Originally Posted by
CTMilller
I never knew that about Bristol Rovers being called the Black Arabs, CAM. Not something they bring up too often, these days, I suppose!
I did a bit of quick research on it and they borrowed the name from a local Bristol rugby club who called themselves the "Arabs". Rugby was far more popular in the area in the 1880s and they were presumably capitalising on a known name. The 'Black" part came from the need to differentiate themselves from the rugby team and the fact that they wore an all-black kit.
Obviously it was different times and different sensibilities. Although there's no clear evidence I could find to prove it, there were several rugby teams that called themselves "Saracens" in those days to denote that they were teams that wandered nomadically to play their games - including one in Bristol. Saracen was the old name for the nomadic Arabic tribes used in the time of the Crusades. It's entirely possible that the Bristol rugby team named themselves the "Arabs" within this same context.