NYCFC Player Nicknames

LostAnvil

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A running list of past and present player nicknames for reference purposes. Please let me know what is missing and what the nickname means so it can be added. Special thanks to Midas for inadvertently causing me to start this list just so I could decipher his posts.

PLAYERS

Saad Abdul-Salaam

  • SAS (his initials)

RJ Allen
  • Sitch (based on the character "The Situation" from the TV show Jersey Shore)

Angeliño
  • Wine 'em Dine 'em 69 'em (based on his jersey number in 2015)

Jo Inge Berget
  • One of "The Vikings" (being from Norway, along with Alex Ring (Finland) and Anton Tinnerholm (Sweden))
  • JIB/Jib (acronym of name - mentioned on Episode 152 of Blue City Radio podcast and heard here by Domè at 2:36 mark)
  • The Mountain (Berget means mountain in Swedish)

Jeb Brovsky
  • Brosky (play on his last name and a synonym for a person you would call "bro")
  • The Stache (because of his mustache he had during the 2015 season)

Alexander Callens
  • Caliente ("hot" in Spanish)
  • 6-Train (after the NYC local subway line as in he "makes all stops"); coined by Gotham Gator Gotham Gator
  • Ironman (nickname given by club at end of 2017 season using #nycfcironman)

Valentin Castellanos
  • Taty (previous nickname)

Mix Diskerud
  • Nordic Messi (nickname from Men In Blazers)

Justin Haak
  • Cavani (resemblance to Uruguayan striker Edinson Cavani; crowd during 2018 preseason game against Atletico San Luis statted chanting "Cavani" every time he had the ball)

Jack Harrison
  • BAJ (Big Apple Jack - NYC is often known as the Big Apple)
  • Captain Jack (from Pirates of the Caribbean's Captain Jack Sparrow)
  • Jack Flash (since he is fast - possibly because of Jumpin Jack Flash song by Rolling Stones or the 1986 movie)
  • Boy Wonder (from TV commentary during a game vs the Red Bulls in 2016)

Héber Araújo dos Santos
  • Air Bear (play on Héber)

Yangel Herrera

Sebastien Ibeagha
  • Seb (Vieira's nickname for him)

Andrew Jacobson
  • The Hebrew Hammer (due to his religious background and the 2003 movie of the same name)

Eirik Johansen
  • Lurch (likeness to the character from The Addams Family)

Sean Johnson
  • SeanJohn (play on his first and last name since it's close to the fashion company by Sean Combs)
  • The Milkman
  • The Incredible Hulk (the similarity between his green jersey and the green comic book character)

Frank Lampard
  • Fat Frank (fans thought he looked fat when he played for West Ham)
  • Cookie Burger (from Redmen TV)

Jonathan Lewis
  • JLew (abbreviation of his full name in the style of JLo or JLaw)
  • Jona/Jonah (abbreviation of his first name)

Mikey Lopez
  • Sal ("San Antonio Lopez" because he aspires to USL quality)

Gary Mackay-Steven
  • GAZ/GAS (pronounced "gaz"; club tweet)
  • GMS (his initials)

Ronald Matarrita
  • Mata (shortened last name)

Tommy McNamara
  • Triple-U or Ucubed (Useless Unless Unmarked)
  • TPFKAU (The Player Formerly Known as Ucubed)
  • Tubby Messi (due to his size and his ability to hit curlers)
  • McNamullet (play on his name and hte fact he had a mullet when he played for Chivas USA)
  • TMac (shortened name)
  • Tommy Mac from West Nyack (rhyme based on his name and where he was born)
  • McNamaradona (combination of McNamara and Diego Maradona's last names)
  • Ned Grabavoy Jr.

Jesús Medina
  • Funky Cold (song by Tone Lōc called "Funky Cold Medina" which is described as a love potion)

Eric Miller

Maxi Moralez
  • Frasquito (“little flask” or “small jar” - the soccer embodiment of that old Argentine saying: "Good things are always found in small jars." )
  • Mighty Mouse (resemblance to the cartoon character)
  • MiniMax (he is small but highly effective; a Game Theory strategy)
  • Spider-Man (does web-slinging motion after he scores, used by social media team, and his son likes him)
  • Little Animal/Animalito (Héber's nickname from Heber Cam Ep. 1)

Ebenezer Ofori
  • Scrooge (fictional character from Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol' named Ebenezer Scrooge)
  • Eben (Vieira's nickname for him; Dome calls him this too)

Keaton Parks
  • Big Bird (resemblance to the character on Sesame Street; quoted from Doyle's Q&A article on MLssoccer.com)

Andrea Pirlo
  • L'architetto ("the Architect" in Italian because of the way in which he builds plays)
  • Il professore ("the professor" or "the teacher" in Italian)
  • Il maestro ("the master" in Italian)
  • Mozart (a reference to the Austrian composer's prodigious ability).
  • Ill Maestro (the negative version of "il maestro")
  • Pir-NOOOOOO (the reaction to when Pirlo makes a mistake)

Alexander Ring
  • Ringleader (play on his name since he often distributes and dictates the play; stadium announcer started calling the captain this in 2019)
  • Precious (what Gollum calls the Ring in the Lord of the Rings)
  • One True Ring (Lord of the Rings reference)
  • Honey Badger (due to his agressive tackling and keeping on the opposing player's heels)
  • Reindeer Butcher (reindeer are from Finland and he butchers the competition)
  • One of "The Vikings" (being from Finland, along with Jo Inge Berget (Norway) and Anton Tinnerholm (Sweden))

James Sands
  • Sandman (play on his last name either in reference to the mythical creature or the song by Metallica called "Enter Sandman")
  • Jimmy (Dome has called him this in interviews, but it depends on whether James likes it)

John Saunders
  • Slosh (in reference to him often spilling the ball)
  • Punch Out (regularly punched the ball out of the box - also in reference to the 1984 video game)

Joe Scally
  • Scallywag (play on his last name meaning "a person who behaves badly")

Khiry Shelton
  • Q-Tip (based on his hairstyle in 2015-2016); coined by Gotham Gator Gotham Gator

John Stertzer
  • The Candy Boy (because of his good looks)
  • Stertz till it hurts (a play on his name)
  • Mr 15 Minutes (was quickly subbed in (45') and out (69') of the 2017 USOC match vs the Red Bulls due to his poor performance)

Ben Sweat
  • CBA ("Can't Be Arsed")
  • No Sweat (play on his last name and the phrase "don't sweat it")
  • Sweatinho (adding the Portuguese diminutive suffix "inho", which a fair number of soccer players have as part of their names; nickname brought up in this Tweet)

Ismael Tajouri
  • Isi (Vieira's nickname for him)
  • Dave (what the players at Chelsea call a player with a difficult name to pronounce)

Anton Tinnerholm
  • One of "The Vikings" (being from Sweden, along with Alex Ring (Finland) and Jo Inge Berget (Norway))
  • Tinny (a play or abbreviation of his last name)
  • TinnerBOOM (used multiple times by the social media team)

Juan Pablo Torres
  • JP (his initials)

David Villa
  • El Capitan ("The Captain")
  • El Guaje (“The Kid” in Asturian)
  • Leyenda ("Legend" in Spanish)
  • El MVP ("The MVP" in Spanish)
  • Supernovilla ("A classification of the brightest, most energetic stars on the pitch" from @DempseyTwo on Twitter and Blue City Radio ep 130)
  • Batman (based on the comic book character from Gotham aka NYC)

Rodney Wallace
  • Rodfather (play on the movie/book "Godfather")
  • RodWall (play on his first and last names; nickname when he played in Portland)

Kwame Watson-Siriboe
  • Lord Kwame (a name that stuck after his Wikipedia page incorrectly stated that his actual name was Lord Kwame Watson-Siriboe - relevant forums post)

Chris Wingert
  • Wingdings (play on his last name and the name of a font)
  • Birthday Boy (Jason Kreis subbed Wingert during a USOC game vs the Cosmos on his birthday just so he could play in front of his family)


COACHES

Jason Kreis
  • Jesus Kreis (play on Jesus Christ)
  • Kreis the Redeemer (play on Christ the Redeemer which is a statue in Brazil)

Domènec Torrent
  • Dome (short for Domènec)

Patrick Vieira
  • La grande saucisse ("The Big Sausage" in French)
  • Paddy or Old Paddy V (play on his name)
 
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A running list of past and present player nicknames for reference purposes. Please let me know what is missing and what the nickname means so it can be added. Special thanks to Midas for inadvertently causing me to start this list just so I could decipher his posts.

RJ Allen

  • Sitch ("The Situation")

Eirik Johansen
  • Lurch (character from The Addams Family)

Sean Johnson

Frank Lampard
  • Fat Frank (fans thought he looked fat when he played for West Ham)

Mikey Lopez
  • Sal ("San Antonio Lopez" because he aspires to USL quality)

Tommy McNamara
  • Triple-U or Ucubed (Useless Unless Unmarked)
  • TPFKAU (The Player Formerly Known as Ucubed)
  • Tubby Messi (Men in Blazers?)

Maxi Moralez
  • Frasquito (“little flask” or “Small Jar” - the soccer embodiment of that old Argentine saying: "Good things are always found in small jars." )

Andrea Pirlo
  • Ill Maestro (play on "il maestro" or "the teacher")

John Saunders
  • Slosh (liquid moving irregularly)

Ben Sweat
  • CBA ("Can't Be Arsed")

David Villa
  • El Capitan ("The Captain")
  • El Guaje (“The Kid” in Asturian)
You forgot Lampard's: Cookie Burger (from Redmen TV)
 
A running list of past and present player nicknames for reference purposes. Please let me know what is missing and what the nickname means so it can be added. Special thanks to Midas for inadvertently causing me to start this list just so I could decipher his posts.

RJ Allen

  • Sitch ("The Situation")

Eirik Johansen
  • Lurch (character from The Addams Family)

Sean Johnson

Frank Lampard
  • Fat Frank (fans thought he looked fat when he played for West Ham)
  • Cookie Burger (from Redmen TV)

Mikey Lopez
  • Sal ("San Antonio Lopez" because he aspires to USL quality)

Tommy McNamara
  • Triple-U or Ucubed (Useless Unless Unmarked)
  • TPFKAU (The Player Formerly Known as Ucubed)
  • Tubby Messi (Men in Blazers?)

Maxi Moralez
  • Frasquito (“little flask” or “Small Jar” - the soccer embodiment of that old Argentine saying: "Good things are always found in small jars." )

Andrea Pirlo
  • Ill Maestro (play on "il maestro" or "the teacher")

John Saunders
  • Slosh (liquid moving irregularly)

Ben Sweat
  • CBA ("Can't Be Arsed")

David Villa
  • El Capitan ("The Captain")
  • El Guaje (“The Kid” in Asturian)

Not sure what qualifies as a nickname but below are some thoughts:

- I've seen Harrison called BAJ (Big apple jack)
- Not sure if it counts but people get confused when someone calls Ethan White, Norris (His actual first name)
- Sean Okoli goes by Ugo
 
Not sure what qualifies as a nickname but below are some thoughts:

- I've seen Harrison called BAJ (Big apple jack)
- Not sure if it counts but people get confused when someone calls Ethan White, Norris (His actual first name)
- Sean Okoli goes by Ugo
I added Jack's nickname above, but the other two are their real names so that might not count - will see if others chime in on this - thanks!
 
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I didn't know the Ben Sweat one. I usually go with "No Sweat".

If we're going to the way back, there were also:
Jeb Brovsky
- Brosky or The Stache

Chris Wingert
- Wingdings
- Birthday Boy (if we didn't use this one, we should have)
 
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Lord Kwame - Kwame Watson-Siriboe

LORD KWAME WATSON SIRIBOE is always in all caps.


Also John Stertzer is Candy boy or Candy ass depending on how well he did.

Edit for reasoning: LORD KWAME WATSON SIRIBOE I have completely forgotten the history for, but I do remember that it came about in one of the shout boxes in year 1. I think it has something to do with a reference to the Nigerian price scam.

And @Angelamiller came up with John Stertzer as candy boy, why you will have to ask her. I call him candy ass because he was so god awful that he got subbed out 10 mins after getting subbed on.
 
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Yeah, too many of these are derogatory. I get that some may be, but they should be positive on balance.

Villa: El Guaje, El Capitán
McNamara: McNaMullet (his old hairstyle), TMac, Tommy Mac from West Nyack (his hometown)
Callens: 6-Train (after the local subway line: He "makes all stops")
Chanot: Don't Chanot
Brillant: Brilliant!
Chanot and Brillant: French Resistance (both are French) - or if performing poorly, the Maginot Line (failed defensive fortification in WWII)
Shelton: Q-Tip (old hairstyle)
Sweat: Makem Sweat
Matarrita: Hey Matarrita! (after the puzzlingly popular dance song from the 90s)
Wallace: Rodfather (after the movie)
Jack: Jack Flash (he is fast), Boy Wonder (used on TV after his Red Bulls goal last year)
Moralez: MiniMax (he is small but highly effective; a Game Theory strategy)
Ring: One True Ring, The Precious (what Gollum calls the Ring in Lord of the Rings)
Awuah: Ooh Ah! (name)
Okoli: Yugo (play on middle name and old compact car from Yugoslavia)

We need a good nickname for Herrera. Lewis too.

Lampard: I❤️Lamp (Tifo from 2015 based on scene from Anchorman)
Saunders: Punch Out (self explanatory)
 
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Yeah, too many of these are derogatory. I get that some may be, but they should be positive on balance.

Villa: El Guaje, El Capitán
McNamara: McNamullet, TMac, Tommy Mac from West Nyack
Callens: 6-Train
Chanot: Don't Chanot
Brillant: Brilliant!
Chanot and Brillant: French Resistance (or if performing poorly, the Maginot Line)
Shelton: Q-Tip
Sweat: Makem Sweat
Hey Matarrita!
Wallace: Rodfather
Jack: Jack Flash, Boy Wonder
Moralez: MiniMax
Ring: One True Ring, The Precious
Awuah: Ooh Ah!
Okoli: Yugo

We need a good nickname for Herrera. Lewis too.

Lampard: I❤️Lamp
Saunders: Punch Out
Those aren't nicknames. They're propaganda.
 
I jokingly coined the Maginot line once or twice, but haven't used it since. Nobody refers to them as such outside of the context of my initial post.

I remember seeing it elsewhere, but didn't know who. The Maginot Line is not remembered for its effectiveness, to put it mildly.

Funny that they have hardly ever played together as a pair.
 
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