Brother-in-law of celebrity superstar makes professional debut at 45 despite never playing football before

The brother-in-law of a superstar celebrity made his professional debut at the weekend aged 45, despite never playing football before.

For better of for worse, it feels like celebrity involvement in football is becoming the norm.

From athletes and musicians adding vintage football shirts to their wardrobes, to Hollywood stars buying clubs like Wrexham, it's safe to say that football is finally fashionable.

However, things went perhaps a little too far in Portugal on Sunday, when the brother-in-law of Paris Hilton made his professional debut.

Courtney Reum is the brother of the celebrity's husband Carter Reum, an author and businessman.

The 45-year-old is friends with the owner of Portuguese second tier side Lank Vilaverdense, Adrian Johansson, and in a bizarre turn of events signed for the club on January transfer deadline day.

Reum invested in the club shortly after signing, and on Sunday was given the chance to live his dream and take to the pitch.

The businessman, investor and author came off the bench in the 86th minute of Vilaverdense's 1-0 defeat to Torreense on Sunday, a result that all but mathematically condemned the club to relegation to the third tier.

A estreia de Courtney Reum 🙌#sporttvportugal #LIGAnaSPORTTV #LigaPortugalSabseg #LankVilaverdense #CourtneyReum pic.twitter.com/VVpuQUP38f

— sport tv (@sporttvportugal) May 5, 2024

Reum had never before played professional football in his life, and it's fair to say that Vilaverdense's players didn't look too happy to see him coming on when they needed a goal to maintain any hope of avoiding the drop.

After the match, manager Sergio Machado hinted that the decision to bring Reum off the bench was taken out of his hands.

"In the last minutes I made a decision not as a coach, but as the father of this group," he said, via journalist Zach Lowy.

"It was tough, but I had to look out for the good of my children.

"These last 10 minutes help a lot so that my players don't go through what they went through again

"I can't say too much, I can only say that it was difficult. Never in my life could I put my players at risk. I had to make decisions that put some of my principles into question, but more important than my principles is their welfare."