Each football fan has a particular nickname or sometimes there are even several depending on its origin, entity or club headquarters. Thus Real Madrid fans receive names like merengues and vikings. What is the origin of these names?
The color of the main uniform also marks in many cases the nicknames by which a hobby is called. So when the white club is mentioned, everyone thinks of Real Madrid.
The pseudonym merengues arose for the same reason. According to the official website of La Liga, it was the work of Matías Prats Cañete. The journalist popularized it by comparing the color of the players’ shirts with that of this dessert during his radio broadcasts.
Vikings is another nickname given to Real Madrid fans and players. There are different theories about the birth of this name. One of them indicates that said word was used in a report of a match that The Times newspaper did in 1960.
The Madrid club won that year in the European Cup against Eintracht Frankfurt with a result of 7-3. The British newspaper indicated in its text: “Real Madrid walks through Europe like the Vikings once walked, destroying everything in their path.”
Another theory that would explain why the team’s followers are called Vikings has to do with the origin of its players. The official website of La Liga states that the Madridistas earned this nickname because from the 60s and 70s onwards, many athletes from countries such as Denmark and Germany joined their team. The appearance of footballers like Gunter Netzer, Paul Breitner, Uli Stielike or Henning Jensen caused them to be compared to the warriors who came from the Nordic peoples of Scandinavia.
