Russell Crowe reveals that he was once ‘a phone call away’ from buying Leeds United Football Club

Transcript

00:00 How did you and Leeds United become a thing?

00:03 Well, because back in the early 70s, I'd finish sport in the morning and I'd come home and watch TV, you know, of a Saturday morning.

00:13 And we had three channels and the third channel was Match of the Day.

00:18 So, we'd watch Match of the Day every week and at the time, early 70s, Leeds have a very powerful side,

00:27 so that means they're coming up on TV quite regularly.

00:30 And my brother chose Liverpool and I chose Leeds and that's the way it is.

00:35 Do you own a piece of it?

00:37 Yeah, I bought a little bit recently.

00:40 Which bit do you own?

00:42 Seven or eight years ago, maybe ten years ago, which is where the TV thing comes from.

00:50 I just expressed that I felt that they should be doing a lot better, so I actually really did seriously pursue it.

00:58 The reason I don't talk about it so much is because every time I talk about it, certain types of Leeds fans then go,

01:04 "You're sort of trying to big up your own career by talking about our football club."

01:10 But I just sort of felt that they just needed a bit more focus.

01:17 I don't know if you know, but I own a rugby league team in Australia.

01:20 Very successful, congratulations.

01:22 So, at the time, I looked into it and it really came down, it was very close, it was really close.

01:29 It was like a phone call or two away from me doing it.

01:32 But then the reality of it sort of hit me.

01:34 What do you say of doing it, of buying it?

01:36 Of buying it, yeah.

01:37 But the reality of it hit me because I remembered what it was like in the first three to four years of running south

01:43 and how much time it took, and I started to calculate,

01:47 "I'm going to be in Leeds minimum six to seven months a year for the next four years."

01:53 And my family life, my kids, all of that stuff, the other responsibilities I have, and I just took a step back.

02:02 However, I still believed it was a really good idea.

02:05 Radioheadz, The Chris Moyle Show.