They are fierce rivals on the field and local rivals Sydney FC and the Wanderers tried to outdo each other again when it came to April Fools’ Day pranks on Wednesday.
Both clubs came up with a couple of clever – and almost believable – stories which tricked some media and club supporters.
The Wanderers kicked things off with a story they were adding two additional stars to their jersey, to go with the one already their celebrating their historic AFC Champions League success last year.
The additional stars were to represent two other “major” milestones in the club’s history.
“The star on the left will be in celebration of our historic Premier’s Plate win in our inaugural season while the star on the right will symbolise our famous 2-1 win over Al-Jazeera in the International Petroleum Investments Company Championship in Abu Dhabi,” the story on the club’s website said.
They even got club CEO John Tsatsimas in on it, saying: “To have them now etched permanently on the club’s badge is a fitting tribute. It’s a shame we didn’t win the Craig Foster Cup in Lismore back in 2012 or we could have had four stars.”
Not to be outdone the Sky Blues came up with their own tongue-in-cheek yarn later on, putting a story online claiming Rhyan Grant had been fined $15,000 for forgetting his playing shirt as he prepared to come off the bench in last Sunday’s win over Wellington.
The story on the club’s website started out sounding serious enough, right up until Grant expressed his concern about how he would feed his cat.
“If being in the middle of a Premiers Plate battle or the fact it’s our final home game of the regular season wasn’t enough, then hopefully they’ll just come out to help me feed my cat, Barry,” Grant was quoted as saying.
While most recognized both stories for what they were – a bit of April Fools’ Day fun – some fans were fooled.
“You’re kidding right! Did these DF’s research the meaning behind adding a star to a club’s badge before making a decision like this.
Bring Lyall Gorman back,” – Bay 23 wrote on the Wanderers site.
OzGuillermo added: “Get your designs of wooden spoons in to feature in the front sponsor position for next season.”
