​As the 2017-18 Reading Sunday League season entered the final run-in early in 2018 one club, Caversham United, looked to be in dire straits. Winless, bottom of Division Four, struggling to raise a team some weeks, and on the verge of folding. Things were not looking good at all.
However, a group of friends decided that they should attempt to breathe some life back into the cub and give one last shot. So began a quite remarkable turnaround. The club managed to avoid a completely winless season, and, during the Summer break, rebuilt their depleted squad. With the new season just underway, work started on building the ‘new’ Caversham United. Led by player and Chairman Paul Gutteridge, they embarked on a social media campaign, centred on the Twitter platform, creating online polls to give the club a nickname and suggest the design of a new badge. The focus of this early venture into social media was around the location of the club, the locally famous bridge into Caversham and the goats on the Reading coat of arms. This helped to give the club an identity and raise some local awareness. The Billy Goats, as the new nickname determined, together with their Caversham Bridge badge, gained a ripple of attention locally, including local media, and a renewed vigour which began to show through results on the pitch.
The next move came when the club teamed up with Ireland-based, online football kit and memorabilia entrepreneurs fooballkitbox.com, to begin a competition to design a new kit for the club. This was an incredibly successful move with hundreds of kit designs being submitted, gaining more followers and recognition for both the club and for footballkitbox.com.
The club continued to improve on the pitch, reaching a cup semi-final and, adorned in their wonderful new kit, attaining promotion by means of a second-place finish. The Twitter following of the club was now well over 3,000 and included a host of professional clubs from around the world, such as AS Roma and 1FC Koln (who also have a goat on their badge).
During the Summer, shortly after the announcement that the club had been promoted two divisions and would play in Division Two the following season, they also ran a hugely successful charity cup competition, The Caversham Cup, featuring teams from across the country. The event raised over £2,000 for cancer charity Balls To Cancer.
Their Twitter following is now way above 5,000. They have just completed a second kit design competition with footballkitbox.com for a change strip, have a new ground with better facilities and are most definitely a club on the up. What a turnaround! From almost going out of existence to a double promotion,  thousands of followers from over 100 countries across the globe and two superb new kits all in the space of 18 months. That is the power of social media when used in the right way.
Caversham United FC - @CaverhsamUnited
Footballkitbox.com - @footballkitbox

The first in what may well become a series of articles looking at teams that are no longer with us:
​
Brierley Hill Alliance
I've started this article with this team, defunct since 1981, because they were the first team that I ever saw live.My memory of the match is extremely hazy - I was 3 or maybe 4 at the time - but I do remember that the occasion was Brierley Hill Alliance v Kidderminster Harriers, it was around 1968 or 1969, Kidderminster played in all red, Brierley Hill in all green (I think). The ground at Cottage Street is now a supermarket, but to a small boy like me it was huge and, from memory, almost entirely consisting of rusting corrugated iron sheets.
The club was formed in 1887 after two local sides, Brockmoor Harriers and Brockmoor Pickwicks, merged and apparently, the ground at which I remember seeing them play had been home to the team since 1888-89, which may explain the vast expanses of rusty ironwork. The spent the last 4 years of their existence playing at the Dell Stadium, a short distance from Brierley Hill town centre and, actually, much closer to their original base in Brockmoor.
The clubs' heyday was probably in the 1950's and early 60's when they were recognised as one of the strongest non-league sides in the region, won the Birmingham Senior Cup twice and progressed to the 2nd Round of the 1961-62 FA Cup, eventually going down 3-0 at Shrewsbury Town. During this period the club also made a piece of history when they were involved in the first FA Cup match to be played under floodlights, a 4-2 replay defeat at Kidderminster Harriers.

Northampton Spencer
The demise of Northampton Spencer in 2016 was, personally, a sad occasion. I only visited the Kingsthorpe Mill ground once, but I found it to be a wonderful setting for non-league football and I immediately took a great liking to the club.
Formed in 1936 by former members of the Spencer School football team, they took the name Spencer School Old Boys, they joined the United Counties League in 1968 and immediately gained promotion to the Premier Division and moving into Kingsthorpe Mill in 1971. I think it is fair to say that the club never set the footballing world alight with just a single United Counties Premier League title (1991-92) to their name. Although they did finish as runners-up the following season as well as in the 1997-98 season. The never made it out of FA Cup qualifying but did achieve the Fourth Round of the FA Vase in 1987-88, playing eight games before falling 2-1 at Gresley Rovers.
Unfortunately, when long-time Chairman Graham Wrighting decided to call it a day, there was no-one to fill his shoes and the club folded at the end of the 2015-16 season. I am just glad that I managed to see one of their games before it was too late.

Hayes FC
As a former West Bromwich Albion season ticket holder, Hayes FC is a name that I immediately associate with Cyrille Regis, one of The Baggies all time favourites. For it was the West London club that West Brom purchased the striker from in 1977. Probably the best £10,000 that the club ever spent. Of course, the club was later to sign Cyrille's nephew Jason Roberts, who also started his career at Hayes.The club was formed in then early part of the 20th Century as Bolwell Mission, changing to Hayes 20 years later in 1929 nut retaining the nickname The Missioners for their entire existence. Over the years the club achieved a fair amount of success in the non-league/amateur world, twice reaching the Second Round of the FA Cup, reaching the Quarter-Final of the FA Trophy and being beaten finalists in the 1930-31 FA Amateur Cup (the forerunner of the FA Vase).
After three seasons in the Conference South (now National League South) the club merged with another Conference South side, Yeading FC, to form Hayes & Yeading United, now playing in the Southern League Premier Division after being promoted from Step 4 in 2018-19.

Gothic FC
I have included this club in the article purely because, until a few weeks ago, I had never heard the name before and it intrigued me enough to look into them origins of the club. The club was actually formed in 1898 as, as with a lot of early football teams, were a works team, in this case the works team of a company called Laurence, Scott and Electromotors based in Norwich. The company, which got itself off the ground by installing the lighting for the fledgling Colman's Mustard Carrow Works, soon built a new HQ, close to Colman's and was later to become Norwich City's home in Carrow Road. The new factory was called the Gothic Works, hence the name given to the football team. The team had some success in local football, winning the Norfolk & Suffolk League on seven occasions as well as taking the Norfolk Senior Cup three times. They joined the Eastern Counties League in 1963 but never lost their amateur status, which meant that they found it difficult to retain their better players. They almost went out of business at the end of the 1974-75 season but were saved by some local fund-raising. The stay of execution, however, was quite short-lived and at the end of the 1977-78 season the club withdrew from the Eastern Counties League with the intention of continuing lower down the pyramid in the Anglian Combination. This, due to some player restrictions placed on the club was not possible, and they had to drop even lower down, eventually folding after a few more season.The club's Heartsease Lane ground was adopted by Norwich United in 1985 before the Planters moved into the current Plantation Park home.

Bromsgrove Rovers
From humble beginnings to the fringe of the Football League. Bromsgrove Rovers almost had a Roy of the Rovers outcome before their untimely demise in 2010. The club was formed way back in 1885, playing local football in the Studley & District League. They steadily climbed up the pyramid over the next hundred years, finally making the dizzy heights of the Football Conference (National League) at the end of the 1991-92 season. What followed, in that remarkable year, was almost the greatest story ever told in non-league football. Rovers were one of the smallest teams, with one of the smallest budgets in the league but still managed to finish in second place. In truth they weren't as close to a Football League place as it may seem, trailing Champions Wycombe Wanderers by 15 points, but nevertheless it was a unbelievable achievement for the club. Sadly, that was as good as it got and four season later they finished second from bottom and were relegated back to the Southern League. The decline continued with two more relegation in three years, seeing the cub drop into the Midland Alliance. A brief resurgence, with promotion the following season and then again, to the Southern Premier in 2007-09, was swiftly followed by another drop into Step 4 and then, 2 years and a whole heap of financial problems later, the club were thrown out of the Southern League and wound up. A sad end to a club which almost achieved greatness.
On the plus side a new club, Bromsgrove Sporting, has grown out of the ashes of Rovers, inheriting the magnificent Victoria Ground and sporting Rovers' green as their change kit. Sporting have made their way up the league and, at the time of writing, are holding their own in Step 3, a league higher than Rovers were in when they folded. Hopefully, the current administration has learned from the harsh lesson suffered by Rovers.

​Grantham is probably known best for two things, once being voted the most boring town in Britain and for being the hometown of one Margaret Roberts (Thatcher). They also have a pretty decent football team, Grantham Town, known as the Gingerbreads. The origin of this nickname is said to date back to the 18th Century when a local baker was trying to make Grantham Whetstone, a traditional hard biscuit designed for travellers. He mixed up the ingredients and invented a new gingerbread snack which became very popular, and this is where the club gets its nickname.
Strangely, Grantham are not the only team to feature Ginger in their nickname. NPL Division 1 South side Market Drayton Town are known as the Gingerbread Men. Ginger was brought back to the Shropshire area by Clive of India and the bakers of Market Drayton used the spice to create gingerbread in the late 18th century.
 
Heading East from Shropshire we come across Northern Counties East side Clipstone. The club was known as Clipstone Welfare until 2013 when they dropped the Welfare part and became Clipstone FC. At around about the same time they also adopted the nickname The Cobras. Cobras in Nottinghamshire you may ask? Well, somewhat disappointingly, there is nothing too mysterious about this moniker. The club ran a poll to find a new nickname and The Cobras came out on top.
 
Next stop on our whirlwind tour is Lancashire. Lancaster City's nickname, The Dolly Blues, relates to the fact that their kit bore a resemblance to the colour of the popular, early 20th Century, laundry product of the same name. William Edge and Sons manufactured Dolly Blue in their factory near Bolton for over a hundred years. City's social club, just outside their ground, was also known as the Dolly Blue Tavern.
 
Switching from West to East we find Eastern Counties Premier side Fakenham Town, who have a rather unusual nickname, The Ghosts. There are no clues to the name’s origin on the club website or the wiki entry. However, there is a poem written by Suffolk-born poet Robert Bloomfield (1766 - 1823), The Fakenham Ghost, so maybe this is the source of the nickname? Perhaps someone from the club could shed some light on this or perhaps it should stay a mystery?
 
Staying in the East of England, we head north to Norfolk. Swaffham Town get their nickname, The Pedlars, from an old English folk tale. A pedlar from the town dreamt that if he went to London, stood on London Bridge and listened, he would hear joyful news. When he acted upon his dream, to no avail, a local shopkeeper told him to stop being so stupid and return home to look for the treasure that the shopkeeper had dreamt of in the pedlar's own garden. He returns, finds the treasure and uses it to rebuild the local church.
 
As we head West again, towards our ultimate destination in Cornwall, we come across Combined Counties side, Redhill FC. Apart from the rather obvious, given the name of the town and the teams colours, of The Reds they also use the rather interesting Lobsters. This, for a seaside town, would be a reasonable nickname but the town is a good 35 miles from the coast. The name, apparently, comes from a competition to find a new nickname in 1994. However, the nickname can be found in the club’s annals as far back as the twenties when the colour in their red & white shirts would sometimes blend into a pink shade reminiscent of a lobster.
 
A slight detour into South Oxfordshire for our penultimate team, Wantage Town or the Freds as they are known. Freds being short for Alfredians. The ground is also called Alfredian Park and there are many Alfredian references in the town. The reason behind this is that Wantage is the birthplace of King Alfred the Great.
 
Finally, into Cornwall and Newquay AFC, known as The Peppermints. Thanks to the Newquay web administrator we now know that this name originates from 1906 when supporters of the club noticed a resemblance between the club's red and white striped shirts and that of a popular boiled peppermint sweet. Indeed, we are reliably informed that both the team and the sweets were regarded as 'ot stuff!

We all know of Blues, United, Rovers, Reds etc but what about the names that don't immediately explain themselves?

The first team that we will look at is the team that inspired this article, Stamford AFC. The Daniels, for that is their nickname, play in the NPL Premier League but where did their unusual moniker come from? You would be excused for thinking that it was, maybe, a hangover from an old works team name. There are, after all, many examples of teams that have retained names from their days as the sports team attached to a factory. However, in the case of Stamford it is far more obscure. Daniel Lambert is, in fact, where the nickname originates from. Daniel who? You may say. Well, Daniel Lambert was recorded as the heaviest ever man in Britain. He died in 1809, in the town of Stamford, weighing in at an incredible 52 stone (give or take the odd pound). He is buried in the churchyard of St Martin's which lies just a few hundred yards from the club's home, Borderville Stadium.

Moving South somewhat, we come to the Northamptonshire town of Wellingborough where we find two United Counties teams and two unusual nicknames to go with them. Starting with the UCL Premier side, Wellingborough Town, or the Doughboys as they are known. If you know anything about the Wellingborough area, home of Whitworths flour manufacturers, you would think flour, dough, Doughboys. It seems to make sense. However, the nickname is thought to derive from a local speciality "ock 'n' dough" comprising of hock of bacon and vegetables wrapped in pastry. A Northamptonshire pasty, you could say.
The other Wellingborough team, Whitworth, are known as the Flourmen. This is no real surprise as the team was originally called Whitworths and, presumably, was the football team of the Whitworth flour factory some 200 yards from the ground. The strange thing about Whitworth is that the connection to the flour company is not mentioned on the website or on Wikipedia at all. In fact, the official website history states the team was formed as result of the Wellingborough Ideal Clothiers club disbanding. So, maybe there is another reason for the Flourmen nickname? Maybe someone will enlighten us?

From Northamptonshire we move North-West to Halesowen and a bit of a mystery nickname. Halesowen Town are known as The Yeltz. The have been known as The Yeltz for as long as anyone can remember. However, no-one really seems to have a good explanation for this odd name. The official club website (http://www.ht-fc.com/history/club-history/why-the-yeltz.html) has an entire section dedicated to the question Why the Yeltz? and, as it states, the truth is - nobody really knows. I'll let you decide which theory seems to be the most realistic. My personal favourite is the least likely (and most likely one to be an April Fool joke) about the Hungarian player Pungus Catfich.

From the industrial West Midlands to leafy West London and Hampton & Richmond Borough FC, on the banks of the Thames. The club is known as The Beavers and, with such proximity to the river, you may think with good cause. But wait....beavers...in London. Maybe there is more to this name than meets the eye. Well, maybe. Hampton & Richmond play at The Beveree, named after the house whose grounds the stadium once stood in. There is a nearby road called Beaver Close and an ancient stream flows under the pitch, into the Thames a few hundred yards away. So, the nickname could come from the name of the house or it could be a reference to the animal which may have lived on the banks of the river before it became extinct in the UK. We may never know for sure.

Not a million miles away to the west lies the Surrey town of Chertsey, home of Combined Counties Premier side Chertsey Town. Here we find another unusual nickname, The Curfews. This is apparently a reference to a famous local bell that hangs in St Peter's Church. This was used to signal the start of the curfew in town each evening (now used ceremonially only, of course) and may date back as far as 1235. Details on the Chertsey Curfew Bell can be found here (http://www.stpeterschertsey.org/bells/curfew.htm).

Our final stop for now is the North East and the Teeside town of Billingham. One of the local teams in the town is called Billingham Synthonia who are nicknamed, unsurprisingly, The Synners. However, this still qualifies as an unusual nickname because of the nature of the club's name, Synthonia, which is a contraction of "synthetic ammonia". This was a product manufactured by ICI with whom the club, at one time, had a close connection. So, Billingham Synthonia hold the dubious title of being the only club (as far as we know) to be named after an agricultural fertiliser. Surely something that has not escaped rival fans over the years.