Bar Staff at Coleshill pub change their names to Wayne Rooney by deed poll

Jun 7 2010 by Kat Keogh, Birmingham Mail

A BIRMINGHAM pub is taking team spirit to the next level after all bar staff changed their names to Wayne Rooney.

Patriotic workers at the Bell Inn in Coleshill have changed their names by deed poll to show their support for the striker and his England teammates during the World Cup.

Sixteen workers, including bar and kitchen staff and the cleaner, have adopted their new monikers for the duration of the tournament.

Bell Inn general manager Steve Dukes, who has changed his name to that of the England boss Fabio Capello, said the stunt was “very much legally binding”. He said: “This is all very legal, all the staff signed it. We’re an old-fashioned pub where people can come and enjoy the game and Rooney’s name embodies the spirit of the England side.

“We wanted to do this to get behind the team.

“It might be a be a little bit confusing to start with, but we have a lot of regulars here so we hope everyone will join in.”

Staff all applied for a change of name through the UK Deed Poll Service and were granted their new names on Friday.

They will all be sporting Rooney masks and T-shirts with the bearing the slogan “Call me Rooney” to give confused punters a reminder of their new names.

Steve, aged 48, added that his own name change had been met with a positive response.

He said: “My daughters think it’s funny and my girlfriend said that nothing surprises her about me anymore.”

The Bell Inn is one of a chain of 10 pubs where staff have changed their name.

A hundred staff members now bear the name Wayne Rooney, and Andy Wilkinson, managing director of pub owner Clover Taverns, has changed his name to FIFA president Sepp Blatter.

Steve added that he expected the Bell Inn would be packed out during the tournament.

He said: “We can get up to 300 people in here and you can’t move when we show Villa and Blues, so this is going to be big.”