Hollywood actors and co-owners of Wrexham soccer club, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, celebrated in true English style after their team heads back into the English Football League for the first time in 15 years.
Along with a crowd of more than 10,000 setting of flares, wearing Deadpool costumes and draped in flags, Reynolds and McElhenney joined the Wrexham FC bus victory parade following its respective wins in the Vanarama National League and Genero Adran North on May 2.
“What an unforgettable evening in Wrexham celebrating both [Wrexham] and [Wrexham’s women’s team] gaining promotion and winning their leagues,” Reynolds wrote on his Instagram on Wednesday (AEST).
“Bonkers”.
Deadpool star Reynolds and McElhenney, best known as the creator of TV show It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, became overnight soccer fanatics after completing their out-of-nowhere purchase of the struggling Welsh club for $US2.5 million ($3.7 million) in 2021.
On April 22, Wrexham achieved the first part of its dream after the team clinched the National League title with a 3-1 win over Boreham Wood, securing promotion back to the fourth tier of English soccer.
It signed off a memorable campaign with a 1-1 draw at Torquay United on the final day of competition.
Usually at this time of year, Reynolds and wife Blake Lively are on the red carpet at the annual Met Gala costume ball in New York on May 2.
This week, Reynolds was a clear absentee, with walesonline.uk suggesting he “snubbed” the gala in favour of the parade and celebrating his beloved football team’s promotion.
“It appears on this occasion, the lure of party in north Wales is just too much to ignore,” it wrote.
Speaking to Access Hollywood at a screening of their fly-on-the-wall documentary, Welcome to Wrexham [currently streaming on Disney+), in Los Angeles over the weekend, Reynolds and McElhenney were asked what they were planning instead of attending the Met Gala.
“We’ll be in the UK. We have Wrexham business to deal with,” Reynolds said.
One of their stated aims when buying Wrexham from the club’s fans was to lead the 158-year-old club – the world’s third oldest professional club – to the Premier League.
This year’s win is Wrexham’s first league title at any level since the old English division three in 1977. The team did it in style, collecting a record 111 points and an automatic promotion spot.
Since taking over, the actors are living up to their promises, making improvements to the stadium and investing heavily in the women’s team.
Wrexham – an industrial town of about 65,000 people, located near the north-west English border and close to the soccer hotbeds of Liverpool and Manchester – has been abuzz with excitement for the past two years.
Now the town and its people are on the celebrity radar.
‘An underdog story’
The spin-off documentary series charts the journey of the historic, but down-on-its-luck soccer team, beginning with the announcement club boss’s announcement of the purchase.
One brave kid in the crowd asks the stars: “What was the connection between you and Wrexham Football Club?”
“We had no direct connection,” McElhenney says.
“It was just a feeling”.
Brimming with confidence, the kid continues: “What me and me dad thought was that because Wrexham is red [the mascot is a red dragon], and Deadpool is red – “.
“That’s the real reason, I’m sorry,” says a deadpan Reynolds.
Suffice to say the second season of the show has a happy ending, as Wrexham heads back into the English Football League.
