Wrexham AFC co-chairmen Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds made a blunder in the closing scenes of the first season of ‘Welcome to Wrexham’.
Back in November 2020, the American and Canadian actor duo purchased the club amid plenty of fanfare. This past year, a documentary was released on their journey titled 'Welcome to Wrexham' - which has since been rebooted for a second season.
The confirmation was released via a joint video alongside the two owners after also confirming that their FA Cup qualifier would be shown on ESPN2 in the United States. In the video, McElhenney incorrectly pronounced the name of their opponents Blyth Spartans.
After receiving a number of complaints from Spartan fans, the American actor - famed for creating and starring in ‘Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ - was quick to apologise. It is not the only error that has been made as eagle-eyed viewers of the Wrexham AFC documentary were quick to point out.
The final episode of the first season has a heart-warming outro where the two likeable celebrities promise to stick by Wrexham and lead them to promotion to the football league. It ends with a still of a football tactics board with pieces in formation - but there are 12 players on the field.
Perhaps it was a gag given both McElhenney and Reynolds thrive in comedy. Then again, the two owners could have accidentally slipped up.
The duo deserve credit for how they’ve attempted to ingratiate themselves with the local community. McElhenney was in attendance recently as Wrexham AFC Women faced title rivals and defending league champions Llandudno Ladies, winning 5-2 at Rhos Aelwyd FC.
To the delight of spectators, McElhenney was seen laughing, chatting and drinking pints with fans. It was noted there were no official camera crews or anything with the Philadelphia native, which showed the day out was not for publicity purposes.
McElhenney also watched as Wrexham men’s faced Boreham Wood, and it turned out he was in the area to film a short video for co-chairman Ryan Reynolds’ birthday. McElhenney opted to mark the Deadpool star’s birthday with a blimp flown from Wrexham’s home stadium.
The video of the stunt, which featured players and executive director Humphrey Ker, was posted to Twitter by McElhenney along with the caption: “The head and mouth are to scale, but the eyes are 50% more dreamy in real life. Happy Birthday @vancityreynolds from the @Wrexham_AFC Racecourse.”
In the video, Rob said: “To celebrate my co-chairman’s birthday this year I wanted to do something special. I wanted the entire team to run out of Ryan’s giant inflatable mouth at the next match. But I heard that might be bad for player morale.”
The giant inflatable mouth is then seen with the players running out of it before turning and criticising the gesture. Star forward Paul Mullin - who has 11 goals in 13 appearances - mutters: “Idiots.”
