FootballCynic has already expressed his dislike of teams with ampersands in their names in a previous article (http://footballcynic.com/2008/06/14/ampersands-and-brackets.aspx), but FootballCynic is often asked whether there are teams with other characters in their names. Of course, brackets were also covered before, but are there any others?

Well, there’s a fascinating bunch of teams to choose from. Rock-A-Nore Football Club not only have a hyphen in their name, but have an impressive two hyphens. The story of Rock-A-Nore is a curious one though. Rock-A-Nore were formed in 1894, but later changed their name to All Saints before changing again to Hastings & St Leonards Amateurs. The club later became known as Hastings United when the old Hastings United club dissolved in 1985 – at least, that’s Wikipedia tells us. Still following? Well, then it gets more complicated as another Rock-A-Nore team was formed and they currently play in the East Sussex Premier League and are doing rather well in third place at the moment

The other hyphenated team is Corinthian-Casuals. The hyphen may seem redundant to the average man in the street, but that’s what the club calls itself. Corinthian-Casuals are not casual about their attitude to sport, as they proclaim “The aims of the Club are to promote fair play and sportsmanship, to play competitive football at the highest level possible whilst remaining strictly amateur and retaining the ideals of the Corinthian and the Casuals Football Clubs.” Presumably Walton Casuals and Wolverhampton Casuals don't have such high morals and can, therefore, not have a hyphenated name.

A slash or oblique (or forward slash as it is called these days) appears in the name of two teams – Linotype/Cheadle Heath Nomads immediately springs to mind as does Crosfield/Rylands FC. The slash in Linotype/Cheadle Heath Nomads does seem to be optional though, as their own website omits it. At Crosfield/Rylands FC, things are no clearer as references to the name switch from using a slash or a hyphen, but rarely neither

Now, we’ve had to disqualify dots or periods, as there are sides such as Guisborough Town H.C., N.E.L.T.C. and various Saints, including St. Aloysius. And, so we come to the apostrophe. There are three: Bishop’s Stortford, Archdale ’73 and Melton St Audry’s. At Bishop’s Stortford, there are no doubts that there is an apostrophe. At Archdale ’73, it is less clear. Not only does the club badge drop the apostrophe, but their name changes to Archdales 73, which is confusing and worrying. In Suffolk at Melton St Audry’s, there seems to be a casual attitude to the apostrophe.

This brings us finally to the one which would be la crème de la crème – Westward Ho! with its exclamation mark. But it’s a disappointing end to the tale. There is no Westward Ho! FC, although there is the legendary Westward Ho! Cup with its rich 100-year history. Boca Seniors defeated Barnstaple AAC on penalties last season to become the 100th winners. Although it is common knowledge that the cup has a rich history, it’s hard to find out much more than the fact that it was once called the Houldsworth Cup in memory of Mrs Houldsworth of Westward Ho!

Readers may be tempted to offer the plus sign as part of a club’s name, but these are just substitutions for the loathed ampersand. Any other claimants should contact footballcynic.com, of course.