At Aston Villa, Ryan Disdier ’17 guided the club’s content and digital team through a 150th anniversary season and top-seven finish in the Premier League.
His experience with English football includes a “pinch-me moment” in Paris, and an unexpected super fan opportunity with an Aston Villa aficionado.
“One of our biggest supporters at Aston Villa is Tom Hanks, and he came to a match last year. I was able to meet him and do some content with him, so that was pretty cool, especially because my fiancé and I had just watched one of his very, very early films.
I mentioned it to him, and he said, ‘Oh, nobody ever brings that one up.’ … It was “Volunteers,” which is where I believe he and his wife met on set, so it was a deep cut.”
A second standout memory came about during the prestigious annual Union of European Football Associations Champions League soccer tournament.
“This year, in the Champions League quarterfinals, we played PSG, who had just won the Champions League — an unbelievable team," said Disdier, referencing multi-sport club Paris Saint-Germain.
"When we played them away in Paris, being in that stadium and the pre-match atmosphere, it was pretty insane. I think, having worked in the sports industry for nearly a decade, you kind of get used to a lot of the grandeur that comes with it, but that was almost a pinch-me moment, where it was like, ‘I can't believe I'm here. This is crazy.’”
