A famous pop star appearing at this year’s edition of Soccer Aid could have had a very different career having been part of the academy set-up at one Premier League club before venturing into music.
The charity event will return to Old Trafford on Sunday evening having been held at Stamford Bridge last year.
It will see the likes of Jill Scott, Gary Neville and Wayne Rooney compete against comedian Paddy McGuinness and Olympic gold-winning medalist Mo Farah in front of thousands of fans at the Theatre of Dreams.
Another celebrity set to be involved could help take the game away from England’s legends side thanks to a stint at Aston Villa’s academy.
He also played for the likes of Luton Town, Northampton Town and Stevenage after being released by the Villains.
The singer is also known to be a huge football fan – with reports suggesting that he is a fan of Villa’s Midlands rivals Coventry City.
A famous pop star is appearing at Soccer Aid this year for the third time in a row
He could have had a very different career thanks to his talents on a football pitch
Tom Grennan has found huge success since releasing his track All Goes Wrong with renowned duo Chase & Status in 2016.
His first album, Lighting Matches, was a top five hit in the UK and saw him make huge waves in the world of music.
However, it could have all turned out very differently for the man from Bedford had he instead taken up football.
Playing academy football until the age of 17 and being born just three months before Manchester City star Jack Grealish, there was a point when he even considered moving to the United States in an attempt to make the grade as a pro.
Speaking to Champions Journal in 2022, in an interview that also saw him express a love for Manchester United, he said: ‘I was going to go to America because I got offered a scholarship to do a college course there and play football.
‘But to be honest, I couldn’t pass the SATs. And I was just like, ‘You know what? It wasn’t meant to be.’
He recounted how he then started to have serious thoughts about changing paths to music after being encouraged to do by friends.
Grennan added: ‘I stopped playing football and was just mucking around with friends, starting to go to house parties and stuff like that.
Tom Grennan was previously on the books at Aston Villa and played academy-level football up to the age of 17
‘My mate had a karaoke machine, so one time I jumped on and people were like, ‘What? You can kind of sing…’
‘Then some of the music boys at school needed a singer for their band. I didn’t know if I fancied it at first – but I ended up doing it and loved it.
‘Then I moved to London, taught myself how to play guitar, wrote some songs and just caught the bug. I just ran with it.’
Grennan is no stranger to Soccer Aid either, having played in the annual charity match for the past two years in a row.
In the 2024 match at Stamford Bridge, he played on the right-hand side of midfield as England cruised to a 6-3 victory thanks to two goals from former Arsenal star Jack Wilshere along with a strike from Joe Cole.
He also played on the left wing in the year prior as the Three Lions fell to a 4-2 defeat.
This year, Grennan will be hoping to go one better and etch his name on the scoresheet as he seeks to show everyone that he could have mixed with the Premier League on the pitch and not just in the DJ booth.
