Hollywood legend Tom Hanks has delivered a rallying cry ahead of Aston Villa’s play-off final against Derby County on Monday.
The A-list actor first revealed his love for the Villans in January 2008 at a film premiere in London, as reported by the Birmingham Mail, and flew in from LA to watch them play a preseason friendly against Portland Timbers in the USA back in 2012.
Writing on his personal Twitter, Hanks said: “On Monday I will bleed claret and blue for Aston Villa.
“One match away for a return to the Premier League.
“Up the Villa! Hanx.”
On Monday I will bleed claret and blue for Aston Villa. One match away for a return to the Premier League. Up the Villa! Hanx
— Tom Hanks (@tomhanks) May 25, 2019
OPINION
This is a bit of a mad one really. It’s crazy to think that Tom Hanks, star of so many Hollywood classics, will be sat like a bag of nerves somewhere by a TV in LA watching his beloved Villa on Monday. A bona fide legend of the silver screen will be an absolute wreck, cheering on John McGinn and Alan Hutton. To be fair to Hanks, you feel that he hasn’t got too much to worry about. Villa have been on the sort of run that Forrest Gump himself would be proud of to make this far, and they show no signs of letting up yet. Derby are tricky opposition, just as Leeds, but this is a big chance for Villa, and they will be fully aware of just how much a return to the top flight would mean to the fans. If they can see off the Rams and make it back to the Premier League at the second time of asking, there will be a fair few going sleepless in Birmingham on Monday night.