Swansea City’s Snoop Dogg party ended with a bang on Tuesday night as Liam Cullen’s stoppage-time winner snatched a 1-1 draw over Preston in the Championship.
The American rap icon, who was attending his first match at the Swansea.com Stadium since taking over a minority stake in the club last year, was greeted by a carnival atmosphere before kick-off as excited supporters waved white towels and chanted his name.
It looked as though Preston were going to spoil the party when Daniel Jebbison fired the visitors ahead in the 26th minute, but a dramatic late goal from Cullen in the 95th minute rescued a point, delivering a fitting late twist to Swansea’s Hollywood evening.
After the match, Preston manager Paul Heckingbottom urged his team were not fazed by the rapper’s presence and joked: ‘The only thing I noticed different was the smell of weed in the tunnel before the game!’
Snoop Dogg arrived at the stadium dressed in white from head to toe, sporting a hefty range of Swansea-branded merchandise, including a shirt, trousers and jacket.
The music legend also wore sunglasses and carried a speaker as he entered the building, posing for photographs with star struck fans and even enjoying a kickabout ahead of kick-off.
Snoop Dogg brought a party atmosphere to Swansea as the club went mad for the rap icon
Excited Swansea supporters waved white towels and chanted his name ahead of kick-off
Prior to the match, Snoop Dogg, who has just arrived after fulfilling his official ‘Coach Snoop’ role at the Winter Olympics with Team USA, received a standing ovation from Swansea fans as he performed a lap of honour.
White towels showing Snoop Dogg’s face and the message ‘make some noise’ were left on every home seat at the stadium ahead of the match, and supporters enjoyed waving them wildly as he carried out his seven-minute procession.
The club had encouraged fans to be in their seats 20 minutes before kick-off to ‘join him in a pre-match towel twirl’ – a staple action in American sports.
Despite basking in the party atmosphere before kick-off and watching from the stands during most of the game, the hip hop icon missed the crucial late winner scored by Cullen, having already moved into the club lounge.
Footage shared to social media on Tuesday night showed Snoop Dogg enjoying refreshments and watching the remainder of the match on television screens before the stadium erupted.
Celebrating the goal, he could be heard saying ‘way to go buddy’ as he applauded Cullen for his last-gasp equaliser.
All supporters were given a special Snoop Dogg towel which they twirled before the game
Snoop, 54, became a minority owner of the Welsh club, whose board also includes American television host Martha Stewart and Croatia international Luka Modric, last July and his first visit to Swansea attracted a record crowd to a stadium opened in 2005.
The rapper, who has spent the last 24 hours performing a private gig in Llansamlet and visiting the club’s training ground, said at the time he was ‘proud’ to become an investor in Swansea due to them being ‘an underdog that bites back, just like me’.
