Why are West Bromwich Albion football club nick named The Baggies?
Although known in their early days as “The Throstles”, the club’s more popular nickname among supporters came to be The Baggies, a term which the club itself looked down upon for many years but later embraced. The phrase was first heard at The Hawthorns in the 1900s, but its exact origins are uncertain. One suggestion is that the name was bestowed on Albion supporters by their rivals at Aston Villa, because of the large baggy trousers that many Albion fans wore at work to protect themselves from molten iron in the factories and foundries of the Black Country. Club historian Tony Matthews however suggests that it derives from the “bagmen”, who carried the club’s matchday takings in big leather bags from the turnstiles to the cash office on the halfway line.Other theories relate to the baggy shorts worn by various players during the club’s early years. The official club mascot is named Baggie Bird, and is based on the throstle depicted on the club crest.
