Works team
A works team (sometimes factory team) is a sports team that is financed and run by a manufacturer or other business. Sometimes, works teams contain or are entirely made up of employees of the supporting company.
Association football
Africa
A number of works teams were founded in the former Portuguese territory of Mozambique that still are currently major teams in that Portuguese-speaking African country (independent since 1975). Grupo Desportivo da Companhia Têxtil do Punguè and Textáfrica do Chimoio are examples of two works teams which were the teams of two textile companies. In addition, two major teams of the railway network achieved also notoriety - the Clube Ferroviário de Maputo and the Clube Ferroviário da Beira.
Other former and current works teams in Africa include Arab Contractors SC of Egypt (also a sporting club) and AS Police (Benin). Horseed FC is based in Horseed, Somalia. Seven times champion of the Somalia League, it is a former army team. Other works teams that have played in the Somali football leagues include Banaadir Telecom, Ports Authority, and Somali Police.
Asia
Works teams are common in Japan, with several J-League clubs starting life as such (e.g., Yokohama F. Marinos, who were originally Nissan F.C.). Modern examples include Honda F.C., Mitsubishi Motors Mizushima, F.C. Tokyo (formerly Tokyo Gas), and Sagawa Printing. The highest league Japanese works teams can compete in is the Japan Football League, the de facto national fourth division; the J. League specifically bars works teams from its ranks unless they professionalize and adopt the community they play in as a source of fan support.
Current and former works teams in South Korea include Busan Transportation Corporation FC, Gyeongju Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power FC, Ulsan Hyundai Mipo Dolphin FC, and Hanil Bank FC.
Other current and former Asian works teams include Nepal Police Club, Thai Farmers Bank F.C., Krung Thai Bank F.C., and Viettel F.C. (formerly The Cong, or the football team of the Vietnam People's Army).
Europe
European former works teams include those of PSV Eindhoven (Philips), FC Sochaux-Montbéliard (Peugeot), Bayer Leverkusen (Bayer), VfL Wolfsburg (Volkswagen), Evian Thonon Gaillard F.C. (Groupe Danone), and FC Carl Zeiss Jena (Zeiss).
The oldest football club in Spain is Recreativo de Huelva, formed on December 23, 1889 by Dr. William Alexander Mackay[1] and British workers employed by the Rio Tinto Company. Sevilla FC, started as a team made up of workers from the Seville Water Works, while Atlético Madrid was, from 1939–1947, called Athletic Aviación de Madrid, having merged with Aviación Nacional of Zaragoza, founded in 1939 by members of the Spanish Air Force.
The Portuguese conglomerate Companhia União Fabril (CUF) had also its own sports club, founded as a true works team in 1937. It was located in the Lisbon's industrial suburb of Barreiro, and was called Grupo Desportivo da CUF. The club, which was a major contender in the main Portuguese Football Championship, was disbanded and replaced by G.D. Fabril due to a military coup in 1974.
The name of football club Videoton FC (Hungary) comes from a Hungarian contract electronics manufacturer. The club, founded in 1941 by the defense manufacturing company Székesfehérvári Vadásztölténygyár, was made up of workers of the local factory in its early years.
Fotbal Club CFR 1907 Cluj was founded in 1907, when the city of Cluj-Napoca was part of Austro-Hungarian Empire, under the name Cluj Railway Sports Club (Kolozsvári Vasutas Sport Club). From 1907 to 1910, the team played in the municipal championship.
Fudbalski klub Željezničar (English: Football Club Željezničar) is a Bosnian professional football club based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The name Željezničar means "railway worker", given because it was established by a group of railway workers.
FC Sheriff Tiraspol is based in the capital of Transnistria, was founded by the Sheriff security company in 1997.
Several professional football clubs in the United Kingdom were also formed as works teams, including Manchester United (the team of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway depot at Newton Heath); Arsenal (formed as Dial Square in 1886 by workers at the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich); West Ham United (formerly Thames Ironworks); Coventry City, founded by workers of the Singer bicycle company; and the Scottish team Livingston (formerly Ferranti Thistle).
A few amateur and semi-professional United Kingdom association football (soccer) works teams retain their companies' names, including Airbus UK; Cammell Laird; and Vauxhall Motors. Other former and current amateur and semi-professional U.K. works teams include Crawley Down Gatwick F.C., Civil Service F.C., Harrogate Railway Athletic F.C., United Services Portsmouth F.C., Metropolitan Police F.C., Stewarts & Lloyds Corby A.F.C., Royal Engineers A.F.C., Jarrow Roofing Boldon Community Association F.C., Atherton Collieries A.F.C., Prescot Cables F.C., Stocksbridge Park Steels F.C., and Cardiff Civil Service. Bath City Football Club from Somerset, England, was formed in 1889 as Bath A.F.C. The team changed its name to Bath Railway in 1902, before settling on the name Bath City F.C. Included among Scottish amateur works teams are Inverurie Lock Works F.C. and Burntisland Shipyard A.F.C., while Glynhill Moorcroft A.F.C. began as Babcock & Wilcox F.C., the works team of the Renfrew engineering company.
In the League of Ireland a number of early clubs, including St James's Gate F.C., Fordsons, Jacobs, Midland Athletic and Dundalk all had their origins as a factory or works team. In Northern Ireland, Linfield F.C. was founded in Sandy Row in March 1886 by workers from the Ulster Spinning Company's Linfield Mill. Originally named the Linfield Athletic Club, its playing ground, "the Meadow", was situated behind the mill. Lisburn Distillery F.C. was created as [2] by employees of Dunville's Royal Irish Distillery in Grosvenor Street, Belfast in July 1879.
South America
Several Argentinan clubs began life as the works teams of British-owned railway companies, including Rosario Central, Talleres de Córdoba, Ferro Carril Oeste, Club Ferrocarril Midland and Club Atlético Central Córdoba.
In Brazil, clubs that were born as works teams include São Paulo Railway (now Nacional), Cotonifício Rodolfo Crespi (now Juventus), Sport Club Corinthians Paulista (also a sporting club, formed by railway workers), and Bangu.
Uruguay has one of the most known clubs that began as works team: Central Uruguay Railway Cricket Club, or just CURCC, which was the basis for the later foundation of Peñarol, one of the top two clubs in that country.
Arguably, Club Universidad de Chile is a works team, having been formed by university students before becoming part of the university's brand until 1980. (A number of university teams around the world play professionally, including University of Pretoria F.C. in South Africa; FC Academia Chișinău in Moldova; Cardiff Metropolitan University F.C. in Wales (once called Inter CableTel A.F.C.); and Club Universidad de Guadalajara in Mexico.)
In Ecuador, a perfect example of a works team is CS Emelec, which was founded by the Empresa Eléctrica del Ecuador, Guayaquil's first electric company. For several decades, Emelec's players and directors were employees in the company, though such involvement decreased gradually until the company eventually folded in the 00s, the club being de facto autonomous for decades before.
Sociedad Deportiva Aucas is another important works team in Ecuador. Historically the most popular team in Quito, Aucas was founded and initially integrated and financed by employees of Royal Dutch Shell. They named the club after the Huaorani tribes that they encountered while prospecting for oil in the Ecuadorian Amazonian jungles.
Club Alianza Lima was founded as Sport Alianza in 1901 by workers in the Alianza Racing Horse Stud, then property of twice President of Peru Augusto B. Leguía.
Motorsports
In motorsports, works teams are factory-backed, and drivers are called works drivers.
Rugby union
In rugby union, works teams are usually found in Asia. The Top League in Japan features teams such as Suntory Sungoliath, Toyota Verblitz and IBM Big Blue. Samsung has a team in the Korean league.
American football
Works teams were common in the early days of professional football. The Columbus Panhandles were a famous works team; it consisted of Pennsylvania Railroad employees, including the famed Nesser Brothers, and eventually became a charter member of the National Football League.
The National Public Safety Football League is a modern-day example of a league of works teams, with each team in the league consisting of employees of a public department (usually police or fire) in a given city.
See also
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References
- ↑ "Nadie es profeta en su tierra: W. A. Mackay | Huelva Buenas Noticias, Periódico digital de Huelva y provincia centrado en informaciones positivas". Huelvabuenasnoticias.com. Retrieved 2015-01-30.
- ↑ V.R. Distillery Cricket Club