Obscure places known only because of their football teams

[FLAIRtastic]

Yeovil, weird weird weird place.
Ready to get flamed but Arsenal? Is there a place in London called Arsenal?

 

[Danny-Boy]

Hoffenheim was a good shout.

Auxerre is a relatively small town whose renown is pretty much due to its football team regularly playing in Europe over the last 30 years. Actually a really nice place in Burgundy.

Guingamp are famous for having a bigger stadium (18,000) than population (8,000) - it's a very small town in Brittany. Its finest side had Drogba and Malouda playing together in it.

Yes spent an interesting night in Auxerre in a B and B with two women, all of us in one room...

 

[Simster]

Yeovil, weird weird weird place.
Ready to get flamed but Arsenal? Is there a place in London called Arsenal?

There was a weapons factory in Woolwich, near where they were formed. Or something like that.

 

[FLAIRtastic]

There was a weapons factory in Woolwich, near where they were formed. Or something like that.

Hence the name gunners? or just coincidence.

 

[West Hoathly Seagull]

I must admit that until I knew it was famous for Black Pudding, the only reason I had heard of Bury was its football club, and "Aldershot" was a football result for me long before I knew it was the home of the British Army. But then I started watching Grandstand long before I became interested in the military, which is now one of my greatest interests outside football.

 

[Biscuit]

Macclesfield, Shrewsbury, Middlesbrough.

 

[Storer68]

No help at all in all honesty...I was trying to think of Glasgow teams who weren't Rangers or Celtic and the first (alright, only) one I came up with was Queen's Park

The mighty Partick Thistle.

 

[Gwylan]

Good thread.

I'm going to suggest Montpelier in the south of france - briefly made famous (in my eyes anyway) because Carlos Valderamma played for them in the early 90's. They played Man U in the ECWC quarters i think, and wore some kind of weird white/blue shirt and orange shorts combo. Tasty.
It might be a bit of a touristy venue, but not as far as i know. Wouldn't have heard of it if it wasnt for footy.

Eh? It's the 8th largest city in France, is the centre of a lot of high-tech in the country, it's the fastest growing city in the country and it's the home to the fourth oldest university in Europe. To call Montpellier obscure is a bit like saying Bristol or Cambridge is obscure. IMO, it's the exact opposite of the thread title - I'd say the city itself is very famous yet the football team is totally unknown.

Macclesfield. What is there apart from the team??

You must be too young to have listened to the Today programme in the 80s when Brian Redhead would mention Macclesfield every half an hour or so. I'd heard of Macclesfield long before I knew anything about the football team.

 

[Curious Orange]

Hence the name gunners? or just coincidence.

No coincidence - Woolwich Arsenal and Arsenal are the same club.

P.S. Is it allowed acceptable to FIXTURE people within a thread?

 

[Staly]

Macclesfield, Shrewsbury, Middlesbrough.

Eh? You never read Henry IV, Part 1? Never heard of Charles Darwin?

In any case, who north of Watford would have any idea where Hove was if it wasn't tagged on to Brighton in your team name?

 

[jonny.rainbow]

Arsenal of course were named after Woolwich Arsenal and then moved from Woolwich to Highbury. Anyone who knows the two areas wouldn't question the sense in this move.

Straying slightly off the subject, but does anyone know why Tottenham and Arsenal hate each other so much? it isnt geographical closeness.

A man named Henry Norris, the Winkleman of his day, bought second division Woolwich Arsenal just before the 1st world war and planned to turn them into the super power of English football. Originally he tried to merge them with Fulham but was blocked by the football league. He then decided to move them to Highbury right on the doorstep of Tottenham Hotspur and Clapton Orient (who incidentally no longer play in the area!). When the league resumed after the war the 1st division was to be expanded by two clubs so the two bottom placed teams, one of which was Spurs were initially given a reprieve. However, somehow Norris arranged a meeting with the league and persuaded (Blatter style probably)them to replace Spurs with Arsenal, who had finished 6th in the second division and therefore had no real claim for promotion.

As such Arsenal are not only the only team to have never been relegated from the top flight but also the only one never to have been promoted to it. Spurs have understandably disliked them ever since.

 

[Mick Beard BHA]

Eh? It's the 8th largest city in France, is the centre of a lot of high-tech in the country, it's the fastest growing city in the country and it's the home to the fourth oldest university in Europe. To call Montpellier obscure is a bit like saying Bristol or Cambridge is obscure. IMO, it's the exact opposite of the thread title - I'd say the city itself is very famous yet the football team is totally unknown.

Thanks. I stand corrected.

 

[Mick Beard BHA]

Macclesfield. What is there apart from the team??

One for the musos, but Ian Curtis/JoyDivision.

 

[Staly]

One for the musos, but Ian Curtis/JoyDivision.

And the Macc lads....

 

[Billy the Fish]

Alloa... Quaint

Is that as in full of junkies and dog sh!t ?

Just like bognor then

 

[Biscuit]

Eh? You never read Henry IV, Part 1? Never heard of Charles Darwin?

In any case, who north of Watford would have any idea where Hove was if it wasn't tagged on to Brighton in your team name?

Both great claims to fame. I read/heard of both but truth be told, I know nothing of Shrewsbury and would be delighted to be enlightened.

Good point about Hove. But have you never heard of Laurence Olivier or The Hove Lagoon Model Yacht Club... Oh OK. Fair play!

 

[SULLY COULDNT SHOOT]

Without using search engines, which clubs play in these places?

1. Kirkcaldy
2. Methil
3. Battlefield, Glasgow
4. Dumfries
5. Dingwall

Good luck.

The Doonhammers play in Dumfries!!!!

 

[Austrian Gull]

Getafe - I have no real idea where that is or if it exists beyond a football team name.

 

[Simster]

Sheffield.

I had never heard of the place until Rotherham United rocked up at the Don Valley a couple of years ago.

 

[Staly]

Both great claims to fame. I read/heard of both but truth be told, I know nothing of Shrewsbury and would be delighted to be enlightened.

Good point about Hove. But have you never heard of Laurence Olivier or The Hove Lagoon Model Yacht Club... Oh OK. Fair play!

To be fair, it does depend on where you come from. My wife's from Middlesbrough, and she hasn't the first clue where anywhere south of Birmingham is except London. Many people up here would struggle to place Wycombe, Colchester or Reading.