50 Cent is sponsoring an under-14s football team in Cardiff
50 Cent is the unexpected new sponsor for an under-14s football team in Cardiff, according to new reports.
The Welsh youth girls team AFC Rumney are now proudly flashing the rapper's name and collaborators G-Unit on their away kit for this season, and are said to be “buzzing” by the unlikely news.
Speaking to BBC News about the new partnership, the team's manager Richie Brown explained how the deal came about – revealing that one of the player’s fathers worked with the rapper on a recent tour, and was encouraged by some of the other parents to “see if you can get some sponsorship out of him for us”.
It turns out that 50 Cent agreed to the sponsorship. “He said he would ask the question – worst case scenario was [50 Cent] would have just said no,” continued Brown. “Thankfully he didn’t. He agreed to it. He sponsored our away kit first of all, and then we were a little bit cheeky. We asked for a little bit more, and he sponsored us again for our tracksuits.”
The team are expected to debut the new kit next week when they play their first away game of the season. Brown also added that the team would send over pictures to the rapper of them sporting the new strip, in hope of receiving a message of support.
“We’re massively appreciative of everything he’s doing for us right now. We love the support,” added Brown. “It’s huge for grassroots football teams to get people and businesses support us to be able to get better things.”
He also told BBC that the news seems to be more exciting for the parents than the players. “I’m sure more of them know who he is than the players because of their ages, but the buzz around the team and the whole club really is amazing and it’s all down to him.
“At first when you tell anybody they don’t believe it, they just say ‘no way, there’s no chance that’s going to happen, he’s too big of a superstar’.”
Brown hopes the new sponsor can help the team follow a similar route to success as fellow Welsh club AFC Wrexham, who were famously purchased by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
“I think Ryan Reynolds has got a bit of competition now,” he said. “I’m sure the community up in Wrexham is absolutely buzzing with what Ryan Reynolds has done, and hopefully 50 Cent can have that same kind of impact with us down here.”
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