Playing for Manchester United is a dream for many young footballers. However, one of the greatest players in history once refused to play for the Red Devils.
The history of football is full of anecdotes of movie or music stars who tried, one day, to enter the world of football, by various means. It is also the subject of many films, made by great directors. We can thus think of “Coup de tête”, by Jean-Jacques Annaud, or more recently “Looking for Eric”, by Ken Loach, which won the jury prize at Cannes with among the actors a certain Eric Cantona.
Well-known actors are also regularly found in the stands of stadiums. In France, each Paris Saint-Germain Champions League match is an opportunity to see historic supporters like Jamel Debbouze in the stands. One of Hollywood’s most famous actors, Tom Cruise, is a fan of Real Madrid and never misses an opportunity to admire Carlo Ancelotti’s players.
But for other actors, it was not just about playing footballers on screen or supporting a team, but also about signing professionally with a club when they were younger. For some, we are even talking about the biggest clubs in the world. For example, Manchester United tried to enlist the services of the most famous spy of the British crown, namely the immense Sean Connery.
The actor, who died in 2020 at the age of 90, was indeed a football enthusiast and far from clumsy on the pitch. Born in Edinburgh, he played for several years on Scottish pitches before being spotted by none other than Matt Busby, the coach with more than 1,000 matches on the Red Devils bench. The latter offered the future James Bond actor the sum of 25 pounds per week to join the Manchester United club.
But Connery decided to decline, explaining his decision to a Scottish magazine in 2005: “At the time I really wanted to take the offer because I loved football. But I realised that a top footballer could only be good enough until he was 30, and I was already 23. I decided to become an actor and it turned out to be one of my smartest moves.”
It is indeed difficult to prove wrong the Scot, who went on to play James Bond in the first six films of the saga, before starring in iconic films such as “Murder on the Orient Express” and “Indiana Jones”. He was also knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2000. And above all, as an actor, he starred until 2003 with a notable appearance in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Stephen Norrington. He was 73 years old!