He’s one of the most famous people on the planet but not many people know Arnold Schwarzenegger has a link to Leeds United.
Back in 2014, Arnie, famous for the Terminator films, even paid a special visit to the ground to host ‘an audience with’ for his adoring fans. The evening happened at Elland Road's Centenary Pavilion.
He spoke to them about his bodybuilding career, iconic movies and his stint as Californian Governor. Schwarzenegger also made a return to Leeds in 2017 where, unsurprisingly, he was spotted in a gym in the city.
As you can imagine the megastar's visit caused quite a stir and lots of fans tried to bag a selfie with him.
You can take a look what happened below when Schwarzenegger paid a visit to Elland Road
Although, Schwarzenegger's connection to Leeds and, particularly our city's football club, goes much deeper than a few mere public appearances. The icon claims a former Leeds United reserve player inspired him to his success.
The tale goes that Schwarzenegger was devoted to former Leeds United reserve player Reg Park, who became a bodybuilder and a film star after his football career ended, due to injury.
In his younger years, Schwarzenegger, 72, was obsessed with Park’s work in the Hercules film series during the 1960s.
The Austrian admired Park, born in Leeds, for his physique and his strong mentality.
Back in 2018, we published a story on the pair's relationship. Arnie said: "I saw Reg Park on the cover of a magazine, in one of the sporting goods stores in Graz, Austria. It really changed my life overnight."
The pair eventually became friends and Park helped Schwarzenegger achieve his dream of becoming Mr Universe. The Predator star feels Park laid out the ‘blueprint’ for his life and has regularly visited Leeds down the years.
"I have been to Leeds before to visit his parents when they were alive and when Reg was alive," said Schwarzenegger.
"I wanted to get to know his mother who was a strong influence on him."
Park died in 2007 at the age of 79 in Johannesburg, South Africa. Before to his death, Park received a lifetime achievement award from his friend Schwarzenegger at the megastar’s annual Arnold Sports Festival.
Due to his affection for Park our city has held a special place in Schwarzenegger's heart and hopefully we'll see him again in the not-too-distant future. We're sure he'll be back...
In recent years, other icons who have come to Leeds for ‘evening with…’ events have included Al Pacino and Robert De Niro.
Leeds has attracted a host of huge name stars down the years with Roundhay Park welcoming major performances from Madonna and Michael Jackson.
We’ll continue to take a look back at some of those visits from famous icons in the coming weeks.
