A Stockport pub that went viral for videos showing regulars "living their best life" on karaoke nights has changed its name to show support for the England team during the World Cup. The Chestergate pub has been renamed The Southgate in honour of England manager Gareth Southgate for the duration of the football tournament.
A huge sign bearing The Southgate name has been lifted into place above the regular The Chestergate sign at the pub. The traditional boozer is right in the heart of Stockport Town Centre on Mersey Square.
The sign includes images of the football manager in his signature three-piece suit, while the sign has also been adorned with festive fairy lights. The "O" in Southgate has also been filled in with the red and white colours of the England flag.
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Meanwhile staff at the pub are proudly wearing their England shirts to pull their pints, and they've even got a life-sized cutout of the England boss for fans to pose up with when they head in for a drink.
The pub first made the name change when England made the Euro 2020 final last summer. And it was deemed such a success with regulars that pub owners Steph Armstrong and Adam Kidd decided to do it again for the World Cup kicking off in Qatar with a new-improved Southgate sign.
World cup matches are being shown on a number of screens inside the pub. But regulars to the pub's now legendary karaoke nights on Tuesdays and Fridays have ensured that their fun continues even when England games are playing on those nights.
Karaoke continued on Friday night fro 2pm to 10pm when England met USA, and for Tuesday night's big game against Wales, karaoke will still continue for its allotted time from 2pm to 8pm.
Pub boss Steph said: "We will have the match on again on Tuesday, on Friday we continued with the karaoke whilst the game was on all of our screens - and at the top end of the pub kept the sound on for the football.
"We asked all of our customers what they wanted and found both is what they wanted, so we will do the same on Tuesday for the England v Wales game too."
The pub became famous around the world when videos of regulars having a good time posted on Facebook went viral - and have gone on to be seen by over 2mn people. A video entitled: "choose your own Tuesday" showed regulars including 84-year-old Molly dancing around the pub in a glittery frock while others belted out classic tunes on the karaoke.
Molly has also approved of the name change for the football - and has been pictured giving the Gareth Southgate cutout a hug outside the pub.
After the success of the Facebook videos, people from as far away as Los Angeles to Northern Ireland vowed to pay them a visit. The pub was bowled over by the reaction, and Steph said at the time: "We try and do live feeds and a bit of insight into what goes in the pub, and show everyone enjoying themselves.
"But we couldn't believe it when we saw this one had reached over a million people."
She said of the appeal of the pub: "There's quite a lot of regulars here, they're just a really lovely bunch. It's like a little community pub, they're all friends and there's a lovely atmosphere where everyone sings and dances and feels safe and happy."
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