What’s in a Name
¶ 1
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“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose,
By any other name would smell as sweet.”
So says Juliet in her Balcony Speech.
And when we hear or read it, most nod and agree.
Only I beg to differ. Consider the following:
Burnden Park, Highbury, The Goldstone Ground,
Maine Road, Filbert Street, Griffin Park, Goodison Park.
To me such names indeed are sweet.
They smell of 3pm kick-offs,
Shirts unsullied by Sponsors’ names,
Affordable ticket prices, fairplay,
The Good Old Days,
When God was in His Heaven and all was right,
And nobody had heard of naming rights.
¶ 2
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Now how about these?
The Toughsheet Community Stadium, The Emirates Stadium,
The Amex Stadium, The Etihad Stadium,
The King Power Stadium, The Gtech Community Stadium,
And …The Hill Dickinson Stadium!
Mr Shakespeare, are you seriously telling me
This second group smells as sweet as the first?
To me the latter reek of ££££ and $$$$,
Merchandising, Sportswashing,
Sponsors’ names splashed over Shirts,
12.30 kick-offs, Corporate Ownership,
State Ownership, gamesmanship, inflated ticket prices.
They sum up all that’s wrong with the Modern Game.
To be blunt, IMHO, they stink.
So readers, next time you hear or read Juliet’s Speech,
Just think…
¶ 3
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31/5/25
Denys E. W. Jones
Very well put! My recent favourite came when visiting Chesterfield. They have the ‘LMD Vacuum Excavation Stand’.
May be if you’re in the vacuum excavation business, it’s a beautiful sounding name.