It has always interested me how inexplicably football has been linked with animals. From lions to tigers, canaries to eagles (as well as more mythical ones like dragons and griffins) club crests have been adorned with such creatures while animal nicknames are chanted and anthropomorphic mascots are paraded, it seems that nearly every club has some association with a creature. Walsall whose emblem is a swift have strong ties with the RSPB and regularly donates to the charity. It is interesting to note that a lot of these animals are not native to the UK and have a more global aspect. Likewise while you would expect some creatures like fearsome predators, such as wolves and lions to be picked to portray the fierce nature of your team, it seems that less obvious creatures such as your friendly garden robin or pet terrier or even scavenging fox have been adopted. Obviously there are animals to avoid, no-one would want to be known as the blue tits or lilac breasted rollers and certainly not the cock of the rocks but why should scavengers such as the seagulls or foxes be preferred over sharks or rhinos, names adopted by rugby league sides? I mean Newcastle could just have easily been the zebras instead of the magpies and the black cats of Sunderland could easily have been the panthers. Unfortunately, my side, Southampton do not seem to have such a penchant or association for wildlife. Therefore I was wondering, what creature or animal would you pick to represent our club? Perhaps something tenacious with stripes that likes to play in the field: perhaps the common tabby cat would be most suitable?
It seems a bit rubbish. I want something more fearsome or random. Maybe Blackpool with their rock and orange shirts could be associated with this: http://ibc.lynxeds.com/files/pictur...he-Rock_Lodge_lekManu_RdCuzcoPeru.11-9-04.jpg
A pack of Hyenas....WHO THE **** IS LAUGHING NOW!!!... [video=youtube;Gdoa7T2RdzE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gdoa7T2RdzE[/video]
Or something like a fossa, it looks fairly benign to start with but you really don't want to mess with it!
Any theories to these seemingly random selection of animals by clubs other than by colour association? I wonder when most clubs adopted such creatures, I cannot imagine too many people from Chelsea or Millwall having seen a lion until recent tourism booms.
Millwall's nickname stems from a newspaper headline declaring the side as the "Lions of the South" after they knocked out high-flying Aston Villa of the FA Cup. Apparently, it came at a time when all things African were in vogue due to the Boer War so the name stuck and eventually replaced their previous nickname of the Dockers.
