’s fourth division seven years ago just put four past them. So today seemed like a good day to ask where the name came from in the first place.

Here’s what’s on tap today:

• 🍺 Why United are “United” (and Dortmund are named after a beer)

• ⚽ Como 4-1 Man United

• 🍻 A Dorada with Nico Paz (the potential heir to Messi’s throne)

Let’s tap in.

🥃 TOP SHELF

Why are Manchester United “United”?

Most pubs get their name one of three ways. The owner’s surname over the door. Whatever’s nearby, like the bridge or the church. Or something that sounded grand at the time, which is how you end up with a Royal Oak in a town that’s never seen a king.

Soccer clubs are no different. Most were started in the late 1800s by workmates and cricket teams who needed something to shout on a Saturday. Nobody thought they were naming a global brand.

Named in the pub

Arsenal began in 1886 as Dial Square, a workshop inside the Royal Arsenal, a weapons factory in south-east London. On Christmas Day that year, the players met in a pub called the Royal Oak and mashed the pub’s name together with their workplace: Royal Arsenal. The factory never left them. It’s why they’re nicknamed the Gunners and why there’s a cannon on the badge.

Germany’s famous Borussia Dortmund went one better. In 1909, the founders were stuck for a name in the back room of a bar when one of them looked up at pictures of the local Borussia brewery on the wall. Borussia is Latin for Prussia (a historic German state), but Dortmund are named after a beer. My people.

Named after where (or when) you played

Nottingham Forest are named after the Forest Recreation Ground, the park where they first played. In medieval times it was part of Sherwood Forest. Yes, Robin Hood’s.

Sheffield Wednesday grew out of a cricket club whose members got Wednesday afternoons off work. So Wednesday it was.

And Rovers? The usual explanation is that early clubs had no ground of their own and roamed from field to field. Back home in Dublin, Shamrock Rovers took the Shamrock from Shamrock Avenue in Ringsend, where the committee met.

Named after somebody

Tottenham Hotspur are named after Sir Henry Percy, a medieval knight nicknamed Harry Hotspur who later turned up in Shakespeare. His family owned the land where the club first played.

South Africa’s Kaizer Chiefs went more modern. Founder Kaizer Motaung played in the US for the Atlanta Chiefs, came home in 1970 and stuck his first name onto his old team’s.

“So why United, Joe? Get to the point!”

Newcastle is the easy one. In 1892, Newcastle East End took over the ground of rivals West End, who’d gone bust, and renamed themselves United so the whole city could get behind one team.

Manchester is messier. Newton Heath, a railway workers’ team, were broke by 1902 when local brewery owner John Henry Davies rescued them. Fresh start, fresh name. Manchester Celtic and Manchester Central were floated. United won, and legend has it the idea came from the club’s tea boy, Louis Rocca.

One city, one argument

AC Milan was co-founded in 1899 by an Englishman, Herbert Kilpin, which is why it’s Milan, not the Italian Milano.

Nine years later, a group of members walked out because they wanted to sign more foreign players. They called their new club Internazionale. That’s Inter. The Milan derby started as a row over who was allowed in the team.

🗣️ SOUND LIKE A REGULAR

"a bogey team"

/ə ˈbəʊɡi tiːm/ 🔊

noun · soccer

1. Definition: The opponent your club simply cannot beat, no matter how good you are or how bad they are. Form goes out the window and the result somehow finds a way to hurt you.

2. Origin: The phrase comes from the bogeyman, a mythical creature used to frighten children. “Bogey” came to mean something frightening or troublesome, eventually entering sport to describe an opponent that inspires similar fear.

USED IN A SENTENCE

“Bournemouth are a bit of a bogey team for Manchester Utd. For some reason, they just can’t seem to get past them.”

🗞️ THE WEEKLY TAP-IN…

Champions League recap

Como 4-1 Man United

Seven years ago, Como were in Italy’s fourth division. On Wednesday, in their first ever European season, they took apart the three-time champions. Nico Paz scored twice and set up another, and United were behind inside two minutes.

Then came the fallout. Captain Bruno Fernandes blamed the coaches’ tactics. Michael Carrick blamed the players: “if you don’t run back, you ain’t going to win.”

That’s seven games without a win. Carrick will still be in charge on Sunday. After that, nobody at this bar is taking bets.

Elsewhere:

• PSG 4-2 Barcelona: The champions beat fellow unbeaten Barcelona and now sit top on nine points. The bad news: star player Khvicha Kvaratskhelia has torn his anterior cruciate ligament AKA his ACL. If you don’t speak injury, that’s one of the bad ones.

• Bayern Munich 2-2 Arsenal: The Gunners’ Eberechi Eze opened the scoring, Harry Kane scored in his tenth straight Champions League game against his old rivals, and Declan Rice rescued a point late. Arsenal are still unbeaten.

• Man City 5-1 AEK Athens: Phil Foden scored a hat-trick. Erling Haaland wasn’t needed.

The rest of the English clubs: Liverpool 4-3 Villarreal, Aston Villa 3-1 Viking. That’s three wins from three for Villa.

Premier League preview

Matchweek 8/38. City are top with seven wins from seven, Arsenal three points back. All times ET.

• Aston Villa v Man City (Saturday, 7:30am, USA Network): Villa have won all three in Europe but sit 12th in the league. City haven’t dropped a point. Set an alarm.

• Arsenal v Everton (Saturday, 10am, USA Network): Bukayo Saka limped off after 10 minutes in Munich, so keep an eye on the team sheet. Everton are eighth and hard to beat.

• Chelsea v Tottenham (Saturday, 12:30pm, Peacock): Spurs finally won a league game on Monday, 3-1 against Coventry. Chelsea have won the last six league meetings against Spurs. Only one possible result here surely?

• Man United v Bournemouth (Sunday, 10am, NBCSN): See above. United are 13th and a loss here could set the wheels in motion for the first sacking of the season.

The rest: Friday at 3pm: Ipswich v Nottingham Forest. Saturday at 10am: Coventry v Fulham. Sunday at 10am: Crystal Palace v Newcastle, Hull v Brentford, Liverpool v Brighton. Sunday at 12:30pm: Sunderland v Leeds.

Heads up: UK clocks go back this weekend, so Sunday’s games kick off an hour later for you than last week.

🍻 HAVE A BEER WITH…

Nico Paz

Club and country: Como and Argentina

This week: Two goals and an assist as Como thrashed Manchester United. Since the start of September, he’s been directly involved in more goals than any other player in Italy.

Fun fact: He was born in Tenerife, Spain, where his dad Pablo was playing, and could have chosen to play international soccer Spain. He picked Argentina instead, like his dad, who played for them at the 1998 World Cup. This summer he made his own World Cup debut, coming on for Messi. Argentina then lost the final to Spain, the country he turned down. And Real Madrid, who he grew up playing for, can buy him back next summer.

Toast: A Dorada, brewed in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where he was born. Volcano on the label. Fitting, given what he just did to United.

Instagram: @nicopaz1o

🔥 HOUSE SPECIALS

⚽ Goal of the week: Eberechi Eze came off the bench in Munich and half-volleyed home an Ødegaard through ball.

🎉 Fanzone: AC Milan are backing their fans’ boycott of Sunday’s game at Udinese over €65 away tickets.

📅 On this day: October 23, 2011. Man City won 6-1 at Old Trafford, and Balotelli revealed his “Why Always Me?” t-shirt.

🐶 Underdog corner: Austria’s LASK won 3-2 at Sporting in Lisbon.

👕 Wardrobe watch: PSG and Nike dropped two NFL jerseys for Sunday’s Steelers v Saints game, the NFL’s first in France.

🔗 Most clicked from Monday: Diego Gómez’s 56-yard chip for Brighton. Hundreds of you went back for another look.

That’s all, folks. Sláinte.