Naming Practices in Cameroonian Football Clubs: Historical Shifts and Sociocultural Meanings from 1920 to 2020

Cameroon was a French colony when football was introduced to the country. Since then, football clubs have occupied a critical role in the Cameroonian public sphere. Thus, in the present study, the evolution of football clubs' names is examined, spanning the colonial, post-colonial, and contemporary periods. Specifically, football clubs' naming practices from the 1920s onwards are examined to underline how they echo sociopolitical changes and contribute to building local and national identities. Ethnographic data and in-depth interviews demonstrate that football is an arena of symbolic social representation. Additionally, football clubs' naming practices reveal an intertwinement between historical heritage, identity construction, and foreign influences.