Football Fans of the Music Industry, Exploring the 2025/26 Season (Part 1)
The 2025/26 EFL Championship season kicks off tonight, August 8, and with it comes the unveiling of the music industry football supporters for the clubs participating. The Music Week annual list, presented as part of the season's edition, highlights a multitude of music personalities supporting various clubs outside the English top flight.
Sheffield United, for instance, boasts the support of Ben Price, Ben Hartley, Connie Rose, and Sam Feeley. Meanwhile, Stockport County can count on Anna Derbyshire and Will Orchard, and Mansfield Town has Gary Playfoot in their corner. Stirling Albion is backed by Brian Regan, and Rochdale can rely on Hugh Morris.
Swansea City is represented by Kelly Kiley, while Leicester City has a diverse group of supporters including Dan Lee, Deborah Smith, Fraser T Smith, Jake Tasker, Martin Tibbetts, Rachel Young, Richard Ashton, Sam Kitchen, Sarah Thorneycroft, Will Downs, and Tom Labecki.
West Bromwich Albion is associated with Jeremy Allen and Paul Flower, and Ipswich Town is traveling to Birmingham City for the opening game, although no specific music industry supporters are named for the latter in the available sources.
Kilmarnock has Billy Kiltie and Luke Gregory on their side, Worcester City is backed by Lee Jackson, and Huddersfield Town is supported by Eve Boothroyd, Francine Gorman, and Liam James Ward. Luton Town's supporters include Barney Hunter, Emma Banks, John Earls, Kathleen Alder, Marc Sheinman, Mitch Page, Rob Stringer, and Will Downs.
Wigan Athletic is associated with Philip Moss, Worthing is supported by Bradley Stratton and Tom Dunne, and Tranmere Rovers has Christopher Torpey, Craig Pennington, Dave Owen, and Kenny Orr.
OL Reign's Rachel Scarsbrook, Southampton's Cal Cashin, Christian Northwood, David Sullivan, Ged Skelding, George Cochran, Mike Keegan, Niall Prescott, Oliver Gamston, Raoul Chatterjee, Will Stephenson, and Adam Velasco are just a few of the music industry figures supporting English clubs. Velasco, interestingly, is also associated with Yeovil Town.
Charlotte Claber supports Oldham Athletic, Chris Salmon and Joff Hall are associated with York City, and Salford City has Paddy Kinsella in their corner. Oxford is backed by Alan Day, and Wrexham is supported by James Merritt and Katherine Hogarth.
Sheffield Wednesday's supporters include Chris Dempsey, Greg Phillips, John Aizlewood, Rick Blaskey, Simon Pursehouse, and Tom Stabb. Southend United is supported by Davy Wales, George Shepherd, and Gregory Wells, while Middlesbrough is backed by Henry Carden, Joe Breton, Olly Lester, Paul Veitch, Richard Skilbeck, Simon Dixon, Tom Paul, and Will Richards.
Hull City is represented by Julian Palmer, Tom Churchill, and Will Featherby, and Witton Albion is associated with Dan Smith. Lincoln City has Joe Davies and Luke Morton, Northampton Town is backed by Brendan Walsh and Ewan Eyre, and Macclesfield Town is supported by Matt Woolliscroft.
Raith Rovers is associated with Martyn Young, Millwall's supporters include Alex Bean, Courtney Rosemeyer, Danielle Simmonett, Gary Howard, Greg Turner, Kim Astley-Cooper, Louis Lloyd-Gilchrist, Ollie Ebdon, and Pete Keeley. Salford City has Paddy Kinsella, and Oxford is backed by Alan Day.
Stevenage is associated with Stuart Dinsey, Norwich City has Ben Hogwood, Callum Connell, Ed Chalu, Ed Poston, Gary Bales, Henry Thomas, Charlie Brun, John Langford, Kate Etteridge, Matt Hanner, Pete Keeley, Sunny Winter, and Tim Bailey Kidd.
Some of the supporters listed are associated with record labels, music promotion companies, and music events. For example, Graeme Park is associated with Graeme Park Productions, James Bruce with Scottish Event Campus, and Sam Batista with Concord Label Group.
The list includes supporters of various clubs outside the English top flight, such as Aberdeen, AFC Wimbledon, Ajax, Aldershot Town, Ashton Athletic, Atletico Madrid, Ayr United, Barcelona, Barnet, Barnsley, Bath City, Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Borussia Dortmund, Boston United, Bradford City, Bristol City, Bristol Rovers, Bromley, Burton Albion, Cambridge United, Cardiff City, Celtic, Charlton Athletic, Chelsea WFC, Cheltenham Town, Chesterfield, Colchester United, Coventry City, Crewe Alexandra, Darlington, Derby County, Dorking Wanderers, Dulwich Hamlet, Dundee, Dundee United, Dunfermline, Exeter, Greenock Morton, Grimsby Town, Hartlepool, Hearts, and many more.
Lastly, the Shoot Music Week Fantasy League is still open for sign-ups, with the deadline being 6.30pm on August 15.
- Aside from their football pursuits, some music personalities are also involved in sports management, such as Kelly Kiley supporting Swansea City in both the music publishing field and as an artist manager.
- The entertainment industry extends beyond music, and sports management is another facet where industry figures like Tom Labecki, supporting Leicester City, can be found, demonstrating the crossover between sports and music.
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