Football news: Swedish man miffed after not being able to switch name to 'Tottenham'

But for some people, a simple switch is not enough. And this is the story of a Swedish man who wanted to change his name to his favourite English football club.

David Lind, a 39-year-old Swede from Kumla was not allowed to change his name to “Tottenham” during the club’s run to the Champions League Final, as reported by The Guardian.

Lind won a competition for people thinking about changing their name to their favourite English club. He then sent his application to Skatteverket, the agency that deals with such issues, then a few weeks later he got a letter back saying his request had been turned down.

Lind later discovered someone was allowed to change their name because of their passion for English National League North club Guiseley AFC.

“This is very sad” Lind told Swedish newspaper Nerikes Allehanda. “It looks as if you can be called pretty much everything in Sweden but not Tottenham. It is not any more natural to be called Newcastle, Arsenal, Liverpool or Guiseley.”

So, was it that Skatteverket, the Swedish Tax Agency just hate Spurs? Are they all secret Arsenal fans?

No, it turns out that Lind was just a bit too late.

A Skatteverket spokesman told the Guardian that new rules had come into force in 2017 which contained much more draconian guidelines for what people are allowed to change their names to.