Have we got the sh*ttest club nickname going?

[floyd__streete]

Be honest, do you ever refer to the club by our nickname in conversation?

"Are you going to the Royals game Saturday?"
"I see the Royals have signed Jobi McAnuff"
etc.

No, of course you bloody don't. Supporters of some clubs are proud of their nickname, so much so that they more often than not refer to the team/club as such, ie. Saints, Pompey. You might hear a muted come on you Royals droned when we get a corner, but as a nickname it is lame, limp and rarely used. Not to mention undeserving; Reading hasn't always been the county town of Royal Berkshire and although Henry I was buried at Reading Abbey that would seem a pretty spurious claim to royal fame compared to many other towns and cities in the UK, besides which Windsor & Eton FC are surely more deserving of their nickname The Royalists.

As I understand it, the nickname was chosen following an Evening Post competition after Huntley & Palmers closed down. I doubt that they still make hats in Luton, so why couldn't we still be known as The Biscuitmen? It is unique and one of the very few quirky things about our bland town that most outsiders would know about us. As far as I am concerned, the rather dire nickname of The Royals only really serves to suit lazy newspaper sub-editors compose droll headlines; ROYALS ASCENT, ROYAL COMMAND PERFORMANCE etc. etc.

[handbags_harris]

So what do you suggest Floyders? An old-industry nickname, such as the Seed Sowers? Or a new-industry nickname such as the IT Technicians?

[floyd__streete]

The Pru?
The Whitley Whiffers?
The Metal Boxers?

Altogether now:

clap clap, clap clap clap, clap clap clap clap
The Pru!

[Winchester Royal]

Like many things about this club, it just HAD to be rehashed so it suited the very now. Up to the minute, pedestrian and ultimately commercial, our nickname is probably going to change when somebody in a comfy chair gets bored of it. Identity? What identity?

[Alivey]

Royale with Cheese

Reading FC sign Romano Denneboom

[Maguire]

Don't mind the Royals at all, sounds quite grand.

Better than old manufacturing oxf*rd like the chairboys or the saddlers. Fck that.

The Trotters, do they still use that? Terrible.

[yappy]

Be honest, do you ever refer to the club by our nickname in conversation?

"Are you going to the Royals game Saturday?"
"I see the Royals have signed Jobi McAnuff"
etc.

No, of course you bloody don't.

Well no, but how many people used to say 'Are you going to see the Biscuitmen game Saturday?' It's only a nickname!

[Compo's Hat]

At least wait until after the Peterborough game.

It's been a while since i sang "you're posh, but you're not royal!"

[Ian Royal]

I quite like it.

It's not like football nicknames in general aren't a bit gash anyway. At least ours is unique, which is better than some.

[prostak]

Prefer Biscuitmen to be honest, though I'd be unlikely to use either in conversation.

Trotters isn't used so much now, by the way - BWFC have been keener to instigate use of 'Super Whites'. That seems worse to me, somehow.

[seahawk10]

Royals is safely mid-table. Not the best but certainly not the worst.

Worse than:
Villains, Pompey, Black Cats, Reds, Blades, Wolves, Rovers, Foxes, Daggers.

Better than:
Chairboys, The Shrimps, Hatters, Bees, Cherries, The Gas Pirates, The Red Imps, The Poppies.

[Avon Royal]

Royals is safely mid-table. Not the best but certainly not the worst.

Worse than:
Villains, Pompey, Black Cats, Reds, Blades, Wolves, Rovers, Foxes, Daggers.

Better than:
Chairboys, The Shrimps, Hatters, Bees, Cherries, The Gas Pirates, The Red Imps, The Poppies.

"Black Cats" is the most manufactured nickname of the lot.

Oh, and LOL at The Gas Pirates! Bristol Rovers are "the Gas", their fans are "Gas heads".

[Ryn]

Nothing wrong with the Royals.

When was the last time you heard Manchester United referred to as the Red Devils in passing conversation?

[leww_rfc]

I like it, and IMO it's better than lots of others.

[Dirk Gently]

Something more appropriate these days would be to do with our middle-classsness, although that's proclaimed across the front of the shirts for everyone to see anyway.

[Sarah Star]

Something more appropriate these days would be to do with our middle-classsness, although that's proclaimed across the front of the shirts for everyone to see anyway.

The Happy Shoppers?

The Royals is fine.

[BarryWhiteRFC]

Royals is safely mid-table. Not the best but certainly not the worst.

Worse than:
Villains, Pompey, Black Cats, Reds, Blades, Wolves, Rovers, Foxes, Daggers.

Better than:
Chairboys, The Shrimps, Hatters, Bees, Cherries, The Gas Pirates, The Red Imps, The Poppies.

The Shrimps is a good nickname! I don't think I know a Morecambe fan that doesn't like the clubs nickname, as the bay is famous for its Shrimps! World wide as well!

[East Grinstead Royal]

I'll fill in some of the blanks here.

It was a Reading Chronicle competition, not an Evening Post one. 1974, IIRC. By that time,"Biscuitmen" was never used in any context - in songs or in conversation, and "someone" decided it would be worth thinking of a name that people might actually use. At that time, we were stuck in Div 4 with gates around 3,500, so there wasn't exactly a lot of interest from the public.

"The Royals" has always been a bit naff, but at least everyone knows who it refers to. Any organised attempt to replace it will be as artificial as it was in 1974.

A true nickname, of course, is one that is invented by the supporters themselves and gets adopted by the club. You can't manufacture this sort of thing. Bristol Rovers' official nickname has been the Pirates for decades, but the fans started to use "The Gas" after they left Eastville (which was next to the gasworks), and it stuck. That's a proper nickname. The Black Cats was adopted by Sunderland when they moved away from Roker Park, but I think it does have some historical context.

And it's "sh*ttiest," not "sh*ittest."

[(.)Boobies(.)]

Be honest, do you ever refer to the club by our nickname in conversation?

"Are you going to the Royals game Saturday?"
"I see the Royals have signed Jobi McAnuff"
etc.

No, of course you bloody don't. Supporters of some clubs are proud of their nickname, so much so that they more often than not refer to the team/club as such, ie. Saints, Pompey. You might hear a muted come on you Royals droned when we get a corner, but as a nickname it is lame, limp and rarely used. Not to mention undeserving; Reading hasn't always been the county town of Royal Berkshire and although Henry I was buried at Reading Abbey that would seem a pretty spurious claim to royal fame compared to many other towns and cities in the UK, besides which Windsor & Eton FC are surely more deserving of their nickname The Royalists.

As I understand it, the nickname was chosen following an Evening Post competition after Huntley & Palmers closed down. I doubt that they still make hats in Luton, so why couldn't we still be known as The Biscuitmen? It is unique and one of the very few quirky things about our bland town that most outsiders would know about us. As far as I am concerned, the rather dire nickname of The Royals only really serves to suit lazy newspaper sub-editors compose droll headlines; ROYALS ASCENT, ROYAL COMMAND PERFORMANCE etc. etc.

Agree totally, but if we were still The Biscuitmen, who on earth would say "Are you going to see The Biscuitmen Saturday?"

[Royal With Cheese]

Rather a "Royal" than a "Golden Boy". Watford really is a shit club.