Actor Jonathan Sayer bought the football club his grandfather played for – and now he wants to leave an impact on the community

Published

7 months ago

October 9, 2023

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Before Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney hit the headlines as superstar Hollywood football club owners – a home-grown actor was quietly toiling away at a non-league outfit in Greater Manchester.

In 2019, Jonathan Sayer, best known as part of the Olivier-winning comedy troupe Mischief, bought out Ashton United with his father, after the club put out an SOS tweet begging for help.

It tugged on Sayer’s heartstrings – not least because his grandfather played for Ashton (which is one of the oldest football grounds in the world) more than 400 times and so, in the office of a flooring shop, papers were signed to make him the co-owner.

In his new book, Nowhere To Run, he gives a comical warts-and-all peek behind the curtain of running a non-league club – seemingly a universe away from what’s going on in the Premier League and beyond.

Ashton United was steeped in some surprise debt, players were being paid by the match from the secretary’s bank account, and only one person had the key to the changing rooms – and he’d gone AWOL.

Sayer goes from hiding in the car park following early losses in his tenure, to screaming on the terraces in a cup final.

Speaking to Sky News from Los Angeles, ahead of opening his company’s production of Peter Pan Goes Wrong, Sayer said owning a club has changed his relationship with football.

“I think it’s fair to say I’ve seen how the sausage is made. It’s made in a terrifying manner – it’s a very expensive sausage.

“I think that there’s a point in the book where I talk about how the first competitive match started, and then 10 minutes later I just kind of realised that I hated it. I was just totally panic-stricken. I was just like, ‘Oh my God, what if we lose? What if we lose next week? What if we lose the weekend? What if we go down and really struggle to get out of the mindset for a while?’

“I think since then, thankfully, I’ve managed to come to terms with those emotions and the fact that football is up and down.”

He added not being able to deliver for his community “terrifies” him, and he wants to be a “custodian” on their behalf.

‘Gaggle’ of volunteers holds the club together

Sayer also talks highly of those volunteering at the club, with Sayer calling them the “lifeblood”.

In scenes unlikely to be seen at Old Trafford or the Emirates, volunteers offered to water the newly relaid pitch earlier this year after the heatwave threatened to dry it up, by sleeping out in tents and taking shifts to walk up and down the new turf watering it.

Sayer added some volunteers have been around for decades working on the turnstiles or even painting lines around the terraces, calling the team a “gaggle”, rather than the cliched army.

“I think that’s super, super special,” Sayer said.

“It connects you with something – like a goal that’s bigger than yourself and a purpose that’s larger than you, and you feel connected to something.”

‘There’s no winner if you’re not interested in the community’

And while Sayer has a deep family connection to the club and wants to root it in the community, he said some owners might see their clubs as assets – and that’s disappointing.

“There’s no winner, if you will, coming in to invest in a football club, and you’re not really interested in the community and the football club – you can have a bad time,” Sayer said.

“You’re going to just find after a couple of years, this is awful, this is expensive, there’s a lot of emotion knocking around.

“And what do you get out of that? I’m not sure. And the same for the supporters, the players – that’s just a negative situation.”

Sayer is keen to point out that giving back to the community and listening to the stakeholders is what should make people want to come in and invest in football clubs.

The actor said he can relate to what Reynolds and McElhenney are doing in Wrexham: “There’s a bit [in their documentary] where they’re talking about making good on their promise to the community and I think you do you feel that. I think that is totally true.

“You feel ultimately responsible for everyone’s happiness.”

‘Small things could make a huge difference to us’

Sayer said his club, and those in the Premier League are “chalk and cheese”, but added he would love to have more conversations about how they can support each other.

“It would be great for those worlds to connect, to just have formal connections in different ways. I think that would be really, really beneficial for so many different people,” he said.

He explained being able to link up with clubs higher up the pyramid would be really beneficial, adding he’d like to see the FA support the community side of clubs more, for instance on pitch maintenance – which for small clubs is a big deal.

“To clubs like ours, that would make a huge difference because it would mean that lots of our teams could play on the pitch, we’d have more of a sense of community, you wouldn’t have games postponed at the same rate… It genuinely puts clubs into financial peril,” he said.

He added even just being able to contact bigger local clubs and ask for advice would make a “tremendous difference”.

Sky News has contacted the FA for comment.

Is Ryan Reynolds the Jonathan Sayer of Wrexham?

And on Reynolds and McElhenny – well, Sayer was there first.

But would he say Reynolds is the Jonathan Sayer of Wrexham?

“I think that if you said that to him, he’d say, ‘Who is Jonathan Sayer? What are you doing in my club? Get out!’

“I certainly don’t honestly think that I’d started a trend. I don’t think we’re the same people at all.”

He points out at one time, the two teams were only a league apart – and a good season for Ashton or a bad season for Wrexham could have seen them meeting up.

Sayer added: “I’m desperate to get a copy of the book in their hand because I think both of them would do a really good job at playing me in a movie, you know?

“Quite often people are saying, ‘oh, you know, Jonathan, that guy from Deadpool, you’ve got similar physiques’. So, you know – he could do the stunts.”

Nowhere To Run is out now.

Entertainment

P Diddy: Stars react to video showing rapper attacking Cassie Ventura in hotel hallway

Published

11 hours ago

May 20, 2024

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P Diddy: Stars react to video showing rapper attacking Cassie Ventura in hotel hallway

Stars have hit out at rapper P Diddy following the release of CCTV footage showing him attacking singer Cassie Ventura in a hotel hallway in 2016.

Warning: This story includes images readers may find distressing

The video, which was obtained by CNN, was shot on 5 March eight years ago and shows the 54-year-old – whose real name is Sean Combs – shirtless and wearing just a white towel and brightly coloured socks, punching and kicking Ventura.

The R&B singer, whose legal name is Cassandra Ventura, was his protege and girlfriend at the time.

The footage also shows Combs shoving and dragging her across the floor, as well as throwing a glass vase in her direction.

It closely resembles the description of an incident at the now-closed InterContinental Hotel in Los Angeles described in a lawsuit filed by Cassie last year.

Commenting on the video on X, formerly known as Twitter, actress Emily Ratajkowski, wrote: “Monster”.

Fellow rapper 50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, shared the video, writing sarcastically: “Now I’m sure Puffy didn’t do it, he is innocent this proves nothing! This is what his lawyers are gonna say, God help us all.”

Jackson also re-posted a screenshot of a statement shared by Combs in December last year, denying allegations against him and accusing those making them of “looking for a quick payday”.

50 Cent wrote: “The lie detector test has determined this was a lie…”

He also shared a statement from LA police which called the footage “extremely disturbing and difficult to watch,” but explained that it happened too long ago to be prosecuted.

California law has a one-year statute of limitations for assault.

The husband of Ventura, Alex Fine, shared a lengthy statement on Instagram titled “Letter to women and children,” calling out men who perpetrate violence against women.

‘Men who hurt women hate women’

He wrote: “Men who hit women aren’t men. Men who enable it and protect those people aren’t men…

“Hold the women in your life with the utmost regard. Men who hurt women hate women.”

The personal trainer also shared the number of a domestic abuse helpline, urging those who need help to call.

Meanwhile, lawyers representing Ventura branded Combs’s apology “pathetic,” after he shared a short video on social media on Sunday, saying he was “truly sorry,” and was “disgusted” by his own behaviour.

‘Disingenuous words’

Meredith Firetog, who is a partner at Wigdor LLP, said in a statement: “Combs’ most recent statement is more about himself than the many people he has hurt.

“When Cassie and multiple other women came forward, he denied everything and suggested that his victims were looking for a payday.

“That he was only compelled to ‘apologize’ once his repeated denials were proven false shows his pathetic desperation, and no one will be swayed by his disingenuous words.”

‘Leave god and mercy out of this’

US singer and reality star Aubrey O’Day, who previously worked with Combs, also hit out at Combs’s apology video, writing on X: “Diddy did not apologize to Cassie. He apologized to the world for seeing what he did… Leave god and mercy out of this, they aren’t present here, and you know it.”

It is the first time Combs has responded directly to allegations of physical and sexual violence levelled at him in recent months.

Multiple claims

In March, his homes in Los Angeles and Miami were raided by Homeland Security as part of an ongoing sex trafficking investigation by federal authorities in New York.

In April, Combs was named in a lawsuit that alleges his son sexually assaulted a woman working on a yacht chartered by his father.

Ventura, who began dating Combs a few years after meeting him in 2005, and split with him in 2019, sued him in November, alleging she was trafficked, raped, plied with drugs and beaten by Combs over a 10-year period.

The lawsuit claimed he forced her to have sex with male prostitutes while he filmed them. The case was settled the day after it was filed.

Combs has previously denied the allegations in the lawsuits and his lawyers have said he denies any wrongdoing.

Entertainment

Sienna Miller walks the Cannes red carpet with daughter Marlowe

Published

12 hours ago

May 20, 2024

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Sienna Miller walks the Cannes red carpet with daughter Marlowe

Sienna Miller has walked the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival with her daughter Marlowe Ottoline Layng Sturridge.

The 42-year-old actress, who was born in the US but brought up in the UK, has been promoting her new film Horizon: An American Saga, directed by Kevin Costner.

Miller – who will appear in this film and its next instalment – plays East Coast settler Frances Kittredge, who moves to the Horizon settlement with her husband and two children.

Miller wore a pale blue floor-length gown, while 12-year-old Marlowe wore a white dress with a large pale pink bow around the waist for her red carpet debut.

Miller gave birth to Marlowe, whose father is The Sandman star Tom Sturridge, 38, in 2012.

She had a second daughter earlier this year with The Crown actor Oli Green, who also attended the premiere.

Miller and Green, 27, met at a Halloween party thrown by a mutual friend and have since moved to London together.

Costner – who not only directs the film but also co-wrote and stars in it too – had plenty of family support on the red carpet.

The 69-year-old Hollywood star brought five of his seven children – Annie, 40, Cayden, 17, Grace, 13, Lily, 37, and Hayes, 15. The latter makes his screen acting debut in the movie.

Horizon: An American Saga spans four years of the Civil War, from 1861 to 1865, and is described by the studio behind it, Warner Bros, as an “ambitious cinematic adventure” telling the story of the United States of America “through the lens of families, friends and foes”.

Brace yourself for a three-hour epic – and more to come

The two-part western – of which this is the first chapter – received a 10-minute standing ovation when it premiered on Sunday.

Costner also says he has scripts ready for two further instalments in the story, which would extend the epic to four parts if commissioned.

The Yellowstone star, who first pitched a version of the movie back in 1988, has plenty at stake in the project, and personally financed around $100m for the film and its sequel.

He will be hoping to emulate the success of his 1990 directorial debut Dances With Wolves, which he also starred in and produced. The movie was a box office hit, winning multiple Oscars including best picture and best director.

Horizon: An American Saga runs for over three hours and will come to UK cinemas at the end of June.

It also features Avatar star Sam Worthington, Donnie Darko actress Jena Malone and Owen Wilson’s brother Luke Wilson.

Entertainment

GB News show with Rishi Sunak broke broadcasting rules, Ofcom finds

Published

15 hours ago

May 20, 2024

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GB News show with Rishi Sunak broke broadcasting rules, Ofcom finds

GB News could face punishment after a programme with Rishi Sunak broke broadcasting rules.

Regulator Ofcom said it was considering a “statutory sanction” after finding ‘People’s Forum: The Prime Minister’ breached impartiality guidelines.

GB News called it “an alarming development” that “strikes at the heart of democracy”.

The hour-long show, which aired on 12 February, saw members of the public put questions to the prime minister. However, it received 547 complaints.

Ofcom said in March that five other GB News programmes featuring politicians acting as presenters – including two hosted by Jacob Rees-Mogg – also broke impartiality rules.

The watchdog said the show featuring Mr Sunak was fine in principle, but “due weight” should have been given to an “appropriately wide range of significant views” other than the Tories’.

These should have happened during the programme itself or “in other clearly linked and timely programmes”.

It said Mr Sunak “had a mostly uncontested platform to promote the policies and performance of his Government in a period preceding a UK General Election”.

“We have therefore recorded a breach of rules 5.11 and 5.12 of the Broadcasting Code against GB News,” it added.

The channel was quick to hit back at the ruling and denied breaking the impartiality rules.

“The regulator’s threat to punish a news organisation with sanctions for enabling people to challenge their own prime minister strikes at the heart of democracy at a time when it could not be more vital,” it said.

“Our live programme gave an independently selected group of undecided voters the freedom to challenge the Prime Minister without interference,” added the channel.

It said neither producers nor the prime minister had seen the questions beforehand and Mr Sunak was kept “under constant pressure and covered a clearly diverse range of topics”.