MasterBlaster76
ICC Chairman
...to your favourite footballer?
Well, think twice - and then don't do it:
Fernando Torres's move to Chelsea left one fan red-faced: he had changed his name to Fernando Torres just before Christmas to commemorate his devotion to Liverpool.
We thought it provided the perfect opportunity to get all misty-eyed about crackpot fans whose extravangant gestures to prove their loyalty backfire spectacularly - starting with the aforementioned Torres:
1. Man changes name to Fernando Torres weeks before transfer
Shaun McCormack's extravagant gesture to prove his dedication to Liverpool could not have come at a worse time: the 36-year-old from Scunthorpe changed his name to Fernando Torres just before Christmas.
"I did think about changing my name to Steve Gerrard but I wanted something a little more flamboyant," said Fernando.
2. Ice hockey fans change street name to commemorate victory, team loses next match
Fans of the Montreal Canadiens ice hockey team were thrilled to see their side beat the Pittsburgh Penguins to make the finals of last year's Stanley Cup.
So much so, in fact, that they decided to mark the occasion by changing the name of one of the French-Canadian city's major thoroughfares, Rue de la Gauchetiere, to Avenue des Canadiens-de-Montreal. A swift bit of sign-making work and the street was unofficially re-named.
Sadly, it proved a bad omen: they got thrashed 4-1 by the Philadelphia Flyers to see their dream of Stanley Cup glory fall flat.
3, 4 and 5. Manchester City fans' triple tattoo trouble
Tattoo parlours and tattoo removal clinics in the Greater Manchester area have long been offering secret prayers of thanks to Manchester City. And, more specifically, fans' habits of getting pre-emptive tattoos done before players have been signed or trophies have been won.
Take 25-year-old Kirk Bradley, for example, who had " Manchester City - Champions League Winners 2011" tattooed on his left arm before the start of the 2009-10 season. City failed to qualify for the Champions League.
Then there was Chris Atkinson, who had the name of Brazilian superstar Kaka tattooed on his chest after becoming convinced that the playmaker would move to Eastlands from AC Milan. Kaka chose to go to Real Madrid instead, and Atkinson was left red-faced.
Not that he learnt his lesson: Atkinson later got a Robinho tattoo after a bet with a friend, this time sensibly waiting for the player's deal to be confirmed. The forward has since left at a loss of around ?20m to the club's owners.
Atkinson is not worried, however, and has come up with a novel alternative to having his tattoos removed:
"I'll just wait until I have kids and call them Robinho and Kaka," he said.
Those well-publicised bits of body art proved to be no deterrent for City fan Simon Hart, who spent ?500 having a massive image of Wayne Rooney etched into his back with the words "Rooney - City Legend" beneath it last autumn when the England striker seemed set to leave Manchester United.
Needless to say, Rooney decided to stay at Old Trafford leaving Hart with egg on his face as well as ink indelibly injected into his back.
"It would have been so sweet to ram it down their throats after all these years of getting the s****y end of the stick," said Hart.
"Now I've been shafted by United again - and I'm stuck with Shrek's ugly mug on my back."
6. American football fan forced to change name to that of hated rival
Chicago Bears fan Scott Wiese was so convinced that his team would beat the Indianapolis Colts in the Super Bowl in 2006 that he made a bet with his friends: if the Bears lost, he would change his name to Peyton Manning, the same name as the Colts' star quarterback.
The Bears lost 29-17, and Wiese duly went to court to file the paperwork to change his name to that of his team's nemesis.
Unlike the Deed Poll process in the UK, Wiese was forced to go in front of a judge to explain why he could no longer go by his original name.
But to Wiese, there was no choice. " I made the bet, and now I've got to keep it," he said.
7. Bulgarian fan denied right to change name to Manchester United
Marin Levidzhev fought a two-year legal battle to force Bulgarian authorities to let him change his name to 'Manchester United'.
Magistrates eventually refused to allow him to do so, but did allow him to rename himself 'Manchester Levidzhev' - a half-way measure that left him feeling short-changed.
"I feel as if I am only at the half-time break," he said. "I won't feel right until I get all my name changed to Manchester United.
Levidzhev has yet to be successful in having his surname changed, but is continuing his fight to be named after the club.
"It's my whole life, and I want my name to reflect that," he said.
8. England fan's name change ushers in World Cup disaster
England football fan Christopher Alderslade was so convinced that Fabio Capello would lead the national side to World Cup glory in South Africa last summer that he changed his name to "Dr England Three Lions Churchill".
England got knocked out in the last-16 after a thrashing by Germany, and the 19-year-old from Bognor Alderslade was left with a Deed Poll bill to change his name back. "I haven't told my parents yet though, they'll get a shock when they see it in the paper," he said.
More funny name changes, from football and beyond
- Student Frazer Boyle changed his name to Motherwell Football Club in 2009 to win ?1,000 in a radio competition, while Blackburn fan Lee Sparry changed his name to Lee Blackburn Rovers Football Club Sparry to commemorate the recent takeover of the club.
- Crisp-lover Chris Hunt was obsessed with Monster Munch, eating several packs a day and even inventing pasta dishes that use the maize-based snacks. The 26-year-old decided to take it a step further two years ago by changing his name to "Monster Munch", but is not finished yet and is trying to find out a way to have them for every single meal. ?The only thing I've not figured out yet is how to have my Monster Munch for breakfast. I've tried pouring milk on them, but they go soggy too quickly and on toast they are a bit dry," he said.
- A survival nut from Skegness christened Stephen O'Rourke became so obsessed with the film 'Rambo' that he changed his name to Sylvester Stallone some 20 years ago. He has kept the name ever since, and even " "I really am the real-life Rambo. Generally people think twice about what they say to me. Nobody messes with me. Sometimes people don't believe I'm serious at first. They just think it's quite amusing. Then they realise the truth."
- Mancunian Richard Reigns was such a big fan of TV show 'Friends' that he changed his name to 'Ricky Princess Consuela Banana Hammock Reigns', a name picked by the character Phoebe during one episode. "I'm always trying to make my friends laugh and stand out from the crowd," he said.
- And finally, Swedish bus driver Andreas Jankov was so sick of his boring name that he decided to re-christen himself to commemorate his favourite films, TV shows and zoo animals. His new name is Julius Andreas Gimli Arn MacGyver Chewbacca Highlander Elessar-Jankov. Julius was the name of a famous chimpanzee at a Norway zoo; Gimli and Elessar are characters from Lord of the Rings; Arn is a Swedish movie about medieval knights; MacGyver comes from the TV show of the same name; Chewbacca is the Star Wars character; and Highlander comes from the film, though this was the one name he was forced to leave off his passport since he had run out of space.
What a bunch of idiots! My favourite was the Man City fan who dropped ?500 on a 'Rooney - City Legend' tattoo on his back - and we all know what happened then, don't we? Rooney stayed at Utd!!! Now he's ?500 worse off and has a tattoo of his most hated rivals' best player!
Well, think twice - and then don't do it:
Fernando Torres's move to Chelsea left one fan red-faced: he had changed his name to Fernando Torres just before Christmas to commemorate his devotion to Liverpool.
We thought it provided the perfect opportunity to get all misty-eyed about crackpot fans whose extravangant gestures to prove their loyalty backfire spectacularly - starting with the aforementioned Torres:
1. Man changes name to Fernando Torres weeks before transfer
Shaun McCormack's extravagant gesture to prove his dedication to Liverpool could not have come at a worse time: the 36-year-old from Scunthorpe changed his name to Fernando Torres just before Christmas.
"I did think about changing my name to Steve Gerrard but I wanted something a little more flamboyant," said Fernando.
2. Ice hockey fans change street name to commemorate victory, team loses next match
Fans of the Montreal Canadiens ice hockey team were thrilled to see their side beat the Pittsburgh Penguins to make the finals of last year's Stanley Cup.
So much so, in fact, that they decided to mark the occasion by changing the name of one of the French-Canadian city's major thoroughfares, Rue de la Gauchetiere, to Avenue des Canadiens-de-Montreal. A swift bit of sign-making work and the street was unofficially re-named.
Sadly, it proved a bad omen: they got thrashed 4-1 by the Philadelphia Flyers to see their dream of Stanley Cup glory fall flat.
3, 4 and 5. Manchester City fans' triple tattoo trouble
Tattoo parlours and tattoo removal clinics in the Greater Manchester area have long been offering secret prayers of thanks to Manchester City. And, more specifically, fans' habits of getting pre-emptive tattoos done before players have been signed or trophies have been won.
Take 25-year-old Kirk Bradley, for example, who had " Manchester City - Champions League Winners 2011" tattooed on his left arm before the start of the 2009-10 season. City failed to qualify for the Champions League.
Then there was Chris Atkinson, who had the name of Brazilian superstar Kaka tattooed on his chest after becoming convinced that the playmaker would move to Eastlands from AC Milan. Kaka chose to go to Real Madrid instead, and Atkinson was left red-faced.
Not that he learnt his lesson: Atkinson later got a Robinho tattoo after a bet with a friend, this time sensibly waiting for the player's deal to be confirmed. The forward has since left at a loss of around ?20m to the club's owners.
Atkinson is not worried, however, and has come up with a novel alternative to having his tattoos removed:
"I'll just wait until I have kids and call them Robinho and Kaka," he said.
Those well-publicised bits of body art proved to be no deterrent for City fan Simon Hart, who spent ?500 having a massive image of Wayne Rooney etched into his back with the words "Rooney - City Legend" beneath it last autumn when the England striker seemed set to leave Manchester United.
Needless to say, Rooney decided to stay at Old Trafford leaving Hart with egg on his face as well as ink indelibly injected into his back.
"It would have been so sweet to ram it down their throats after all these years of getting the s****y end of the stick," said Hart.
"Now I've been shafted by United again - and I'm stuck with Shrek's ugly mug on my back."
6. American football fan forced to change name to that of hated rival
Chicago Bears fan Scott Wiese was so convinced that his team would beat the Indianapolis Colts in the Super Bowl in 2006 that he made a bet with his friends: if the Bears lost, he would change his name to Peyton Manning, the same name as the Colts' star quarterback.
The Bears lost 29-17, and Wiese duly went to court to file the paperwork to change his name to that of his team's nemesis.
Unlike the Deed Poll process in the UK, Wiese was forced to go in front of a judge to explain why he could no longer go by his original name.
But to Wiese, there was no choice. " I made the bet, and now I've got to keep it," he said.
7. Bulgarian fan denied right to change name to Manchester United
Marin Levidzhev fought a two-year legal battle to force Bulgarian authorities to let him change his name to 'Manchester United'.
Magistrates eventually refused to allow him to do so, but did allow him to rename himself 'Manchester Levidzhev' - a half-way measure that left him feeling short-changed.
"I feel as if I am only at the half-time break," he said. "I won't feel right until I get all my name changed to Manchester United.
Levidzhev has yet to be successful in having his surname changed, but is continuing his fight to be named after the club.
"It's my whole life, and I want my name to reflect that," he said.
8. England fan's name change ushers in World Cup disaster
England football fan Christopher Alderslade was so convinced that Fabio Capello would lead the national side to World Cup glory in South Africa last summer that he changed his name to "Dr England Three Lions Churchill".
England got knocked out in the last-16 after a thrashing by Germany, and the 19-year-old from Bognor Alderslade was left with a Deed Poll bill to change his name back. "I haven't told my parents yet though, they'll get a shock when they see it in the paper," he said.
More funny name changes, from football and beyond
- Student Frazer Boyle changed his name to Motherwell Football Club in 2009 to win ?1,000 in a radio competition, while Blackburn fan Lee Sparry changed his name to Lee Blackburn Rovers Football Club Sparry to commemorate the recent takeover of the club.
- Crisp-lover Chris Hunt was obsessed with Monster Munch, eating several packs a day and even inventing pasta dishes that use the maize-based snacks. The 26-year-old decided to take it a step further two years ago by changing his name to "Monster Munch", but is not finished yet and is trying to find out a way to have them for every single meal. ?The only thing I've not figured out yet is how to have my Monster Munch for breakfast. I've tried pouring milk on them, but they go soggy too quickly and on toast they are a bit dry," he said.
- A survival nut from Skegness christened Stephen O'Rourke became so obsessed with the film 'Rambo' that he changed his name to Sylvester Stallone some 20 years ago. He has kept the name ever since, and even " "I really am the real-life Rambo. Generally people think twice about what they say to me. Nobody messes with me. Sometimes people don't believe I'm serious at first. They just think it's quite amusing. Then they realise the truth."
- Mancunian Richard Reigns was such a big fan of TV show 'Friends' that he changed his name to 'Ricky Princess Consuela Banana Hammock Reigns', a name picked by the character Phoebe during one episode. "I'm always trying to make my friends laugh and stand out from the crowd," he said.
- And finally, Swedish bus driver Andreas Jankov was so sick of his boring name that he decided to re-christen himself to commemorate his favourite films, TV shows and zoo animals. His new name is Julius Andreas Gimli Arn MacGyver Chewbacca Highlander Elessar-Jankov. Julius was the name of a famous chimpanzee at a Norway zoo; Gimli and Elessar are characters from Lord of the Rings; Arn is a Swedish movie about medieval knights; MacGyver comes from the TV show of the same name; Chewbacca is the Star Wars character; and Highlander comes from the film, though this was the one name he was forced to leave off his passport since he had run out of space.
What a bunch of idiots! My favourite was the Man City fan who dropped ?500 on a 'Rooney - City Legend' tattoo on his back - and we all know what happened then, don't we? Rooney stayed at Utd!!! Now he's ?500 worse off and has a tattoo of his most hated rivals' best player!
