Hollywood A-lister Ryan Reynolds and Wrexham co-owner Rob McElhenney were seen celebrating after the club’s win against Notts County.
The pair celebrated as Wrexham edged the five-goal game and won 3-2 against Notts County at the Racecourse ground today.
It brings Wrexham closer to automatic promotion from the National to Football league after reaching 103 points.
Locals at the Red Lion pub in Marford, Wales, also dubbed the boozer ‘Red Ryan’ as tribute to the Candian actor.
Aled Howells, 51, said: ‘Ryan and Rob have turned the club around. I’m so glad Ryan is moving to Marford, we’d love to have a pint with him.’
It comes after Reynolds joined Wrexham co-owner Rob McElhenney at a crunch promotion clash this afternoon – after the pair were awarded the freedom of the borough in a low-key ceremony.
Deadpool actor Reynolds, 46, who it emerged today has bought a £1.5million house in a village close to the Welsh town, and McElhenney received the honour after pumping in £10million as the club bids to return to the Football League.
Ahead of this afternoon’s sold-out home game against promotion rivals Notts County, a small crowd braved the rain to wait outside Wrexham’s Guildhall in the hope of spotting the celebrity duo.
However the ceremony – attended by invited councillors and other local dignitaries – took place behind closed doors, with only a film crew understood to be part of the team behind Disney Plus documentary series Welcome to Wrexham documenting the event.
Speaking at today’s ceremony, Reynolds recalled his first encounter with the Wrexham supporters club over Zoom while the pair were attempting to launch their takeover in 2020. Wearing a Wrexham AFC jacket, he told dignitaries he didn’t think ‘I’ve ever been as nervy as I was in that exact moment’.
Wrexham co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in the stands before the match
Ryan Reynolds has officially been awarded the Freedom of Wrexham
Hollywood A-lister Ryan Reynolds joined Wrexham co-owner Rob McElhenney at a crunch promotion clash this afternoon
To laughter, he continued: ‘And I realised I was wrong, and that was second only to going into a game with Notts County tied on 100 points!
‘So I’ve not slept in a couple of days just in anticipation of this.’
Reynolds added that he was ‘so touched that I get to be a part of this story’.
‘I know that we’re here so that you guys can thank us, for some reason. But I feel like it’s the other way around and we want to thank you.
‘What you’ve given us is something that I could never… words are too clumsy to quantify what it means to me, what it means to Rob…’
The award comes after civic leaders praised the duo for helping give the town ‘global promotion’.
Council leader Mark Pritchard said: ‘Football is the beating heart of our community and there’s always been incredible passion and support for the club.
‘We have an amazing story here in Wrexham, along with a unique character and identity that is winning fans all over the world.
‘These two Hollywood actors have had an incredible impact on both the football club and the community and have helped catapult Wrexham onto the world stage.
‘You couldn’t wish to meet two nicer people – they really are two wonderful guys.’
The pair were awarded the freedom of the borough in a low-key ceremony
McElhenney and Reynolds said in a statement that it ‘recognises that we have begun to achieve what it was that we set out to deliver, off the pitch’
Reynolds said that he was ‘so touched that I get to be a part of this story’
After being nominated for the honour last year, McElhenney and Reynolds said in a statement that it ‘recognises that we have begun to achieve what it was that we set out to deliver, off the pitch’.
‘This isn’t about us, we created an opportunity that the community firstly embraced and is now taking forward,’ they added.
But the granting of Wrexham’s highest award was opposed by two Conservative councillors after Reynolds liked an Instagram post by club striker Paul Mullin which contained the words ‘f*** the Tories’.
Speaking last December, group leader Hugh Jones said the ‘timing, the values and the priorities’ of the honour were ‘wrong’.
‘We’re awarding the freedom at a time when one of their star players has engaged in a message of hate to a section of our community, and one of the owners has liked an Instagram post containing that same message of hate,’ he said.
Wrexham AFC has said the club takes a ‘neutral position’ on politics.
Afterwards Reynolds and McElhenney were pictured at Wrexham’s Racecourse ground ahead of the side’s 3pm Easter Monday kick-off.
Last week Reynolds posted on Instagram: ‘A big few weeks ahead for Wrexham FC. Nervy as hell.’
Reynolds and McElhenney were pictured at Wrexham’s Racecourse ground ahead of the side’s 3pm Easter Monday kick-off
On the eve of the match it emerged that Reynolds had bought a house in the quiet nearby village of Marford for a reported £1.5million
The Red Dragons suffered their first defeat in 27 National League matches at the hands of Halifax on Good Friday, ceding top spot to Notts County, with both sides on 100 points with five games to go.
Last week Reynolds posted on Instagram: ‘A big few weeks ahead for Wrexham FC. Nervy as hell.’
On the eve of the match it emerged that Reynolds had bought a house in the quiet nearby village of Marford for a reported £1.5million.
A local told the Sun: ‘The most famous person from Marford is Tim Vincent from Blue Peter, so a Hollywood star is a step up!
‘It might not be the Big Apple but the red carpet will be rolled out when Ryan comes to town.’
The four bed property – which is five miles from Wrexham’s ground – is nevertheless a step down compared to the £4.3million home in New York where he lives with wife Blake Lively, 35, and their children.
Reynolds , along with co-chairman Rob McElhenney, have helped transform Welsh team Wrexham FC, and have had huge success documenting their progress in season one of their documentary series, ‘Welcome to Wrexham’.
In August last year Reynolds revealed his wife was not particularly happy when he told her the he had bought the Welsh team with It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia actor McElhenney.
In an interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, he said: ‘I remember seeing Blake, saying, ‘I have bad news and I have really bad news. I slipped into someone’s DMs again. The really bad news is that I might have bought half of a fifth-tier national football league in Wales.”
However, Ms Lively has been snapped cheering on Reynold’s club. In May last year the couple watched Wrexham take on Bromley during the Buildbase FA Trophy Final at Wembley Stadium in London.
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