Snoop Dogg welcomed by excited football fans on first Swansea visit

By Clara Margotin, Press Association

Swansea City football club co-owner Snoop Dogg was greeted with twirling towels and a guard of honour on his first visit to the Welsh club.

The American rapper, who is a minority owner of the Sky Bet Championship club alongside American television host Martha Stewart and Croatia international Luka Modric, made his first appearance at the Swansea.com Stadium for Tuesday’s clash with Preston North End.

Earlier in the day, he had requested a sold-out crowd to be in their seats ahead of kick-off to twirl the complimentary towels – a staple action for supporters in American sport.

A post on Swansea’s official X account read: “@SnoopDogg is asking the Jack Army to join him in a pre-match towel twirl this evening.

“Fans are encouraged to be in their seats 20 minutes before kick-off, and to twirl the towels as Snoop walks on the pitch.”

The post was accompanied by a short video of the 54-year-old showing how he would like fans to do it.

The crowd had obviously watched the video as Snoop took to the field through a guard of honour made up of 20 youngsters representing Wales at the 2026 Street Child World Cup in North America.

Dressed in the club’s all-white colours, with a Swansea crest on his jacket, dark glasses and a beanie hat, the rapper made a pre-match lap of honour as fans twirled their towels with rock music booming in the background.

Snoop Dogg saluted the fans, shook hands with some, and had photographs taken with others. Club mascot Cyril the Swan even got a hug.

He eventually disappeared down the tunnel seven minutes later just before a light show started prior to kick-off.

His visit was announced last week and he said on the club’s official website: “I know it has been a long time coming, but I cannot wait to finally make my first visit to Swansea.

“From the moment we talked about me becoming an owner, I have been looking forward to the chance to be with you all at the Swansea.com Stadium.

“I have heard so many great things about the atmosphere, especially when we play under the lights.

“When I watched the Wrexham game, where we showed we are the capital of Welsh football, the noise in the stadium sounded incredible even from over 5,000 miles away. I can’t wait to be a part of it.”

The rapper, who arrived at the stadium nearly three hours before the 7:45pm kick-off, joined the Swansea ownership group last July and made his way to south-west Wales after being at the Winter Olympics, where he served as Team USA’s honorary coach as well as a special correspondent for broadcaster NBC.

The celebrity visit had created so much excitement that a 21,000 record crowd was expected at the Swansea.com Stadium, which opened in 2005.

The rapper hit the headlines at the Winter Olympics when he asked British curlers Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodds for a photo.

Known for hits such as Gin And Juice and Drop It Like It’s Hot, Snoop Dogg has had a successful three-decade music career, having topped the UK charts and received 16 Grammy nominations.