50 Cent is now sponsoring an under-14s football team in Cardiff

NME

50 Cent is the new sponsor of an under-14s football club in Wales, according to new reports.

• READ MORE: Soundtrack Of My Life: 50 Cent

Based in Cardiff, the girl’s team AFC Rumney are now proudly flashing his name and collaborators G-Unit in their away kit, and are set to be “buzzing” by the news of their new sponsor.

As per a report by BBC News, manager Richie Brown explained how the unlikely deal was struck up – revealing that one of the player’s fathers worked with the rapper on a recent tour, and was asked by some of the other parents to “see if you can get some sponsorship out of him for us”.

“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 Welsh team are set to break out their new kits for the first time next week when they play their first away game of the season. They are also planning on trying to “get a few photos taken and sent over” to the rapper, in hopes that he may send a video of good luck in return.

“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 the outlet 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’.”

Towards the end of the discussion, Brown said that he hopes the new kits will inspire the players, and help them come back after “a bit of a slow start” so far, as well as making a nod to Ryan Reynolds, who purchased non-league club Wrexham, with It’s Always Sunny star Rob McElhenney. The purchase of the North Wales team also became the subject of a Disney+ docuseries, Welcome To Wrexham, which arrived on the streaming service in August.

“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.”

In other 50 Cent news, the rapper – whose real name is Curtis James Jackson III – expressed his relief that the Writers Guild of America (WGA) had decided to end the Writers’ Strike last month.

This came after reports on September 25 confirmed that both the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) and WGA worked out a three-year “Minimum Basic Agreement”  after four consecutive days of negotiations. This decision marked the end of the 146-day strike that halted Hollywood and the entertainment business since May.

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