Tom Hanks - Football Hooligan?

Amazing but maybe true! Tom Hanks likes getting involved at football? I'm not saying I believe it, but why would any reputable press company (Re*ters) go for the following?

January 9, 2008 -- Updated 2113 GMT (0513 HKT)
The truth behind Oscar winner Tom Hanks surprise pledge of allegiance to English soccer club Aston Villa, turns out stranger than any seasoned Hanks fan could ever imagine.

The 51 Year old Oscar winner paraded in regalia of the Birmingham outfit at the premier for his latest offering Charlie Wilsons war, in London ,Wednesday. Asked by assembled reporters for an explanation, he indicated that the Villa’s prowess on the soccer field was what attracted him to be a fan. Now, in an astonishing interview, his publicity assistant Juliette Ohala has hinted that the reason Hanks is being tempted to defect from his beloved Oakland Raiders, may be a little more sinister.

It seems that while Hanks was making his Oscar nominated 2002 blockbuster ‘Catch me if you Can’, his security detail included one Steven Hughes, a 41 year old Englishman. Hughes left the UK in 1997 after being convicted of committing violence at soccer stadiums in England and being a member of a banned hooligan outfit known as the ‘Villa Youth’.

Hanks was already aware of the English hooligan scene through his close friend Samuel L Jackson, who ran with a crew called the Liverpool Urchins while making 51st State in the UK in 2000. Jackson often describes his time in Liverpool as ‘the most alive I’ve ever felt’. He’s well known on the Hollywood party circuit for waxing lyrically about the ‘honour and comradeship’ he felt while he was an honory member of the Urchins.

At a press briefing in New York, Friday, Ohala seemed unaware of the bad feeling generated by soccer hooligans in England and Europe. She told over 40 showbiz journalists that, through his friendship with Hughes, Hanks has spent time with the Villa Youth gang in recent weeks and was on the fringes of an ‘off’ (fight) when the side played English champions Manchester United two weeks prior. “ This is not gang violence as we know it in the US”, explained Ohala. “This is fighting your equals without weapons, and without protection from the law. Tom finds it a totally primal experience. Its just so out there for him”.

She went onto say that Hanks hopes to link up with his new friends again later this year and has already been buying designer Italian casualwear, much favoured by the Villa crew. “This is a big thing for Tom”, said Ohala. “He’s achieved so much, but feels that modern life removes so much of the risk our ancestors faced daily, that we need to put ourselves back into that environment in order to reconnect with our true selves. The next time he goes to the UK, he’ll be right in there with the guys—he’s going to totally tear the place up”.

Whether the English police will share Hanks enthusiasm for his new pastime remains to be seen. Soccer hooliganism is seen as a serious offence in the Europe and can carry a jail sentence of up to 5 years.

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Tom Hanks - Football Hooligan?

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