It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Shaquille O’Neal might like soccer a little bit – he’s an interesting individual that has had his large fingers in numerous different pies over the years.

But what should come as a surprise is Shaq’s team of choice in English football. It’s not Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, or any other large team – Shaq’s a fan of Northampton Town, who recently claimed the League Two championship and haven’t played top flight English football since before Shaq was born. Hell, they haven’t even been as high as the second tier during Shaq’s lifetime.

This week, Shaq sent a video to the team celebrating their success, giving Northampton Town their most-ever attention from American fans.

Of course, there’s a story behind this fandom. Vice notes (via ITV) that Kelvin Thomas, Northampton’s chairman that Shaq specifically called out during this video, owns a Florida internet radio station called Shaq-Fu that was developed with Shaq.

Well then, that settles it – Shaq’s Northampton Town fandom has apparently been spawned out of his business partner’s involvement with the club. I wonder if Shaq will end up moving on to another lower level English club if Thomas moves on, which he has done several times in the past.

[Vice Sports]

About Joe Lucia

I hate your favorite team. I also sort of hate most of my favorite teams.