20 Celebrities You Didn’t Know Were Soccer Fans

Soccer Lists

Soccer fandom isn’t just for regular folks. There are a whole host of celebrities—including some of the biggest names in Hollywood—who follow the beautiful game and support a team. We’re not just talking about the celebs who send a “Go USA!” tweet once every four years here. The names on this list are people who’ve gone out of their way to connect with the team they follow, and we’ve got the photos to prove it.

1. Daniel Craig


Team: Liverpool F.C.
Proof Sir Alex Ferguson met Craig’s mother on a plane and offered her son tickets to Old Trafford anytime. She quickly turned him down, saying Daniel would never go to a United game.

2. Tom Hanks


Team: Aston Villa F.C.
Proof Hank’s decision to become a Villain was primarily due to the club’s name, with the actor claiming that Aston Villa sounded “pleasant.” He has since been featured on Aston Villa TV and was a guest when the club played a friendly against Portland Timbers.

3. Catherine Zeta-Jones

Team: Swansea City A.F.C.
Proof Following Swansea’s 2013 League Cup triumph, Zeta-Jones and husband Michael Douglas were caught oozing praise for her hometown club’s shiny new trophy while at the Oscars.

4. Will Ferrell


Team: Chelsea F.C.
Proof When Chelsea took on Inter Milan in the 2009 World Football Challenge, Ferrell predicted an 11-0 scoreline for the Blues.

Watch Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis joking around with some of the Chelsea players:

5. Kevin Garnett


Team: Chelsea F.C.
Proof Garnett met Chelsea legend Didier Drogba in 2007 and the two have become close friends. On his first visit to the club, Garnett was awarded a personalized jersey and got to pal around with a few of the players.

Safe to say he was pretty happy:

6. Dominic Monaghan


Team: Manchester United F.C.
Proof Dominic and his brother are both Red Devils, while their dad supports Manchester City. Derby day must be an interesting affair in the Monaghan family.

Dominic Mongahan is also a Paste Soccer columnist, writing regular features about Manchester United.

7. Sir Elton John


Team: Watford F.C.
Proof Sir Elton John became chairman and director (and pocketbook) of the club in 1976 with a goal of bringing Watford to the top division. At the end of last year, the club named a stand after the musician, who claimed it was “one of the greatest days of my life”.

8. Gerard Butler


Team: Celtic F.C.
Proof: Butler was so worked up over the Celtic Champions League match against Barcelona in 2012, he had to leave his business dinner in Dubai to watch the game. He claims to have been in tears by the end of the match (he wasn’t the only one, see #16).

9. Hugh Grant


Team: Fulham F.C.
Proof: Before he was on the big screen, he was a groundskeeper at Craven Cottage. Grant has made numerous visits to watch his team play, including the agonizing defeat to Atletico Madrid in the 2010 Europa League Final.

10. James McAvoy


Team: Celtic F.C.
Proof: He won his role in the movie The Last Station largely as a result of a conversation revolving around the movie producer’s love of Manchester United and the actor’s love of Celtic. McAvoy is also on the record stating he misses the “magic” the Scottish Premier League has lacked in Rangers’ absence.

11. Keira Knightley


Team: West Ham United F.C.
Proof: Thanks to her nomadic lifestyle, she went years without owning a television but eventually broke down because “it was getting ridiculous watching football on the laptop.”

12. Kevin Costner

Team: Arsenal F.C.
Proof: Costner got permission to make his character in the movie Criminal an Arsenal fan, and watched the North London club play for the first time 25 years ago.

13. Kobe Bryant


Team: F.C. Barcelona
Proof: The Los Angeles Lakers legend joined the club for a promotional event in 2006 where he befriended Ronaldinho. He has since visited the club on several occasions and even wore a Barcelona jersey while on the cover of the ESPN magazine.

Oh, and Kobe and Messi both like ice cream:

14. Samuel L. Jackson

Team: Liverpool F.C.
Proof: Mesut Ozil tweeted a picture of Jackson, claiming the actor was an Arsenal supporter. The tweet was swiftly deleted and replaced with this:

15. Rod Stewart


Team: Celtic F.C
Proof: Gerard Butler is not the only emotional celebrity when it comes to Celtic: Rod Stewart also broke down in tears when his club beat Barcelona in 2012. The iconic singer even mentions his love for Celtic in his song “You’re in my Heart”.

16. Russell Brand


Team: West Ham United F.C.
Proof: Not only does Russell Brand have a West Ham tattoo, his ex-wife (Katy Perry) wore a West Ham United themed “outfit” for him at the 2009 EMAs.


Oh, and if you need further proof, here’s Brand club manager Sam Allardyce after West Ham defeated Manchester City 2-1 earlier this season.

17. Sylvester Stallone


Team: Everton F.C.
Proof: Alongside fellow Evertonian Tony Bellew, Stallone used the crowd at an Everton game to record sounds for his upcoming boxing movie Creed. His first exposure to the club was a 1-1 draw with Reading in 2007, and the actor now makes regular cameos in stands of Goodison Park.

18. Elijah Wood

Team: West Ham United F.C.
Proof: Wood was originally courted by Dominic Monaghan to become a Manchester United fan, but after watching West Ham for the first time he was quoted saying, “F*cking hell, that’s so much better.” Wood’s affiliation with West Ham has also had some negative implications. Enner Valencia was reportedly concerned about joining the club after watching Wood’s film Green Street Hooligans.

19. Steve Nash


Team: Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Proof: The minority owner of Vancouver Whitecaps is a very capable soccer player and has trained with Spurs during the NBA offseason. Both his father and grandfather grew up in Tottenham, and his mother (who worked in the airlines) was able to score cheap tickets to visit every summer.

20. Gordon Ramsay


Team: Rangers F.C.
Proof: Ramsay played in several non-league matches for Rangers as a trialist before suffering a substantial knee injury that brought his footballing career to a halt.

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