Wrexham co-owner Ryan Reynolds poses with fans ahead of the National League football match between Wrexham and Boreham Wood which secured Wrexham's promotion. Photo / AP
Wrexham co-owner Ryan Reynolds poses with fans ahead of the National League football match between Wrexham and Boreham Wood which secured Wrexham's promotion. Photo / AP
Ryan Reynolds held his head in his hands. Rob McElhenney leaned forward, took a deep breath and was soon wiping tears from his eyes.
Below the Hollywood actors, thousands of Wrexham fans flooded onto the field at the Racecourse Ground, setting off red flares and waving Wales flags.
A previously down-on-its-luck Welsh football club thrust into the global spotlight because of its A-list owners was celebrating on Sunday, New Zealand time, after Wrexham secured promotion to the fourth tier of the English game. They even got a shout out from royalty, with the Prince and Princess of Wales congratulating them on their social media account.
Reynolds and McElhenney, along with actor friend Paul Rudd, were among a crowd of more than 10,000 at the Racecourse in north Wales to see Wrexham clinch the National League title with a 3-1 win over Boreham Wood.
Wrexham players celebrate their promotion to the EFL at The Racecourse Ground, in Wrexham, Wales. Photo / AP
Reynolds and McElhenney embraced in the directors’ box when the full-time whistle sounded and, before long, were holding up a flag with the words: “Wrexham champions 2022-23”.
They seemingly have become football fanatics since completing their out-of-nowhere purchase of the club for US$2.5 million (now $4m) in 2021. An offshoot of the takeover was the making of a fly-on-the-wall documentary - entitled Welcome to Wrexham - that has charted the journey of a team run by a couple of actors learning the ropes of sports club ownership.
The second season of the show will have a happy ending, with Wrexham heading back into the English Football League - the three divisions below the Premier League - for the first time in 15 years.
“One thing that is running through my head over and over again,” Reynolds said, looking around at Wrexham’s jubilant players and fans, “is that people said at the beginning, ‘Why Wrexham, why Wrexham?′ This is exactly why Wrexham.”
Wrexham co-owners Rob McElhenney, left, and Ryan Reynolds in the stands during the National League football match between Wrexham and Boreham Wood. Photo / AP
Wrexham are four points clear of second-placed Notts County with one round of games left, so are guaranteed the sole automatic promotion spot to League Two. After being greeted by Reynolds and McElhenney, Wrexham’s players lifted the league trophy in the middle of the field to the sound of We Are The Champions.
Reynolds is best known for starring in the Deadpool movies, while McElhenney is the creator of TV show It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia. One of their stated aims when combining to buy Wrexham from its success-starved fans was to lead the 158-year-old club - the world’s third-oldest in professional football - to the Premier League. And the journey is well under way.
Congratulations @Wrexham_AFC! A club with such amazing history, looking forward to a very exciting future back in the Football League. Doing Wales proud. W https://t.co/VGdF6GkFVw
— The Prince and Princess of Wales (@KensingtonRoyal) April 22, 2023
It is Wrexham’s first league title at any level since the old Division Three crown - then the third tier in the English game - in 1977 and the team has done it in style, collecting a record 110 points so far and winning 34 of their 45 games.
And, as has so often been the case with a club that does drama like no one else, the win was achieved the hard way, after falling behind inside 44 seconds.
Wrexham equalised in the 15th minute then Paul Mullin, the team’s star striker, earned victory with two superbly-taken goals in the second half.
Wrexham's Elliott Lee celebrates scoring during the match against Boreham Wood. Photo / AP
“Paul Mullin is one of the greatest football players in the world,” McElhenney said.
With the title in the bag, Wrexham fans lapped up the final few minutes of a match that ended more than a decade of hurt. The club fell on such hard times since the turn of the century that its supporters’ trust twice had to save the team from going out of business.
“We can feel what it means to the town,” McElhenney said on the field. “This is a moment of catharsis for them and celebration. For us to be welcomed into the community, and to be welcomed into this experience, has been the honour of my life.”
Since their unlikely takeover, Reynolds (21 million) and McElhenney (1 million) have used their large Twitter followings to promote the club, and brought in sponsors such as TikTok, Aviation Gin and Expedia, global brands that typically have no place at this level of the game.
The actors are also living up to the promises they made when taking over, like making improvements to the stadium and investing heavily in the women’s team. They brought in board members and advisers with experience of top-level football and who have made good, sensible decisions.
The industrial town of about 65,000 people, located near the northwest English border and close to the football hotbeds of Liverpool and Manchester, has been abuzz with excitement for the past two years.
US actor Paul Rudd sits alongside Wrexham fans in The Turf Pub ahead of the National League football match between Wrexham and Boreham Wood at The Racecourse Ground. Photo / AP
Last season, Wrexham lost in the playoffs to miss out on promotion but made no mistake a year later to get out of the non-leagues, where some teams are semi-professional.
Wrexham finished the game to a backdrop of fans joyously singing “We are going up” - with Reynolds and McElhenney joining in. Rudd also seemed to enjoy the occasion, too - he was spotted drinking a beer with locals before the game.
“I’m not sure I can actually process what happened tonight,” Reynolds said. “I’m still a little speechless.”
