Ryan Reynolds-owned Welsh club promoted to English Football League
MUMBAI: The Wrexham Association Football Club, which was bought by Canadian American ‘Deadpool’ star Ryan Reynolds and ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ co-creator Rob McElhenney back in 2020, secured a promotion to the fourth tier of the English Football League recently for the first time in more than a decade.
The English Football League (EFL) consists of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in England until 1992, when the top 22 clubs broke away to form the Premier League.
The Welsh National League game against Boreham Wood started badly for Wrexham, which conceded a goal 43 seconds into the 90-minute game when Lee Ndlovu lobbed the goalkeeper. A header from Elliot Lee tied the game and two goals from star striker Paul Mullin in the second half saw the team win comfortably, reports ‘NBC News’.
A previously down-on-its-luck Welsh soccer club thrust into the global spotlight because of its A-list owners. The purchase even led to a Netflix documentary ‘Welcome to Wrexham’. The docuseries chronicled the purchase and stewardship of Wrexham AFC, one of professional football’s oldest clubs, by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
The duo, along with actor friend Paul Rudd, were among a crowd of more than 10,000 at the Racecourse in north Wales to see Wrexham clinch the National League title with a 3-1 win over Boreham Wood in the game held recently.
Wrexham is four points clear of second-placed Notts County with one round of games left, so is guaranteed the sole automatic promotion spot to League Two.
–IANS
