Sunderland Nation

Why has Joe Gelhardt got the nickname 'Joffy'?

Don't pretend you've not been wondering! Just why is everyone calling Joe Gelhardt 'Joffy'?

Michael Graham

Why has Joe Gelhardt got the nickname 'Joffy'?
Why has Joe Gelhardt got the nickname 'Joffy'? /

Sunderland pulled off a big of a coup in signing Joe Gelhardt from Leeds last week, although it won’t have escaped many people’s attention that everyone seems to be calling him ‘Joffy’ as if it’s a completely normal and natural thing to do.

Sunderland defender Dennis Cirkin, who played with Gelhardt for England youth teams referred to the forward as Joffy when explaining why he is such an exciting signing.

Our Leeds United expert, TEAMtalk editor James Marshment also did it when giving us the lowdown on the players.

So, let’s not pretend that we haven’t all been wondering what that’s all about!

Why is Joe Gelhardt nicknamed ‘Joffy’?

The answer isn’t actually all that interesting, but it is quite funny.

Families, eh? We all have them. Well, if we’re lucky we do. Our families all probably have daft nicknames for each other that somehow stick. Apparently, it happens to Premier League footballers too.

King Jaffe Joffer

According to The Times, Gelhardt’s nickname ‘Joffy’ is due to his love of classic 1980s Eddie Murphy movie Coming to America.

It is taken from the character in the movie played by James Earl Jones, King Jaffe Joffer. Apparently, Gelhardt used to watch the movie a lot with his uncle, also called Joe.

Uncle Joe had, at some time, acquired the nickname Joffy. A family friend had a daughter in Gelhardt’s class at school and she started calling him Joffy as well. It stuck from there, even to the point that his mother calls him Joffy primarily. 

So, we can all stop wondering now at least! 

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Michael Graham
MICHAEL GRAHAM

Michael Graham is a professional sports writer with more than ten years of industry experience. After pursuing football writing by helping establish the Roker Report Sunderland AFC fansite, Michael moved to Planet Sport to cover football.  Michael has since worked on many of the sports sites within the Planet Sport network, including Football365, TEAMtalk and Planet Football before leaving to join 90min. As well as football, Michael is an accomplished tennis writer and has been regularly featured on Tennishead, TennisBuzz and Tennis365. It is football that is his first love, though, with Sunderland AFC his particular passion.  Contact: michael@buzzpublishing.co.uk

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