Rapper 50 Cent sponsors football team as Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney get new rival

50 Cent, famous for songs like Just a Little Bit and p.i.m.p., is the latest superstar to find his way into Welsh football, with the American rapper showing his support for an U14s girls team

It’s been 20 years since 50 cent was In Da Club, but the rapper has now opted to use his fame and acclaim to sponsor one – a girls Under-14s team in Wales.

AFC Rumney, a community football club in Cardiff, has found itself unexpectedly thrust into the spotlight after its U14s girl side became the subject of sponsorship from none other than American rapper and producer 50 Cent.

The Welsh girls side is set to wear kits emblazoned with the superstar’s name and hip-hop collaborators G-Unit – an East Coast American hip-hop group which included 50 Cent (real name Curtis James Jackson III) and long-time friends Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks – next week in their first away match of the season.

The squad will also have tracksuits sponsored by the rapper and his collaborators. It is a remarkable series of events that speaks to the value of connections and the fact you can, if you ask nicely, get a dollar out of 50 Cent.

According to BBC, one of the players’ fathers worked with 50 Cent on a recent tour and was encouraged by other team parents to ask the more obvious of questions: Could the rapper possibly offer some sponsorship?

“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,” explained manager Richie Brown, 37.

“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.” Welsh football is no novice to unexpected whims of fame descending upon it.

Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have created an unrivalled global juggernaut with their takeover of Wrexham AFC. And while AFC Rumney will not face Paul Mullin and Co, Reynolds and McElhenney have seemingly found themselv

Brown added: “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.”

AFC Rumney, a community football club in Cardiff, has found itself unexpectedly thrust into the spotlight

The rapper, actor, television producer and businessman hails from Queens, New York. Discovered by fellow rapper Eminem, 50 Cent shot to fame in 2003 with his club anthem In Da Club. The mid-noughties became nothing short of a stomping ground for the rapper with memorable hits like Candy Shop and Hate It or Love it dominating airwaves and nightlife.

The New Yorker’s rap career has since evolved into film and television shows, including starring in and produced the crime drama Power. Despite the generational gap between 50 Cent’s arguable prime and the team he has opted to sponsor, Brown insists the players are ‘buzzing’ with the sponsorship.

Yet, perhaps none more than the parents of the girls. “I’m sure more of [the parents] 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,” Brown said.

“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 to support us to be able to get better things.”