In mid-1965, Peter and Pat O’Sullivan of Staffordshire, England, welcomed a baby girl.
Peter, a bricklayer who called himself a “fanatical Liverpool fan” — inspired by the team’s recent victory in the FA Cup — took it upon himself to give his daughter the following name: Paula St John Lawrence Lawler Byrne Strong Yeats Stevenson Callaghan Hunt Milne Smith Thompson Shankly Bennett Paisley O’Sullivan.
Those 15 middle names honored 15 members of the Liverpool Football Club: 12 players, the team manager, and two assistants:
| Name | Player/Manager |
| St John Lawrence Lawler Byrne Strong Yeats Stevenson Callaghan Hunt Milne Smith Thompson Shankly Bennett Paisley | Ian St John Tommy Lawrence Chris Lawler Gerry Byrne Geoff Strong Ron Yeats Willie Stevenson Ian Callaghan Roger Hunt Gordon Milne Tommy Smith Peter Thompson Bill Shankly (manager) Reuben Bennett (asst.) Bob Paisley (asst.) |
All 15 middle names appear on her birth certificate, but her name had to be shortened to “Paula St J L L B S Y S C H M S T S B P O’Sullivan” on the birth register.
Unfortunately, Paula’s mother Pat was not very enthusiastic about the situation: “The first I knew about it was when I saw the birth certificate, and I don’t mind saying I was furious. It’s a real shock to learn your baby’s been named after a whole football team.”
Here a photo of baby Paula with the Liverpool team taken in April of 1966.
And here are two earlier posts about English babies named after entire soccer teams: the 1992 Leeds United team, and the 2011 Burnley team.
Sources:
- Gilmore, Eddie. “Liverpool Fan Names Baby After Team Mgr., Members.” Virgin Islands Daily News 19 Apr. 1966: 1.
- Paula St J L L B S Y S C H M S T S B P O’Sullivan, England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008 (via FamilySearch.org)
Image: Adapted from Portugal 2-3 Denmark, Football by José Goulão under CC BY-SA 2.0.
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