Quote Originally Posted by blue lewj View Post
What is it with fans calling players they've never spoken to by their nicknames?

Pato, Mozzer, Rallsy.

What's that all about?
If you did it in any other walk of life you'd be considered a bit if an odd job. Why does it happen in footballing circles?
I plead guilty to the occasional use of 'Mozzer' and once threw in a 'Pato' although I usually avoid the nicknames.

However, I don't think you are right about use of nicknames being unique to 'footballing circles'. From memory I went through school using nicknames for teachers and other kids, a lot of whom I had never spoken to in person - including the school thug ('the Slug') and the head ('the BIM' - the bastard in the middle on school photos). The same at college and throughout most of my jobs - people I knew of but didn't know personally quite often had nicknames that were used by all and sundry (especially in HR and direct works supervisors and managers).

In our house we often use nicknames to refer to members of the Tory Cabinet, Starmer and Trump - it makes the abuse much more enjoyable.