Southend United
English football club mistakenly names stand after serial killer
Southend United Football Club didn’t exactly choose the new stand name with care.
© Tom Dulat / Getty Images
The sale of naming rights to football stadiums or just individual grandstands brings money into the coffers of clubs. However, an English fifth division club didn’t quite pay attention to the name and now has a problem with the “Gilbert & Rose West Stand”.
Southend United will probably only say something to die-hard fans of English football in Germany. But on the island, the fifth division team is making a name for itself with an unfortunate to involuntarily funny story. The club has marketed the name of one of its stands to a local real estate agent – so far, so normal. But the company that adorns the name of the West Stand is called “Gilbert & Rose”. So that’s Gilbert & Rose West Stand. Many Germans will now ask themselves: yes, and?
The British, however, remember the serial killer Rose West, who with her husband Fred kidnapped, tortured, raped and murdered an unknown number of women over a period of 20 years. While Fred committed suicide before the trial began, Rose West was convicted of ten murders and has been serving a life sentence since 1995.
Grandstand name evokes serial killer
In this respect, the grandstand name is at least unfortunate – many people reacted accordingly on social media. One Southend fan, Paul Napper, wrote on Twitter: “Only Southend United can have a West Stand sponsor called Gilbert & Rose, which inevitably leads to the Gilbert & Rose West Stand.”
In Southend-on-Sea, a town with 182,000 inhabitants east of London, a solution is now being sought. Discuss a different word order with the sponsor, reports The Guardian. “They are a fantastic local estate agent and we look forward to working with them on this partnership which will include a range of community projects,” a club spokesman told the PA news agency.
New name, new tickets?
The renewed renaming could also entail some costs. Because the name is also emblazoned on the tickets and season tickets of the club. Should the club decide to reprint the cards, this will be reflected in the club’s treasury. And time is of the essence. The first home game of the new season is this Saturday.
Source:“The Guardians”, “BBC” to murderesses, “BBC” to famous British serial killers.