The iconic rapper surprised fans as the model for their 2025-26 home kit recently, as reported by BBC Sport.

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Since then, it’s been announced that Snoop has joined the club’s ownership group. In a statement on A.F.C’s official website, Snoop wrote: ““My love of football is well known, but it feels special to me that I make my move into club ownership with Swansea City.”

“The story of the club and the area really struck a chord with me. This is a proud, working class city and club. An underdog that bites back, just like me.”

“I’m proud to be part of Swansea City. I am going to do all I can to help the club, and I look forward to getting to know all my YJBS.”

Tom Gorringe, Swansea City chief executive, continued: “It is very exciting for us as a football club to formally welcome Snoop Dogg as a co-owner and investor into Swansea City.

 

 

 

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“His enjoyment and love of football is well documented, and he has often spoken of a desire to get more involved in the sport. We are delighted he believes that being part of Swansea City is the right way to realise that ambition.

“Dogg is passionate about this project and helping us continue to raise the profile of the club to as wide an audience as possible.”

This isn’t Snoop’s first venture into the business of sports. He worked as a correspondent for NBC and a symbol for Team USA at last year’s Olympics, making appearances at events and even carrying the Olympic torch.

The rapper/businessman has also had close involvement in American football. His Snoop Youth Football League was born in 2005, giving kids aged 5-13 opportunities with football and cheerleading in Los Angeles. Since its establishment, the league has put over 50 players in the NFL.

As far as football/soccer goes, Snoop has said that he’s a longtime fan of Celtic F.C., and that he wishes to buy shares in them. He’s also developed a unique tradition for his EU performances – for many of his European concerts, he’ll wear the football shirt for the team of the city he’s playing in. You can view a gallery of his many match kits here.

As part of his new role, the former Take That singer has written and recorded a new track for the upcoming FIFA Men’s Club World Cup, named ‘Desire’. The track will be played ahead of all tournament matches as the teams walk out onto the pitch. The song was written with the help of Karl Brazil, Erik Jan Grob and Owen Parker, with Grammy Award-winning Italian singer Laura Pausini featuring on the vocals. It marks the first official anthem commissioned by FIFA, and will be featured in all FIFA tournaments, including the 2026 World Cup.

The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup kicks off at 1am UK time tomorrow, 15 June, with the song debuting alongside a music video, displayed on the jumbotron screens of Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium.

Speaking about his new ambassador role, Robbie Williams states in a press release: “Music and football bring people together like nothing else — each with their own universal language of connection, emotion, spirit and community. When those worlds come together, there’s nothing like it — and I’m beyond honoured to be the FIFA Music Ambassador. Football and music have both been part of my life for as long as I can remember, so this means a lot to me on a personal level.

“Football and music have always meant the world to me, and bringing them together on this kind of stage gives me goosebumps. I know I’ll get to perform this song at some of my favourite tournaments in the coming years, which fills me with excitement. It’s a real honour that Laura Pausini accepted my invitation to feature on the song – she’s an incredible artist with the perfect voice.

“I’ve grown up watching the walk-outs, the anthems, the drama – so writing and recording the official FIFA anthem is a real privilege. I wanted to create something that captures all of it — the passion, the nerves, the pride and the majesty of that feeling just before kick-off.”

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In a video shared to social media, FIFA President Gianni Infantino discusses the new track, describing it as: “Absolutely fantastic. Incredible, beautiful, it’s exactly what we were looking for.” He goes on to say that ‘Desire’ is “Our song. The world’s song. The football song,” adding that it will perfectly set the mood for the Club World Cup.

In the same video, Laura Pausini comments: “The track’s energy really captures the spirit of football, and I can’t wait for the world to hear the song during the opening match.”

Williams has worked with FIFA previously, though not without controversy. In 2018’s Men’s World Cup in Moscow, Russia, Robbie Williams stuck up his middle finger to the camera during his performance at the opening ceremony, causing U.S. broadcaster Fox to issue an apology. Currently, Robbie Williams is in the midst of his ‘Britpop’ tour, wrapping up the UK leg this evening in Bath’s Royal Crescent. ‘Britpop’ is due to release later this year.

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The FIFA Men’s Club World Cup will be available to watch on Channel 5 from midnight, and will open with Egypt’s Al Ahly facing local team Inter Miami.

Click here for more MXDWN coverage on Robbie Williams and his ‘Britpop’ tour.

The team’s manager Richie Brown has explained that a parent of one of the AFC Rumney players had worked with 50 Cent on a recent tour, and was urged by some other keen parents to “see if you can get some sponsorship out of him for us”.

Brown commented on the matter, “He said he would ask the question – worst case scenario was [50 Cent] would have just said no. 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 plan to debut their new kits next week for their first away game of the season. Richie Brown said the team are also “going to get a few photos taken and sent over to him, then hopefully he can give us a good luck video or something to acknowledge it all. We’re massively appreciative of everything he’s doing for us right now. We love the support.”

We feel absolutely over the moon that our u14s Girls have been sponsored by World Known Superstar Actor / Music Producer @50cent @gunitbrand

He has provided our girls with a brand new, top quality tracksuits & away kit which we look forward to wearing this season

Thank You pic.twitter.com/l957VejqJx

— Cardiff BluebellesFC (@CBluebellesFC) October 5, 2023

After being discovered by rapper Eminem, New York born 50 Cent shot to fame back in 2003 with his smash hit “In Da Club”. Additionally, G-Unit was an American Hip-Hop group that included 50 Cent, alongside Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks.

Due to the rapper’s mid-naughties fame, team manager Brown seems to think that despite the players being excited, the sponsorship is an even bigger hit with the parents. “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 its all down to him.”

Merky FC was inspired by the lack of leadership positions held by those with Black Heritage. The partnership currently “creates a multi-year career programme, and opportunities for those who do not currently have fair access and representation within the industry.”

Amidst the launch of their second season on the programme (beginning October 2023), Stormzy and Adidas have released a report that highlights the importance of allyship within the football industry.

In a recent report published by Merky FC, the partnership announced their expansion, as they increase the number of football industry positions they recruit for from 15 to 50. Both Stormzy and Adidas are calling on their allies to form part of a career programme, which will commence in January 2024.

#Merky FC is back, but this year, we’ve got to go bigger.

Share one of the 50 #MerkyFC roles with a friend now to change the game. https://t.co/pllMjqO5zv@adidasfootballpic.twitter.com/qXSodEy07V

— Stormzy (@stormzy) October 5, 2023

All roles will include placements with leading brands, that will offer work experience in an effort to change the game for Black and Black Heritage youth. The Merky FC partners offering placements in this season of the programme are:

Adidas
Arsenal FC
EA
Football Co (GOAL)
Fulham FC
Guild
Hill & Knowlton Strategies
Homeground
IMG
ITV
JOE
KSS
LADbible
Manchester United
#Merky FC
Scottish FA
SI Games
Sky Sports
Soccerbible
TEAM
The Midnight Club
Transferroom
Twelfth Man
Veo
Wasserman
Women In Football

According to the report, 56 per cent of young Black and mixed-Black heritage people aspire to work in the industry, yet only 6.7 per cent of senior roles in football are occupied by someone from this community, and this partnership aims to break through these barriers to entry and provide more representation within football.

A press release states “adidas and Stormzy understand that allyship alone cannot tackle the disparities within the industry, however by using the #Merky FC approach – referring candidates, mentorship programmes and establishing role models, believe this can be replicated across the industry to help boost representation. “

Those interested in registering their interest in the roles Merky FC are offering can do so by clicking here. The deadline for registering interest is October 19th.

Classic Football Shirts also said “We’re delighted to be helping Sea Girls give something back to their fans and local communities through football. There’s now a strong list of artists and bands sponsoring their favourite football teams, but this idea to sponsor local grassroots clubs along the tour route for the band shows how much they care about their fans and it gives everyone a chance to get involved. The first kit with AFC Muswell Hill has come out brilliantly and we’re already excited to see how all these teams get on in these shirts this season.” You can view how an alternative version of the kit will look below.

Male, female and LGBTQ+ communities will represent local league teams and pre-oders are also now available here for a special upcycled, Sea Girls-sponsored shirt for general purchase, with proceeds going to the Football Beyond Boarders (FBB)charity. You can view Sea Girls’ upcoming 2022 UK headline tour dates alongside special guest Lauran Hibberd below, due to high demand, extra dates have been added as well as a n additional special DJ set from TV and Radio presenter Abbie McCarthy, you can buy tickets here. In other sport related news for the band their latest single “Falling Apart” is also set to appear on popular football video game FIFA 23.
out now

Sea Girls 2023 UK Tour:

17/11/22 Rock City – Nottingham
18/11 O2 Academy – Birmingham
19/11 O2 Academy – Glasgow
20/11 The Empire – Middlesbrough
22/11 University Great Hall – Cardiff
23/11 O2 Guildhall – Southampton
24/11 The Foundry – Torquay
26/11 O2 Victoria Warehouse – Manchester
27/11 – Liverpool, O2 Academy – Liverpool
28/11 University Of Hull – Hull
01/12 Alexandra Palace – London

ANNOUNCEMENT

The one and only @JamesBayMusic is headlining @LoFootball this year and we can’t contain our excitement!

Don’t Let It Go and secure your table now!https://t.co/WVkBufHWZfpic.twitter.com/aTRXbpEyZc

— Legends of Football (@LoFootball) July 20, 2022

Nordoff Robbins use music therapists to help some of the most vulnerable and isolated people in our society, working with adults and young people suffering with life-limiting illness such as dementia, mental health issues and learning disabilities including autism and physical disability. Nordoff Robbins began back in 1958 and is the UK’s largest music therapy charity. It was first developed through the 17 year long collaboration of American musician Paul Nordoff and British musician Clive Robbins, who sought to devise a therapy for children with disabilities. The therapy involved immersing patients in music by both listening and learning how to play, and was grounded in the belief that everyone can respond to music no matter how ill or disabled they are. Click here for more information about the charity.

This year, the Brit award winning and Grammy nominated singer-songwriter James Bay will be headlining the event as Gareth Southgate is inducted into the Legends Of Football Hall Of Fame. James Bay recently secured a No.4 album in the UK’s Official Charts for his third record Leap, overtaking Paolo Nutini’s Last Night In The Bittersweet to grab the spot. He is one of Britain’s most successful international exports of the last decade, with his early single “Hold Back The River” going platinum in the United States and 3 times platinum here in the UK.

Speaking about headlining the event, Bay said: “I’m honoured to be headlining Legends of Football 2022. I have always been a huge football fan, Alan Shearer was my hero at the age of six and I’ve been an avid Newcastle supporter ever since, so it’s wonderful to be involved with Legends of Football this year to celebrate Gareth’s stellar career as a player and manager whilst supporting a brilliant charity like Nordoff Robbins.”

It’s likely that football is going to be on the minds of many at the moment, with England’s lionesses beating Spain last night in the 2022 women’s Euro’s tournament, and the World Cup fast approaching. So let’s hope there can be many more collaborations between music and football moving forward to help those in need.

As the game was drawing steadily to a 0-0 draw (thus seeing Atletico knocked out from the running), Savic appeared to direct a headbutt at the Man City winger Raheem Sterling, resulting in a ruck between the players and a yellow card issued to the guilty party.

It’s no secret that Gallagher is a devoted supporter of the blues and has often been vocal via social media in his support. In a Tweet that has since been deleted, he said; “Stefan Savic this is a threat if I come across you ya goofy looking C*** your dead MCFC.”

As of now Gallagher has retracted his harsh statement and looked to engage with the public more positively. Stating; “I’m really upset and annoyed at myself, I feel I’ve let all my fans down by my outlandish behaviour I’m a role model to GROWN UPS hope you can forgive me.”

Im really upset and annoyed at myself I feel I’ve let all my fans down by my outlandish behaviour I’m a role model to GROWN UPS hope you can forgive me LFUCKING x

— Liam Gallagher (@liamgallagher) April 15, 2022

Whilst it’s possible that the comments were made very much tongue-in-cheek in typical Gallagher fashion. His Fans have responded warmly to the former Oasis frontman taking the right approach to his behaviour.

One response suggested; “Never act when you are upset or angry, calm down and think, then you’ll be in the right frame of mind.” To which Gallagher responded; “Ok Thsnx for that advice I’m really gonna take that on board.”

Another interaction went on to say; “Will you keep the love train going?”  which prompted; “Yes I’ll give it my best shot even though it might come off the rails every now and again.”

Liam Gallagher is due to release his latest album C’mon You Know on the 27^th of May 2022 via Warner. Which has been previewed with the release of the singles such as “Everything’s Electric” and the album’s title track.

This summer will see LG show off his latest work in a host of headline shows this summer (with a show at Man City’s Etihad Stadium and a doubleheader at Knebworth). Tickets for these shows can be found here. The list of UK shows is down below:

UK Tour Dates:

01/06/2022- Etihad Stadium- Manchester, UK
03/06- Knebworth Park- Knebworth, UK
04/06- Knebworth Park, Knebworth UK
24/06- The Limelight, Belfast, UK

An array of football anthems found themselves in the Top 100 this week due to the EURO 2020 games, further escalated by the final on Sunday. But amid the anthems, Ed Sheeran’s 2021 single ‘Bad Habits’ has extended its top billing.

This week marks the second week at number one for the ‘Shape of You’ singer, ‘Bad Habits’ was teased on popular app TikTok in late June of this year where the singer debuted the single’s horror-esque look. Within the video, the artist also gave fans a glimpse into the aesthetic of the new single’s video. The single, released on 25th June 2021 through Asylum Records is the lead single off the 30-year-old singer’s upcoming fifth album. The track also marks the artist’s first solo release from a studio album in four years.

The artist took to his Instagram page to post an acoustic version of the hit single.

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The single has racked up an impressive sales count and has outsold its opening week, selling 103,000 chart sales including 10.9 million streams. The release outsold the six football anthems which entered the chart this week. Out of the newly introduced anthems, it is no surprise that ‘3 Lions’ by David Baddiel, The Lightning Seeds and Frank Skinner is the forerunner, climbing 18 spots to reach number 4.  Another popular football song that entered the charts this week, ‘Vindaloo’ by Fat Les came in at number 36, its highest position since 2010. The track was originally released in 1998 and was co-written by Alex James, bassist for Blur. Much like any other anthem, the track had a purpose, it was written and recorded for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The charts appeared to follow a theme this week as the pub classic ‘Sweet Caroline’ re-entered the charts at number 48, originally released in 1971 by Neil Diamond, the song has been adopted in recent years as an English classic.

Sheeran’s newest single also outsold Olivia Rodrigo’s hugely popular release ‘Good 4 U’ this week, which remains at number 2. Stealing the bronze this week is ‘Heartbreak Anthem’ by Swedish DJ Galantis, David Guetta and Little Mix. The collaboration is Little Mix’s first release since the single ‘Confetti’ on 30th April 2021, the newly made trio took part in this year’s record store day with a release of 2021 album ‘Confetti’ on Vinyl with a new decorated cover. Just below ‘3 Lions’ at number five is ‘I Wanna Be Your Slave’ by Maneskin, the Italian band famously won this year’s Eurovision Song Contest with the song ‘Zitti e Buoni’.

Unlike the 1990s a specific football anthem has not been written for this year’s games, although we have seen plenty of old-school favourites get their second chance in the charts. Perhaps ‘Bad Habits’ by Ed Sheeran is the unofficial anthem for the EURO game. However, this weekend’s game may provide a different answer, depending on the result we may see an anthem at number one next week.

The t-shirt is £19.99 and feature the bands logo from their April 2020 album – ‘Nothing is True and Everything is Possible’ – as well as the St Albans FC logo. The t-shirt is available for pre-order now and will be distributed on 19th March 2021. All funds will go to the aforementioned charities.

| Saints x Shikari. We’ve been working with @ENTERSHIKARI on this brilliant collaboration t-shirt!

All profits from sales will be split between @Stalbansdistfb and @SFoodbanks!

You can pre-order yours now by heading to https://t.co/LvkVTBVvZ4#SACFC #RightToFood https://t.co/fYpmoGgx7N

— St Albans City FC (@stalbanscityfc) February 23, 2021

This is not the first time the band has teamed up with St Albans FC to create and design football shirts. For the 2020/2021 football season, Enter Shikari have sponsored the tea, having their own logo on their hometown footy team. The bassist of the band, Chris Batten, said “Growing up I was passionate about two things: football and music. The reality is that sport and music go hand-in-hand when it comes to providing a positive outlet for young people, no matter what their background.”

Chairman of SACFC, Lawrence Levy, expressed his glee at the band and footballs teams collaboration saying, “Music and football have a long history of common personalities and with all 4 members of the band born and bred in St Albans and educated in local schools, we have a great platform for working together to improve outcomes for young people in the district.”

The popular British rock group have also been re-working their music video for ‘Warm Smiles Do Not Make You Welcome Here’. The video will incorporate a new green-screen live video for the track. Oleg Rooz, a friend of the band and visual collaborator based in Ukraine, was sent the individual video takes and told to ‘do whatever you like to it’.

The bands frontman, Rou Reynolds stated of the re-worked video, “It was nice to revisit this old track, recording it in front of green screens in our respective front rooms, and then giving the footage to our mate Oleg to create a psychedelic beast of a video for.” Watch below to see the end product.

The singer, a lifelong Rovers fan, has joined forces with the club’s former owner John Ryan to compile a takeover bid which would see the pair named as joint-chairmen of the club. It is believed that an agreement has already been reached but will not be signed until next week due to issues relating to Tomlinson’s image rights.

Tomlinson appeared for Doncaster’s reserve side earlier this year after being added to the club’s ranks at the start of this season as a publicity stunt. His appearance saw the crowd of middle-aged men depart to be replaced by screaming teenage girls – something which certainly displeased many Rovers fans. Nevertheless, the club are in need of investment after relegation from the Championship this season.

You can watch my personal favourite Louis Tomlinson moment here.