Peckham Town FC says it will ‘absolutely not’ be renaming its home ground after Derek Trotter, despite fans’ reaction to an April Fools’ joke.
The tweet, posted by the football club on April 1, read: “BREAKING NEWS. We are pleased to announce that from the start of the 2024/25 season, we will be changing the name of the Menace Arena to The Derek Trotter Community Stadium.”
The name is of course a reference to the adored character Derek Trotter in the Peckham-based sitcom, Only Fools and Horses.
Although fans knew what day it was, the tweet garnered thousands of views, with people expressing their support for the proposition. One Twitter user replied: “This but unironically please.”
Another wrote: “Again, another great idea. April Fools’ Day, sadly.”
Dave Webster at Peckham Town, who posted the gag, said he wasn’t expecting the reaction it got.
He told us: “I thought a few people would see it and laugh but I was surprised at the reaction – it got quite a lot of views.”
Given the positive reaction, we asked if they would consider changing the name.
“Absolutely not,” Dave commented.
“We like our Menace Arena – it has a lot of history behind it.”
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He explained: “I think it was not long after the club started out – we played a game that people weren’t expecting us to win – being a new team.
“But we won it.
“Someone overheard a parent saying, ‘That lot are a right menace,’ and it just stuck.”
“It won’t change unless they get a new stadium when they move up to the Premier League,” Dave added.
