The owners of Notts County played down a report that they could sell the English League Two soccer club to American pop star Taylor Swift, saying in a playful social media post on Friday that they would "Shake this story off".
Notts County Taylor Swift ownership rumor
Taylor Swift buying Notts County is not a headline anyone expected to see today pic.twitter.com/YOrTZH3hh8
— The #EFL Zone (@TheFLZone) October 27, 2023
Club statement.#Notts | @taylorswift13 https://t.co/VVLVO7oQd4 pic.twitter.com/1HJVhNaOl8
— Notts County FC (@Official_NCFC) October 27, 2023
Owners Chris and Alex Reedtz said they were sorry to "disappoint the Swifties in our fanbase" in a Tweet laden with Swift song titles.
"There's certainly no bad blood between ourselves and Taylor but, at such an exciting time for us and the club, she surely couldn't have believed in her wildest dreams that we would relinquish our control," they wrote.
"We'll leave a blank space in tomorrow's pre-match playlist for a track from her newly re-released 1989 album as a gesture of gratitude for her interest."
Spoof newspaper The Weekend Sport reported that Swift was keen to buy Notts County, the world's oldest professional football club, following in the footsteps of Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney who own English fourth-tier club Wrexham.
"Bad Blood", "Shake it Off", "Blank Space" and "Wildest Dreams" are songs on Swift's album "1989".
(Reporting by Lori Ewing, editing by Ed Osmond)