African Team Names

I've always been fascinated by the nicknames of some of the African squads. Black Stars, Elephants, Super Eagles and Pharaohs are some of the more colorful nicknames one will find for a football team.

But there are others. 'Eyes and Ears' Mark Gleeson of Reuters recently posted on the Reuters Football blog about some of the other wonderful stage names used by African clubs. To read the original post, click here!

We all have our favourite teams, but how many support a club just for the name?

Creativity in Africa knows no bounds when it comes to baptising football teams and within the continent, the tiny kingdom of Swaziland has no equal. My favourites were always Ten and One Young Dribblers, who had a brief sojourn in top flight football in the southern African country.

Then there are Eleven Men in Flight, a much more successful club who even got to play in the African Cup Winners’ Cup. They finished runners-up in the Swazi league a decade ago but sadly have since been relegated.

Sadly, Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs lost their premier league status in Ghana last year although Hearts of Oak are one of the continent’s giants. Not only are they among the oldest clubs, they have had Sir Stanley Matthews play for them and also won the African Champions League in 2000.

In Botswana, Mosquito Selibe-Phikwe just dropped down to the third tier of their league, showing little bite in a season in which they won just five of their 22 matches. But Naughty Boys just missed out on promotion to the top flight.

Two season ago, Touch and Go took the uncertainty out of the game and finished last in Namibia’s premier league standings to disappear back to the anonymity of the northern town of Otavi.

Elsewhere, I also look out for the results of Surinam’s Robin Hood and Joe Public in nearby Trinidad and Tobago. But they don’t come close to Ten and One Young Dribblers, who I am determined to watch live if I can find what happened to them.

Great article, Mark.
Now where can I find myself a Cape Coast Mysterious Dwarfs kit??