Story highlights
One Direction star Louis Tomlinson has signed a deal with Doncaster Rovers
Tomlinson has signed on a non-contract basis with the second division club
Hoping to raise money for local charity Bluebell Wood Children's Hospice
Has been given the number 28 shirt and is set to appear at some point this season
One Direction have already conquered the music world – now one of the fab five is set to take the football world by storm.
Louis Tomlinson has signed a deal with English second division club Doncaster Rovers in one of the most bizarre deals for some time.
Tomlinson, who stars alongside Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Niall Horan and Liam Payne, is part of biggest and most successful boy band on the planet.
One Direction have broken record after record during their rise from losing in Britain’s X-Factor competition in 2010 to becoming as big as the Beatles stateside.
Read: One Direction launch a line of makeup and nail polish
Managed by music mogul Simon Cowell, One Direction have had 61 album and single number one’s world wide with their last album “Take Me Home” reaching top spot in 37 different countries.
They are the only UK band to have had their first two albums reach No.1 in the U.S. and have over 18.5 million Facebook fans and 71 million combined followers on Twitter.
Tomlinson, 21 was born in Doncaster and has signed a deal which means he could feature for the team at any point this season.
He hopes his appearance for Rovers will help raise money for local charity Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice.
“This has always been a childhood dream for me,” he told the club’s official website.
“I feel very honored to have been asked to sign for Rovers and being able to help both the club and the amazing charity Bluebell Wood is what it’s all about.”
While Tomlinson is used to having thousands upon thousands of screaming “Directioners” cheering at him on stage, he’ll be performing in far more modest surroundings at the 15,000 seater Keepmoat Stadium.
As a child, Tomlinson used to attend games both as a fan and as a ball boy but his heavy work schedule means he will face a real challenge to be available for a cameo appearance.
He will miss Doncaster’s first game of the season against Blackpool on Saturday with One Direction set to perform in Las Vegas before the group move onto California.
Read: One Direction –like a young Rolling Stones?
Tomlinson will then be touring Australia and New Zealand in September and October with the band appearing in Adelaide, Perth and Melbourne before moving onto Christchurch and Auckland.
But that has not deterred Rovers, with the club fully aware of Tomlinson’s ability to lure in new fans.
“Louis has always been passionate about football and wanted to realize a dream of signing to his home town club where he once worked on match days,” said a statement on the club’s official website.
“After discussions between Louis, Paul Dickov and media manager Steve Uttley, it was decided that the club could sign him and issue him with a squad number for the 2013/2014 season.
“As part of the signing it is hoped that Louis will be able to appear in Rovers colors at some point this season in aid of Bluebell Wood and train with the lads.
“Chairman John Ryan and the manager Paul Dickov have given Louis the number 28 shirt for this season to help him raise money for Bluebell Wood.”