Ryan Reynolds: ‘Buying Wrexham was no joke – I take it very seriously’

Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds has opened up on his purchase of Wrexham FC with co-owner Rob McElhenney insisting he takes the purchase of the club very seriously.

In an interview with the Telegraph the Deadpool star spoke about his plans for the club, which he and his good friend McElhenney have taken to their hearts.

“Rob and I were looking to get into that business and we looked at a lot of different clubs throughout Europe,” he said. “And we ended up landing on Wrexham, and I’m so grateful that we did: everything we found out about the club was more extraordinary and more interesting than I ever could have imagined.

“It is one of the oldest football clubs on the planet, it’s a hard-working town filled with incredibly passionate and interesting people,” he added. “We’re not attempting to be the smartest people in the room – there are people in Wrexham who know more about football than I will ever know.”

Endearing themselves hugely to the town and Wales in general when the pair announced their new documentary series ‘Welcome to Wrexham’, which will chart their takeover of the club. The pair appeared in an online video alongside a Welsh-language interpreter, the result was was comedy gold.

Since then they’ve continued to convince their detractors that their intentions are honest and real – and certainly no joke.

“‘I am proud to say it was never a joke,” said Reynolds. “We take the growing and building of both Wrexham AFC and Wrexham the community very seriously. In a town like Wrexham, if the football club is going to do very well, the community has to do very well.”

The seed of the idea was sown when McElhenney watched Netflix docu-series ‘Sunderland ’Til I Die’. The rest, as they say, is history.

Roping in Reynolds to his grand plans, the pair had six clubs they considered. Luckily for Wrexham, they were the chosen ones.

TikTok

Their impact was immediate and hugely impactful not just on these shores, but globally.

Reynolds brokered the deal for social media giant TikTok to sponsor the club, using the opportunity to launch his own TikTok account, appearing as Deadpool in a Wrexham strip. Within a week he had six million TikTok followers.

“It’s an obvious match,” joked the actor. “‘Wrexham has been telling stories for centuries and TikTok’s been telling stories for almost five years.

“‘I’m sure there are outliers but I think (the reaction) was incredibly positive,” he added of the reaction to he and McElehnney buying the club.

For the future there is but one aim – “Promotion, promotion, promotion. We cannot wait to start the new season. We’re going to be over there all the time.”