Wally meets... A pub full of Wayne Rooneys

By Mike Walters

Published 22:00 18/06/10

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Down at the ­Shakespeare on England’s day of ­reckoning, I was served by a barmaid called Wayne Rooney.

My pre-match meal, chilli con carne, was dished up by another waitress called, er, Wayne Rooney. No relation.

One for the pavement? Don’t mind if I do – and the refill was administered by the late shift. Also called Wayne Rooney.

In fact, all the staff in the pub have changed their names by deed poll, all to the same name, and there are enough of them to form a Wayne Rooney XI.

And the manager of this august watering hole in Manchester city centre is, of course... Fabio Capello. Is it a gimmick? Yes, it’s ­absolutely barking mad, but it’s inspired lunacy which has brought new custom to the boozer from thousands of miles away in the Far East to check it out. Is it a wind-up? No, and Mirror Sport has seen the official documents to prove it.

Before kick-off in Cape Town on Capello’s 64th birthday (that’s the real Capello, not the pub manager who has changed his name by deed poll), we lined up the Rooney XI and their boss for a unique team portrait.

Take a bow Carmel Wigglesworth, Katie Hyett, Bernice Longden, Gemma Parry, Leon Jan, Brian Boyland, Kirsty Loveday, James Bradley, Mike Vickers, Jessica Barr and Alice Davis – or Wayne Rooney, as they are now all known – you are the best XI Capello has ever put out.

Shakespeare manager Capello, the publican formerly known as Chris Hilditch, 36, said: “The staff wanted to do something special for the World Cup to create a bit of banter with our customers.

“Someone came up with the idea of everyone changing their name to Wayne Rooney by deed poll for the duration of the tournament, and when we put it to the vote it was agreed ­unanimously. Of course, as a Manchester City fan, I could not sell my soul to the Red Devil, so I pulled rank as manager and called myself Fabio Capello.

“I must stress that I don’t see Rooney as a United player, and as a proud Englishman I was very happy for my staff to take his name as our talisman.

“We have even had a TV crew from South Korea in here because they are doing a documentary about the impact of the World Cup in Europe, and the word about our staff Rooney XI has spread halfway round the world.

“Most people think we’re barmy, but we’re trying to prove the communal ­experience of watching ­football in the pub is still unbeatable on a big-match night. You certainly don’t get the same craic down at the supermarket.”

The World Cup has turned the namesake industry into a roaring trade. Gala Casinos have been offering free £50 bets to punters who share their names with England players, or to Welsh and Scots whose given names match those of Capello’s group rivals from the USA, Algeria or Slovenia.

But even if the real thing scored a hat-trick in the World Cup final, it would never produce such a rash of Roos.

Barmaid Hyett, 24, alias Wayne Rooney, admitted: “My boyfriend, Sean Small, is a Liverpool fan, and was not keen on me taking Rooney’s name at all. He was sleeping on the sofa for the first week of the tournament in protest, although he’s crept back into the bedroom now.

“A lot of people have come in asking sheepishly, ‘Is this the pub where you are all called Wayne?’ They are all surprised the barmaids have bought into the idea as well as the male staff.

“But it’s something completely different, and if England go on to lift the trophy, I’ll be proud to tell the grandchildren that I was Wayne Rooney in the year we won the World Cup.”

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