Several cities across the world share names with biblical characters. Naturally, this has led to these cities’ football clubs having a biblical connection as well. For example, the Brazilian City of São Paulo has a football team with the same name, São Paulo FC, named after the apostle Paul. In England, we find Peterborough United Football Club, also named after their hometown, the city of Peterborough. The name Peter, well known from the New Testament, makes Peterborough city and its football club biblically relevant. Also worth mentioning is the Russian city of St. Petersburg’s team, FC Dynamo St. Petersburg, which also bears the name of the apostle Peter. The Puerto Rican capital of San Juan also has a football club with the same name as the city. San Juan is the Spanish name for John the Baptist.
Not all football teams are named after their hometown. Many have original names regardless of the city they belong to or play for. Several of these are inspired by the Bible. It’s easy to see that the Welsh second division football team Hay St. Marys, is a reference to the Virgin Mary (though it could also be the “other Mary”, Mary Magdalene). In Buenos Aires, we find the second division football team called Club Atlético San Miguel, named after the archangel Michael. In Austria, we find a football team simply named St. Peter, after the apostle Peter. Beitar Jerusalem Football Club is one of Israel’s biggest teams. The team’s hometown is, of course, Jerusalem, a city well known from both the Old and New Testaments.
Biblical names are also found among football stadiums. For example, we find St. Mary’s Stadium in Southampton, England, where the home team Southampton FC plays its home matches. Another English stadium with a biblical name is St. James Park in Exeter. James is the English name for Jacob, one of the twelve apostles. In Scotland, we find Petershill Stadium. The name Peter has become a recurring theme in football.
It’s not surprising that so many football clubs have names inspired by the Bible. This book has had a stronger influence than any other book, not only in the Western world, but wherever it has been available. That even the most mundane and everyday things in our secular age can be traced back to the Bible shows how much influence it has had, and how deep the traces it has left are.
