Wrexham co-owner Ryan Reynolds shares emotional farewell to Ollie Palmer

Wrexham co-owner Ryan Reynolds has paid an emotional tribute to Ollie Palmer as the striker leaves the Red Dragons to join Swindon Town.

The hugely popular forward moved to League Two Swindon Town on a two-year deal.

The 33-year-old scored 44 goals in 150 appearances for Wrexham and was part of the squad that won three promotions on the spin as the club rocketed from the National League to the Championship, a fact acknowledged by Hollywood star Reynolds who posted a message on his socials, describing the player’s departure as a ‘gut punch’.

He wrote: “Ollie is a big reason we’re in this league today. Not to mention the boundless charisma and charm… he harnessed a lifetime of talent, heart and work-ethic to push @wrexham_afc and the town forward. Spending time with Ollie’s incredible family: his wife, Caitlin, amazing kids and his dad, Andy, are forever-memories. Ollie is my friend now and always. The silver lining is @officialstfc is an excellent club and they get to experience that same feeling @robmac and I felt as Ollie steps onto the pitch at The County Ground to push Swindon FC forward and up the pyramid. Thank you, Ollie. ❤️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿❤️

The actor also joked that his 80-year-old mum Tammy would be devastated by ‘boyfriend’ Palmer’s departure.

Reynolds added: “P.S. for the love of all that’s holy, DO NOT tell my Mom her boyfriend is changing shirts. Tam-Tam is unpredictable. Swindon can expect her to storm the pitch to provide fresh orange slices to Ollie without warning. She’s 80 years old. But homegirl is strong — and despite it making no sense at all… she JUST NOW qualified for the 1988 Olympics. We suspect she’s on something a little stronger than calcium supplements. Her birthday card to @thehughjackman said, “Do you even lift, bro?” That it. Not even ‘Happy birthday’.”

Palmer joins the Wiltshire outfit after striker Harry Smith was ruled out for the rest of the season having ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in the defeat against Barnet on 19 August.

“I’m really excited to sign for a club of Swindon’s stature,” Palmer said.

“The ambition here is clear, and I want to play my part in helping the team push up the table and compete for promotion.”

Robins’ boss Ian Holloway said: “You have not got to be a genius to work out that we have lost our talisman in Harry Smith. Who else in our league would have wanted him? Everybody with how well he played last year.

“I was watching everything that happened at Wrexham closely, and he was a big part of that. His mentality is amazing.

“When you talk about his style, he scores goals, he is tall, but he has a lot more than that, like Harry had.

“I think that it is a statement of intent, and what we need to do is nurture what he has been through.”

Palmer has made more than 500 appearances in the EFL, enjoying the best spell of his career with Crawley Town when he scored double-figure goals in consecutive seasons from 2018-2020.