Welsh soccer membership Wrexham, owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, has pulled off a Hollywood-worthy season ending by securing promotion to the English Soccer League after 15 years competing at a primarily semiprofessional decrease stage.
McElhenney — finest recognized for co-creating and starring in “It’s All the time Sunny in Philadelphia” — wiped away tears after a 3-1 victory over Boreham Wooden on Saturday clinched the title for the Nationwide League, the fifth tier of English soccer. The duo finalized their buy of the Crimson Dragons — for a reported $2.5 million — in 2021. The purchase kicked off an unlikely journey for a once-struggling staff that has since drawn a bevy of superstar supporters and change into the topic of a Disney documentary.
Right here’s every thing you must learn about why a soccer membership from a metropolis of some 60,000 is making world information.
What occurred to Wrexham underneath the possession of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney?
Wrexham takes its identify from its hometown in northeastern Wales, which has a historical past of coal and lead mining. (It’s one in every of a handful of Welsh groups to compete within the extra profitable English league.) It has a declare to being the world’s third-oldest skilled soccer staff, although the membership has not too long ago relied extra on hometown ardour than on-pitch success for sustenance.
Earlier than Reynolds and McElhenney took over, the membership was in a low interval, struggling financially and on the sector. However the brand new homeowners employed Phil Parkinson as supervisor and poured cash into contemporary signings, together with the ahead Paul Mullin, who scored two of Wrexham’s objectives on Saturday. Sponsorship offers had been signed with TikTok, Expedia and others. The staff completed in second place final season, narrowly lacking out on promotion.
Because the possession change, Wrexham video games have nearly rivaled L.A. evening golf equipment for glitzy attendance. Will Ferrell, Emma Corrin, Paul Rudd and Reynolds’s spouse, Blake Vigorous, are among the many celebrities who’ve not too long ago been noticed cheering on the aspect. In December, King Charles III and Queen Camilla visited the stadium.
The Cinderella narrative has led to a 921 % enhance within the membership’s
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Originally posted 2023-04-23 09:30:28.