Darts star Tim Pusey has been banned from using his saucy nickname at the World Championship, as the Daily Star revealed last week. For some reason, contest bosses don’t want him going by ‘The Magnet’.

But there’s a proud tradition of nicknames in the sports world – just look at our football clubs. Here we reveal the stories behind some of the strangest…

You might know them as the Blues, but Chelsea FC’s original nickname was a bit more creative. It came from the Chelsea pensioners – retired British Army members who are cared for at the Royal Chelsea Hospital. The club decided to rebrand itself in the early 1950s.

The Chelsea Pensioners in all their glory(Image: Chelsea FC via Getty Images)

Think AFC Bournemouth got their nickname from their red-striped kit? Well, apparently you’re wrong.

It started in 1910 when the club were given a plot of land, now the site of Dean Court stadium, by businessman James Cooper-Dean. The area, next to his family’s estate,...