US actors Rob McElhenney (left) and Ryan Reynolds (right) celebrate Wrexham’s National League triumph last season (Oli SCARFF)
Wrexham’s Hollywood star co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney said they were having the “ride of our lives” after the club sealed a place in the third tier of English football with a 6-0 thrashing of Forest Green on Saturday.
Victory secured Wrexham’s second straight promotion after the Welsh club ended a 15-year absence from the English Football League in April 2023 by winning the fifth-tier National League.
“A few years ago, if you told me I would be crying tears of joy over a football match taking place in north Wales, you would be Rob McElhenney,” wrote Deadpool star Reynolds on X.
“Congrats to Wrexham and to my co-chairman in crime. Double up the town! This is the ride of our lives.”
McElhenney added: “No words.”
Since surprisingly buying unheralded Wrexham in 2021, McElhenney and Reynolds’s investment has helped lift the team back into the English Football League, while bringing global recognition to the club via a Disney television documentary series.
Unlike the rest of their League Two rivals, Wrexham’s growing fame in the United States allowed Phil Parkinson’s side to go on a pre-season tour of North America which included games against Chelsea and Manchester United.
According to accounts published last month, Wrexham owe McElhenney and Reynolds £9 million ($11 million) after losing £5 million last year.
Elliot Lee opened the scoring before Paul Mullin scored twice, either side of Ryan Inniss’s own-goal, as Wrexham hit four before half-time, with Ryan Barnett and Jack Marriott on target in the second half.
Results elsewhere meant the victory secured Wrexham’s place in League One next season, while defeat leaves bottom side Forest Green at risk of dropping out of the Football League.
Saturday’s full-time whistle was the cue for joyous fans to surge onto the pitch at Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground.
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