The reason why they are no football teams with 'London' in their name
Today at 08:31 AM
While London is home to many football teams, none of them bear their birthplace in their official club name.
Other cities around the world meanwhile have teams who proudly wear their cities’ names on their badge.
Take Madrid and the clubs Atletico and Real Madrid, Paris and Paris Saint-Germain, Union Berlin and Berlin. You get the idea.
But one city that does not follow that trend, is London.
Why do no football teams have ‘London’ in their name?
Quite simply, it’s down to the fact that there are too many teams in London.
In the capital of England, there are 17 professional clubs alone, as well as a plethora of semi-professional clubs.
As a result of London’s size and mass population, each club tends to represent one of the 32 boroughs or smaller areas as opposed to being the ‘official club of London’.
Although no club officially has London in their name, some teams do have the city’s name on their club badge. West Ham United is one of those who follow this trend.
Women’s teams are the exceptions as there are teams with London in their name. For example, London Bees, London City Lionesses, and London Seaward FC.
Which football teams play in London?
There are currently 52 teams playing in London ranging from the Premier League, all the way down to the Southern Football League Division One Central.
Below is a list of every team in London from the top flight to the Vanarama National League South.
Team | League |
Arsenal | Premier League |
Brentford | Premier League |
Chelsea | Premier League |
Crystal Palace | Premier League |
Fulham | Premier League |
Tottenham Hotspur | Premier League |
West Ham United | Premier League |
Millwall | Championship |
Queens Park Rangers | Championship |
Charlton Athletic | League One |
Leyton Orient | League One |
AFC Wimbledon | League Two |
Bromley | League Two |
Barnet | National League |
Dagenham & Redbridge | National League |
Sutton United | National League |
Wealdstone | National League |
Hampton & Richmond Borough | National League South |
Hornchurch | National League South |
Welling United | National League South |
Why did Chelsea not put London in their name?
The closest a men’s side has come to using the name London in their team name is Chelsea.
Founded by Gus Mears in 1905, he originally toyed with the idea of calling the club Stamford Bridge FC, London FC, or Kensington FC.
Eventually, he opted to go with Chelsea, for reasons that remain unknown.