In da Club! American rapper 50 Cent to rival Wrexham's Ryan Reynolds & Rob McElhenney in Welsh football - by sponsoring Under-14 girls' team

Hollywood actors Reynolds and McElhenney have been calling the shots at StoK Racecourse since completing a stunning takeover in the spring of 2021. They have made a remarkable impact in North Wales – on and off the field – with promotion back to the Football League bankrolled in 2022-23.

They now have a rival for showbiz headlines in Wales, with American rapper 50 Cent seeing his name, and that of hip-hop collaborators G-Unit, emblazoned on the away kit of AFC Rumney's Under-14 girls' team. Manager Richie Brown has told the BBC of how that unlikely partnership came about – with one of the players’ father having worked with 50 Cent on his recent tour: "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."

Brown added: "We're 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. The buzz around the team and the whole club really is amazing and its 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'. It's huge for grassroots football teams to get people and businesses support us to be able to get better things."

50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, will now be an avid follower of AFC Rumney, with the two superstars at Wrexham being given a run for their money. Brown went on to say: "I think Ryan Reynolds has got a bit of competition now. 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."