Some Amusing Sportsmen's Nicknames Quiz

Answer: Chariots

Martin Offiah scored over 500 tries in his rugby league career, representing Great Britain 33 times. He started out in rugby union before converting to league to play for Widnes at the age of 21. His other clubs in his career from 1987-2001 included Wigan and London Broncos, and his league career was punctuated by two short spells in rugby union.

A very quick winger, he acquired the punning nickname "Chariots" Offiah, after the words from the William Blake poem and song "Jerusalem", "Bring me my Chariot of fire!", by way of the 1981 athletics movie "Chariots of Fire".

Answer: The Non-Flying Dutchman

Dennis Bergkamp was one of the best football players of his day, whose incredible goals live on in the popular imagination long after he hung up his boots in 2006. He started his career with Ajax in 1986, before Inter Milan won a fierce competition among the top clubs in Europe for his services in 1993. His time there resulted in a UEFA Cup win, but issues with the playing style and injuries meant Inter was prepared to let him go to Arsenal in 1995.

This was a marquee signing for The Gunners and for English football in general, to have a leading footballer in his prime come to England from the continent. The appointment of Arsene Wenger as Arsenal manager soon afterwards was a perfect piece of synergy. Bergkamp played 315 games for Arsenal, becoming a Premier League legend and making a leading contribution to the club winning the double of League title and FA Cup twice. He was equally impressive in his 79 internationals for the Netherlands. Dennis Bergkamp was notorious for his fear of flying, which limited his ability to play away matches in European competitions and internationals, earning him the nickname "The Non-Flying Dutchman", after the legendary ghost ship "The Flying Dutchman".

Answer: One Size

Fitz Hall was a professional footballer from 2000-2014, playing for nine English clubs, including Southampton, Oldham Athletic, and Crystal Palace. He was in the Newcastle United and Queens Park Rangers teams that won the Championship. Hall came close to a surprise call-up by Scotland in 2004, but he declined, seeing himself as English.

After he finished playing, Hall became a football agent. His nickname "One Size" comes from the retail clothing saying "One size fits all".

Answer: Creepy

John Crawley's first class cricket career went from 1990-2009. He played county cricket for Lancashire and Hampshire, and 37 tests for England. A test average of 34.61 with four centuries is somewhat disappointing for such a stylish batsman who maintained a first class average of 46.49 and top score of 311 not out. Crawley was also an occasional wicket-keeper.

After cricket he became a teacher. John Crawley's nickname of "Creepy" is because of the common description of bugs as "Creepy crawlies."

Answer: Live Fast

Dai Young was a dual international prop forward for Wales at rugby union and rugby league. His playing career from 1985 to 2001 included union spells with Swansea and Cardiff, then playing league for Leeds and Salford, before finishing with a second spell in union at Cardiff.

He went on to coach Cardiff Blues, Wasps, and the Barbarians. Young's nickname, "Live Fast", comes from the motto "Live Fast, Die Young", which originally came from a novel called "Knock on Any Door", by Willard Motley - "Live fast, die young, and have a good-looking corpse".

Answer: Control Alt

Ritchie De Laet was a Belgian footballer who played as a defender in a career that lasted from 2006-2024, and consisted of 363 appearances across 12 clubs. He started and finished at Royal Antwerp, with spells in England and Australia. He was part of Leicester City's Premier League winning team in 2015-16, and played twice for Belgium.

His nickname "Control Alt" comes from the keyboard combination (Ctrl) (Alt) (Del) commonly used on Microsoft PCs.

Answer: Afghan

Mark Waugh played 128 test matches for Australia between 1991 and 2002. Primarily a batsman, scoring 8,000 runs at an average over 41, he was also one of the finest slip fielders in the game, taking 181 catches. On top of that, he was a versatile bowler, able to fill the role required by his captain, bowling medium pace or off-spin, even able to open the bowling if necessary.

He also scored 8,500 runs in one day internationals. Mark Waugh was a stylish batsman who made experts of the game wax lyrical, but early in his career he was overshadowed by his twin brother Steve, which gained him the nickname "Afghan", an allusion to the "forgotten war" when the USSR invaded Afghanistan in 1979.

Answer: Jukebox

Gordon Durie was a versatile player who usually played as a forward. His career from 1981-2001 included spells at East Fife, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur, and Rangers. While at Rangers he helped them win six championships and scored a hat trick in the Scottish Cup Final. Durie scored 149 goals in 450 matches.

He represented Scotland 43 times, scoring seven goals. Gordon Durie's nickname, "Jukebox", is a pun alluding to the BBC TV panel show "Juke Box Jury".

Answer: Nobody

John Eales was one of the most celebrated and successful rugby union players of all time. He played for Australia 86 times, 60 of which were as captain. He was part of the teams that won the Rugby World Cup in 1991 and 1999. Unusually for a forward, Eales was an expert goal kicker, which meant that with 173 points he became the highest scoring forward in rugby internationals.

At university he was an expert all-round cricketer, and won a double major in psychology before he became a rugby union international.

His nickname of "Nobody" reflects just how good he was at all aspects of his sport - it come from the phrase "Nobody's perfect".

Answer: King of Spain

Ashley Giles played first class cricket for Warwickshire between 1993-2006 and England from 1997-2006. He was a slow left arm bowler who was not known for being able to move the ball a great deal, but was very accurate and awkward to score off, with a lot of bounce caused by his height of 6 foot four (1.93m).

In his 54 test matches Giles took 143 wickets at 40.6. He was a useful tail end batsman, scoring at an average of 20, with a top test score of 59. In 2000 a set of mugs as part of a testimonial for Ashley Giles that were supposed to say "King of Spin" were produced with a typo, saying "King of Spain", Giles leant into the humour of the error, and England fans picked up the nickname "King of Spain" after he took 9 wickets in the 2004 Lords match against West Indies.