Once upon a time I knew the ninety-two home venues of the teams in the Football League. They were constant, reliable, Swiss clockwork even. A few stadium disasters later grounds got upgraded and things changed. Some of them changed names. For a traditionalist like me 1987 was a Bosman year. This was the year a team got promoted from the Conference (second tier football or League 5 in other words) and the bottom team in Division four got relegated. Now, every year there were new grounds to learn and we lost some of the old ones. Since 2003 two teams now get promoted.
As if this isn’t bad enough, sponsors are now buying the names of the club’s grounds. Reebok, Walkers and JJB are just some of the companies muscling in on the action. With extreme nostalgia I weep for the past delightful sounding venues of old. Saltergate was a recent one to go. Now Chesterfield play at the B2net Stadium: wonderful, eh. Other lovable monikers that are consigned to history include Boothferry Park, Belle Vue, Goldstone Ground and -a suitable footie handle- Feethams.
Nothing does, does it? Take countries. The lines and names on the maps are changing all the time. Gone are Kampuchea, Zaire (experts at defending free-kicks), Siam and my all time favourite name of a country, because when I was very young I knew their tongue rolling capital, Upper Volta.
Even the internet throws up a few name alterations. Fed up with the old, new inventive nicknames are invented by individuals. Confusingly, websites are prone to amend their headers. Things never stay at peace, do they?
Boadicea's Chariot 
Hiya, JW. Just before beddie-byes I would like to say that, for me, Arsenal will forever play at Highbury and Manchester City at Maine Road. My fur absolutely frizzes every time I read the Portuguese newspapers that all refer, for some inexplicable reason, to Liverpool playing at Anfield Road.
And what about this PC, BBC bolleaux regarding cities? It’s not ‘Beijing’, it’s ‘Peking’. It’s not ‘Mumbai’, it’s ‘Bombay’. After all, we don’t talk about gay ‘Paree’ do we? It’s still effin’ ‘Paris’, innit’?
OZ
Its is only a matter of time before the countries of Britain undergo name changes to reflect their sponsorship by various American Mega corporations. England will become GMC Land, Scotland Oracle Land etc.
I can’t resist the temptation to predict that we shall soon be ruled by the Watesbuild House of Windsor! 🙂