The recent success of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney at Wrexham has sparked interest in celebrity soccer club ownership.
Having steered the Red Dragons back to the Football League and into League One, the celebrity duo has breathed new life into the Welsh club since their takeover in 2020. This has led to speculation around other celebrities who might consider a similar move.
Acclaimed actor Tom Hanks is a devoted supporter of Premier League team Aston Villa. Last year, he was asked whether he would consider emulating Reynolds and McElhenney's investments - and Hanks confessed that buying a beloved team like Villa is not the same as investing in a National League team, as his Hollywood counterparts originally did with Wrexham.
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"I think Wrexham is a little bit different in the economic scale than Aston Villa," Hanks divulged in an interview with BBC. "That's a little above my pay grade."
While he may not be planning to take over the club any time soon, Hanks often pops up at Villa Park. He most recently attended during Villa's loss to Arsenal during the 2022-23 season. The Oscar-winning actor described on James Corden's Late Late Show how hearing Villa's name among the soccer scores inspired him to become a fan.
"And I thought 'Aston Villa', what a lovely vacation spot! Aston Villa... Its beautiful villa, you throw open the French doors, there's the beautiful port of Aston down below you," Hanks shared with Corden.
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"And it turns out it's in Birmingham. There's nothing wrong with that, nothing wrong with Birmingham. But it's not a town for the light-hearted, I tell you that. So I'm a dedicated Aston Villa fan since then. I've seen them play once, a friendly in the USA, so yes, I support them."
In related news, Aston Villa is embracing an American touch with the addition of former Philadelphia 76ers executive Chris Heck to their management team. According to the The Athletic, Heck, who left the Sixers in June 2022 after a nine-year tenure, has been appointed as part of Villa's senior management. Owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens have brought Heck on board as the club's President of Business Operations in a move to strengthen their managerial ranks.
Heck, a Villanova University alum, brings a wealth of experience from his seven years at the NBA league office as senior vice president of marketing partnerships and his time in soccer, having served as president of business operations for MLS's New York Red Bulls.