Wrexham Football Club are on the brink of promotion and have continued their rise to global fame since Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds became part owner of the team alongside fellow actor Rob McElhenney.
Their 3-2 win against second place Notts County, who were hoping to dish out a liver punch to Wrexham’s hopes of reaching League Two, was a rubber stamp for their promotion credentials.
Notts County took the lead just before half time via a John Bostock free kick but Wrexham were quick to respond as Paul Mullin managed to lose his marker and slot home a low cross.
Soon 1-1 turned to 2-2 with goals from Jacob Mendy and Kyle Cameron, until Elliot Lee capitalised off of a weak clearance in the 78th minute – a goal which seemed to be the golden ticket to promotion.
But late drama arose as Notts County were awarded a penalty for a handball. Cedwyn Scott versus Ben Foster.
The penalty taker displayed signs of nervousness as he adjusted the ball after the referee’s whistle. He opted for a shot towards the ‘keeper’s right but Foster was able to get a strong hand to the ball and became the Hollywood hero.
It was fitting as Foster came out of retirement to return to the Racecourse Ground 18 years after he last played for the club to replace first choice Rob Lainton, who has sustained a knee injury.
“I don’t feel like I have a heart anymore,” Reynolds said afterwards. “I used all the beats that I had left during that match. That was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.
“I’m genuinely at a loss for words in this moment. I don’t know how to quantify what just happened. I feel an immense sense of pride.”
What league are Wrexham in?
Wrexham are in the National League which is considered the top tier of non-league football.
It is level five of the English football structure, with the Premier League level one. The National League is the lowest level nationwide league.
Will Wrexham be promoted?
Wrexham now lead the National League by three points with a game in hand over second-placed Notts County.
Both teams have exceeded expectations this year, each surpassing 100 points and aiming to beat Crawley Town’s record of 105. It has even prompted debate over whether there should be two automatic promotion spots to League Two rather than just the one.
No other team this season comes close, with Woking sitting third with 76 points.
Ryan Reynolds’ takeover
February 2023 marked two years since Deadpool actor Reynolds and McElhenney took over the Welsh club, a move which was approved by the Wrexham Supporters Trust who had owned the team since 2011. The trust approved the £2m takeover by a majority 98.6 per cent.
The Hollywood stars have been a huge boost to the club who have experienced record ticket sales, a TikTok shirt sponsorship deal and inclusion in the video games Fifa 22 and Fifa 23 – becoming the first National League side to do so.
It’s always sunny in Wrexham
This is an extract from Daniel Storey’s piece on how a Hollywood takeover breathed new life into the community at Wrexham – you can read it in full here
If a club can ever be saved by going into administration, Wrexham were. After a tax bill of £800,000 provoked a winding-up order, administrators were called in in December 2004. Those administrators challenged the initial ground deals and sued CrucialMove, alleging that Guterman had breached his duty to act in the club’s interests and Hamilton should have been aware of that breach. They won and then won again in the court of appeal.
But Wrexham had been gutted. In 2008, they were relegated out of the Football League after an 87-year stay. The new consortium owners, initially led by Neville Dickens but then sold to Geoff Moss, vowed to clear debts and renovate the ground by purchasing land around the stadium to build student flats, but the renovation never happened and Wrexham were still losing – and owing – money when the Supporters’ Trust were finally able to complete purchase of the club in 2011. If we learn nothing else from this tale, it is that Supporters’ Trusts and organisations are British football’s most valuable asset.
The Trust ensured that the club survived (and that security was never overlooked by supporters, given the history), but between 2013 and 2018 Wrexham failed to even make the top six in the National League.
The area waited for a miracle, a local businessman made good or a EuroMillions winner, perhaps. Honourable, rich potential owners do not grow on trees and there is far more demand than supply.
There’s no way of saying this to make it sound more normal than aliens landing on the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct: two Hollywood actors, who had never met before, decided to buy a non-league club in a town that neither of them had ever been to.
Rob McElhenney had seen British writer Humphrey Ker watching football on a tablet during breaks on Mythic Quest and became fascinated. Ryan Reynolds wanted in too. Amongst all the hoopla, the celebrities and the Disney+ series, a simple message (as explained by Ker): “It was purely a desire to find a place that wore its heart on its sleeve as a football town and that needed a bit of a helping hand. Because that’s what we felt like we could give.”
What we know about their TV Show
An FX docuseries called “Welcome to Wrexham” was also released in 2022, detailing the owners’ attempts to pump life back into the third oldest football team in the world, founded in 1864.
The 18 episode series is watchable in the UK on Disney+.
Since the TV show was made available the club has continued to build its brand, with their social media following growing immensely. They now have 580,000 followers on Instagram 420,999 on Twitter and 870,000 on TikTok.
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