Fans are only just realising why no men's football team has 'London' in its name

Fans have only just realised why no men's football team from the English capital has London in its name.

Even by the early 20th century, as football started to capture the imagination of the game - London was a sprawling metropolis, too large for one club to route its identity solely to the city.

Football originated in private schools, with sides like Old Etonions dominating early amateur tournaments.

However, northern towns brought forward professionalism, which then saw the birth of new clubs across the country.

Each new side would represent a community, and with London being so big, the teams that originated from there were named after their local borough or area rather than the city as a whole.

They were soon joined by Glyn Cricket Club, now named Leyton Orient.

More clubs were founded and took the names of their local area: Millwall were named after the windmills that once stood in the docklands, Arsenal were named after their workplace, the Arsenal munitions factory, while Chelsea were named after the borough next over, with the name 'Fulham' already taken.

Chelsea founder Gus Mears considered calling the team, Blues London FC, but he ultimately decided against it, for unknown reasons.