RESOLVING THE LEDGER
This is one outlet's own report from Billboard — the article as it was filed. Other outlets are covering the same event; open the full story to compare every source side by side.
See the full story · 1 sourcesNot everybody wants to rule the world. Curt Smith would be happy with a stake in his beloved soccer team, Bath City FC.
The singer, songwriter and co-founder of Tears For Fears has contributed to a 50-strong investor group that is angling to buy the team, which currently plays in the Southern League Premier Division South.
The club’s board and supporters’ society have recommended the sale for about £6 million ($8.1 million), which should plug much-needed investment into the club.
Smith is now based in the United States but grew up in Bath, an historic town in Somerset, England, known for its Roman-built baths and for its short distance to several British icons, including Stonehenge, and the Eavis’ Worthy Farm in Pilton, the site of Glastonbury Festival.
“Here in Twerton, where I spent most of my youth, it is slightly under-served,” Smith tells the BBC . “For me it’s exciting we can do something for the community around here,” he continued.
The investor group is led by Andrew Stalbow, co-founder and CEO of a mobile entertainment company. Should the deal be approved and completed , Stalbow would become the club’s chairman.
“If I can lend my name and make people a bit more comfortable in investing and coming to the club, then I’ll do that,” Smith added. “At times you have to give back and this time I’m giving back to my home town.”
Smith, should the deal progress, would join a long list of musicians with British soccer connections. Elton John served as chairman and director of Watford FC, reporting pumping millions into the club from 1976 until 2002.
John’s “Merry Christmas” collaborator Ed Sheeran bought a 1% stake in his hometown team, Ipswich Town, and sponsors the club’s men’s and women’s team shirt jerseys. Snoop Dogg is an investor and minority shareholder in Welsh team Swansea City, while fellow hip-hop artist Stormzy is a part owner in AFC Croydon Athletic.
And Norman Cook (aka Fatboy Slim) supported his hometown Brighton & Hove Albion FC through tough times in the late 1990s and early 2000s, during which time his Brighton-based record label Skint Records serving as the team’s kit sponsor.
Few celebrities have turned around the fortunes of a club, and done with so many followers watching the process, quite like Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney have managed with Wrexham A.F.C., which has enjoyed three consecutive promotions, all of it captured for the series Welcome to Wrexham.
Away from the pitch, Smith and his bandmate Roland Orzabal ruled the charts and the airwaves in the mid-to-late 1980s as Tears For Fears, a stretch that included two No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” and “Shout,” both of which appeared on the double album Songs From The Big Chair , which sat atop the Billboard 200 for five weeks.
The duo’s last TFF studio album, The Tipping Point, came out in 2022, peaking at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 and hitting No. 1 on Billboard ‘s Top Album Sales and Top Alternative Albums charts.
AIPROPX is an independent multi-source news index — we track, compare, and connect coverage from across the web into one place you won't find anywhere else.