The Funniest Football April Fool's Pranks

Let’s recount the funniest April Fool’s pranks in the history of the Premier League.

Check out our other interesting stories: 

• The 7 Best Football Memes to Brighten Up Your Day
• 4 Funny Moments in Football History: Relive the Laughter with EXO Tickets
• The 6 Most Epic Goal Celebrations in Football History
•  6 of Football's Funniest Faux Pas: When Professionals Get It Wrong
• Top 10 Unforgettable Moments in Premier League Football History: Relive the Magic with EXO Tickets
• Another 10 Unforgettable Moments in Football History: Relive the Magic with EXO Tickets

April Fool’s prank and the top-flight go like apples in a pie; they just match. Pranks and tricks go all out during the first of April, so let’s check out the funniest April Fool’s jokes starting with…

Manchester City Gets Relegated and Stripped

A lot of fans were shocked on the first morning of this month when news circulated that City were found guilty by the English courts of (not just 115, but) 130 charges. 

Everyone in the football world has been tuning in to this news, but the bombshell blinded everyone when reports on Reddit claimed that City was being relegated from Premier League, and all their trophies won since the start of the period they were accused of not reporting their financial returns — 2013 — were being given to the second place of those leagues.

The report read:

“Reports are coming out that Manchester City have been expelled from the Premier League and stripped of trophies won after being found guilty of breaking financial fair play (FFP) rules over a fourteen-year period, from 2009 to 2023. This news was originally broken by Sam Lee of The Athletic shortly after the Premier League announced a press conference for 12 noon (BST) today.

The Premier League originally charged City in 2023, its press release detailed alleged rules breaches that added up to 115 in number, but it was believed that the actual number was 130. During the period in question, Man City, who denied all the charges against them, domestically won seven Premier Leagues, three FA Cups, six EFL Cups and four FA Community Shields. The Premier League's Financial Fair Play rules are designed to ensure clubs pretty much spend what they earn. You can potentially get around this by inflating how much you're earning or hiding how much you are spending. In the PSR (Profitability and Sustainability Rules) and FFP era, artificially increasing your revenue could, in theory, allow a club to spend more on transfers and wages.

According to the Premier League, Man City broke the rules over fourteen seasons by allegedly failing to provide accurate financial information. Among the charges against City were that they didn't fully disclose the financial remunerations that were made to one of their managers over a four-year period. The suggestion is that there was a secret contract so one of the managers was getting paid much more than officially stated. The Premier League also alleged Manchester City did not comply with UEFA's FFP rules over a five-year period.

The 12-week hearing was held in front of a three-person independent commission at the International Dispute Resolution Centre in London from 16 September to 6 December 2024. Now with the Premier League chief executive, Richard Masters, calling a press conference for today, reports are saying Man City have been found guilty.

Multiple news agencies are reporting Man City have been found guilty and expelled out the Premier League, have been stripped of the trophies won in the aforementioned period, and opponent clubs retrospectively awarded the stripped honours.

The biggest beneficiaries of this ruling are Liverpool and Manchester United with five new honours to their names, each including three Premier League titles. Arsenal have also been awarded two honours, one Premier League and one EFL Cup. The full list of clubs that have benefitted from the ruling are; Arsenal, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester United, Stoke City, Sunderland, Tottenham Hotspur and Watford.

Man City still hold the 2023/24 Premier League title, after this ruling the Premier League are expected to launch a new case into City's accounting. Arsenal fans will of course look on in interest to this.”

Their 7 Premier League trophies, all their FA Cups, Community Shields, Carabao Cups, and Champions Leagues were also reportedly being given away to their rivals.

However, the nightmare (or rather, dream for other fans) was quickly shattered as it was in fact an elaborate April Fool’s joke.

Arsenal’s “Dogs Day” (2016) – When the Emirates Went to the Dogs

On 1 April 2016, Arsenal announced they were rebranding their iconic Emirates Stadium as the Emirates Canine Arena for the 2016/17 season. The club claimed they’d installed “state-of-the-art paw-friendly turf” and even released a mocked-up video of dogs playing on the hallowed pitch. The press release solemnly declared: “Season tickets for dogs will cost just £50—humans must be accompanied by a pet.”

Fans lost it. Some were outraged (“Disrespecting Bergkamp’s turf!”), Others immediately photoshopped their Labradors in Arsenal scarves. The club milked it for hours before ‘fessing up, proving that even in a trophy drought, their trolling game was elite.

2. Man City’s “Pigeon Problem Solved” (2019) – Pep’s Feathered Pitch Invaders

In 2019, Man City “revealed” they’d hired a Chief Pigeon Officer (CPO) to deal with the Etihad’s infamous flock of pitch-invading birds. The job description included “using laser pointers to distract pigeons during Sterling’s dribbles” and “training falcons to patrol the stadium in City-branded capes.” They even photoshopped a pigeon into Pep Guardiola’s tactical whiteboard session.

Fans immediately started nominating ex-players for the role (“Mangala’s finally found his level!”). Local bird charities got in on the joke, offering CV tips for aspiring CPOs. City’s social media team—already kings of deadpan—let the chaos simmer before dropping the mic: “No pigeons were consulted in the making of this gag.”

April Fools’ Day is the one time clubs can treat football’s sanctity with the seriousness of a Harry Maguire stepover. And honestly? We’re here for it.

Got a prank idea for EXO Tickets next year? Slide into our DMs. No promises we won’t “accidentally” list tickets to Mars.