Team USA’s goalkeeper Tim Howard is my new imaginary boyfriend. I suspect he’s the new imaginary boyfriend of many, many women following his kickass work at the World Cup. Not only did he hold Team USA together, but he’s also really, really RLY hot. Part of it was the righteous beard (the beard suits him, much more than the clean-shaven look). Part of it was his athleticism (unf). Part of it was his lovely soft voice, calm and hoarse. And then there was the small matter of his beautiful eyes. Anyway, bad news for all of us imaginary girlfriends: he has a real girlfriend. And she’s hot. And Scottish. And she posts lots and lots of photos of “her boo” on Twitter. And she talks about him in the UK press. Damn it.
Tim Howard’s life may revolve around the pitch, but his gorgeous Scottish girlfriend admitted she couldn’t care less about soccer til she started dating the Team USA goalie. Sara McLean, 24, who’s been shacking up with New Jersey-born Howard for a year, admitted they never talk about soccer — despite his overnight celebrity status.
“We don’t really talk about football that much, to be honest. I didn’t even watch football before we started going out,” McLean, a banker in London, told The Sun. “He just laughs if I ever ask him anything about football.”
McLean said she and Howard, 35, talked for an hour before his unforgettable performance in last Tuesday’s game against Belgium, in which he made a World Cup record-breaking 15 saves, but not once did the big quarterfinals game come up.
“He wasn’t nervous at all, though, he never gets nervous. We just spoke about normal stuff,” said McLean, an investment banker in London.
USA went on to lose to Belgium, 2-1, but the brunette stunner said she’s still proud of Howard, who is “over the moon with the way they played.”
“I’m so proud and happy for him. And he’s really happy too, even though they didn’t get through,” she said.
McLean started dating the multi-million dollar athlete, who plays for Everton in England, after they met at a party. McLean said even though Howard’s become the most talked about soccer player since his explosive World Cup run, she refuses to become a WAG — a British moniker for the spoiled wives and girlfriends of star athletes.
“I like to work and make my own money,” McLean said. “I never like to be dependent on anyone.”
A hot 24-year-old Scottish banker who looks like a version of Megan Fox (like, that’s Megan Fox’s 2008 Face)? Damn, Tim. That hurts. Of course, I was looking through her Twitter and I have my doubts about A) whether she’s really a “banker” because it seems like she’s a British-style “glamour model” and B) whether she really eschews the “WAG” label, because she seems custom-built for the whole WAG thing. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Their babies would be beautiful, so I guess it’s not all bad.
Also: Tim’s regular clothes are killing me. Is he wearing a deep-cowl-neck blouse?!!?
PS… All of the coupled-up photos are from HER Twitter. He doesn’t have any pics of her on his Twitter, but he seems to only use his Twitter for work.
Photos courtesy of Sara’s Twitter, WENN.
She’s very pretty. He referred to her as his wife in several interviews…. so I’m guessing they’re pretty serious. Good for them!
She looks fantastic, and scottish girls have the best accent
much better than my Canadian Girl twang eh
People living in Scotland may think Canadian girls have the best accent, much better than their Scottish one. 😉
oooh depends on where in Scotland…
Yup, us Scottish lassies have the best accents 😉
Ha ha ha
I highly doubt anyone finds a girl saying “Right?” and “Eh” all the time incredibly “horny-making”.
Me – “Hey TIm, Nice save eh? You totally totally stopped that, right?”
Tim – “I’m just gonna go get some smokes…”
(he leaves, gets in car, drives to Scotland)
Me – (out window) “Pick me up a 2-4 eh!”
Quite a few older interviews done when Tim was still married have been dredged up recently. I think that’s the reason for the “wife” references. I read one just a few days ago where Tim mentioned heading back to TN after the games “where my wife and I have a house.” Come to find out the interview was done early 2010, before the divorce.
wow…he really needs that beard…
Agreed. Something about that beard is so sexy.
Agreed. It gives him an edge and uniqueness. Without the beard, he’s kind of a pretty boy. I can’t do pretty men.
He looks like a smaller vin diesel without it
My thought exactly.
She seems to be pretty tacky and extremely publicity-hungry. NO way she is a banker of any kind. WAG in the making.
I might be a bit ‘out’ here but surely 24 is too young to be an investment banker? Isn’t it the sort of job you have to have to work your way up to? I could be totally wrong but she seems quite young to be in investment banking in London.
If she got the degree and qualifications, she can be. But I doubt she’s high powered or anything, probably just working in a bank helping people set up retirement accounts etc.
The banker who helped us set up an investment account for my daughter was pretty young too.
Or she could be a bank teller who decided to jazz up her title to seem more important
If she is 24 and in investment banking she is an Analyst most likely as you need to be one 3 years before hopefully being promoted to Associate, it will take a good 10 years to get to sr level . She will be clocking in lots of hours 9a-11p and weekends so when she gets to take the train UP to Liverpool is another story if he still plays for Everton and the English premiere league plays for a long time Aug-May
Don’t forget, if she has the right connections, it’s very easy to skip a lot of the steps on the climbing ladder.
Maybe banker is some fancy name for teller in Scotland. I’ve a colleague who worked as a cashier in a bank and she’s called a banker.
That was my thought. Can we get a definition from one of the British readers?
You wouldn’t call a teller a banker in everyday parlance. Banker implies investment banking or a higher up in a retail bank.
But in WAG terms, who knows?!
I live in Scotland and I have no wisdom for you. She’s pretty young, but then, the junior doctors I work with are about that age as well. Very young. Terrifyingly young.
She was a Big Brother contestant a couple of years ago.
Ah, so shes ‘that’ kind of person…
Do investment bankers pose topless? Hmmm. Me thinks not.
Yes, bring the beard back, Tim. He’s got a bad case of the Hank Baskett melon. Glad Tim is finally getting the attention he deserves, especially since that was probably his last World Cup.
“Hank Baskett melon” – snerk! Totally agree… beard was needed for hotness.
She looks more like Angelina than Megan Fox to me, very similar smile. And he looks way better with the beard and the athletic wear.
Some athletes clean up really well (I used to see a couple Chicago Blackhawks in my old neighborhood and wow were they hot out of uniform), others look bizarre in “civilian clothes,” and I think he falls into the latter camp.
I think she looks like Jenna Dewan.
Yes I can see that too now that you mention it.
I think Angie and 2008 Megan Fox are both miles hotter than this chick.
^^^This! I thought she looked like Angelina in the early 2000’s.
I, too, thought she looked more like Jolie but yes, the early 2000s years.
She looks like Georgina Chapman!
She looks like a bunch of beautiful women (thought of Jenna Dewan too!), she’s very, very pretty. I don’t care if she’s actually a “banker” or not, she’s a perfect WAG. 😉
I wish I could unsee the cowl-neck top he’s wearing. It might be a deal-breaker. Gawd, I’m shallow.
I’m wading right next to you in the shallow end of the pool.
That cowl neck can not be explained.
I can’t even believe that top exists… Where would it even be sold?!
In the women’s section. Why is he wearing that? And the necklace just makes it more….ugh. I don’t even know.
@Katren – they’d sell that at International Male.
It’s a black silk shirt that’s unbuttoned.
Whoa, his hotness dropped several notches in each picture. That shirt needs a meme.
That ‘shirt’ is the worst thing I’ve ever seen
Get out of town!! She was im my year at school. She was gorgeous then as she is now and relied heavily on her looks and could turn at the flip of a coin. I doubt very much that she’s a banker she never really applied herself at school and was asked to leave (private schools version of expulsion!!!)
Was she a great student?
Not at all!!!
My guess is she’s maybe a bank teller who decided to jazz up her title?
Yeah, I think you might be right there! Big leap from bank teller to investment banking!
I think he’s ugly.
HA! The low-rentiness of English football is all-pervasive.
If it looks like a WAG, walks like a WAG, quacks like a WAG, dresses like a WAG, poses like a WAG, rushes to the media like a WAG, protests that it works for a living and isn’t a WAG…
(Apologies for the “it”. I started with an axiom and ran with it and now the “it” looks a bit dodgy. You get that I don’t call other women “it” unless I’m parodying an axiom, right?)
Oh she is one trust me!! That was her goal when we were at school together she used to prance around proclaiming that she was going to be a WAG/(glamour) model
OMG that’s amazing. She probably works as a teller or at the reception of a bank (nothing wrong with that of course!) and is trying to make herself sound less vain … wow Lucy, I’m glad there’s someone here who knew her. I know it’s super shallow of me, but it makes me laugh
Honestly, anyone who uses their Twitter to shamelessly self-promote with a myriad of selfies seems rather WAG-ish to me. Just sayin’.
However, I think it was very nice of her to let him borrow her cowl-neck blouse.
I hate that term — WAG. It makes no sense first of all: you’re either a wife or a girlfriend, hence no one’s both. What’s so WAG about posting selfies on your social media? If you’re in a relationship and your significant other has no problem with you posting pictures, then how’s that bad, or self-promotional? It helps the player’s image as well to have an attractive partner, so self is not the only thing being promoted here, if anything. My exes practically documented our entire relationship with photos on twitter and no one called it shameless. I guess perception varies by status: more famous partner is just sharing photos, while less well-known partner is shamelessly self-promoting.
The investment banker has an agent (she conveniently links to it on her twitter) She gave an interview to Page Six. She’s made the dubious claim of living with the newly famous Tim Howard. She has a public twitter page wherein she alerted the world that her instagram account was suddenly and inexplicably also public and – oh no! – could someone please help her fix that. She immediately followed that announcement with a post linking to the suddenly and inexplicably public instagram account. I’m sorry, this isn’t shameless promotion? Girl’s hustling. And she’s every right to. That’s the game and Tim’s not above playing it too. But let’s not be naïve.
@megsie,
Not being naive, just all those things that are mentioned are not self-promoting to me, just taking advantage of new opportunities with that come with more visible status. Hustling and self-promotion are different in my mind because one is taking advantage of new opportunities because you want to accomplish a specific goal, and the latter is doing it only for attention or to just become more famous. Sounds like she may not be a banker forever, but maybe interested in modeling too. It’s much easier for her to transition to it now, if that’s her goal.
Having public social media accounts isn’t a negative against her. My twitter and instagram accounts are also public and I used to post a lot of personal pictures on there too, vacations and shopping runs included. If there’s interest in you, don’t waste it because it won’t last forever; use to parlay it into something you always wanted to do. If you have a lot of followers, you kind of have to post some personal things, so when you are promoting something big like charity events, books, your modeling stuff, etc. you’ll have a good base who will show interest and attend those events or buy that product. I’ve been accused of being with my ex to revive my career just because he’d retweet and promote my books and articles. I never asked him to do that, but he had a wider base of followers and it was his way of showing support for what I did, just like I showed support for him at every match. Nothing to call it WAG-ish, like the post I replied to had stated, since not every player’s significant other acts like that.
unamadridista what are you talking about??? Girl was on Big Brother..oh brother. Playa! Girl scored. Maybe not you.
http://totallybigbrother.co.uk/sara-mclean-visits-the-playboy-mansion/
@magpie,
I was just stating that poster to whom I replied (not you or megsie, but TOK) stated that she posts pictures on social media and that earned her a label of being WAG-ish and my point was that a). the action of posting selfies doesn’t equal having shady intentions, it promotes the player more than yourself, I can personally vouch for that, and b.) labeling anything as WAG-ish makes no sense since there’s no ‘WAG’ behavior since each partner acts differently, and many are not as famous , nor want to get as much attention, as their men. Those who do are few or already have fame. Again my point wasn’t argue for or against her motivations, it was: posting selfies alone doesn’t make one attention hungry. So let’s not judge her on that alone. Let’s judge on other stuff, if we must. I don’t spend much time on EPL scene anymore, but he seems happy with her, so why is it wrong of her to parlay her newfound fame/attention into something that she wants to pursue like modeling or whatever?
Wait, so he’s not married? Who is Laura Howard?
And Lord, he needs the beard.
That’s the ex-wife and mother of his two kids. They live in Memphis, TN.
I asked the same question when I saw the original article. I could have sworn i read an article about him being a devout Christian father and married man right before he blew up in the World Cup. (That’s not to say he wasn’t a devout Christian father and married man at one time, just surprised that time is not now.)
He was married for a long time. Has 2 cute kids. I didn’t realize that they had gotten divorced until I saw this article. Kinda sad. He always used to to go on about his wife and family. Though apparently she was the one who filed for divorce, so who knows? And now he’s dating what seems like a famewhore. Sigh. Men.
11 years is a pretty big age gap. Too big IMO.
And Howard was great, but Navas is the goalkeeper of the World Cup.
Yes!! Navas was amazing. I think the title is between him and Manuel Neuer.
Yeah, Neuer is amazing, but that’s hardly a surprise.
Have you seen the penalty shots in the Costa Rica – Netherlands game? Putting Tim Krul in sure messed with the heads of Costa Rica players.
It actually made me feel bad for Costa Rica, even though I was rooting for The Netherlands.
My wish for the medals:
Gold – Germany
Silver – The Netherlands
Bronze – Brazil
Fingers crossed!
That game was insane! Costa Rica had so much heart!
I swear, Holland is the luckiest team playing right now. They score at the 88th minute all the time hahahaha.
@ SpookySpooks:
I saw that game and I started to root for Costa Rica at half time, because they were playing so consistently and in a good strategic way. I think they knew it was a hard game but they kept it cool till the end and they never lost faith! In the end, The Netherlands played better and deserved to win, but Costa Rica was really great and I really wanted to see them going through. 🙂
My favorites now are Germany and Brazil. Sadly I’ll have to say goodbye to one of them in the next game. I would bet in a Germany-The Netherlands final!
It sure did mess with the heads of costarican players, but it made me feel bad for Cillessen. Did anyone see him kick the water bottle when he was substituted? Van Gall didn’t tell him.
I’d love to see an European final.
The Costa Rican team was incredibly disciplined – impressive how they’d always get back into their formations.
Navas was truly awesome!! But if I had to choose the best goalkeeper, I’d go with Ochoa. Probably not very objective (it’s a shame Mexican team had to go so early! Even if I usually root for the Netherlands), but he’s making me feel things lately. Those curls. Help me.
Heh, you know soccer (football) has made it in the US when there’s news on celebrity gossip columns/sites 😉
That cowl neck thing makes him look douchey.
Perhaps all the pics are from her twitter because it’s a known fact that his agent runs his twitter account.
She was on British big brother too… And a party programme in the UK which looked a lot of rubbish!
I think there is this beard trend among the male folk.
It’s quite cool but unfortunately a good number of guys look bad with beard – it’s just some who rock it.
Tim Howard looked sexy with his beard,now not so much.
The girlfriend is gorgeous and seems cool but I don’t know why cos I still get the WAG vibe.
He looked like Mr T with the beard.
Thank you! I like him without it.
I think with the hipster beard trend many are deliberately trying to look bad, I can find no other explanation. My son and I were hiking this weekend and we came up behind a skinny guy with short hair and from the back we could see his beard sticking out several inches on each side. It made him look deranged, I was glad I was not on the trail alone!
He looks so different w/o the beard – crazy.
He looks like vin diesel without the beard and she is so not an investment banker if she was on big brother.
She is gorgeous. And disagree he looks better with the beard–that thing was masking the hot. He looks WAYYY better without it.
She’s cute but 100% WAG. I suppose the self professed “Christian family man” is enjoying the spoils of war. And why not? His wife left him in 2010 a month after the FIFAs and remarried very soon after the divorce was final. He’s cute enough too but, if given the choice, I’d go with his bff Carlos Bocanegra. Whose wife, incidentally, looks a bit like this girl but flies under the social media radar. ahhh Soccer players. Best gift my husband ever gave me was his love of soccer.
Unf. Bocanegra. What a fine looking man. Didn’t realize he had gotten married.
I believe they did, yeah. They definitely live together and had another baby beginning of the year, a boy. Someone told me Tim was at the baptism, I think as godfather, but she didn’t mention a Scottish gf with him. hmmm.
Another baby? He’s got 2? Holy crap. And Dempsey has 3 now. I feel really old!
yep, a little boy and an older girl she had while he was with the Rangers. I remember seeing Boca with Chicago Fire about a thousand years ago. He played a great game and you knew Europe would come knocking on his door. Now he’s with Chivas, playing the SoCal family man, easing into a retirement. Strange not to see him in Brazil. Landon too. And Dolo. This was Tim’s last FIFA trip, no doubt. *sigh* Time waits for no man.
Oh I miss Dolo. I remember Dempsey when he still had greasy long hair. It was weird not seeing Landon there. He sounded kinda bitter post WC.
Damn..she looks like Angelina Jolie but younger. Very beautiful!
Yea I remember her in BB – im sure she was known as a model not a banker so I dont know wer thats come from. Definate WAG – 100%
He looks very happy with her as I’m sure should could very charming when she wants to be.
Google says that she’s also a (former?) beauty queen (think she nearly won Miss Scotland in 2011) and that she may have dated Tony Watt, a striker who plays for Celtic.
Also that she may have dated one of Katie Price’s exes and that she was the victim of a really bad hit and run accident last year.
Didn’t Gisele Bundchen claim to not like football either when she got with Tom Brady?
I want her eyebrows.
Not a banker. Why does anyone bother with the fake jobs and title inflation? It’s so easy to check.
Aint no bankers getting their tatas out and appearing on Big Brothe!
lol!