Stories behind the origin of the biggest football clubs in Europe

Football clubs are currently some of the largest organisations in the world. Some of the biggest clubs in Europe are consistently named among the richest sports franchises world over. Their outreach has been immense and are followed by millions of people all over the globe. But as the saying ‘Rome was not built in a day goes’, these clubs have had humble origins and have only gradually made it to the big stage. There is a tale behind the establishment of every football club. And it is marvelous to learn how the biggest football clubs began their expedition to reach sovereignty. Here is a list of few clubs and how they began their route to history books with grit, guts and gumption.

#1 Liverpool FC

Liverpool FC players in early 20th century

Before 1892, Merseyside rivals Everton played at Anfield for eight consecutive seasons. But due to some disputes stirred with the owner of the ground John Houlding, Everton relocated to Goodison Park in 1892. In the same year, Houlding founded another football club, to play at Anfield.

The team was primarily named as Everton Athletic, but the football Association declined to identify the club name. So the club changed its name to Liverpool FC.

Liverpool FC, nicknamed as ‘The reds’ have won more European championships than any other English club. In 1953, “You never walk alone” was adopted as the anthem of Liverpool FC, and is habitually chanted before every home match.

#2 Chelsea FC

The owner of the Stamford Bridge athletics stadium, Gus Mears preferred to transform the arena into a football stadium. He approached a London club, Fulham FC and explained his intuition to lease the ground on a long-term basis. Due to the refusal he received, Gus Mears decided to start his own football club. Chelsea was thus born, in 1905.

The name ‘Chelsea FC’ was selected in the same year, after opting out names such as ‘Kensington FC’, ‘Stamford Bridge FC’, and ‘London FC’. Like Liverpool, Chelsea have never moved from their home ground since they were established.

Chelsea, jointly with Arsenal were the first team to play with numbered Jerseys, in 1928.

#3 Borussia Dortmund

Trinity Youth were a church-sponsored football club in Dortmund and they played admirably all across Northern Germany. However, the players were annoyed as their games were evaluated and controlled by Parish priests who had no acquaintance with football. Eighteen of those unhappy players decided to break up their association with the church and instituted a new club, Borussia Dortmund.

The name was adopted from the Borussia beer, the famed product from a distillery in Dortmund. In the first four years, the players used blue coloured jerseys with grey stripes. The current and iconic yellow and black dress code was exercised from 1913.

Fomer Borussia Dortmund player Konietzka scored the first ever Bundesliga goal in 1963 and the Dortmund club was the first sports club to go on the German stock market.

#4 Milan Clubs- Inter Milan and AC Milan

The San Siro is named after former Italian footballer Guiseppe Meazza

Milan Cricket and Football club were the only prominent sports club in Milan during the first decade of the 20th century. But in 1908, the controversial split of the club occurred due to different perspectives on buying foreign players, and hence, Inter Milan and AC Milan were born.

During the preliminary days after the historical split, Internazionale were followed by rich people, and the working class supported AC Milan aka the Rossoneri. There were claims over the original jersey- black and gold stripes- though political interceptions eased the scenario with both teams agreeing to use a different jersey to the original.

Both clubs still use the same stadium, San Siro.

#5 Arsenal FC

Arsenal FC was formed in 1886 as “Dial Square”, and comprised of workers from Royal Arsenal, an ammunition company. Considering the club’s location, it was renamed as Woolwich Arsenal in 1983. The club became the first from Southern England to feature in the ’Football League’.

Woolwich Arsenal were relatively secluded from other clubs in England, and due to lack of supporters, they went bankrupt in 1910. Henry Norris and William Hall took over the club and detached ‘Woolwich’ from the team name.

They also distanced themselves from the problems due to geographic isolation, by moving to Highbury in North London, which fostered a rivalry from fellow North-London team, Tottenham Hotspurs.

#6 Juventus FC

Juventus was formed as a sports club in 1897 by a group of schoolboys. In 1897, due to the surplus football lovers in the club, it was transformed to Football Club Juventus. Although the club used black and pink kits in the early years, English club Notts Country influenced them to implement their jersey style- black and white stripes.

Within 10 years after formation, disputes were raised from different shareholders to shift Juventus out of Turin. But the club president stood defiant against those efforts and built ‘The Old Lady of Turin’ into one of the biggest clubs in Europe.

Juventus has earned a long list of nicknames; ‘The Girlfriend of Italy’, ‘Madam’, ’The White-Blacks’, ‘the killer lady’, only being a few.

#7 Manchester United

In 1878, a few football devotees working in the Carriage and Wagon department of a Rail company decided to form a club and match against other rail companies. The club was named Newton Heath LYR FC, representing the place and the company they work for. They played on a field close to the railroads.

However, playing a couple of decades in gold and green-the colours of rail company- the club went bankrupt when the 20th century dawned. Despite receiving a liquidation order, Captain Harry Stafford along with businessman JH Davies took over the club in 1902 and renamed the club as Manchester United.

The club went through the roughest period of their history when the flight carrying Manchester United players, supporters and journalists crashed in Munich, in 1958. Eight first team regulars died, and two were severely injured and never played football again. United won only once after the crash and could finish only in 9th position.

#8 FC Barcelona

Barcelona players after Second World War

It all started for the Blaugrana in 1899, when the club’s founder, Hans Gamper, advertised his desire of forming a football club. Most of the responses came from Swiss and English players with a minority of Catalans conveying their aspiration for practising the new sport. The same year, CF Barcelona evolved from desire into reality.

The political situation in Barcelona was biased in favour of Spanish rule and during the Second World War, Barcelona were demanded to remove the Catalan flag from their crest. But the Catalans repelled and explained that the crest differentiated them from Spanish teams.

For the supporters of FC Barcelona, the club is not only about the game, but also a sign of their beloved Catalan culture. Their motto “Mes que un club” resembles the feelings they hold for their tradition through football.

#9 Real Madrid

In 1895, a band of Spanish students introduced football in Spain, playing on Sunday mornings under the Andalusian sun. In 1900, this group divorced into New Football de Madrid, and Club Español de Madrid, and the latter split after two years, thus forming the most successful club in the history of football, Real Madrid.

The club was known as Madrid Football Club, prior to the change of name by King Alfonso XIII to Real Madrid. Real is a Spanish word which means “Royal” in English. During the civil war in 1937, the Club activities were ceased. But under the presidency of Santiago Bernabeu Yeste, Los Blancos were rebuilt from crumbss.

#10 Bayern Munich

The Bavarian club was founded in 1900 under the leadership of Franz John, who united the gymnasts who split from MTV 1879 in order to expedite in the game of football. Bayern Munich FC had a mediocre start, before winning their first German Championship in 1932. The times for Bayern were tough and miserable as they were deemed as “The Jew’s Club” during Adolf Hitler’s reign.

Bayern Munich were almost bankrupt at the start of the 60s and were not included in the first edition of the Bundesliga in 1963. In 1965, aided by the impressive performances of football greats Sepp Maier, Franz Beckenbauer, and Gerd Muller, they were promoted to the most coveted league in Germany. Since then, they have been the Bayern Munich that the world sees today.

Edited by Staff Editor