You can call me Ravel! 'Kum Kum' Aguero, a little pea and the rest of the Premier League stars dodging surnames on their shirts



Remember the name, they say. When it’s Ravel it’s hard to forget.



Rather than Morrison on the back of his West Ham shirt the 20-year-old is wearing his forename this season. Fortunately his performances have been worthy of such a statement.



Morrison is not the first player to shun his surname, and will likely not be the last.

Remember the name: Ravel Morrison, scoring a stunner against Tottenham above, has chosen to have his first name on his shirt this season

But is it allowed?

Yes. There is a law in the Premier League rulebook that addresses this issue directly.



It states: ‘Each player shall wear a shirt on the back of which shall be prominently displayed his shirt number and above that his surname or such other name as may be approved in writing by the board.’



Essentially clubs can write to the Premier League on behalf of their player before the season starts to request and alternative name and give reasons why.

New identity: Morrison, or should we say Ravel, wanted a fresh start in his football career... what other examples are there in the Premier League?

So that’s what happened here?

Indeed. It is believed Morrison wanted a new name to mark a fresh start to his football career.



He had been on loan to Birmingham, focussed his energy on the game, and come back to West Ham ready to begin fulfilling his potential. The Premier League board agreed.



Suppose it saves the fans money on replica shirts in this case. Fewer letters. Are requests ever turned down?

They have been. If the board decide the claim is done on a whim or not valid it will not be approved. Requests are treated confidentially but one was rejected on the basis it was simply an abbreviated surname that sounded better.

Rejection: Former Arsenal captain Fabregas reportedly had a claim to have 'Cesc' on the back of his shirt turned down

Which other players don’t use their surname?

Chicharito probably has the most distinctive name, meaning Little Pea.



He wore it throughout his time in Mexico’s Liga MX before transferring to Manchester United and as a general rule the Premier League will give the green light in such circumstances.



Photographic proof is sometimes needed.

Allowed: Javier Hernandez was able to have 'Chicharito' - which translates as little pea - on the back of his Manchester United strip as he had the nickname for the majority of his career in Mexico

Sergio Aguero is another, isn’t he?

Yes, he has Kun Aguero because of a nickname given to him by his grandparents after his love of a children’s television show. He bore a resemblance to a character called Kum Kum.



The Manchester City striker has said: ‘I have grown to appreciate it because it’s unique.’

Kum Kum: Sergio Aguero appreciats his 'unique' nickname, which was given to him because of his resemblance to a character in a children's TV show

Personal: Fulham's Bryan Ruiz opted for his first name for family reasons

Any more?

Bryan Ruiz wears his first name because his father left the family when he was just one. He said this year: ‘I like Bryan more and Ruiz does not mean a lot for me.’

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink originally wore ‘Jimmy’ when he signed for Leeds in 1997 but eventually had to revert to his full surname, while Lassana Diarra, once of Chelsea, Arsenal and Portsmouth, simply had ‘Lass’ printed on his shirt during his spell at Real Madrid to avoid confusion with Mahamadou Diarra.

Short: Lassana Diarra, shown attempting to tackle Barcelona's Lionel Messi, simply had 'Lass' on the back of his Real Madrid shirt to avoid confusion with a colleague

Pesky dog: Christian 'Chucho' Benitez was given his nickname because of his work rate on the pitch

The late Christian Benitez had his nickname 'Chucho' on the back of his shirt throughout his professional career, including his spell at Birmingham City.

The nickname translates to 'pesky mutt', alluding to his work rate on the pitch.

Jordi Cruyff used his forename at times to separate him from the surname made famous by his father, Johan.

Ex-Bolton midfielder Stelios Giannakopoulos simply went for 'Stelios', perhaps worried about the appeal of his tricky-to-spell-and-pronounce Greek surname.

What a father: Ex-Manchester United and Holland man Jordi Cruyff used his first name because of the comparison to his great dad Johan

Easier: Stelios Giannakopoulos of Bolton obviously didn't see the appeal to fans of his Greek surname

PS... t here are times when players could do with a nickname!

Recently retired Dutch international Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink enjoyed a fine career with spells at Twente and PSV, as well as British pair Celtic and Hull City.

The striker chose not to simply have 'Jan', or 'V of H' on his back, instead getting his whole surname printed.

For the fans' sake, let's hope the club didn't charge for each letter on a club shirt!